twist in the normal routine of events. There was a massive blizzard!
(Massive in terms of what DC normally gets) we ended up with 2-4 feet!
Outside of our apartment we have a good 3 1/2 feet. It is crazy! But
let's us see the beginning of the week first before we get to the
snow.
Tuesday... So today we had a glorious morning solving issues. I need
not go into detail but it took the whole morning. We did have a
fantastic lunch with Kerry Harding. He was in the DC3rd Ward and is a
good friend of mine. He thought I had completed my mission but we ran
into each other and he invited us over for lunch. He is a good man. He far exceeded my highest dreams and hopes for lunch. He contacted my dear mother and provided the perfect Elder Herring meal. It included a
roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, carrots, salad, rolls, and all sorts
of goodies. Topped of with 4 layered chocolate dessert, and lemonade
to wash it all down. I have not been so happy to see food in my entire
life I don't think. I missed this traditional Herring-style meal! He
also provided us with some very helpful insights on networking and
building relationships of trust with people to help us in our lives.
It was very helpful and eye opening. I will have a large headstart
after serving in DC. After sharing a lesson and thanking him we were
off to go check on some referrals. It was so cold! We did get a few
return appointments, thank goodness, but it was cold and windy!
Ahhhh!! I swear that The farther you get from the celestial kingdom,
the colder it gets. But overall a very successful and good day!
Wednesday... Today was a world wide missionary broadcast. It was very
good and presided over by 6 members of the twelve. They re emphasized
our purpose as well as some other chapters of PMG. I went down to
Suitland to watch it and it was a great experience. After that we had
our normal staff meeting and transfers talk. But then all of a sudden a whole inch of snow fell and you would have thought the world was going to end. People here are not used to it at all. President
knows this and told people to go home. On our way home we saw at least
7 accidents. One of them broke through the median on the freeway. We
had some missionaries not get home until 1:30am! Traffic was at a
complete hault everywhere. This was very reassuring with the news of a
record breaking blizzard on its way. But no one was in a wreck.
Thursday... We had specialized training part two! This group that came
in are just amazing missionaries. They are on top of their game and
willing to work hard. We had our trainings and then we're off to a
meeting with President to prepare for the storm. The state of Maryland
and the District declared a state of emergency and issued an order to
have people off of the streets by a certain time. We worked out all
the logistics and arranged for the missionaries to be ready in case
they lost power and all those luxuries they are used to. After that we
had a great dinner with the Griffins. I went with him to help him fill
the air on the tires of his snow blower. He taught me a valuable
lesson. Don't ever, ever, ever buy a snow blower with tubeless tires.
It is a pain in the rear. But we were successful. We ended the evening
with a lesson at the visitors center. We had a potential investigator
who has no background or belief really in God or Christ. It is amazing
and a lot of fun shaping people's beliefs and helping them find the
truth. We had an amazing lesson and the members that were with us are
both return missionaries which was perfect! They shared powerful
testimony and taught well. I loved it!
Friday... We had to be in by noon so we were not in the storm as it
came. So not too much happened today other than we played board games
and studied... The roads around all of the stores were packed and the
stores were empty. People are crazy if things like this happen. So
ya... Cabin fever begins...
Saturday... We played in the snow! The storm was still coming down
down but we had to get outside. Elder Tanner made a tunnel about 10
yards long that we all crawled through until a snow plow ruined it.
But we messed around for a couple hours, watched church movies,
studied, all that jazz. Fun fun times...
Sunday... So today we were authorized to bless the sacrament and held
a mini sacrament meeting in our apartment. It actually was a very
spiritual experience. We sang, prayed, and shared testimony with each
other. The sacrament is such a blessing and wonderful gift. We then
got dressed in our snow clothes and went to work. We shoveled and
scraped and shoveled and shoveled some more the rest of the day. We
cleared the path at the mission office. Cleaned out two driveways,
over a dozen cars. It was great! I am grateful we have a truck that is
4X4 so we can get around still. It was a ton of fun. We had so many
people offer to pay us and they were just shocked that we did not
accept it. They almost did not Know what to do. By the end of the day
we were a little tired. But hey we got a few new investigators and a
good workout. We did the mission office last at night and raced to the
car after we were done. We all stood in a line on untouched snow and
ran. I had a quick lead but was passed at about the half way mark.
This made me sad so I shoved my competition to the ground. So needless
to say I won :) good day!
So life here is fun but cold. We are doing some good work and enjoying
the rest and change of pace. But we are also a little restless. Well I
love you all! Have a great week!
-Elder Herring
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