"The Stench of Cats Penetrated Me to My Very Soul"

This week we did a TON of service. Last Tuesday after P-day we were going to go help this non-member that called us to help pack up his stuff because he was moving. We show up and he asked us if we could help dig a grave for 3 of his cats that he had to put down that day instead. Elder Callahan said sure thing not knowing before hand that we were not going to be digging a hole in nice soft Utah soil. It wasn't soft at all haha it was clay and it was really hard haha. We actually started digging a hole and found his dead dog he buried 5 years ago so we had to cover it up and start all over in a different spot. The clay was so hard that I was using an axe to break up the clay and the whole time we were doing this the guy was smoking and drinking .

We finally finish digging the hole and a member picks us up to help him rip out some carpet that got ruined by a cat. We show up to his house and we have gloves and masks on and we can still smell the disgusting stench from the carpet. The story is that the dog would shut the door on the cat and trap it in the room and then the cat would saturate the carpet with vile and disgusting bodily excretion. At the end of the day Elder Callahan and I smelt disgusting and I was covered in dirt and my clothes wreaked of cats and sweat. Needless to say we took showers and went straight to bed after planning.

Wednesday night we went on splits and I had the opportunity to go with President Collins he is the second Counselor in the Mission Presidency. We went and saw the Bietlers and had an amazing lesson with them. We talked about the priesthood with Don and his wife who is less active. We shared the Mormon message called "sanctify yourselves" it's about a little league football team that gets struck by lightning and a newly ordained Elder has to give a boy a blessing or he might not make it. As I was preparing for this lesson I felt so inspired to share this with them and when I did the spirit was so strong and President Collins bore a powerful testimony about the priesthood that brought us all almost to tears. Don talked about how important his family was to him and that's why I think I was inspired to talk about the priesthood because his family needs the priesthood in their lives and President Collins had the perfect testimony to share with them. I felt so good after the lesson I know that we talked about the right thing and I know it was inspired by God. 

Elder Callahan went with a different member of the ward and it went really well! Elder Callahan is a really good missionary.

On Thursday morning we went back to the guy with the 3 dead cats to help him pack up the truck. He told us he had a lot of stuff so we brought 3 other sets of missionaries with us to help. We walk in the house and my allergies hit me like a brick wall. The stench of cats penetrated me to my very soul! I tried my best to keep working but after I set a stack of papers in a box a bunch of cat hair puffed up in my face and I was done. My eyes were itchy, red, and watery. My nose was running, my throat was itchy, and I was getting rashes all over my arms and neck. Elder Funckes, who is also allergic, and I decided it would be best if we went outside to get some fresh air. I ended up getting a banjo though. It was pretty beat up but Elder Fraughton knows someone that might be able to fix it in his ward.

Saturday it rained... All day which is crazy since we are in a drought. We actually woke up to thunder which was pretty cool since I haven't seen thunder and lightning in like a year haha. Made me think I was back in Ohio for a second haha. Since I have been in California I think it's rained like 5-6 times haha. We ended up avoiding the rain pretty well though. We had a lot of members and people we were teaching give us rides. We did service with Elder Fraughton and Elder Bryant at the Bietlers that morning. We helped them fix his sprinklers in his yard. After that I practiced singing a musical number with Elder Fraughton and two other sister missionaries.

Sunday went well. I think this ward is really starting to reach out to us though. This ward has had a lot of old and "trunky" missionaries (trunky means they think about home a lot and aren't too dedicated to working). I think having a brand new missionary is just what this ward needed. After church we had an early dinner because we had a Mission Presidents Fireside that night and I had to be there early to practice the musical number I was singing with Elder Fraughton and Sister Wilde and Pilkington.
 

At the fireside assigned recent converts get to bear their testimonies and the mission presidency shares Mormon Messages. There is a missionary choir and missionaries perform musical numbers and stuff. Our performance went well. Elder Fraughton and I messed up a little but it's all good. I think he wants to sing again at the August M.P. Fireside before he goes home. The M.P. Fireside is amazing though. Their was a recent convert who bore her testimony and she couldn't stop crying during it because of how much this gospel and church has been a blessing for her and her mom. It hit me so hard and I felt the spirit so powerfully as she was bearing her testimony. I just felt so blessed to be able to be born into this church and I feel like sometimes I can take that for granted and that's why it's so important that we have our own personal conversion even if we were born in the church.

Yesterday was a pretty normal day. We did a lot of walking and talking and teaching. Walking isn't as bad as I thought it would be. It gives us an opportunity to have members come out with us more and we get to talk with a lot more people. As of this morning I have lost 46 lbs and I come home in less then a year as of Sunday!  That's it for this week :).

Love you the church is true.

-Elder LaRochelle