Week 27

This week I had the great privilege of going on exchanges with Elder Hill. Elder Hill is Elder Levy's trainee, and he's now entering his second transfer. While we were on exchanges he was technically leading the area, his first time ever doing so. He made a couple mistakes but overall he probably did better than I would have done as a trainee.

Elder Levy and Elder Hill are serving in endlessly fascinating, otherworldly, and dreamlike land of Sun City (The ORIGINAL City of Volunteers). Where golf carts drive on the highway, where there's a hospital on every corner, where all of the street plans are in circles so the elderly don't leave Sun City if they forget where they're going and have to drive in circles for a bit.

I recently learned that Sun City is not actually a real city, but is technically unincorporated Arizona state territory. Which means that they don't have to provide certain municipal services such as public education, because nobody in Sun City has kids at home. In fact they are infamous for making it really hard for anyone to pass educational reform bills in the state, because nobody in Sun City wants to pay for someone else's kids to go to school.

We picked an absolutely perfect day to go on exchanges. It was a Saturday, we were signed up to help clean the building early that morning, and the only set visit we had planned was a funeral. So I got to avoid cleaning and instead go to the Sun City ward's Thanksgiving luncheon.

The luncheon was great fun. Everybody was wearing name tags so they wouldn't forget their friends' names, which was convenient for me since I didn't know anyone. All of the grandmas in Sun City love the missionaries, they all kept coming up to us and hugging us, patting us on the back, etc, which they're not really supposed to do but I don't know that I'm brave enough to be the one to tell them that.

They all kept gossiping about each other too, one woman wearing a bunch of bead necklaces hooked her arm around mine, pulled me close, and stage-whispered to me "you see that lady over there with the hat? She's crazy, don't talk to her." She then made the very salient point that said crazy hat lady was probably saying the same things about her. Rather than choosing between crazy hat lady and crazy beads lady, I chose the time-honored path of political neutrality.

Despite all the gossiping and obvious smear campaigns, there was a very friendly spirit in the room where the luncheon was being held. The Sun City members like to joke(?) about them being the best ward in the Church because they're all so close to meeting their Heavenly Father again. They call it "Heaven's Waiting Room."

There really might be some truth to that, the presence of the Holy Ghost in the room was palpable. The bishopric stood up and performed a special musical number where they sang a few hymns. The bishop had to stop and go back to the beginning of the stanza a couple times because he was too choked up with emotion. It was actually a very beautiful thing to see, they weren't the most skilled singers in the world but the passion and sincere devotion in their voices and expressions were quite moving.

I spoke in sacrament meeting the next day and while I was recounting this experience I suggested that the bishopric in our ward perform a similar number. The congregation seemed to think it was a pretty good idea. Sadly though, the second councilor, Brother Ashton, stood up afterwards and publicly (but politely) declined my invitation. I'll continue to work on him.

Anyway, another thing I really liked about the luncheon were the talks. The first talk was about whether there's a difference between blessings and tender mercies (to summarize: idk, maybe sorta). The second talk was very interesting. The sister who was asked to speak got up and made her way to the front of the room. The first words out of her mouth after saying hello/introducing herself were "I was asked to speak today about how grateful we ought to be for this wonderful nation we live in, and the freedoms we enjoy. Studying this topic really brought me back to the Grand premortal council of the gods at Kolob..."

She then proceeded to testify of her gratitude for this great country of ours, sprinkled in with doctrine that maybe was a little more extrapolation than scripture. She kept referring back to Ezra Taft Benson's book "This Nation Shall Endure," but I think that she might have misread or misinterpreted some of the stuff in there because she kept saying things like "the Holy Roman Empire had to be dissolved by a great conflict before the Americas was discovered" even though the Americas were 'officially' discovered in 1492 and the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806.

I thought it might have been a little confusing for all the nonmembers who were just there visiting with friends and family. It was definitely a little confusing for me.

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We got transfer news yesterday evening and I learned that I'm staying in Apache Park and Windrose Park wards, with Elder Johnson as my companion. I was honestly very surprised, I thought for sure that either one or both of us would get transferred out, or that they would split the area and put us on bikes. I guess my tragic and inevitable death by bike accident has been postponed at least a transfer longer.

So this will be the area that I've stayed in the longest time. Which isn't saying much, but I'll have officially spent more time here than in my training area. It's a peculiar feeling. On the bright side, I'm finally starting to feel like I know a lot of the members here and can remember their names. The main person we're teaching is finally starting to make some progress, our ward missionary coordination meetings are getting more effective, and we have some actual direction and plans for our area. Elder Johnson and I are getting to know each other better and are learning to work together more effectively. Things are looking up. I just better be careful not to get too comfortable in the area, because then I'm getting transferred for sure 6 weeks from now.

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I'm terribly fond of you all. Do email me when you get the chance.

Faithfully Yours,

Elder C. Calder

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My photos keep sending in a different order than the one I put them in, so maybe these labels aren't very helpful. Or maybe it's become a favorite pastime for many of you to play mix and match as you try to guess which blurb goes with which picture. You'll have to email me and let me know.

1,2,3. Leftover pictures from the Trunk or Treat which was almost a month ago (Whoopsie). Before you ask whether the jack-o-lanterns were carved by me or professionally done, yes to both.

4. Elder Hill and I. I am pictured wearing my luxurious sweatshirt-robe, he's wearing a sweater. I've been alternatively told that the robe makes me look like a wealthy venture capitalist or, when the hood is up, the Dark Lord of the Sith. Either way it's a power move.

5. District photo. I was enlisted to hold the camera due to my long arms, a common occurrence. Surprisingly we're all staying together here this coming transfer except for one of the sisters.

6. We found JoeDad. Now we just need JoeMama.

7. We decided to get in tune with the spirit of the season with some turkey hats a member's son gave us. I wanted to wear it out while we were proselyting but luckily Elder Johnson was able to talk me down.

8. Everyone I know who's eaten lamb (that discussed this with me over FaceTime, ie my mother) has told me that it tastes terrible and that I shouldn't eat it. I'm here to put these false rumors to rest by saying that this is one of the most delicious things I've ever made in my life (which is admittedly not a very high bar. But still). It's like a steak except its only $6.32 at Walmart. Maybe I'll try it with some unleavened bread and bitter herbs next time.