Week 106

I think my count of the weeks may be off, I am unable to look it up on the internet right now but aren't there supposed to be 107 weeks in a mission and not 106? Can't remember. Maybe there are less.

Today is a Tuesday, and it's a preparation day because tomorrow is transfers. We have an email called the Transfer Board that we get every 6 weeks, that shows all the areas in the mission and a name/picture for every Elder and Sister and where they will be. I looked through the email but no matter how hard I looked I couldn't find my picture! It was really weird, I think they forgot to include me when they were writing up the plans. It was rumored that I'm going somewhere really cool for my next area as well, I guess it will just have to be a surprise until tomorrow when I find out.

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When I was 16 I had the great privilege of going on a youth trip to Cebu, Philippines with HEFY (now HXP), Humanitarian Experiences for Youth. It was a formational trip for me because the last Sunday we were there our group split off into trios with missionary companionship to bring the sacrament to people who hadn't been able to attend sacrament meeting due to illness.

As I served the people they were so kind and thankful even though they had very little. I felt more joyful and fulfilled than I had ever felt. Formerly I hadn't really wanted to go on a mission, but that experience made me think "well, if this is what being a missionary is like, maybe it wouldn't be SO bad."

Ever since I have had a fondness for the Philippines and it's people, culture and food. I was honestly expecting to be sent there on my mission because of that trip and because my cousin Topher went there (he is 6'7" and towered over all the people there and I liked the idea of being so much taller than everyone else). God had better things in store for me but there have been some opportunities to appreciate Filipino things here in Arizona.

I have a friend named Brother Daniel Monson. He's not related to Thomas S Monson, his family are not members and he joined the Church in high school. He was not active in the church for most of his life but missionaries have been stopping by consistently for the last few years and when Elder Tenney and I came to Surprise we were the first missionaries he let inside his house. He came back to church that Sunday and went up after we bore our testimonies to give us a big hug. That was great but then we were surprised that he continued walking past us and went up to bear his testimony on the stand.

"1988," He said, "that's the last time I was in this church."

So after 37 years he's back and doing well. His wife Lynn is not a member of the Church but is very kind and happens to be from the Philippines. We helped them unload their trailer of some things and she offered to make us some Filipino food for our efforts. I of course eagerly accepted.

This last week we came over for dinner and Lynn made chicken adobo and lumpia, it was glorious. She made some banana lumpia which I had never tried before and it was pretty good. I was feeling quite satisfied and pleased with myself as we parted ways that night, very glad I have been able to meet the Monsons and all the other kind, faithful and brave people of Arizona who's lives have overlapped with mine over these last couple years.

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There is a part of our area called Sun City Festival (or just Festival). The section of Surprise we cover is pretty small, easily traversable by bicycle. The reason why we used to have a car is because Festival is a retirement community isolated 13 miles out into the desert. You can imagine that since we upgraded to bikes we haven't gone there too often.

Well, I decided with this being my last p-day that we could do something special. Many of you will be surprised to learn that despite all appearances I am not a great athlete, and not especially coordinated on a bicycle. There may have been one or two crashes in my time here. But I decided that I was going to do something hard and so this morning we biked over to Festival.

Honestly when the wind wasn't blowing it wasn't especially difficult, the weather is beautiful at 80° without a cloud in the sky, a cool breeze. It was probably ideal biking weather, and the road was mostly flat and gentle with its inclines. Compared to people who bike for recreation it wasn't very impressive (I hear about people who bike like 50 miles every day) but it was by far the longest bike ride I have been on. When the wind was blowing in our faces for large sections of the trip my muscles were burning as I tried to keep up with my companion. Sadly he and his bike are a lot smaller than me and my bike so I couldn't ride his draft very well.

I was feeling quite accomplished by the time we got to the gas station in Festival. To reward myself for doing all that exercise I went into Subway and bought a big greasy meatball sandwich. Among the more satisfying breakfasts I have had in my life.

...and then we got a ride home because I didn't want to bike all the way back. One mountain at a time.

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I shared my testimony of Jesus Christ in our Monday Night Devotional last night. I have been pondering and wondering what I was going to say during that devotional since I had my very first Zone conference and listened to the departing missionaries sharing their testimonies. It's been on my mind for literal years.

I have mixed feelings about what I shared, it definitely was different from every other testimony that was given that night, but I tried my best. My offering might be humble but I gave my two mites to the treasury. You'll hear more about it next week.

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You'll get one more email once I'm home but this is the last time you'll be reading something written by a missionary (or at least *this* missionary). So, for this last time, I remain,

Yours Faithfully,

Elder C. Calder.

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My last CDC (combined district council). Since I was leaving I made a special request for our closing Hymn and it was granted. Zone 1 is not especially confident in its singing abilities so everyone sang pretty quietly... except me who belted out THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC at the top of my lungs!

Sadly we only got to sing the first verse, they must have known I would have become too powerful if we'd sung the whole thing.

I also though it was funny that half my face was blocked out of the picture, but that was the best photo we got.

Some of you may know that I have a great love for maps and map-making. I decided had to include this epic map of the Nine Kingdoms of the Arizona Phoenix Mission. I have served in:

Zone 7 (Central/East Phoenix)

Zone 4 (Glendale and Peoria, I served in the nicer part in and also the not-so-nice central Glendale part by Castles and Coasters)

Zone 8 (Mesa/South Scottsdale/North Tempe, although when I served there in Arcadia it was part of Zone 7. We were serving in the Scottsdale YSA though which covers almost all of zones 8 and 9)

Zone 6 (Maryvale, aka "The Blade")

Zone 2 (Buckeye, my area was so isolated it's not even on the map, it's farther west)

Zone 1 (Surprise). I have visited all of the zones except maybe Zone 5.

Not pictured here is Zone 10 (basically our District 13), which includes all of the service missionaries throughout the mission.