Remember when I had a sassy old man club? I think I might be starting another one.

This week I sassed an old man who promptly sassed me right back. In other words, I made a new friend. 

 His name is Larry (not really, but there's a general rule about not giving out people's real names and such) and he's being one hecka stubborn individual. 

 Eons ago, he and his family met the missionaries. His wife and eventually all of his children became full participants in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he has yet to catch up. 

 Recently, they had a death in the family so we figured we'd swing by in case the missionary spirit we carry could offer them some comfort. 

 Only Larry was home though, so after chatting with him a bit, he brought up the fact that their son in law had died recently and the conversation naturally turned to temples. At some point during the conversation, I said something too quietly for him to hear (I was saying something reverent about God's plan and temples and such) and so he told me that I needed to use a bigger voice. A request that I met as I put my hands on my hips and told him that we knew he hadn't been baptized in all these years and reasoning led us to the conclusion that he thereby had not been sealed to his family and that was an issue that should be addressed. 

 He responded by putting his hands on his hips and stomping his foot in a mocking matter. So I stuck out my tongue, and then we all laughed, and now we're buddies. 

 What's even funnier is that this fast and testimony somebody called him out at the pulpit. An old guy got up and told us he was the oldest priesthood holder in the ward and then preceded to share his hopes that his next door neighbor (who happens to be Larry) would finally get baptized so that someone could be older than him. And then the next few people to get up and share their testimonies spoke mostly of eternal families and temple work. Let's hope Larry was listening. 

 Last Monday we had a HUGE miracle pop up. Around 9:30 pm last Monday night, one of our ward mission leaders called us up and told us that one of the families in our ward had someone for us to teach Tuesday at 10 am. To be clear, THAT NEVER HAPPENS. (Although it really should happen more often.) 

 Our new investigator's name is Ryan (again, not actually his name) and he works with one of our members. He and his member friend had an hour-long conversation about gospel things and so the friend invited him to meet with the missionaries (that's us!!!). Ryan is 18, knows the bible reeaaalllllly well, and has a lot of deep questions. Wish us luck!

 Did I ever tell you all about the one time I had problems with the mobile data on my phone? In case I didn't, here's what happened. For some reason, the data on my phone was not working, and it was very frustrating. So I asked some random guy about it, and he took my phone, swiped down the control section thing, and clicked the "mobile data" button. Thus fixing everything. I'm an idiot. So we told our district leader about it, and now he won't stop mentioning it. I'm never ever ever ever ever going to hear the end of it. Never. 

 Today we ended up playing badminton with our zone, and things went awry as an elder accidentally thwacked me with his racket thing. We were both going for the little birdie thing, and it just didn't work out for us. He reached for me to make sure I wasn't all that wounded, his hand ended up on my head, and then he ran away screaming when he remembered that we're missionaries and he is N O T to touch me. It was such a ridiculous blur of events, and I am scarred. Fun stuff. 

 I really want to share a spiritual thought with you (it's a good one), but I have no time. So for now, know that God is real and this is gospel is the way by which we can live with Him again. 

 Love, 

Sister Barlow