abbrev.

So, I came to the conclusion that in the LDS (Latter-day Saints) church, we have WAY too many abbreviations... speaking of which, why is the word abbreviate so dang long... shouldn't they make it a little more simple to de-complexify a word that means to make shorter? Anyway, here's what happened that was exciting this week:

Monday's abbreviation will be FHE (Family Home Evening). We had an oh so wonderful p-day doing some babysitting and mediating for a companionship that is near (a little too near in my opinion) and dear to my heart. It kinda put a bullet in any of the original plans we had of relaxing, so yeah... it was kind of a bummer. Luckily, the FHE that we had that night made it all worth it. Allie came over to sister DeLong's house, and we did an FHE on the gospel of Jesus Christ after she got to know the classiest lady on the planet for a little while.
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Tuesday's abbreviations will be DM (District Meeting), BWW (Buffalo Wild Wings), and Pumpkin (Pumpkin Ridge). So, it was planned out to be the most epic day EVER to make up for our super sucky lack of a p-day the day before, but it turned out to be a total bust... well, for the most part anyway. We had our usual district meeting with Tualatin, which was totally fine, and we even went to Buffalo Wild Wings afterward for lunch. Unfortunately, it ran long because they were slow getting food to us, and slower getting the checks out, so we lost some time there that should have been used for what we had planned afterward. We had blocked out some time (with the approval of the AP's of course) to take them out for elder Gardner's birthday (because he's one of the AP's) and treat him to some golf at Pumpkin Ridge golf course courtesy of Mark Schloo :-). Unfortunately, we got a phone call that morning from him informing us that he wasn't going to be able to make it because some idiot elder ran away on the coast, so he was going to have to do some babysitting... sounds like a familiar situation eh? haha I thought it was comical at least. Anyway, Gardner, being the champ that he is, told us to go have twice as much fun to make up for he and elder Blanchard not being able to make it, so we tried. We arrived around 3:00 hoping to get directly onto the course with Mark, but unfortunately we ended up waiting around for an hour and a half before we could get on... that kinda threw a wrench in the works because we were left with only 30 minutes to try to golf in... we got in two holes then turned for home haha. It was sunny this time at least! Hopefully next time we can get it worked out to go when it's sunny AND stay for the full 18 holes haha.

Wednesday's abbreviations are related with what we talked about with a kid named Joe. The abbreviations if put into a sentence would be "CJ's, YJ's, and FJ's leading to a lesson with a LA (less-active) MP (member-present)." haha because talking about Jeeps is what led us to picking him up as one of our best investigators so far. We went to contact a referral that wasn't home, and we saw his Jeep in the driveway, so we knocked the door and talked to him for a while. After about 15 minutes, his buddy Kyle pulls up, and it turns out that he's a member from a neighboring ward in Tigard! He's a super sweet kid, and contemplating a mission at age 19, so hopefully we can help him get there as well as baptize his friend before he goes. Seriously, super uncanny the resemblance between this Joe kid and myself. Has a Jeep (a 1994 white wrangler with a 4-banger just like mine), total pile of junk, loves working on it and crawling with it, he graduated 2008, loves reggae music, and yeah... to make a long story short, we're totally gonna baptize him. We talked shop for quite a while, but then he invited us in, and while there, we were able to start talking about religion, and eventually taught him about the restoration, and it was awesome! It really touched him, and he's stoked to meet with us again this week, so I'll keep ya posted on what happens there.

Thursday's abbreviations would be... ah forget it there really aren't any for this day haha. We did some intense service for Scott and Heidi by tearing out all the weeds along the side of their house, uncovering the few stepping stones that were there, and then replacing the dirt around them with river rocks... it looks pretty flippin' sweet if I do say so myself. Other than that, we had an awesome lesson that night with Nick Larsen where we taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ as relating to the restoration, and he liked it. He said that he felt the Spirit as he read the book of Mormon, so I invited him to be baptized on the 20th of August, and he accepted it... awesome, right? We've just gotta make sure we help him to get locked and loaded for it now so that he can be ready when the day comes.

Friday, the abbreviation would be, again, DCBFF (Diet Coke Best Friend Forever) SVC (service) with some B-fast (breakfast...der...) afterward. It was a pretty good time, and it's fun to have the interaction with the kids. One funny thing about doing that was when it came time to eat. Mom, I tried to copy that apple spice syrup that you always make for those pumpkin pancakes, and it turned out looking WAY different haha. It was still tasty, but what sister Barker's kids said about it was hilarious. We brought it out to pour over our apple-cinnamon french toast, and Kylie said "what is that!? It looks like throw-up!" I started laughing because she was totally right, it kinda did, but then the thought came to me that it looked more like poop than vomit, and just as I was thinking that, sister Barker chimed in and said "no, it doesn't really look like vomit... if anything, it looks like baby poop." haha I was about dying I was laughing so hard. It really was good in spite of how it looked haha... you'll have to send me the recipe or something so I don't screw it up next time haha.

Anyway, other than that on Friday, we had a lesson with Allie where we reviewed a few things from the gospel of Jesus Christ and talked about the sacrament, then I gave her brother a haircut... I have to say, I'm getting pretty pro at hacking hair with a pair of buzzers... I even do it to myself haha. It probably looks terrible, but such is life as a missionary... $12 bucks sounds like a lot of money, ya know? haha.

Saturday doesn't really have any abbreviations aside from MSH (Mosiah), cause that's all I really wanted to talk about. That book freakin' rocks! To be brief because I have three minutes left, chapter 20 is a good one to study as relating to passing quick judgment and acting when you're angry. 23 is sweet because it talks about being caught up in wickedness and changing. How to do it, and how to maintain it more importantly. The coolest part talks about trials and the big reason we have them. Check it out sometime... it'll change the way you look at your life. Note the attitude of the people who are experiencing those trials and how they reacted during as well as afterward toward God.

Sunday, we were in church for eight hours. Blah. That was a long day. Other than that, we had a sweet lesson with Allie where we set up her baptismal program and taught her the ten commandments... she's so set for her baptism. Her testimony is growing, and seriously, she's gonna be a relief society president someday.

I'm outta time, but I love you guys!

-Elder Mooney