Spiders and Luaus and Obama, Oh My!

I feel like a million things have happened in the last week and I don't even know where to start!

On Friday we usually have a meeting with other missionaries in the area, but there was a funeral at the church building we usually go to, and so there were a TON of people there. We decided to go outside and have our meeting at a park instead. It was great. We sang "I Hope They Call Me On a Mission" for the opening song, and I'm sure all the other people at the park were looking at us and thinking "Wow, what a bunch of weirdos." Halfway through the meeting, the Elder that was speaking stopped mid sentence to run away from a bee. We also saw a lady at the park who we had been trying to teach previously but who had stopped answering the door when we came over. When we saw her at the park she totally ignored us. Just another awkward moment in the life of a missionary. It felt really good to be outside though. Tehachapi is beautiful!

Because of all the beautiful weather, we have been having a major bug problem in our apartment. Mostly ants. But they were EVERYWHERE! They were finding all of our food that was in the cupboards. It even got to the point where a few of them found their way inside of the fridge. It was super bad this weekend and Sister Alderman had a mild panic attack and went on a cleaning rampage. She cleaned the entire apartment from top to bottom (including the bathroom, where there weren't even any ants.) Then, some members brought us some ant poison and that has helped significantly. Besides ants there has also been an abundance of earwigs and spiders. SUPER GROSS! We were teaching a lesson in someone's house the other day, and there was a giant spider crawling on the floor. Sister Alderman saw it, but she has this thing where she can't kill bugs (except for ants apparently) and so when it started crawling towards her she freaked out and ended up in fetal position on the couch while our investigator got up and calmly squished it with her foot.

On Saturday we had a ward party. It was a Luau, complete with hula dancing, pineapples and a viewing of Johnny Lingo. We were in charge of handing out the leis (Idk if I spelled that right - the flower necklace things.) It was super fun. We also had a pretty cool miracle story connected to it:

This lady and her family were traveling to Bakersfield (where they live) when their car broke down right outside of Tehachapi Saturday evening. The tow truck guy took them into town, and told them he knew a shady place they could temporarily leave the car without any trouble. Our church parking lot. Well, they saw all these people going into the church and thought there must be a church service going on, so the lady decided it would be better to go to church than to sit in the car, so they followed everyone else inside. Needless to say they were surprised when we said "Aloha!" to them. We told them they could stay for the party and get some food. The Bishop talked to them, found out what had happened, and found them a place to stay for the night. Then, the next day, the mom and her kids came to church and she really loved it! We also happened to have been signed up to eat dinner at the Bishop's house that night, and he ended up inviting the family to have dinner with them as well. We taught them the first lesson and gave them the information for the church that would be closest to them in Bakersfield. It is so cool how some things work out! It turns out there wasn't anything majorly wrong with their car. God just needed it to break down in the right place at the right time so that they could make it to church :) 

Tomorrow we are going to the TEMPLE!! I am so excited! But it has been pretty stressful trying to find a ride because we are supposed to have a member to drive us down to LA but the member we had asked had some unexpected health issues and told us yesterday that she couldn't take us anymore. OH NO! So we had to scramble and ask someone else last minute. It all worked out though! Our ride is all set and I am excited to go!

Because we will be gone most of tomorrow, we were told that Tuesday would be our preparation day instead of today. So today we have gone out and have been proselyting like normal (with the exception of taking an hour to email.) Except it's a Monday so it does NOT feel normal at all. It feels wrong.

Also, Obama and Hillary Clinton are supposedly going to be in Tehachapi today. Yes. You heard me right. Ceasar Chavez (who is important in Mexican American history for something that he did that I probably learned in middle school but can't remember anymore) has a monument near here, and is buried here I think. His wife just passed away, and her services are going to be today in the local Catholic church. And it is important enough that the President decided it would be a good idea to possibly come into tiny-little-nobody-has-ever-heard-of-it Tehachapi. Anyway, people keep warning us that all the roads in town are going to be blocked off, that we're going to have crazy traffic, so we're going to have to walk everywhere. So far we have seen zero traffic. But if we do, I guess I can say, "Thanks Obama."

We are not teaching Dru anymore. He said he wants to take a break from the lessons for right now. We suspect that he is having a hard time keeping some of the commitments, and thinks it would be easier to just stop trying. I know that he has righteous desires and a strong testimony of God's love for him. In time, he will be ready to fully make the changes in his life that will allow him to receive greater blessings and to further progress in the Gospel. Sometimes you don't see the impact something has in your life until it's not there anymore.

Tom is doing great! He had a baptismal date tentatively set for mid July, but last week he told us that he wants to get baptized on June 30! (The date has sentimental value to him.) We are super excited for him!

Love you all!

Sister Daelemans