Biking in Ice Storms

This week was pretty crazy. Denton kinda shut down for like 2-3 days because of an ice storm, but there is more about that later. 

Monday- P-day, played pool and whatnot at the institute building with the zone leaders, it was pretty fun. Then, we went over to the ward mission leader's house with an investigator (Maria, haha of course), and had a family home evening.

Tuesday-We went and did service at Our Daily Bread (you never told me if you saw me in the newspaper?) which was great because we got to wear service clothes. The we went over to Maria's house and raked up roughly 29,000 pounds of leaves, there were like 40+ garbage bags full of leaves, it was insane. 

Wednesday- Maria had her baby! Fun story- we had district meeting, and Elder Long had dry-cleaned his suit, so we had to go pick it up before the meeting at 11am. So, we were riding over there, and I was just singin' to myself as usual( the song was, umm... not missionary appropriate. But I wasn't really thinking haha), and we got there pretty fast. Then, when we came out of the dry cleaners, Elder Long's tire was flat. So we walked back like 3 miles to the apartment to try and quickly patch the tire so we could make it on time, but there was 2 holes, so we were late and had to have the sisters come pick us up. Anyway, while walking to the apartment, it was soo dang hot, I was sweating and I was kinda mad because it didn't feel like Christmas/winter at all. Then, later, we went to a super old members house and put up Christmas lights/ helped them decorate for like 5 hoursish.

Thursday- It was so freakin cold this day. We went early in the morning and a member fed us breakfast, then one of the missionaries had to go to a meeting because he is training, so his companion stayed with us during studies. It was weird. Anyway, it was so cold, and we were riding our bikes to our dinner appointment with a member(they live at least 5 miles away from the apartment), and it started to rain. Long story short, by the time we got to their house, Elder Long and I were covered in a thin layer of ice, our bikes were pretty frozen over and all that mischief. So, after dinner, we started riding home, and after like a mile, the Zone Leaders called and told us to get inside ASAP because it wasn't safe to be outside. So they came and picked us up, and we were in the apartment for the rest of the night. 

Friday- We couldn't ride bikes because it was too bad outside. There was like 4-6 inches of Ice covering everything. So, we walked around all day, like 10 miles at least in the freezing cold. But, it was good because all of the Mexican people who work everyday were at home, because basically the whole city was shut down. 

Saturday- Same as friday

Sunday- These Texans are a bunch of wussies. They cancelled church haha, it was great. Hahaha, there was just no church for a sunday, I thought it was so great. So, we walked around all day again, then watched the Christmas devotional at a members house at night. 

Anyway, there's my week, from Sweatin' Bullets to Too Cold For Church. The last package I got was the one with all the thanksgiving treats(The pumpkin bread was super good) and the one with bike stuff, so thank y'all so much for that! The patches came in handy when E. Long had a couple holes. Before those patches, we were reduced to patching with pieces of an old tire and superglue, which may have contributed to the having more holes thing. Haha, I think I finally am set with everything I need here. I do pretty well with the sweatshirt/raincoat combo I have, so no need to send me a coat. Also, I don't know if I am desperate enough to wear a sweater, but maybe one day. This week is transfers, so I am staying here with Elder Long. He goes home after this transfer so that is cool. We've been trying to find new people, and there is a ton of potential here right now, so hopefully something works out here. Have a great week and all that mischief!

Love,

Cole