Speaking of fatty foods, I think I'm gaining weight now. I weighed myself yesterday and I was 141 without shoes on. It's nice to finally break 140 but I need to make sure the weight goes to the right places. Although at this point any place could use it. But yeah it's finally happening. I've tried real hard to truly stuff myself and eat as much as possible, and I guess it's paying off. This is probably the best area for gaining weight. Too bad Elder Petersen is trying to lose weight. Don't worry though, everything still fits me. For now.
Speaking of fitting me, I got my shirts this morning. They're perfect. I guess you know my size better than I do. The reason I was so specific in my e-mails is because I saw a lot of bad short sleeve shirts in the MTC (and still see them now) and I wanted to be sure I wouldn't be one of them. The sleeves are great and don't hang out a whole lot. I was afraid that with my small frame I would drown in the shirt but it turned out great. So no need for inch measurements of how much shorter or longer I want it. Why on earth you thought I'd need to do that is beyond me. The whole lot of you took my requests to be way pickier than they really were. I took a picture for you so you could see what they're like on me. I'm pretty sure it's the first time I've ever worn a short-sleeve white shirt.
Speaking of first times, yesterday was the first time I drove here. Usually when we went on exchanges with the other missionaries in the district I'd leave and Elder Petersen would stay since he knew the area better than me. Well yesterday I got to stay for the first time and was in charge of Chesterfield for the day. It was terrifying. The day was already planned out for me, but I honestly had no idea where anyone was. Well I guess I knew the area but I didn't know the streets or directions or anything. So, basically how I was when I first started driving at home. After every house we drove to, me and Elder Seamons (who found out he was being transferred the next day while he was with me, which cut the exchange short by like 3 hours, which was awesome) would have to get out the map and plan the next route. It was...interesting. Driving in Virginia is very different from driving in California. The roads are nuts here. You have back-country roads (two lanes with a double yellow line down the middle) with big city traffic. So that was fun. But I survived I guess even though I went 10 miles off-course. Not out of our area of course, but off-course nonetheless. Oh, and of course this means I got my real drivers license. I got it a while back. I have a double chin in my picture because they make you look down at the camera, and they don't let you smile. It's bad. And it's in black and white.
Speaking of black and white, we had the Gladys Knight Fireside this last Friday. There were 2 showings and we were at both of them. It was about an hour of singing and a half an hour of her talking and sharing her conversion story and bearing her testimony. It was very good. We sat pretty close to the front so we saw Gladys Knight in the flesh like right in front of us. It's definitely the only time I've ever clapped in an LDS chapel. We had a lot of people who are used to going to Baptist churches (read: African Americans) saying "amen"s and "thats right"s and "praise Jesus"s. It was fun. I don't think anyone there didn't enjoy it and no non-member would have had anything bad to say about the church after it. Our area only got 4 or 5 legit referrals from it which was kinda disappointing but a lot of the people we did get to go had positive experiences that we can now use to help them along. So good news all around.
Speaking of good news, we set another person for baptism. She'll be baptized the 17th of April. She's only 18 so it's a little weird there but she's ready. Now we have two people set. Hot dog.
Speaking of dogs, everyone here has a dog. Really. Too bad I have no idea what to do with them. Rub their back? Scratch their ears? Tell a joke? I feel lost every time they're around me.
Speaking of weather, it's getting nicer here. It got well above 70 once but since then it's just cool winds with 60-70 degree weather. It's been nice. It rained pretty hard one morning (the morning of that study picture) which was awesome. There was thunder and lightning and stuff. I look forward to more of that. And I look forward to a hurricane before I leave here. Don't judge.
Speaking of leaving, I'm glad I'm not there for this tent deal. I knew it was going to be a mess before I even knew you were doing it for sure. Plus it's weird having Andrea and Cavan moving. At least they're closer now, right? To both families? Yeah? Good news?
Well I think that's it. No individual letters this week. Too much happened the last few days for that.
Oh, I heard about SDSU. Sad. And I heard about Utah State. Sad. I'm glad to hear about baseball though. Since Opening Day is coming up, could I get a run-down of the 25-man roster, and more importantly, the depth chart when that comes around?
I think that's really it.
-Elder Ryan Parker
Pictures:
1. 4 of the 7 members of our district. The one next to me, Elder Seamons, was transferred to some place in the mountains. Check out that new tie though. Mmm. Thing's gonna disappear it's so skinny.
2. My new shirt. Despite my awkward smile, I am happy with them.
3. The biggest Baptist church I've ever seen in my life, Mount Pleasant Baptist. That's only half of that side of the building.
4. This is where we study.
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