Ear troubles

This week has been one of hectic-ness and organized chaos. First off, I had to go see a doctor to see what was wrong with my ear, (since I had some decreased hearing), and that doctor told me to go see another doctor. I then went to the otolaryngologist (ear nose and throat doctor), and after finding out that I had a polyp on my eardrum, I had to go buy some steroid ear drops for $55. (Yup, I'm on steroids. :3) So, I've been a bit short on money lately. Luckily, a family of mine sent some gift cards to McDonald's and Wendy's, so I'm actually covered for the lack of money. As of right now, I'm just using the ear drops, but I don't look forward to paying another copay when I go back to the otolaryngologist. UGH. I hate how flippin' expensive healthcare is in San Diego.

But other than that, here's what's happened. The Pinewood Derby race was planned for the men of the Branch to attempt to get them more involved in fun activities. We, as missionaries, are part of that group. So, we snagged D and had him do a big part of the work. The race itself is this Friday at 7:00. We're really hoping that we do well, and that we actually get somewhere with his mom, since she's actually pretty excited to see the race.

We ended up going on exchanges again with the other Elders. This time, I went with Elder N and Elder W went with Elder M. We went and had a pretty good day with service, but not many lessons. But, I feel that Elder N had a good time on the exchange.

Other than what happened yesterday, not much has happened, so I'll explain yesterday. We had an appointment set up for us by a member of the English Highland Valley ward. This member currently had some Mexican painters working on his house, and struck up a conversation with one of them. He then got onto the subject of religion, and shared a bit about the restoration. The man was quite interested, and was eager to meet with some missionaries from our church. So, this member, Brother M, set up the appointment at 6:00 last night. We showed up at 5:45 to meet up with him, and at 6:00 or so, he calls us and says that this investigator, V, won't be back from work until 8:40 or so. So, we show up then, and meet up with Brother M. We walked into the lesson, and met V and his wife, R. They have three sons. We sat down and started talking with V about what we do, and we ended up having a really good lesson. It seems way too perfect. He asked us the "soul questions" that can be answered by the Book of Mormon. "Why are we here, where we goin', where do we come from, etc.". So, we answered some of his questions, and he asked more. He's really interested. He told us about how the world has "religion", but in reality, religion and faith in God isn't doing what it's supposed to. It should be promoting peace and love toward men. He said that he noticed that that is what we as missionaries do, but told us that he had heard some rumors about what we believed. We cleared up his doubts, testified of what we really believed, (i.e.-Jesus Christ, revelation, same organization as the ancient church, etc.), and set up another appointment...for 6:30 on Friday. Right before the Pinewood Derby. So, we'll have to figure that one out, but we'll be alright.

Other than all of that, we really haven't had much happen this week. It's been pretty slow and steady, not to mention blazing hot with a fury unmatched. We've been sweating quite a bit. Oh, and the running pilot program went through. The whole mission is now required to run for 30 minutes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Every other day except Sunday, we do normal exercize routines.

Oh well. Tell Rachel and Mike that they were driving around in my area back in Chula! I love you!

-Love, Elder Crook