Black Panther???
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| Maybe they had to climb up here to get away from a wild animal ;) |
This week was whackkkkkky and fun
and just another week in the jungle that is Northwest Arkansas. First I will
start with some funny things and then tear at your heart strings a little
later.
So first as you can see in my title
we had a little run in with some animals that aren't really something you would
like to run into. So anyways, late on a Wednesday night I had to go into the
backyard because I had left something out there. When I walked out there I
flipped on the light and saw a huuuuggge cat dart from our porch area into the
forest beyond our house. A little startled I told Elder Hess and we laughed and
went to sleep. The next day we asked some members if there are any like cougars
or whatever in Bella Vista. The answer was always a wide-eyed yesssss! Except
the scariest thing is that there are rumors of Black Panthers... Everybody says
the only way you can tell that it is a black panther is by the scream it will
make that sounds like a child or woman screaming. Sure enough the following
night me and Elder Hess lay half asleep around 11 PM when we hear just the
scariest woman’s scream ever from behind our house. We both rolled over and
looked at each other terrified. We got up to go make sure the back door was
locked and whatever only for the scream to happen two or three more times right
outside our back porch... The next morning we went out there and found a
cracked skull with deer antlers sitting on our back lawn... Haha we have been
pretty scared ever since then. Also this week me and Elder Hess chased a coyote
away from our house in the car. Haha Arkansas is such a weird place.
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| A walk around the lake with Vonny Brant, Jocelyn, Elder Hess & Mikey |
Anyways a story that I know will
tug on the heart strings of all those moms back home that happen to read this
haha. My favorite person I have met so far on my mission is the sweetest old
lady you have ever met, Vonny! We found her because she is a recent convert and
her records for some reason got transferred from the Bentonville ward to ours.
So we stopped by and learned that her husband had died around 5 years ago.
After that she was in a deep depression she still battles. However, the
missionaries found her and baptized her in Bentonville about a year ago. Since
her baptism one day at her house she got very sick and fell. When she woke up
all she can remember is she was in the hospital. From there they moved her into
her son’s house who lives down the street from me and elder hess. Vonny has
lost everything and has been helpless for months. She is old and can’t really
move around much so everybody has been making decisions for her. When we found
her she was laying in a bed in a back room. She was so sad and depressed. The
house she is in is kind of crazy with the multiple chain smokers and cats and
parrots and multiple families living there. It is a big change from living in
her quiet home with her husband. Anyways me and Elder Hess held back tears as
Vonny broke down about how much her life has been flipped upside down. So
something we did for her recently was, with the help of an awesome member
family, carried her out of the house with her oxygen tanks and everything, got
a wheelchair and took her on a walk around the lake. It was the first time she
had been outside in fresh air in what she described around 4 or 5 months. My
heart was so broken for this old lady as I could not imagine having my life
turned upside down like that. As I pushed this sweet old lady in a wheelchair
around the lake I could feel so much love for her. It reminded me of my
grandmother who my sweet mother took such good care of in her later years of
life. Vonny just was so wide eyed as she felt some hope come back into her life
as she knows that the church is there to take care of her. I pushed her around
the two-mile path around the lake and it hit me super hard that life isn't
always about doing what you want. Often times on my mission I feel down and out
about whatever it is, but the spirit always reminds me through the sweet words
of what Vonny said as I asked her if she enjoyed the walk. she looked up at me
from her wheelchair and said, "Today was one of the happiest days of my
life, thank you so much boys I loved it very much." It made being out here
in seriously the strangest place in the whole world one of the happiest days of
my life. I love my mission so much and conference was awesome and I have so
much to say but I’ll just finish with a quote, "there is no growth in a
comfort zone, and there is no comfort in a growth zone." I am not at all
the kid I was when I left and I am so grateful!
love you all have a good week
peace out
