August 3, 2015 A Pretty Strange Week!!!!!

Hey Everyone,

So this week was very Strange! So to start off, at the beginning of Tuesday morning, we get the text from the Sisters in the District that Sister Holm, you know... the Bad A--. Well, her Dad passed away on Monday. So, all of us were really kind of just shell shocked. Then we realized, we had to face this girl in one hour. We didn't know what to say, how to act, or anything like that. I was the hymn chorister and I've never been more stressed in my life. How many times do I look at her? Do I look at her? Do I ask her to give the tune? Would that be rude? Would that be more rude to not have her give the tune? I was a nervous wreck trying to conduct up there. My District Leader was even more freaked out. He asked her to read a scripture and all of us in the back just gave a silent applause and just thought, "Man, that guys got guts!" It was just an hour and a half of avoiding the big elephant in the room. Then her companion got up and just announced that her companions Dad died and we should give a few words. If it wasn't awkward before... well my friends, it was at that moment. Especially since no one got up for like 1 minute. (I fought so hard not to laugh. I've always had a problem laughing at the worst situations!!!) But we all got up and gave our condolences. I got up and shared Ashton's experience and told her how he said it was the hardest week of his life. (Also, I have a way of making awkward situations even MORE awkward) She just started bawling. So, I thought I may have strung the wrong note there. But I've also lived with the idea that if you make a speech that make woman cry, you've done well. So... I'll leave it up to the reader to determine how I did. It's not as bad as another Sister who got up and started off by saying, "I'm going to start off with a joke." Then continued with how she had a dream in which her family died. The punchline? "My dream was fake. This right here, this is a reality." Freak. No one really laughed. The only noise came from Sister Holm and her tears. (What's funny? Her name is Sister Ben.)

Another weird thing that happened this week. For those who don't like mice, you will find this quite awesome. So, Wednesday night, I woke in the middle of the night startled by someone's feet shuffling outside. I was pretty surprised seeing that we live in a compound and it was four in the morning. I woke my companion and we realized that the shuffling was coming inside the room. He checked but couldn't find what made the problem. We went to sleep. When it was time to proselyte, my companion found that all of his shoelaces on his proselyting shoes, two pairs, were either cut or completely missing. All of them. We realized that a mouse had cut all of his shoelaces. We moved behind his wardrobe to find all of the shoelaces behind it, making a nest. As we moved the wardrobe, we saw the tail of the mouse slide under the wardrobe. So, we called in another elder, and closed the door. My companion in his vengeance declared that we wouldn't proselyte until we killed the mouse. So we grabbed knives and saws and bottles and prepared for the attack. We raised the wardrobe and the mouse just shot out and ran for my backpack. In that moment, I was in the prime position to attack. But, I cannot confirm or deny that I was jumping around screaming my freaking head off. I may have lost respect in my companions eyes. I was laughing and scared at the same time. With those emotions, you can't really say much. We moved the backpack and it ran under the bed. We couldn't find it for five minutes. We scoured everything. Everything but... my suitcase. Elder Wadsworth looks inside and see's it running around and hiding behind my stuff. Why me??? So we move it all and he jumps out and runs under the wardrobe again. We lift it and it runs my way. Now was my time for redemption. I take a Coke Bottle and hit it as hard as I could. It flipped in the air. As it landed, it tried to struggle but I beat it five more times. REDEMPTION!!! Such great experiences! Well, Love you All. Hope you all are doing well. 

Love

Elder Treadway