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  • Austin left on his mission:
    10 years, 9 months, 9 days, 16 hours, 41 minutes, 28 seconds ago

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Journeys in Springfield

 

Alright everyone, I’ve been here in Springfield for a whole week now. And boy. Do. I. Have. Stories.

Eugene and Springfield from Mount Pisgah

Eugene and Springfield from Mount Pisgah

The Eugene area was interesting the last time I was here, but I’m realizing that there is no standardized culture of Eugene. The culture is different from person to person; the culture is to be as weird or unique as possible. So it creates some interesting stories.

There was one lady we met with who had been meeting with the missionaries for awhile and was close to being baptized, but recently the issue had come up that she may have been an excommunicated member. Well she didn’t have any recollections of ever even being a member….so yeah. So we pulled her records, and blam! She’s actually still a member in full fellowship. So there you go. No baptism for us, but one of our “investigators” became a member.

Another woman we met with came out to us on her porch so depressed she was distraught. She kept telling us how she had no friends and she was ugly and she cried herself to sleep every night….it was bad. She is in a bad spot financially, has no job, and has a criminal record which makes finding a decent job difficult. She gets so discouraged and scared that she hasn’t even found it in her to go apply for jobs. So we spent about an hour just convincing her to read a scripture with us, then we read parts of Alma chapter 36 with her. We were able to talk to her about finding joy despite our circumstances. We talked to her for a long time, but eventually she was able to pick herself up and resolve to try writing up her resumĂ© again. She also said she’d finish Alma 36.

We also taught a guy, who is a rapper, but his thing is that he raps for Jesus! He even has a tattoo on his right arm that’s captioned, “Black Jesus”. He lent us a couple of his CDs (surprisingly professionally done) and they don’t swear at all and they’re all about being a good disciple and Christ and stuff. I’ll have to send a copy home. He honestly is a super awesome dude, and he calls us his brothers in Christ.

We did get to teach a pretty awesome couple, though. Mmm…well…I say “couple”, but they’re actually just a man and a woman living together as roommates who sleep in separate bunk beds. They’re recovering alcoholics, too. But the girl actually referred herself through the internet after researching the church for awhile. She already seems ready to be baptized, but she basically told us when we met with her to teach to the guy she’s living with because she would like him to know what she does. They’re both super humble people, though, and they both came to church this week.

Man, this week has been hard mentally. I’ve been trying to learn the ward, all the people in the teaching pool, and how to function as a district leader since I’ve never done it before. To top it all, I had my old trainer and current AP, Elder Argyle, sit in on my first district meeting. That was…intimidating. But hey, I survived! And I’m doing alright :) Hopefully I can hear from all of you soon. Have an awesome week!

Elder Rushton – Missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

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