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You Know You’re a Mormon in a Small Town….

Elder Austin Rushton and Elder Campbell

Elder Rushton and Elder Campbell

So as I was reporting to my family this week on what was happening, I mentioned to them that my companion hit a quail with a rock, and I couldn’t help but think to myself, “You know you’re in a small town when one of the highlights of your week is seeing someone else hit a quail with a rock.” So for my email this week, I’m going to just report a few other ways I know I’m in a small town.

You know you’re a Mormon in a small town…
1)When another highlight of your week is seeing your companion hit a deer in the face with a rock
2)If you stop occasionally to watch the local farmers shoot the ground squirrels from 100 yards away
3)When you help someone move something and everyone in town mentions it to you
4)If people are glad just to talk to someone new in town, even the missionaries of another church
5)If everything in stores is twice as expensive as anywhere else
6)If you call squishing things on the train tracks a recreational activity
7)If an intersection only gets crowded when someone calls 911
8)When the Sheriff calls you back if you pocket dial 911 even for a second
9)If searching lds.org for funny pictures is a hobby of yours
10)When going out of town entails at least a half hour drive
11)When the town’s best cuisine is called “awful” by someone visiting you
12)When there are more cows around than there are people
13)If deer roam the streets in herds of 10-15
14)When you count chasing deer as an acceptable form of fun
15)When the town goes to bed at 7:00.
16) If pushing a large, loose boulder off of a tall hill starts to seem like a great idea

So there are some insights for you!

We’ve been tracting and contacting basically all day every day. All our lessons but one this week were out in the other branch we cover—Cedarville—and were arranged by the branch mission leader there. This was my first time going there to teach, and it was a lot of fun! I guess the missionaries in the past have gone weekly. But Cedarville literally has only one street with a few small shops on it. The rest is just some small houses; none of them too far from that one main road, except for a few houses that people would only move to to get
away from everyone.

We did get our new 32 GB iPads this week at Zone Conference! So that was cool. But I’ve had to reload everything onto it again, which is not so fun. But hey, at least we have them!

I also gave a talk in sacrament meeting this week. They asked me to just talk about how I gained a testimony and some of my experiences on my mission, so I had a great opportunity to reflect on where it all started for me. I realized how important it was for me to have had my family teach me all they did so early on, e.g., my mom showed me when I was very little that prayer could help me if I had a bad dream or was scared. Those are the experiences that I decided were really the foundation of a testimony for me. If I hadn’t learned that prayers worked or how to pray, where would I be now?

That’s about all I’ve got this week! Thanks for reading everyone!

Elder Rushton—Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

1 comment to You Know You’re a Mormon in a Small Town….

  • LeAnn Rushton

    I loved your letter! I was raised in a small farming community with one store. The main two topics to talk about were cows and sports. ( Well-listening in on the party phone line if anyone called us). We had our siblings and cousins for friends. Our grade school was the one my Dad went to–one class of each grade. Your letter brought back some of these memories. I enjoyed reading it. We are so proud of you and the good work that you are doing! We love you and pray for you always! Take and enjoy!
    Uncle Darrel and Aunt LeAnn

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