Ouch

Ahoy everyone! So bad news. I hurt my back hahah. I was exercising Wednesday morning and my back kinda popped and stuff. So I haven't been able to walk for a few days haha. Well. I can walk. It just hurts really bad. But it's getting better. I can walk now without it hurting at all. But it still feels like if I do too much then it'll break so. One of the members here is a chiropractor. So I'm gonna go see him tomorrow. Pretty sweet. But uhh. Yeah at district council I knowledged everyone with my scripture powers. So that was good. We had dinner with a member and they forgot they were feeding us hahah. But we got to go to mugshots so it was good. They have really good burgers. After that we met a lady named Ashley and gave her a BOM. Shes seems really interested. But she don't know much. But after wednesday i just died pretty much. We went to the esplins later though. That was rough. I was pushin through the pain. On friday we saw anna grace. My back wasn't too bad then so it didn't hurt too much. But I've been laying down a lot. Super dumb. Sunday i got a blanket from one of the members haha. It's super cool. She's a really nice old lady and she made it to be like Utah State colors and stuff. We went to the Spiers after and they are awesome. Bro Spiers is the chiropractor so he gonna fix me up. After that since my back still wasn't too good we walked to sister currys house. Cuz i couldn't really bike. So that was fun. It had just rained so my shoes have a lot of grass stuck to them. Cuz the south doesn't have sidewalks. Just ditches. So we walked along the ditches haha. But we read Mosiah 24 which is a really good chapter. It talks about Alma and a man named Amulon who put all of Almas people under taskmasters and put them to labor and stuff. But Almas people started to pray to be able to get through it and Amulon was like Nope. If you pray you're gonna be put to death. But God heard the prayer in their hearts and delivered them out and it's super cool.

Mosiah 24:13-14

13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

 Super cool. But uhh yeah. Cool stuff. There will probably be more stuff next week because I'll be able to move and stuff. So yeah. I'm doing alright. I'll talk to ya'll next week. Seee ya.

Elder Checketts

Hurricane Barry

HELLO. So there's a hurricane and stuff. The death toll hit about 3,000 the other day. It's been wild. But anyways it's been fine here. JK haha nobody has died. It's just a tropical storm. 

They evacuated a bunch of zones so we got to have 4 elders from New Orleans in our apartment. That was actually really fun. We got to visit a bunch of members this week and it's been awesome. We had steaks at the Bishops house and they gave me a huge steak. Probably a few pounds or something. But I ate it haha. We got to teach a guy named charles who is super legit. We gave him a pamphlet like when i first got here and he told us like the entire restoration with Joseph Smith. We thought he was gonna give us anti but he told us like the actual restoration based on what he knew. So he was really cool. We'll have to try to convince him to change. When the New Orleans elders came over, we went and ate at canes. Then after that we drove by the temple baptist church. It's huge. They teach a lot of anti so they're punks but. Yep. We had a zone conference. We took 2 priests and the New Orleans elders too. It was pretty sweet. We talked about how we always have joy through christ. But we don't always have happiness. So joy and happiness are different. Such as: If someone you know who was very sick died, you would have joy because of the gospel, but you would be sad because they died and stuff. I gave a talk on Sunday. I got quite a few compliments hehehe. But I basically just told my farewell talk but shook it up a bit. So that was cool. We thought church was going to be cancelled because of the storm. But we got it. But uhhhh. That's about it. This week has felt like an eternity. Time has been super weird. Like fast and slow then fast and back to slow. So yeah. We're at the library again so I'll just send another email with pictures. So uhhh. Yep. Gotta Blast.

Elder Checketts

Mississippi Time

Line of trees for the power lines

Ahoy everyone. I am here in Mississippi and it's all good. Alright. See ya.

Swagger

Okay so I'm in oak grove now and it's actually super awesome. The ward has been really nice and welcoming. Theres quite a bit of work to be done here but everyone has been awesome. My new companion Elder Snarr has been super cool. We have a lot of things that we relate with so it has been easy getting along with him hahah. Its been a long time so I'm just gonna kinda quick summarize everything. 

Cool View of Oak Grove water tower

So transfers happened and it was awesome to be able to see a bunch of missionaries from the mtc that I haven't for a while. We talked and it was super cool. I met elder snarr and loaded my stuff into the car. It was a long car ride about 2 and a half hours to get to oak grove. We met with the district and had lunch with each other. It was kind of awkward cuz I didn't know anyone yet. Except turns out sister Allen from the mtc is in my district hahaha. Pretty lit. But yeah. The new apartment is waaaaay nicer than the last one. We actually have more than 1 bathroom and it is indeed a blessing. We didn't have anything to eat really Haha. We made do with ramen and oatmeal most if the time. I made some pasta and threw some stuff in it. Turned out pretty good. So that was cool Haha. We exercise in the mornings and take protein. Soon I'll be humongous....in the muscular way. Cuz I'm already 20 pounds heavier than before. And that ain't muscle lemme tell ya. But soon it will be. We had district council on Friday. It was pretty fun actually. As I've gotten to know everyone more I've been more comfortable being myself and it's been fun. We went to a hibachi place after and had some good ol food stuff. They had a sauce called "yum yum sauce". It was pretty yummy. We later went out to a hole in the wall restaurant that's basically just a house Haha. It was super good. They have all kinds of BBQ stuff. 

Me and a dog I walked at the shelter

So Saturday now. We went biking a whole bunch and golly. Mississippi actually has hills. Louisiana is flat as can be but man these hills. They'll get ya. It feels like I biking twice as far because it's up now. But uhh we went to church Sunday and that was cool as usual. We went to the 2nd councilors house for lunch after and he is awesome. All the members here are funny and cool Haha. So it's been sweet to meet them. We have a super cool investigator named miss whitney. Also something I should mention is that like 90% of the people we are teaching are black which is sick. So whenever I talk about someone it's probably a black person. How cool is that? Anyways. She is actually on the verge of baptism. Soooo close. We just need to meet her a little bit more and she could totally be put on date. So that's super sweet. 

Monday we met a girl named Jaslyn who they have taught before. She was super nice Haha. She said that if I'm cool enough I can earn a 'black card' which is a card that i can show people in the hood and then they won't mess with me. So that's super sweet. We later met with the Esplins and had dinner with them. The dad went to Jamaica on his mission so we were reading from the jamaican new testament and it's super funny. You have to read out loud or it doesnt make any sense haha. We also taught a girl who is on date with the sisters which was pretty neat. So yeah. 

Pine trees everywhere

We apparently go to the dog shelter every Tuesday and walk dogs. It was super cool but some dogs are wild. Like I had to run cuz they just kept going it was wild. Later we met the careys and they are super cool. Like a super artistic fam. The dad does graphic design and has a ton of cool stuff all around the house. I'm low key thinking about doing that now. I took graphic design in high school and it was really fun. So maybe who knows. We talked about captain Moroni and zarahemnah with them. Captain Moroni is just a straight up legend. Make sure yall read about him. 

Yesterday we had district council a d then went to a restaurant called "dis and dem". They make burgers and hot dogs and they are super good. We got to see Jaslyn again and taught about the plan of salvation and she was pretty much in tears but she had to go so it was good but we needed more time. 

And uhh today was finally p day. I've waited so long. Jk. But we needed groceries super bad hahah. So now were alright. Umm. We went shopping with the Spanish elders and then went to hardeez. Or Carl's jr. Those guys are super funny though. We quote batman and other movies a lot Haha. Pretty fun. We went to the church and played some board games and called home and stuff. After that we went to members and ate. We talked about the title of liberty with Captain Moroni for the 4th of July. I'm telling ya captain Moroni is super sick. But yeah. 

So Mississippi has been super awesome. Not as humid but still really hot hahaha. It rains a ton but it's not super heavy and slimy like Louisiana. So it's nice Haha. But uhh yeah. Life is good. I'll talk again on Monday so. The next episode of Elder Checketts is coming soon. See yall later 

Elder Checketts 

P day again

Pic from last week

Countryside

Howdy! I'm at the public library today haha. So i wrote an email like a few days ago so uhh. not much has happened since. Time has been going by so fast that I don't really remember whats happened hah. But uhh I'll try.

So on friday we did our car trade pretty much. We are in a car share like in Denham so we trade the car every few days. The spanish elders get it on the weekends and we get it on the weekdays. It works out pretty well I think. We did a whole bunch of weekly planning and stuff. I can't remember if we saw anyone but I made baked ziti and that stuff is wicked good. 

Inside the apartment

Saturday we did a ton of biking and that was awful. We helped the Careys move their friend out of his house and that was super cool. Brother Carey is the dopest guy. After that we showered and junk. We biked a few miles to this lady's house and started to teach her and then she flipped out because her son was bothering her and got super mad. I got kinda mad because we were mid lesson and she just freaked out and walked inside. Super dumb. We biked a million miles over to Jaslyn and actually got to teach her for a bit. We're gonna go over the whole restoration again because i don't think she understands it. After her we biked the million miles back and talked with Whitney. She could totally be baptized but she lives with someone she isn't married to. So that's a problem. But she knows that so it's weird. She's been meeting with missionaries for like 4 years. It was rough biking though. It was around 100 degrees and i was soaked. I tried wiping my face off and it did nothing. Because my hands were soaked too. Like holy guacamole. You would think it was pouring rain if you saw me. Also i caught a huge cockroach. Probably the most brave thing I've ever done. I got a cup and a paper and caught it in there. Those things are fast! I was screaming the whole time. Mainly because I was about to get in the shower and bop. There it was. Freakin gross. 

Yesterday was fast sunday. I almost died. Eating is like the best thing ever. Also. There's a breakfast cereal called 'Honey Ohs' and it is the best. But we got to go over to the Tolberts. They are super awesome. We had like this sweet pork stuff on rice. Real good. There is a ton more BBQ up north here than south in louisiana. I miss Jambalaya already. But all the BBQ stuff is super good too haha. 

Well that's today's episode. I'm at the library so i won't be sending any pictures this week. But maybe I'll put them on facebook or something. IDK. We're still taking protein and working out in the morning. My belly is shrinking and its so dope. Soon I'll be HUGE. I hope at least. But uhh. Yeah. Something cool I guess is that people will say my name right here. No more Chiclets hahah. For now at least. I haven't run into anyone who has called me anything weird yet. They either ask how to say it or they get it. So that's cool haha. I've been cooking a lot here too. I think i'm getting pretty good at it. But uh. Yeah. That's about it. Gotta Blast.

Elder Checketts