A Week of Change

Elder Whittingham and I with Pres. & Sister Jensen

My loaf of bread! Put that on the Resume!

From:  Elder Austin Ipson
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2011 9:28 AM 

The six month mark is coming!  This week!  I really can't believe I've been away from home that long!  Granted a chunk of my time away was in the MTC, but time has flown.  Now as for this 7 week transfer thing...  That can make things a little long.  I don't know if I have filled you in on why we are having it.  You may know that we are getting a new Mission President this July. President Jensen will be leaving us, and President Nilsen will come to fill his place.  So to give President Nilsen a bit more time to get things out before transfers a week has been added to this transfer.  That means the following transfer will be 5 weeks.  It's weird, because it is week 5 of this transfer, but we still have roughly two weeks until we get transfer calls.  Interesting stuff.

Now the real change is this new president.  Last week we had our last Specialized Training with President Jensen.  He really went out with a bang with his final discourse to us!  He really emphasized that it is the mindset that makes a missionary, and the person.  He read us part of a study by Harvard that says most employers now look for employees with a stronger mindset than skillset.  I'm going to tackle this mindset.  My Spanish is still... Blech, but I need to go in with a stronger mentality of things.  Right now, I think that's what's holding me back.

I do have to thank you for the big package of stuff!  I was expecting that in a couple of weeks, but to see it in front of our apartment door was a good surprise!  I was really just telling you how great that Dryel stuff is.  I didn't expect to get a transfer and a half's worth of stuff!  My slacks will be smellin' good these next few transfers.  Thank you for the suit as well.  It is nice to have some thing that has some pinstripes.  I really wanted it so I could have a "President Suit".  That way I can go to church and see President Nilsen in something that doesn't look quite so hammered.  I was doing that with my suit and that brown pair of pants, but now I'm down a pair.  (I believe Adrian's has a lot in my name, rather than a number).  Now there is a downside to the "President Suit".  It has no buffer room for weight gain!  When I put on the pants it was like Mr. Incredible in one of the first trailers for The Incredibles.  I had to suck it in pretty good.  After that day I've been hitting up the pickles more often; rather than the candy Sister Vane sent me...

Really work is plodding along.  We haven't had the best week.  We had one lesson a day.  Normally we can get around 14-20 lessons a week, but we go by people and they insisted on moving their lessons back a week.  Aye, stuff like this can drive a missionary crazy! 

That sums up the week!  I'll be putting my shoulder to the wheel this coming week, and maybe I'll have a better update on investigators. 

Para Siempre,

Elder A. Ipson
The Great Ohio Columbus Mission

Rain+Bike+200lb Missionary=.....

Elder Austin Ipson
12 Randolph Ct., Apt 102
Fairfield, OH 45014-4383

Well this week was filled up with more giggles than anything else!  I'll start off with the poob sauce that I sent Dad for Fathers day (En las palabras de Presidente Maya; El dia de los jefes).  That sauce is part of a series, and each of us sent off a hot sauce to our Dads.  Elder Ramsey sent of "Ultra Death".  In Elder Ramsey's email his dad said it had him pacified for over a half an hour, and he can take the sauce!  So be grateful I sent you this sauce to do the tough man challenge!  I eat stuff that's mas picante than that!  At some houses we are expected to just eat pickled Jalapenos.  That was mostly in Columbus though.

Now you are probably wondering about the subject line.  Well the time came.  I took my spill on the bike!  Elder Ragan and I were on exchanges, and we were just starting our way out of the complex.  I'm sure you've google mapped our complex, and saw that it is a nice down hill.  Mid way down in the more circular part of the the road down to Dixie Highway, we decided to go the back way out of the parking lot.  I gave it some brake, and commenced to U-turn.  The factor I didn't take into all of this, is that it had rained a bit that morning and that the road was a bit damp.  So midway through the u-turn my bike kicked out from under me!  By the time I realized what was going on, I realized a bail-out would do more damage.  So I clung to that bike for dear life as I scooted across the pavement a good eight feet.  When the dust settled I waited for that surge of pain to surge through my body... I waited, and waited, waited some more... It didn't come!  I came out with a few scratches on my right wrist, left elbow, and knee.  The best part was I didn't even get road rash!  The real damage was in my slacks.  I've got a decent sized hole in them now.  So I'll do my best to patch it up, and they'll only come out on fish-gutting days!  (If you can remember that e-mail from my 1st transfer) 

This bike area is taking a decent toll on my slacks.  Fortunatly Elder Wittingham showed me Dryel.  It's an in-dryer dry cleaning.... thing...  It's beend doing a good job of getting the smell out of my pants!  I just need to shell out the money sometime and get them pressed.

With this pair of slacks out of commision; the system is thrown off.  I remembered that I have that old grey suit in my closet.  I think it wants to come to Ohio to finish it's life!  It think that would be the cheapest solution if you could flat rate that to me rather than bust out the cash to get new brown slacks.

I want you to save money because I really need to mooch....  Kronk (my good ol' Trek) is in need of some "Pedros", and all we have in the apartment is WD-40.  It's a good fix but the other Elders are fighting the gunk that builds up in a couple days.  I don't want to commit to it, but I just can't find a place that sells decent lube.  Help with that would be great!

In my last transfer I kinda left my Spanish-English Dictionary......  it's been a bit harder to study without it, so a replacement would be glorious!  It's the same one that is in Doug's room (At Grandma's houses) it has a chicken on it!) it was a very good dictionary.  So if you could find something like that.  Well that would be awesome!

Now just to more thing I would love to have!  I have a Burgandy Solid Silk tie in my closet, could you send that as well?  Then, Elder Ramsey and I were craving real homemade bread, could you get me a reciepe too? 

I feel like such a mooch right now....  But the gospel is true!

Right now we are still trying to find good solid investigators.  This few weeks have been difficult.  We have a lot of potentials, but those potentials give us the shaft, so we keep on looking!  Elder Whittingham is still doing great for going home in 4 weeks.  Although it's starting to click that the plane ride is soon.  I hope he can hold it together when he gets his trunky papers!

More and more, my favorite time of the day is personal study.  Right now my "theme" is the christ-like attributes.  It's been that way for a while, but I really think that is the most crucial thing for us, as members of the Church.  That's what we are trying to be.  The primary song says it best.  "I'm trying to be like Jesus".  That is the simplest doctrine, yet the most crucial!  That is our whole plan here on the earth.  To follow the example of our Older Brother.  To be more like our Savior!  I can't wait to embark on this new study I've conjured up this moring, and I especially can't wait to tell you how it went!  Now time is running low, because I spent a good bunch of my time trying to mooch, so I'll start the letter to President Jensen.

Much Love, Para Simpre,

Elder A. Ipson

The Great Ohio Columbus Mission

P.S. Sorry for no photos.... :P

P.S.S. Happy B-day Goooozawits!

My lack of ability to think up a whitty subject line....

First rule of obedience. The hair.... Needs more Gel!

Not too much to report about this week.  I'm sure if I were to look in my journal I'd find some pretty good stuff, but this week, well... Not much happened.  As you know I had to head into the Dentist this past week.  It was a non-event.  I went in fill out some paper work.  Got my toothed filled & polished. The situation wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  Afterwards I gave them the insurance cards (Because I can't remember what the little codes meant)  & Elder Whittingham & I went on our way!  Yeah!  I feel like a flop on the reporting side of this.  Especially after the David Letterman count-down last week!

Really this week has been rather slow.  All of the people that we wanted to see.  We didn't get to see.  It was a week of work, without visible success.  On the other hand this forced us to go finding.  With the resources we had we did the best we could to find.  Hopefully all of the future investigators we have, turn into solid investigators.  Really all we have right now are...  Well eternal investigators.  It's time to get the work restarted here in Miami River 1.

I'm sure Dad remembers the days when he was in a bike area.  Coming home, drenched with sweat, just wanting to pass out rather than plan the next day.  Yeah, this area is kicking my slacks!  After taking care of the tire after that flat, It seems I've been chasing ghosts out of the bike.  fortunately it's come down to adjusting the rear disc brake.  One day I shall conquer it!

Although I must inform you of one of our activities that we will be doing today.  As of late we've really had a thing for Hot Sauce.  Now the time has come to produce some of our own!  So today's activity will be going down to "Jungle Jim's" and going in on some Habenero plants!  That's right T!  We're throwing down the Spicy Stuff!  I can't wait to get experimenting! 

Already P-day looks like a good chance to gasp our breath, and realize better weeks are to come.  It all relies on our obedience.  I've really seen that with the move to a 4-pad.  So much more can happen if we are simply obedient!

So in other words be good!

Para Siempre,

Elder A. Ipson

The Great Ohio Columbus Mission

Top 10 Reasons why going to the Dentist is fun as a missionary!

10. If the appointment falls through then we can tract the surrounding area!

9. In the waiting room I can read the Liahona in Spanish.  Forget Sports Illustrated

8. Alma 7 has a new meaning afterwards.

7. When the Dentist blinds me with the overhead light; I can practice the first vision!

6. I can learn the Spanish word for ouch.

5. I can mooch medical miles from the Mission office!

4. Talking to the Dentist about blessings of the gospel

3. Finding out you don't have to get a root-canal.

2. Getting trunky as I talk to the Dentist about home.

1. I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head!

Cool swamp in Fairfield

The next two photos are to rub into Tanner's face
because "they" mixed up his plates.

This is the Zuniga family. The parents are going on Saturday to be endowed and sealed.
I hope that we can weasel a way up to Columbus to go see them. They are amazing!

Elder Austin Ipson
12 Randolph Ct., Apt 102
Fairfield, OH  45014-4383

So there comes a time in the mission where you find out... Well bad things do happen to missionaries!  A couple weeks ago I was eating some pretzels, and i took a bite out of one, and the pretzel broke weird.  Some of it got inbetween my teeth so I went to floss.I got somes stuff out but It still felt like there was some stuff in there, but I didn't care to much because we had a lesson to go to.  So time passed & I didn't realize that I got used to this feeling.  Last week while flossing my floss fell into an unknown crevace in my 2nd to last molar.  I realized then that I had a cracked tooth, and that I needed to get it fixed.  I was cleaning it out the best I could, but as I was doing this, it chipped off.  This isn't the bad part.  It uncovered I nice hole in the tooth behind it!  These past couple of days I've had some sensitive teeth.  Tomorrow I go in to get it fixed.  Hopefully I don't need much more than a filling.

In other medical news Elder Ramsey had a fun experience yesterday.  As he and Elder Ragan were coming into the complex, (on their bikes) Elder Ramsey's back tire was clipped by a car.  It was enough to send Elder Ramsey flying, yet to land on his feet.  He is fine, but the peeving part is that the car that hit him drove off without a word.  Eeeesh....  Elder Ramsey is perfectly fine.  He called Pres. Jensen just to let him know what went down.  Pres. Jensen told him to take it easy today.  Elder Ramsey has been trying to get this card to work, but none of us are buying it.  Elder Ramsey is such a nut!

I've been hammered these past two days.  Since we have a car only half of the time, obviously we're on bikes.  The problem is, that the Hispanics are a half an hour out from our apartment.  Not including the humid heat, it...is.... hard... Blech...  Fortunatly there is work to do.  It's just a matter of getting there.  Oh yeah!  My first week here my tire blew out!  So I had to go buy some tubes and stuff.  It cost me $41.41.  My tire is huge!  So tubes automatically cost more.  But it's a pretty smooth ride!

Things are coming together though.  One of our "Eternals" is only steps away from the font.  Wilber, has been waiting for some papers to come from Mexico so he can be married to his Member Wife.  (Yes they are breaking the law of Chastity), but they've been waiting for this paper for quite a while.  I know missionaries have been going for a couple years, so... Yeah... I'm just going to get them married!  We are waiting for an agency to get just a little bit more info.  It's just a matter of time now!

Lessons have been down this past week.  We had a total of 8 lessons.  This no car thing is taking a toll on the area. Hopefully we become awesome planners, and things work out.

I love you all Para Siempre,

Elder A. Ipson

The Great Ohio Columbus Mission