What Was That Again?: In Which We Discover the Best Way to Get Paint Out of Carpet and Brother Beckett Thinks That Small Reptiles at the Dinner Table is Hilarious

It's hot in Texas. I'm not sure if anyone was aware of that, but it's a real thing. It's a good thing I'm so tough or this biking thing would be really difficult.

This week was pretty good. Lots of service, lots of sweat, and a few miracles. I'm content - for the most part. We're still working on getting some new investigators, but that's an ongoing process. We're getting there.

Remember Tara? She's still one of my favorite people on the planet, just in case you were wondering. She has been formally passed on to the YSA Sisters (let's not talk about it,) and that formal passing was done by way of painting. Tara's room has been lime green, hot pink, and zebra striped since her pre-teen days, and she decided that enough was enough and she was going to repaint it. We, being the excellent, service-minded Sisters that we are, offered our services and the services of the YSA Sisters in hopes that we could all bond and have a good time and make the transition less terrible. We went over on Tuesday and started, and then went back on Wednesday to help some more.

Now, you need to understand that none of us really knew what we were doing, with the exception of Sister Andreason, who actually did know what she was doing. We followed her advice for the most part. On Wednesday, however, I was doing some very nice edge painting when I heard gasps and exclamations from the other side of the room. Sister Andreason, poor Sister Andreason, had somehow spilled more than half of the can of dark gray paint onto Tara's cream colored carpet. It was kind of a disaster. However, we did learn the best way to get paint out of carpet - find instructions here:

1. Spill paint on carpet

- Not necessarily the best idea ever, but sometimes things happen.

2. Be a missionary at an investigator's house

- This will instigate the "miracle" portion of the process. It's very essential, seeing as the great disparity between dark gray paint and cream carpet necessitate serious miracle-age.

3. Scoop excess paint into paint can

- You can do it with your hands. Try not to despair - try being the operative word.

4. Ask Mr. Google for help

- He's so smart

5. Use butter knives to scrape even more excess paint out of carpet
- It sounds odd, but it works. I promise.

6. Pull up carpet and stuff blankets underneath

- In preparation for the next step

7. Work together with Dawn, your new best friend, and warm water to give the carpet a nice massage

- Sister Andreason said that it makes your hands super soft. She did it for about an hour, so she'd know.

8. Spend the rest of your life wondering how in the world you got the paint out of that carpet.

- Miracle. Mir. A. Cle.

It was quite the adventure. She was a really good sport about it, and as far as I know, they're still teaching her.

We're not teaching too many people right now - and by that, I mean that we're not teaching too many people that I'm all that hopeful about. That sounds negative - I do not mean it that way. There are people who you meet that you just feel are ready to accept the gospel. Sometimes, though, there are people who are interested, but they may not be entirely ready to accept the gospel right now. Your job is to do the best you can, whether or not you're going to be the ones to baptize them. John and KJ are very much in that boat. Both have pretty big road blocks in their way - KJ's is his wife, and John's is the fact that he thinks way too much into things and talks so... much. We are trying to figure out what they need, and we're doing all we can, and that's all we can ask.

Leyla and fam are doing well, but not at the same time. Whitney, their seven year-old, has picked up mono somehow, and it's just the saddest thing of all time. Leyla is quite exhausted, which is normal for a woman with 7 children, one of which is an infant, another has mono, and another two are 2 year-old twin boys. Even for all of that, she still amazes me with how calm she is. We met with her and retaught her the Restoration, and she has really been thinking about things - more than I thought she had been. She read from the Book of Mormon, and said she'd read again. Our concern right now is that Jace is turning a little bit to the cold side, but we're working with him.

Brother Beckett update of the week -

The Becketts have us over for dinner yesterday. (It was tasty dinner, just fyi.) He told me where to sit, which is normal in member homes, we sat down and prayed, and Sister Priddis offered to go fill up my glass with orange drink. On the way there, she yelped a little bit. I would too, if there was a gecko in the cup I was holding.

Brother Beckett put a gecko in my cup.

He was really upset that she ruined it for him - he found it in the sink and "Couldn't let it go to waste," so naturally, he put it in the Sister Missionaries' glass at the dinner table. He thinks that he's just the cleverest thing.

We had transfer calls last night, but they were really boring. Both of us knew that we were staying here - we've only been here for 3 weeks, we white washed, and Sister Priddis goes home in a month and a half. It's odd after the past few crazy transfers thinking that I'll probably be here for another 3 months - I like it. Except that it's hot, and I'm on a bike. Yuck.

The work goes on. That's the way I like it.

Have a great week!

Loveth,

Elder Larsen made a tower of chairs. It was pretty cool, I won't lie.