Hello!
Holy
this week was nuts....So
I'll just jump right into things since I dont' have too much time. We
got transfer calls! I will be staying here, and I am going to train a
new missionary again! By myself this time (: I'm excited. I will be
staying District Leader. Elder Spencer will be going to Simi Valley.
Apparently
the Elders from a ward in our district met the singer of a band called
Panic! At the Disco.... I'm so jealous. I'm pretty sure at least Keith
knows who they are. But yeah so that was cool!
Okay.
Here is the crazy part. I'll give you the short version........ Here we
go.
So our ZLs went on a
blitz with us this past week. That is where they come to our area and
all four of us go tract somewhere or go to appointments, etc. So Elder
Spencer and Elder Reese went to go tract a street that Elder Spencer and
I chose out the night before. So we decided to exchange for 30 minutes.
Elder Kleinman and I worked for 30 minutes, and we wait for a couple
minutes... they don't show up. So we start tracting another street. Time
starts ticking by.... 45 minutes after they were supposed to pick us up
we get a phone call about a drunk guy and they would be there soon....
what?? so about 30 minutes after that they finally pick us up, and they
are trying to explain what had happened.... I was so confused.
Apparently they tracted into a guy, and gave them a regular reaction to
missionaries (I was raised in a christian home, I love Christ, Not
interested, etc.) and he just started bawling when they were talking to
him. He was super drunk and
the night before he had gotten drunk and beaten his fiance (and it
wasn't the first time) . No bueno... His 18-year-old son called the cops
on him and they came and he spent the night in jail. Somebody bailed him
out of jail that morning and he was just a wreck. His fiance was gone.
So they talked to him a little bit and tried to comfort him. They
checked his house to make sure he didn't have any more alcohol, and he
didn't because he drank it all. Then they made him promise not to drive
anywhere. So that's when they picked us up, and we exchanged back then
Elder Spencer and I went and got some In'n'out because we hadn't had
dinner yet. I was about to park in the In'n'out parking lot to eat our
food, but Elder Spencer said that we should go park in front of his
house to make sure he doesn't/didn't leave. So we drove there, and ate
our food, and just before we were finished we see his garage open
up..... we see him walk out and hop in his van. NO! So I jumped out
yelling to him and waving my arms (I probably looked like a weirdo) and
he almost hit me when he was backing out, but he saw me next to his
driver window just about he drove off, then he pulled back in the
driveway and got out...... That was a close one. It was no coincidence
that we were there at that time. He was still pretty drunk. We found out
that he was going to buy a burger from In'n'out because he hadn't eaten
for a long time... I then felt pretty bad for just scarfing down a
double-double (: haha. But we go back inside with him, and this guy is
just a wreck.... he was crying and talking to us about all of this.
Then..... the fiance walked in.... We are pretty sure she was drunk too.
She had packed up her car and was coming back to the house to get a
couple more things. She started screaming and yelling the nastiest, most
vulgar things at him for 30 minutes straight, which felt like hours. He
didn't say anything, he just looked down the whole time. I was
terrified..... I didn't know what to do. The only way I could describe
how I felt was spiritually cold. The spirit was completely gone. I
didn't know what to do.... so I just dropped to my knees and started
praying, pleading with Heavenly Father to calm things down and to bring
the spirit back.... at just about that time, Elder Spencer said to her,
"[Name], I think it would be best if you left." Then he kneeled down and the man followed. Then she went upstairs, and sat at the
top stair. After I felt things had calmed down a bit, I opened my eyes
and sat back on his couch. Then he pulled out his phone and started
playing some christian rock music. And they were actually really good
songs, and that helped the spirit come back a little bit. Then I don't
remember how, but earlier before she came, it came up that I played
guitar, so he went and grabbed his guitar and told me to play
something.... so I said a little prayer on what I should play, and I
felt like I should play Nearer my God to Thee. So I did, and by this
point, both the man and his fiance were bawling. She came down and
joined us. They told me to play another song, so I played "Hero" By
Abandon. And like right in the middle of the song they like started
cuddling.... and kissing... it was soooooo awkward! and knowing my
immature self, I almost started laughing right in the middle of the song
haha (: But yeah, to shorten it up a bit, we left that night, and the
spirit was somewhat back. They weren't yelling at each other at all, so
that was a miracle in and of itself. Then we decided to go back the next
day to check up on them..... Not a good idea. He was sober that day,
but I guess earlier that morning she went to her Yoga class, and got
completely hammered afterwards. So she was sitting in her car around the
corner just completely belligerent from being drunk. He found her in
her car, and he drove her back to their house, and he carried her up to
their bed and she just passed out. he unpacked her car and washed all of
the clothes she had in there. A couple hours later is when we got
there. We had a lesson with him and he told us that he felt lost, and we
told him that we had been sent by God to help him come back to Christ.
He said that he really believed that we were sent by God, and he was
planning on coming to church, and everything. Then..... His fiance woke
up... still drunk. She comes down and starts yelling at us right in the
middle of our closing prayer, and she wouldn't stop. So we got up and
started walking out the door, and he was telling us that he'd see us on
Sunday, but she starts yelling at him to give her keys back, because he
took them while she was passed out. He wouldn't give them back to her,
and she was like begging us to stay and help her find her keys because
she was convinced that he was going to kill her that night. We kept
telling her that we didn't know where they were, but that wasn't good
enough for her. She was not letting us go until she got her keys. So he
gave her keys back, so we tried to sneak out and we got to our car and
started driving away. While that was happening she goes to her car and
finds that everything she has packed is no longer in there.... She was
FURIOUS. she walked very swiftly up to our car before we could get away
(and might I add that she is wearing nothing but underwear and a robe,
and she isn't concerned if it flies open or not) and she made us roll
our window down. She started screaming at us to help her come find her
clothes that she had packed, and we tried to convince her that we didn't
know where they were but that really wasn't good enough for her.... So
we convinced her that we'd pull over and help her, so we do so, and we
go back inside. She yelled at us and the man a little bit more. then we
hear the door bell.... could it be?? It might be!!! YES!! It's the
police! I don't think I've ever been so happy to see a policeman in my
whole entire life!! So eventually we got out of there.... goodness....
so we aren't going back there for a while. Then he didn't show up at
church yesterday, so we called him right before our meeting started and
he said he couldn't make it because he had to go bail his fiance out of
jail because she had gotten a DUI the day before... what a mess. But I
know that it was inspired by the spirit to find him, and we are going to
help him change. It won't be easy, and it won't happen over night, but
they can change.
Woooo...
There we go (: that is the highlight of my week..... After going
through that, eating dinner at member's houses was such a safehaven! The
Spanish unit of our stake put on an activity Saturday night and that
was way fun.... We weren't able to see Tom this week... He wasn't there
): But we found him last weekend and we are going to go back this week.
We weren't able to see Paula either.... sad ): But we are definitely
going to have a good week this week!
Thank
you so much for all that you so! It really is such a blessing to have a
wonderful example like you as my wonderful mother (: Thank you for
never drinking, as we can see it is the devil in a bottle from the
situation above. I love and miss you lots! Talk to you next week (:
Love,
Elder Teeples
