Did you know that I got to sleep in an hour and when I woke up the sun was out. After two weeks of waking up in blackness I could finally see. This magical phenomenon is caused by the end of the treacherous and abominable system known as daylight savings time. Unfortunately I've been told that it will come back in the spring and then I'll have an hour less sleep. So that's a bummer. But for now we are free. This all reminds me of that synthesis essay we had to write in 101 about whether daylight savings is a good idea or nay. Basically it turns out that it is a bad idea for business, health, safety, and international airlines. So yea lets get rid of that okay thanks.
On a totally different note, this week was super fun! We had tons of lessons and 50% of them with a member present. The people here are so wonderful and loving. Everyone just loves to talk to everyone all day. There are tons of immigrants here as well as people who have lived in Tennessee their whole life. Lots of the immigrants are researchers at Vanderbilt University. There are so many grad students and post-docs.
One of our investigators is from China and studies cancer - variable sequencing or something like that. And we have a cool friend on the bus who is working here for 6 months all the way from Rio, Brazil to study tuberculosis. And best of all, one of the members of our ward is THE physics professor at Vandy. I cannot wait to have dinner at his house.
On top of that we had a fun time with Halloween. The ward party was a blast. I think we had the greatest costume ever! (Admittedly we stole the idea from the sister missionaries, but whatevs.)
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| Elder Tolman and Elder Basham in their Halloween Costumes (switched tags :-D) |
And since we had to be in by six on Saturday, we got to just hang out and relax. Which is not a very common occurrence. So we had the most (pun intended) righteous Halloween party ever!
And we had lots of fun cooking. We made burritos to eat while we watched. Which was super fun. But even better we made giant cookies in these cast iron skillets and then put ice cream and chocolate on them. It was super fantastic and we sent the picture to all of our district to make them super jealous XD
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| Burritos! |
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| Skillet Cookie |
So my thought for the week is on Mark 12:30 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment." There are four ways to worship God here. I think that is important. If we think of carbon, it is a simple element. With only one it is nothing. With two, it is a gas - empty and flowing about, unable to even absorb light. With three, there is a two-dimensional bond creating flimsy materials such as graphite which shed easily and are dark, absorbing light. But if there are four linked together in a three-dimensional bond, it creates a diamond - revered in industry for its unparalleled strength and hardness, loved by all for its brilliant ability to reflect light. So too we may be, if all four points we become. Only when loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength can we truly reflect all of His love into the world - to stand as a witness of Christ in all times and all places whatsoever ye may be in. And just like the diamond, when our hearts, souls, minds, and bodies are all employed in the service of God, we will have the strength to overcome anything. Though all hell should endeavor that soul to shake, it will never collapse.
Anyway all y'all take care now :) talk to you next week!
- Elder Basham
(2nd Letter of the Day): Nashville Things!
OMIGOONISSS!
I cannot believe I forgot to tell you all about the epic things I did. I was looking forward to sharing this all week. I went to the Bluebird Cafe where Taylor Swift was first discovered by a producer. That was awesome. Unfortunately Taylor was not there but oh well. I forgot to get a picture so that might be coming later.
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| Music City - Chet Atkins Statue |
The other cool thing is this amazing lesson I taught. He absolutely loved the message of the restored Gospel and agreed to be baptized next Saturday. Unfortunately I'm not quite sure he'll be able to make it to the service. He seems a bit glued to his chair if you catch my drift.
Then there is a hilarious bus driver lady. She drives the route right by our house so we see her all the time. The first time I got on the bus, she looked me up and down then said, "Elder Basham? Well. I'm sure glad your first name isn't Sister!" That made me smile a lot. Then one time we were in the middle of driving when she just pulls the bus over in the middle of the road, during rush hour, and yells, "I'm sorry y'all I can't wait no longer!" She ran into McDonald's and bought two chicken sandwiches and then ran back onto the bus. It was the most hilarious thing ever.
Also, the first thing I did in the area last week was organize the kitchen. (Because what is more important than organized food?) I found that we literally have enough hot chocolate to require a hot chocolate shelf. Yes that is right. Once I gathered all of the hot chocolate mix from cupboards around the house, there is so much it requires its own shelf in the kitchen cabinet. Fortunately it's not freezing enough here to need it all yet, but at least we are following the commandment to keep food storage.
I think that is actually all this time. Ttfn :)
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