Kaboom! - Clarksville, Tennessee

Omigoniss!!!! I just saw lightening. Not just going through the sky and whatnot. It was right there. Less than 100 yards from me! The lightening came down and smote the earth in front of me. When it hit the ground it turned red and there was a loud pop. Afterwards the pavement was so hot that the rain kept evaporating and steaming off for a few seconds. That was really cool.

Anyway, how are you all doing this week?

This week has been pretty great. It went by so fast I am not even sure what happened. I literally cannot remember one thing to write about. Sorry about that. We spent most of our morning cleaning the apartment today and preparing for inspections tomorrow and we have a dinner at five tonight. It is going to be a very short P-day.

So I have been keeping a journal for the past year or so and it is really cool. I love recording all the great things God is doing for me and the things I am learning. I think about what it will be like one day to share all of these memories with my family and my children. I really hope it helps someone I love later on when they get a chance to read from it. However, there is another effect I hadn't anticipated as much. The journal actually really helped me a lot.

I was studying and trying to find an answer of what I could do to better show Christ's love to others. As I was looking where to turn, I felt prompted to go get my journal and read about my time in the Missionary Training Center last October. As I read, I found the answer I was looking for and the guidance I needed. I had learned the very thing I needed nine months ago and recorded it in there. On top of being able to remember and relearn the thing I needed, I also was blessed with another realization. I came to know that God really is helping me and inspiring me to write those things which will be of worth. The book will truly be a blessing to me and my family. It is one of many fulfillments of the promise in D&C 68:1-5. I am very grateful to see God's hand in my life in yet another amazing way.

Anyway I really love you all and hope you have a great week. I am sorry for the short email.
Elder Basham

- Clarksville, Tennessee

Hello everyone!

This last week was pretty fun. We got to go to Kentucky. For some reason, I have just had this feeling in my mind throughout my whole mission that Kentucky is better than Tennessee. There isn't much logical evidence to support this nor any reason for me to think so. However, I just know it is better there and have been waiting for 9 months to get transferred to Kentucky. That hasn't happened yet, but here in Clarksville, I have been able to see Kentucky a couple of times. It's like all the way on the other side of the wheat field. I might be able to throw a stone there from a member's back yard if I wanted to. Fortunately though, I was finally able to go there for myself. We drove to Morgantown for exchanges. I'm not entirely sure if it actually counts as a town, but oh well. 

The drive was so great. There were big old red barns and miles and miles of wheat fields. It looked like a painting. (I guess a lot of the Arizona landscape is also very painting worthy, but this was a different style than I'm used to so it was cool). I really love the way old wooden barns look - especially the old and dilapidated ones. The really fun part was stopping by a country store on the way there. They had farm fresh milk there. It came in really cool glass bottles. The first bottle I bought was actually not quite as fresh, so all the cream had floated to the top and turned into butter. The milk underneath was all buttermilk. At least we knew then that it was actually good whole milk. I traded it for a second bottle that was a lot fresher and quite delicious. I wouldn't normally spend $2 on a quart of milk, but after growing up hearing dairy farm stories from two grandmothers, I thought it would be worth it just this once. 

Sadly, I never thought to take any photos of Kentucky while I was there. Now we are back in Tennessee but oh well. It is pretty great here. I do really love Clarksville.

We had our very last interviews with president Andersen on Friday. They only have two more weeks before they leave for home. It is really weird thinking that the mission president is leaving. I am really going to miss him and his wife; they were very wonderful. 

Anyway here is a random story for you all. A few emails ago, I wrote something about not owning a dog. Since then I have received many letters and emails from various friends and loved ones. Apparently nobody was very happy about what I said. So I am sure you will all be glad to know I am slowly in the process of changing my mind. Maybe. There are still lots of dog stories that concern me. However I have had some good experiences lately that persuade me otherwise. 

First, there were thirteen little black Labrador puppies that were super adorable. They were all squirming around and licking my hand and just being about the cutest thing ever. It reminded me of Hannah's puppies that gave me lots of joy and comfort last year and the little one that I tried to kidnap and name Samantha. Unfortunately they stopped me and sold that puppy to someone who didn't understand that her name was supposed to be Samantha. So many fun flashbacks from so long ago. 

Then there was a dog named Sidney. (I never asked, so I had to spend a great deal of time trying to decide if her name was Sydney or Sidney. It was a great struggle, but I have finally figured it out). She is a two year old mini Australian shepherd that one of the members owns. She has probably the cutest dog smile I have ever seen in my life. And she had the softest fur in the universe. I literally could have hugged her forever. Then to top this all off, she never even barked once. She just walked around super happy and curious, being a complete dork. If it were not for the mission rules against pets, I would totally have kidnapped her. It reminded me of angel a lot. Angel is a really amazing dog too. Anyway so the point of the story is that I may actually buy a dog someday provided it is a girl and adorkable. 

I think I am out of random things to talk about for now so I will have to say goodbye until next week. Have an amazing summer everyone!

Love Elder Basham

P.S. This is on of my favorite Father's Day messages. I hope you all enjoy it. 

Earthly Father,Heavenly Father (3:59) 

- Clarksville, Tennessee

Hello Everyone,

This has been a pretty cool week! I got to go on exchanges to the Sango area. That was a great experience. Elder Jessop is an amazing missionary and I had a really fun time working with him. We also got to ride our bikes! I have not had much chance to ride for a little while, so this was a fun change of pace. We rode about 24 miles in one day. It was sore and exhausting, but worth it. The best part is where we rode to:

Elder Basham on Basham Lane in Basham Land :-)

Pretty cool right! Elder Basham on Basham Lane. The best part is, this is not a coincidence. This isn't just some random sign in a tiny town in Tennessee, this is the Basham land. In 1909, my great grandfather Henry Rankin Basham was born right here in St Bethlehem, Montgomery, Tennessee. There was a farm here that they owned and worked on until they left for Detroit. Unfortunately, I do not have the map of the farm or any photos with me now. And all of it is gone now. Like all farms, it is now a housing development.

I have had a lot of fun over the last week looking into my family history. It is probably the most fun thing ever. I found out that Henry Basham and his two parents are buried in a cemetery right by our apartment. Hopefully I'll get to visit that while I am here sometime. Also, there is a small family cemetery where many other of my ancestors are buried just 14 miles south of here. It is cool being in the place where my family was all born and raised and owned land. I like being able to read their stories and see their pictures. I think it is the coolest thing. Everyone should take the opportunity to go to www.familysearch.org. It is completely free and a really fun time.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week! I love you guys

Elder Basham

P.S. Since we are taking pictures of road signs, this is me under the name of sanders. If you get this reference please let me know and I will be extremely happy.

Temples and Pictures - Clarksville, Tennessee

 Hello everyone!

Do you know what is really exciting? Just in May a new stake was formed. That means our mission went from 7 to 8 stakes. A mission needs at least 6 stakes to qualify for a temple to be built. We already have a great temple here down in Nashville. However, the Knoxville mission only has 5 stakes. So we will be giving them our new stake. That way they will have six. Next week all of the Cookville missionaries will belong to the Knoxville mission. So maybe there will be a new Knoxville temple coming soon. It is really cool to see how the Lords kingdom is growing so fast. Just a few decades ago there was not a single ward or even a building in Tennessee. Now we have three missions and maybe a second temple. Truly this is an amazing time to live in.

Here is our zone.

This is MLC (Mission Leadership Council).
These are all the other zone leaders and sister training leaders.

Anyway hope you all have a great week. 

Star Wars - Clarksville, Tennessee

Hello everyone!

So my first week in Clarksville has been pretty fun. It is so different from Nashville. I cannot tell if it is a small town or a city. It is kind of both at the same time. The people here are great and the members are awesome. We actually got fed dinner more than once last week! (Seven days to be precise). Also we now have a two story house, though it is still much cheaper than Nashville. I must admit I'm not actually a fan of large houses. I lose elder McKown all the time. There are so many places to go you can almost never see each other all morning. Also, there is so much more to try and keep clean with all the extra closets and drawers to throw stuff. Believe it or not, I actually really like small houses a lot more. They are cleaner and friendlier. I'll just add that information to my future ideas folder. Right next to the 100,000 reasons to never ever, not at all, without exception, no excuses, no not ever own a dog file. 

Speaking of animals, I met some people who rescue bunnies. They have an entire yard full of bunnies taken from abusive homes. There were so many! Probably the cutest thing ever. On top of that they had about thirty bunny statues on their front path and bunny paintings in their home. That can go in the future ideas file too. 

So one of the cool parts about being a zone leader is that we have a full time car (for exchanges and occasional rescuing, chastising, and/or babysitting the other elders). However, it is not your normal 4 door missionary sedan. Neither is it the epic 12 foot truck the assistants to the president drive. Better than all these, we have the one and only mom van. That is right. Your amazingly useful 7 passenger dodge minivan with automatic doors. Have you ever seen anything as cool as two 19 year olds pulling up to church on Sunday looking sharper than the b scale in a minivan? Then we grab our bags from the back and walk away as the automatic sliding doors slowly close themselves. All of the moms in the ward are jealous. 

On a side note, here is elder McKown (Mic-Cow-en).

 

Elder Basham and Elder McKown

He is going home next transfer. This is the second time I get to kill a missionary off. However, this companion is still working hard and enjoying his mission. I am very glad to be learning from him. 

Last thing, we found the two coolest lightsabers I have ever seen in the apartment closet. I don't know where you buy these things or how much they cost, but I need them. I am buying two for Nick and I and we will kill each other next November. It will be awesome. Anyway here take a look. Unfortunately I did not get anyone to duel with me so you don't get to see the red one or hear the fantastic collision noises. However, just know that these are the coolest things ever. 

I hope you all have an amazing week! I love you guys :)

Elder Basham

Nashville Hot Chicken - Last Letter from Green Hills, Tennessee

Hello everyone!

I have finally done it. I tried Nashville hot chicken. It was actually very delicious. The cool part is that the sauce is dry. So it doesn't get all over your hands and face like most chicken wings and like stuff. I decided to order the hottest flavor. This was extremely delicious. However, it became difficult to eat because of how spicy it was. It was actually kind of painful. Totally worth it though.

The reason I finally went out of my way to taste this stuff is actually because I am leaving Nashville. After nearly eight months, my time to be transferred has come. I will be going to Clarksville 3rd ward with Elder McKown. President called me on Friday and asked if I would be a zone leader for him. This will be pretty exciting, besides the fact that I'll now get about an hour less sleep every night. It will be worth it. It is going to be very weird to leave Green Hills after being here so long. It feels as hard as leaving home. I am very grateful for the time that I had to spend here.

So in accordance with tradition, we had our last district meeting, sang our cliche goodbye hymn, and took pictures. However my district apostatized on me. I told them that we could take pictures "as long as it took less than five minutes, and didn't distract too much." Immediately everyone responded that they wanted interesting pictures. They started throwing out crazy ideas. The zone leaders yelled out that we should use their van in the photos. For some weird reason, all of the sisters exclaimed that they had been thinking the exact same thing. (I am still confused about that part). Anyway, twenty-five minutes later and after much shenanigans, we had these photos. They are actually quite cool looking and I must say I am a fan. Hopefully we don't make a habit of this.

Your friendly Tennessee Nashville Toyota Dealership sales team.

Which one of these things is not like the others?

That is a very large bible.

Anyway I hope you all have an amazing week. I love you all!

Redundant Disneyland animatronic song regarding world cultures - Green Hills, Tennessee

Hello everybody!

You will never guess what happened. This week I met my second person who I know from home. Well, almost know. Believe it or not it is the second person from snowflake. Sister Hammond went on exchanges with the Spanish sisters this week so I got to meet new people at our Book of Mormon class. Hermana Uchytil is actually one of my cousin Paige's best friends. So just like Elder Nez, I have seen her before in snowflake. In fact, we were at the same stake youth dance together with Elder Nez.  I am at least 51.29% sure that I actually danced with her.... How weird. Who would have thought that you could go to a youth activity in your cousins' stake and meet all the people who will be on a mission with you four years later. It truly is a small world after all.

On a side note: if you want to take a jumping photo, you should do it outside. The first and most obvious reason for this has to do with the way cameras work. There is a setting known as the shutter speed. This simply measures how long the lens is open and collecting light. If there is a lot of light - outside in the noon day sun for instance - the camera can collect enough light really quickly. This means it will only be exposed to a fraction of a second of time, allowing you to take clear and non blurry pictures of fast moving objects (such as a jumping person). If it is not as bright, the photo will either end up very dark, or it will be exposed for a longer period of time and the moving object will be very blurry.

It will look like this for example. The other reason you should take jumping photos outside is that ceilings are not very high and I am pretty decently tall. Hard objects hurt when you jump into them.

The other funny part of our Book of Mormon class happened afterwards. Melanie went around like always and introduced herself to everyone. She went up to one of the investigators from the Bellevue ward and asked him when he would be getting baptized. He informed her he wasn't going to. She told him that he just didn't know yet. She highly recommended it to him and told him all the great things she loves about the Holy Ghost. Melanie is a better missionary than any of us. She remembers so clearly not having the gospel and truly loves the change it has made. I hope she never comes to forget that.

Anyway here is a thought for you. An egg simply cannot remain an egg. It must either hatch or eventually rot. Never become complacent with where you are.

Have a great week
Elder Basham