Elder Taylor G Hakes: 11/28/16 Gobble till you Wobble

Hey People,

So. Much. To. Report. On. Wish me luck.

This last week was rather eventful. The days preceding the Thanksgiving holiday were pretty great. We actually succeeded in finding several new investigators last Tuesday, despite the holiday rush and family gatherings. They're all pretty promising! To help us reach more people, we had the idea to grab some rakes and start hitting random people's yards as an act of kindness. There are approximately 930 billion leaves on the ground in Monett right now. Give or take several billion. So we strategically targeted smaller yards haha. We actually ended up only doing one yard that day for a part member family that we offered to help. Partially because we had an appointment to get to, and partially because were slightly distracted by the thrill of doing flips into our monster leaf pile. We don't get much exercise, okay? Lucky for you, I always carry a GoPro for just such an occasion. Hey mom, remember when I tried to do a backflip at school off a little rock wall like sophomore year? I landed on my back, people laughed, made a good video. Well don't worry, this time I only landed on my neck. It was only sore for 2 or 3 days, nothing major. I can still look to the left, but not the right. Only minor numbness and tingling in my extremities. JK:) I did land on my neck though. But there were some leaves under me. I'll try to attach some vids.

Thanksgiving day was really awesome haha. We had breakfast with the Aurora ward elders who are way cool, then we suited up to go play some turkey bowl football at Monett stadium with the ward. We had a pretty decent turnout! The stadium is incredibly nice for a small town football program (which, by the way, they just won the state championship on Saturday. Downtown was literally shut down when the bus came back and the town celebrated with them lol) I dove out and caught a pass. Elder DeGooyer also dove out to catch a pass. (He played wide receiver in high school, his team was tearing us apart.) Unfortunately he landed on his shoulder and it exploded. I saw him limp to the bench. Stake President Leavitt, a doctor, checked him out. We finished the game, by this time Elder DeGooyer had tears in his eyes and a visibly slumping right shoulder. Brother Barnes the ward mission leader offered a medical water-pump ice-wrap from his house. We picked it up, went home to ice him down, and decided immediately to take him to the hospital when we got his shirt off and saw the damage. The ER x-rayed him and determined a sever AC joint separation. Different than a dislocation, google it. Recommended him to a surgeon for further eval :/ All were closed for the holidays. He left in a sling and a bunch of pain, on some strong narcotics. But that didn't stop the man from missing our lunch appointment. He said he could handle it! He got a little glassed over while we were eating, so we skipped out and got him on ice and a nap. After a little bit we were ready for round two! We went out to the Preston's with a bunch of family and ward members. They're the ones we just helped move who have a full-sized sport court dug into their backyard. You bet we hit that up. DeGooyer watched. Ate more food, then went down the road to the Leavitt clan for desert. They all live on farmville, the Mormon-cult-zion-like-community-family of righteousness. They've all lost the desire to sin. Played some games. Ended the night with the Aurora boys on a romantic drive through the light festival in Monett park. We all wished we could trade each other for girls. I've gotten used to hanging out with 2-4 dudes all the time. Not sure I like that too much haha.

The next day we tried to contact surgeon's offices, all still closed. We finally got an appointment set up today for tomorrow morning in Springfield. His right arm is still hanging uselessly from his body. The kid is a work horse, it didn't really slow us down one bit. We taught a ton of lessons this week. He's not even on his painkillers since that first day. The Lord is upholding him, we have no doubt.

Saturday we spent like 4 hours trying to help set up a 27 foot tall Christmas tree in downtown Pierce City that a member cut and donated. It was a sketchy operation haha we barely got that thing standing in a big ole trash can stand that we rigged. Pics to follow. DeGooyer played camera man and was otherwise useless :)

Umm let's see... sorry I didn't email last week. More good things happened, can't remember what they might have been. Went on another Pday hike with the district. Set up a full-sized fake tree in our apartment. Decked the halls with boughs of holly. What does that even mean? I'll try to include pics chronologically!

Things looking forward are shaping up to be the best December in missionary Christmas history. The church's Christmas initiative #LighttheWorld is a beauty, go look it up and light the world this season! We can be just like Christ. There is no better gift to Him, I think! We have a general authority, Elder Gay coming to the mission for a conference on Dec 12. Then we have a Christmas zone conference the next week. Then our beloved investigator Kandie Steelman is up for baptism on Christmas eve. She's quitting 40 sumthin years of smoking this week, prayers accepted! Then, of course, Christmas. And I GET TO SKYPE MY MOMMA. For the last time.

I love the Spirit that seems to transform hearts and environments this time of year. Let it into you!

Much Love,

Elder Hakes

More Roaring Rive State Park Adventures