Blog of Elder Hamish Macpherson

Hey everyone! I’m back, yet again, for another week-in-the-life! Things here in Sacramento have been going pretty well I’d say.

First off, I would like to let everyone know that I do NOT have the Swine Flu. Though I’ve certainly been hearing about it through the grapevine. It sounds pretty serious! Some people won’t even shake our hands because of it… or so they say. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll be just fine. I haven’t heard of any missionaries getting it so far.

This last week’s weather has been… wet! It’s been raining almost every day since last time I wrote, with varying degrees of heaviness. And since we have a) limited miles on our car per month, and b) it was the end of the month, we had to bike at the beginning of last week until may when we could use the car again! Last Friday was the worst, we biked to an appointment in the morning, before it started to rain, but by the time we left it was pouring! We got soaked… something about biking seems to make you get at least 10x more wet!

Weather aside, the week was awesome! Three things in particular come to mind. And as you’ll see… they’re all kind of connected.

The first is “Brownies”. You see, on most days, one of the members of our ward feeds us for dinner. This past week it was with a lovely family in the southern part of our area. (Not far from the “American River” if you feel like mappin’ it out) They have two kids, that I believe they adopted, a girl about 10, and the boy about 12. They’re really nice. Anyway, they made some delicious brownies for us after dinner, which we of course loved. And being so kind they came by later that night to bring us another plate full! Missionaries love food! (Naturally… ;)

The second is “Bruises”, and this one isn’t so sweet. You see on that same day, after visiting with the two young women preparing to be baptised (remember them?) we began the bike ride home, which wasn’t very far at all. It was late, almost 9:00pm, we usually saw them later at night because one of them has kids, and it’s easier to teach when they’re asleep. As we biked away from their house I was fumbling with my sunglasses, trying to put them into my pocket… when suddenly BANG! Something clipped the right side of my bike and I went flying off into the sidewalk, skidding a few feet before I stopped. Since it was so dark, I hadn’t seen the ground wire coming from the telephone pole which I had biked past safely many times before.

Now don’t worry, I was… miraculously OK, my bike too was fine… but the sunglasses in my hand were smashed, and beyond repair. (Yes my dear Oakleys) — Alas! So all I can claim from the experience was a body covered in dirt (puddles from earlier rain), a sore shoulder, and no more sunglasses to speak of. Fortunatley I went home to cleanup, and it was later that night that they brought the brownies by. Perfect timing! And though I’m bummed about the sunglasses, it could have been a LOT worse, so I’m counting my blessings.

The third and final item is “Baptism.” Yes, this past Saturday was the first baptism I’ve done on my mission! One of the young woman mentioned previously had her baptismal service just a few days ago, and it was great! What a blessing to be able to baptize her! Elder Groshong then “confirmed” her a member and gave her the Holy Ghost yesterday at church. The other young woman is getting baptized next week.

So there you have it. Another crazy week in the life of an Elder. And that’s just the beginning! Till next time, stay safe, and don’t touch any sick looking pigs, please.

Love,
Elder Macpherson