One week in the mission! Sept 21, 2015

So this was my first week here in Orange, Texas and let me tell you, it was different. I have never talked to so many people in my life. I have met a lot of strange, mean, kind people in my life here and I will get to those experiences later.

So to start out, the food here is so goood. The members feed us almost every day here and they are so kind. I have had taco's that were the best tacos ever! I had some roast. Just yesterday, I had this gourmet thing(I forgot the name) that was rolled up and stuffed. Then it was cooked and served with potatoes. The couple that made the dinner was from Costa Rica. I also had Cajun shrimp and corn. Probably the best shrimp and corn of my life. Everything here is so good and my companion and I had to start running a mile a day to not get too fat. 

There is also a language here. I have been taught some new words like y'all  which means you. I have been taught 'finna' or 'fixin' which means going to. Like I'm finna go shoppin or I'm fixin to work. There are more words but they are Cajun and thats just some strange stuff that no one understands. It's like ma n pa me bout da stor by da crek. Very hard to understand.

Now for the people, over here it is a melting pot. There are so many different kinds of people with different kinds of personalities. One guy we taught on Thursday, we knock on his door and he come out and first thing he's said is, "Y'all going to heaven?" My companion said Yeah. He said, "No y'all ain't." So we confused and start to teach him and he stops us and begins to teach us about the baptist church. He also say how y'all mormons are wrong and how we lead people away. Now I stand up to him and says how we don't take away from the Bible, it just confirms it. Now, he be hard in his heart. He tells me how wrong we are and don't believe in Christ and how we need to change. We's go on and tell him about repentance and he don't believe in it. Says that Christ died for us but we don't need to repent of our sins. We only repent if we change faiths. He goes on and on and on. I can't write what else he said cause it is long and probably not appropriate. We talked with him about 30 minutes before we walked away. He gave us an anti-mormon pamplet. I read a page and it is full of lies. Then me companion takes it and rips it up. We later found out that he is a Baptist priest and man those guys are rough. Now, I will talk normal now but I just wanted y'all to know what we sound like down here. 

The second guy was a guy we taught a lesson to and he was full Cajun. I could not understand a word he said and somehow we answered all his questions and taught him. By the end of the lesson, the only words I understood were the last ones which were 'bye now, y'all be safe now, y'all hear?"

If there is one thing I've had to learn is to talk to every person. We have been tracting a lot and it is hard not to judge people. Before I didn't think I judged people but let me tell you, when y'all tryin to teach people and you see a big guy with tattoo's and he has a beer in one hand and a smoke in the other, it is hard not to pass him up. There was this one girl when were's tractin in this apartments and I see's her and she is smoking on the top floor. I was going to pass her up and my companion says to me, 'Hey, lets see her." So we taught her and she shared a story of how people see her and then passes her because they judge her. We ended up teachin her and we got a return appointment for this week. Now I have tried to change how I think and change me as a whole. Let me tell you, it isn't easy having people shut doors on you or tell y'all that your going to burn when we die, but I can testify to you that it is worth it when you can teach a person going through a hard time and they start to change right before your eyes and listen to you. Most of the people here are great. They love Christ and will hear you out even if they won't convert. My love has grown and just in these past days, I have changed.

Now, there is more but we have a lot to do and we are still going to hit some golf balls over the bayou. I've been busy and will stay that way for two. Love y'all. Elder Andrew Saunders

Also, I had my first baptism on Saturday. We have two more people with a date, and one of them is a deacon in the Baptist church (which is like a first counselor). The other is a great guy who has a tobacco addition. It is funny, I also met a guy who has 3 wives. I thought it was a joke but he brings them out and calls them his wives and they don't even flinch, so I'm pretty sure its the truth.

Sent by a member in Orange Texas-Elder Saunders, Elder Lawrence, Elder Knebel, Elder Wood.