Arizona Week 10 - Lift

Hey everyone,

Another good week here in Phoenix. Still pretty dang hot but it's not in the 120s anymore, so that's good. We've been staying pretty busy. I'm too excited about telling this story to think of anything else so I'll just get it out of the way.

So, we had just started to study for the morning and got a phone call from the Spanish Elders. They asked what appointments we had that day. We told them we didn't have anything until 3, so they asked us for a ride to one of their member's homes for some service...and if we could help them that would be great. We were told that it would be moving some boxes. That wasn't entirely accurate. We drove up and saw that this man had 2 very large trucks with roll doors in the back. One was slightly smaller and had rails lining the top of it. There was already a large assortment of things on top of the rail truck. First off, we tossed a mattress on top of that truck followed by 2 plywood slabs. The man then said a few things in Spanish that left the other Elders speechless. My companion and I shared faces of confusion and the man, realizing our confusion, pointed at a clothes dryer, then towards the top of the truck and said "alli arriba". Now we were speechless as well. One of the other Elders climbed on top of the truck by way of the 10 ft ladder. The 3 of us on the ground began to hoist it over our heads. Now, being that my companion and I are fairly tall, and the third missionary helping us was not, we found some difficulty added once we surpassed the extent of his reach. Some way, still unknown to us, the dryer was now nestled atop the mattress on the truck. Mission accomplished, or so we thought. The man then points to the washing machine...if you aren't aware, these are quite a bit heavier than dryers. I decided to join the one missionary already on the truck. On the ground, my companion says, "they should put straps or handles on these so they're easier to move." The man heard "strap" and left to return with a tow strap that was then wrapped around the washing machine. The opposite end was thrown to us on the truck...so we pulled, and they lifted, and once again we accomplished this task without realizing how. We continued to load the top of the truck until the two of us on the truck were perched on the railings having nowhere else to stand. Thankfully we did not fall.

We had interviews with the Mission President on Wednesday, and he asked me how my training was going and if I felt like I was learning and making progress. Once I told him I was he asked what I thought about me training someone...he expressed a need for missionaries that can train others because of the large number that are coming in. So, I may have to train a new missionary next transfer. It is a little frightening to think about but if I'm asked to then I know I'll be able to do it.

Overall I've had a really good week. Things have gone smooth and I'm really enjoying being here.

I love and miss you all,

Elder Kirk