Week 39 (Lone Pine)

Elder Wood had some good lessons with some of their friends this week. A few fell through, but they were able to meet with Sue again. She is a little nervous about going to church for the first time, but they're hoping to give her a tour of the (empty) building. Then she'll know more what to expect if she comes, and hopefully be less nervous. They also met with their friend Michael, who has been reading the Book of Mormon regularly and is happy to talk with them. They didn't connect with Isaiah (met last week) but hope to meet with him again soon.

The elders continue to do a fair amount of driving has they do their service and meet with the other missionaries in Bishop, have Zone meetings in Ridgecrest, and visit with members and friends outside of Lone Pine itself. This week a member also took them up to the Whitney Portal campground for lunch, where they had some beautiful views out over the valley.

This will be a busy week, with the 4th of July celebrations tomorrow. They'll help out with some of the daytime events in nearby Independence (the biggest Independence Day celebration around!), but have to be home by 6 PM to avoid any potential safety issues caused by all the celebrating. I got to enjoy (virtually) hanging out with Elder Wood and Elder Wright as they stopped at an ice cream shop for an afternoon treat during our video chat this afternoon. They made me want to try some ice cream myself!

This week will be transfers week in the California Bakersfield mission. Elder Wood thinks he is fairly likely to be transferred, since he'll have completed 3 transfers (4.5 months) in the Lone Pine area. It's remote enough that the mission president doesn't generally leave anyone out there for too long. But you never know; he will find out on Wednesday what's next for him, with transfers happening on Friday.

Showing off his red-stained teeth after snacking on cherries

The view from the campground at Whitney Portal

Bird photo: Some ducks

One more bird photo of an unidentified bird