Serving in Kentucky: Adventure Week

November 14, 2016

Dear Family,

This was one of the most diverse weeks I've had on the mission. It had just about everything to it. Adventures in Downtown Louisville, tour guides who want to come to church, teaching a Methodist about family history, moving, service, Red Lobster, exchanges, candy, Catholics, interviews, a bike wreck, a day off, pizza, soda, church, leisurely bike rides, and dinner with the Loves. Get the details below... :D

-> Large Plates <-

-Monday-

This was the best P-Day I've had in Hurstbourne. A lady, Ms Kit from the Methodist church took us and the sisters to Downtown Louisville to check it out. She wanted to do this as a way of saying thanks for all the help we've given to the Methodist church.

We started off at the Slugger Museum and Factory. They had a couple Ripley's Believe It or Not exhibits. The tour of the bat factory was interesting. It was cool to see how they make the bats. They showed us the old way they used to make bats and the new way they make bats now. They also showed us the different kinds of bats and how they're made. They gave us mini sluggers at the end of the tour.

At the end of the tour our tour guide came up to us, asked if we were Mormon, and said she'd been wanting to attend one of our church's for a long time. We got her contact info and wound up handing her to the AP's because she's in their area.

After the Slugger museum we went to the Science Center. It was a lot like the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake. They had a lot of different science things. They had these huge things of "Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty" that were magnetic.

As Ms Kit drove us to downtown, she wanted us to explain to her why we have a huge emphasis on Family History work. We taught her about families, temples, and baptisms for the dead. She really liked the explanation.

It was nice to do some missionary work throughout the day.

-Tuesday-

Tuesday was pretty bland. We helped the Love family move into their new apartment. The move was pretty easy. They didn't have much stuff and we had a lot of help. After the move, Brother Love took us to Penn Station. Penn Station is a sub sandwich shop that specializes in "east coast subs". They're pretty messy but they're really good!

-Wednesday-

Went to ReStore again and spent the whole time moving Christmas stuff from upstairs to downstairs.

Later on we briefly visited Mr Ch. It was his 23rd birthday. We're basically his only friends so he really appreciated our visit.

After we went to the Methodist church for a few hours like usual. We helped serve breakfast for dinner again. That seems to be a common thing they do.

After the Methodist church we were supposed to go to Texas Roadhouse with the ReStore group but Texas Roadhouse was slammed. So we went to the Red Lobster that was right across the street :). That was the first time I had been to Red Lobster on my mission! I wasn't terribly hungry so I just got Clam Chowder. It was still amazing though!

-Thursday-

Elder Lesh and I went on an exchange here in Hurstbourne. We did a lot of biking! I want to say we got close to 30 miles. We easily broke 20. There was a lot that happened. It was a good exchange.

We started off trying a potential named Ms Cox. She's good friends with a member in the ward. When we knocked, her son answered and told us she wasn't home. We asked him if he'd like a message and we wound up teaching him the whole first lesson in his front yard. It was a good lesson too. He easily accepted a baptismal date. According to the ward member, she loves the missionaries but doesn't want to commit to the church. Maybe her son being taught will open up doors to his mom.

Later on Elder Lesh and I taught someone named Ms Ma. She's a referral from the Northside Elders (Passmore and Winward). She said she's not looking for a new church home but wants to learn more about our church. She grew up Catholic, then became Baptist, and is now back to Catholic because of her husband. He's a "die-hard blind-faith Catholic" as he puts it. She and her husband are super nice. They're funny too! They both asked us a bunch of questions, not to try to tear down our faith but to learn. We wound up covering the whole restoration. She committed to reading the BoM. We know what'll happen if she reads it and prays about it :).

At the end of the lesson, they dumped their remaining Halloween candy in my bag. I got about 100 starbursts out of them :). They also gave me an Ale8. Ale8 is a Kentucky soda. It tastes like ginger ale.

-Friday-

Well, Friday was quite the day. We started off at interviews with President Brough. My interview went extremely well. After interviews we spent some time doing our normal routine of finding people to teach.

We were on our way to an appointment with Mr R when... I sort of wrecked my bike... badly. I'm not even sure what happened. We were biking at our normal speed when my front tire clipped Elder Hoole's back tire and somehow that sent me flying over my handlebars. My head hit the ground first and it hit hard. I think I rolled twice on the ground with my legs tangled in the front handlebars before I stopped. I just laid there for a few moments so I could gather what had just happened.

Both my front and rear reflectors broke off. My headlight was ripped out of its base. Both of my rims were slightly bent and my shifters were scratched. I honestly have to give my bike credit. An accident like that and nothing major broke. Even the rims stayed mostly true.

As far as my body goes. I was in pretty bad shock for about 15 minutes after the accident. I got a little road rash on my face and wrist. I sprained my wrist. I basically bruised my entire body. I felt like I was beat up.

Elders Salazar and Thorp got me and took me to an urgent care. I was looked over and the doctor didn't see any signs of concussion or other serious brain injuries. They gave me a wrist brace and a list of symptoms to look out for. Salazar and Thorp took me home.

There's a lot more to Friday night than that but if I wrote everything it would be just as long as this email itself. One funny thing that happened was right after the accident, this lady pulled up who happened to be a professional psychologist. She demanded that I get checked out. As she was talking to me, a less-active from a neighboring ward came up and offered a ride. The Lord was looking out for me :).

-Saturday-

I took Saturday off for the most part. We had coordination in the morning. We walked to the church. My body is spending most of its energy on healing so I was pretty tired after the walk to the church. The coordination meeting was pretty good. Afterwards Brother Haws took us to Gilberto's and bought us some breakfast burritos. Their breakfast burritos are huge! After Gilberto's, Brother Haws drove us home.

I took 3 naps throughout the day. I looked over my bike and fixed what I could. I also cleaned/detailed it and lubed it. I still need to take my bike rims to get trued. I'm still surprised they're not bent worse. You wouldn't notice the bend unless you were OCD about it like me :).

The Sisters felt bad for me so they brought by some Reese's Sticks. My favorite Reese's candy! They're like Reese's and Kit Kat had a baby! They're so good! Mom and Dad also bought me some pizza and sent it to me! I ate really well throughout Saturday!

-Sunday-

We had a solid church service. Mr R came but left early because he didn't like it. Later on we just biked around our neighborhood slowly to do some missionary work. We met some good people. No potentials though.

We finished our Sunday night with dinner at the Love's. They fed us "the best mac n' cheese ever." We called Mr R and talked to him over the phone. We luckily resolved his concerns and he agreed to have us visit more and come to church again.

-> Small Plates <-

This was one of those weeks were I look back and see many ways where the Savior was looking out for me. The most significant example is, of course, the bike wreck. As many things that I hurt, my head, my wrist, and all the other places I brushed, I had no damage on my neck. With how hard my head hit the ground you'd think I would have hurt my neck too but I didn't. I didn't even get a headache afterwards. I can't explain that.

No headache, and no neck injuries. There's no way the Savior didn't protect me with how hard I hit the ground. That wreck could have been much worse, and it should have been. But it wasn't. The worst effects from it were shock, brushes, and a sprain. And damaged clothing and a damaged bike :). This accident helped me see how much the Savior needs me out here. He needs everyone he can get. Even though the mission has a lot of trials to it, I'm going to do what I've always done. I'm going to keep trying until I'm done.

-> Closing Remarks <-

Life's hard. Wear a helmet.

I am healing well. Every day gets a little better. I seem to be recovering rather quickly. Thanks to everyone who's prayed for me and given me support. I really appreciate all of it. You're all the best!

-Elder Benjamin Kohkonen Cox (GKLM)