Dear Elder Battraw: 2 April 2018

So as I'm sure that many of you know, it was General Conference this weekend. For those of you who don't, that's when we get to watch broadcasts of our leaders giving us divine guidance and direction, and happens every six months. And wow, what a crazy one this has been! A temple in Russia, reorganized Elders Quorum and ministering rather than home teaching? This is big stuff! We had rumors circulating around the mission that there would be some big announcement this time around, and that it would happen during the Sunday morning session. Well, that came and went with no big news, and so I assumed it would be over and the rumors were nothing more than just rumors. And then Sunday afternoon session came around and I heard that President Nelson was going to "address us briefly." And that was when I knew that it was going to go down. I feel like Ministering is going to be much more effective and Christlike than the previous Home and Visiting Teaching, (especially for the priesthood) and that it is going to help the members a lot. Personally, I can't wait to go home and have a chance to do it for myself. It'll be great!

I do have to admit that on Saturday I made a bit of a mistake... I locked us out of the car. Oops. Fortunately, our branch president was able to pick us up so that we could watch conference at his house and our Fleet Coordinator drove all the way from Raleigh to get us the spare. I felt pretty bad about that, but it was kind of funny at the same time. The only frustrating thing about this was that if we had had the other kind of mission car, it wouldn't have been a problem at all. Out here, 95% of the cars are Chevy Malibus or Toyota Corollas. We have a Corolla, which doesn't even have a button on the trunk to open it. (Which is where I got the keys locked in.) The only ways to open the trunk are with the key fob or from the driver's seat. Neither were accessible, as both are inside the car. However, with the Malibus, it's a different story. Not only do they have a button on the trunk that would have sensed the proximity of the keys and unlocked so I could open it, but it also would have sensed that the keys are still in the car and it would have unlocked one of the doors. So yeah... I we had the different car I would have been fine. But nope, my forgetfulness is in full force.

The only other other weird experiences we had this week were when we were tracting in this trailer park, and there was just a cow hanging out in the field next to it. Just one cow. Tied up to a mid size tree branch that was somehow keeping it in place. Maybe by the power of suggestion. And the other was when we went to this one store and found some super crazy T-shirts. This picture isn't the craziest shirt, but one that I was considering getting. I decided against it, sadly. Picture time!

This is my missionary family history, and I am the proud continuation of the first-born line. I'll probably train, so I'll be able to pass it on even further.