3/18/2024 - Week 35

Howdy y'all! This was a weird week, but it was a good one too.

Well, 🍀 St. Patrick's Day was yesterday, and I love any excuse I can get to get treats and wear green so I was happy about that. Our Bishop's wife made some cake pops that were delicious! I also just love the color green, so actually having a good reason to wear one of my 4 green ties for the billionth time in a week was nice (I wear a green tie like every few days and give 0 love to any of the other color ties).

We had some amazing service opportunities this week (mostly the normal ones). We got to make a massive burn pile at the farm full of cardboard boxes and moldy flowers (pretty sure it took a few decades off my lifespan by simply breathing next to them💀) but it was fun to see it go up in flames when we hit it with a flamethrower🔥 (well, Mitch from the farm did that part, but it was still fun). We also helped out at the Food Pantry prepping for what they call Lunch On Us, where they feed kids a lunch per day over the summer because many of the kids around here dont have a lunch to eat when it isn't provided by the school. So the program gives those children some food to eat while their parents are working all summer long! It really is an amazing program and I'm glad I can help out in a few little ways before I eventually get transferred out of Tipp. We also were able to help push a broken-down car up a hill (breaking down on the side of a hill is not optimal) but we managed to get 'er done 🏔🚗🫷

We had an interesting week work-wise. We talked to tons of people, but not a lot of people were interested. We did have some good lessons with Lisa and Jose where they were doing good, but neither of them made it to church with was really upsetting to me. However, Lisa has been 3 weeks without smoking which is amazing and our friend Heather is just about a week in after quitting cold turkey. So there have been some miracles here in good 'ol Tippecanoe, OH.

There was a massive tornado storm that just rocked the northern part of Ohio (I was very glad to get an email this morning from Elder Merrill, thought he was a gonner for sure). But in all seriousness, there were like 6 people that died in the tornados and a ton more injured. We were in the highway to the danger zone if you know what I'm saying, but luckily there wasn't any tornados that touched down near us. (Greenville and Wampakoneta were hit pretty bad though and they aren't too far away).🌪

I was also the designated 💈haircutter💈this week and somehow was convinced to give all the Elders in my District haircuts (bold move on their part because I don't know how to cut hair very well). I don't think I ruined anyones life, but their haircuts were not professional-grade by any definition of the word.

We also had interviews with President McGuire and everything went fairly smoothly with that (I also got to see Elder Blaine Johnson again and chat with him about Meridian High, always a good time). We stopped by El Tequila for district lunch and I got the same exact thing as last time because... how can I turn down a 4 meat burrito with cheese sauce? It's simply the most idiotically American thing on the menu, but the little rat that runs on the wheel to power my brain can't choose anything else.

Side-note, shoutout to my Sister who recently hit her year mark on her Mission!!!!🥳 I'm sure my parents just want to wake up and have it be the end of September already!

The only sad part of this week was that we had none of our friends show up to church. All my dreams of a great turnout for St. Patty's day church were broken. It was a sad drive down the boulevard back home after nobody came...

To end off on a slightly happier note, there is a Spiritual thought! I've been studying a lot out of the beginning of 3 Nephi and there is a lot to learn about how we can protect ourselves against the adversary. In 3 Nephi 1 there are a ton of people who don't believe that Christ will come. They have been given signs/events that will happen at His birth, yet they refuse to believe that it will happen and start to make up new lore for these prophecies saying that the time is past for the signs to come (really putting a due date on the Lord like that, bad idea fr). Fast forward like a few minutes and BOOM the signs start happening and people start hardening their hearts because of lies that were spread by the Devil and although everyone had to admit that the signs had come as the prophets had said they would, they start to justify themselves in these lies saying that it was just the works of men or the works of the devil that caused them to happen. Then we get to the scripture that stood out to me most in 3 Nephi 2: 1 "...the people began to forget those signs and wonders which they had heard, and began to be less and less astonished at a sign from heaven, insomuch that they began to be hard in their hearts, and blind in their minds, and began to disbelieve all which they had seen and heard."

Now many of you may be thinking, well these guys are outta their minds! They saw multiple things prophecied and then they happened! And you're right, it's crazy to see a sign from heaven and ignore it. However, sadly, we do it almost every day. God wants us to know that He exists and loves us. He gives us signs and wonders everyday to show us that (though they may not be as big as no darkness for 2 days). We often recieve promptings of the Spirit to do things that will benefit us and others around us. However with both these signs and promptings, we often overthink a prompting and refuse to do it because we think its "just my mind" or we simply don't act immediately and forget them. Everyday we encounter something that could confirm to us in our Hearts that there is a God above who loves us and is looking out for us at every step of the journey, yet we write it off as a coincidence or just a lucky chance. I'm not saying this to make you guys feel bad, because we all do this everyday, but I say it to help you guys remember to look for those signs, listen to those promptings, pray for miracles, and each and every one of them will happen. That much I CAN guarantee as long as you look forward with faith!

Peace out y'all! I'd love to hear from you!

-Elder Parker "Parker" Hansen