Elder Jaron Hoani King: Bamboo??

I'm serving in California. Right? Just checking. Last Tuesday Elder Dea and I went to help one of our members move "some bamboo." We both had no idea what that meant, but we changed in to service clothes and headed off to help. We ended up loading the biggest load of wood I have ever seen into the back of this truck, and it was bamboo! We had a bunch of fun and laughed the whole time just saying how crazy the whole experience was. It is super foggy in the mornings now and actually super cold. It feels way good, but Elder Dea hates the cold. Elder Dea knows how much I love talking to random people, so he told me about a referral we received on an exchange, so I called her up. Remember that all I knew was the woman's name okay? I called and all I here is "I'm not going to wait all day, do you want yo ten dolla or what?" No "hello," no "this is ____." She just kept going off about how I needed to go get my "ten dolla." Finally I told her "Ma'am, I would love ten dollars, but I am a missionary." There was silence for at least 10 solid seconds. She apologized a bunch, and said she needed a few days before we came over. I love this area so much. Our members are some of the best people in the entire world. We're working right now on finding new investigators, and one of the biggest themes we've been studying in the mission is that we all have a  unique background. At church we heard, "God didn't send us here to blend in" (I think it is a Lindsay Sterling quote). But it is so true! We are here to make a difference! Let's make it. I love ya. I got the call on Saturday to serve as a trainer here in Oakdale. Elder Dea is one of my absolute favorite missionaries. He makes this work so much fun. He loves his mission and as a result everyone loves him. He is going to be so so missed here in Oakdale, but the Lord knows what He is doing. This is His work, and it can only be done His way. We love our family out here. Oakdale is amazing!

Love,

Elder King