Hospitals & Venison

Fig. 2: Our dashing district (last transfer). Row 1 (l to r): Elder Stayner (who lives on Emerson Ave and who is our new district leader!), Elder Moi, Elder Sodenkamp. Row 2: Elder Farley, Elder Fortuna (our old district leader), Elder Darley.

Talofa!

We had a little bit of unusual excitement this week, which I think I will present through a wonderful array of meals/foods. What an exciting lens through which we can view our lives!

Taco Soup: We had a delicious dinner at the Calkins, a now-active family. We'll actually be there again for Jeff's birthday tonight! He received the priesthood last Sunday and had the opportunity to bless the Sacrament for the first time yesterday. We are hoping to invite his nonmember dad to take the lessons. They're one of my favorite families!

Honey: While knocking doors on a country road up in Mikado, we noticed a country honey store. Since Elder Sodenkamp is a little bit obsessed with honey, we stopped in and talked for a while with the kindly proprietor of said store. She gave us a sample of raw honey, which was amazing! (Did you know store-bought honey is pasteurized, which kills the good-for-you enzymes in honey and takes away a lot of the flavor? Pasteurization does nothing for the sanitariness of honey, it merely prevents crystallization). Anyway, she talked us into buying a lot of honey. As in, I'll have to transfer with it for the rest of my mission. At least it's tasty!

Lasagna: We taught two of the three sisters this last Thursday, prefaced by a lasagna dinner provided by our branch mission leader's family. Two will for sure be baptized this Sunday! Elder Sodenkamp and I will each baptize one of them and then we will switch for their confirmations next week. Their older sister told us she does want to be baptized but she's still scared and thinks Sunday is a little too soon. We're crossing our fingers for three baptisms this Sunday, but we're happy to wait until she's ready.

Water: Caused Elder Sodenkamp to vomit explosively! Saturday morning, around 2 he woke up and started vomiting and having awkward bowel movements. These continued all day. So, we went to the ER (50 miles away in Alpena) where he got an IV because he was pretty dehydrated.
Fig. 4: Elder Sodenkamp, gowned and IV'd.

Venison Steak: What I ate for dinner Saturday night! The Averys had given us a couple of frozen venison steaks, so since I had plenty of time while Elder Sodenkamp was laid up, I decided to try it out. I'm personally not much of a steak fan anyway, but I liked the venison at least as much as I've ever liked any beef steak. I didn't notice the "gamey" flavor everyone talks about, but I had marinated it in honey barbecue sauce (made from real raw honey!) for a couple of days.

Baked Spaghetti: Well, Sunday, we went to church (Yay!) but only for Sacrament meeting, since Elder Sodenkamp, although feeling better, didn't want to get everybody sick or over do it. The three sisters were there, and we spoke with them briefly before heading back home to rest. As I still had a lot of time on my hands I read 1 Nephi and made myself a delicious dinner of Baked Spaghetti (WAY better than I thought it would be!), Spicy Nutmeg Carrots (thank you back of the McCormick Nutmeg bottle!), Garlic Toast (thanks Sis. Schwinck!), peaches, and a glass of orange juice. I felt rather healthy and accomplished. :)

Things are well. I love you all, oh, and some photos are attached.

Elder Cloward

Explanation of attached photos:
Fig. 1: Look what Elder Sodenkamp did to our car!

Fig. 3: Lake Huron, Tawas Bay