California Sister Entrikin: 🎵 Pioneer Children Sang as they Walked and Walked and Walked

Walkin'

🎵 Pioneer Children Sang as they Walked and Walked and Walked

January 22, 2024

Hello!

I've done so much walking this week! We are technically on bikes, but it's so hilly that we usually decided that our own two feet are the better option for transport. It has been fun (even though it's starting to get rainy)

Monday Sister Maughan made a bet with our district leader that she could beat him in a game of pickleball. She got to pick his teammate and her teammate. I was immediately chosen to be the other person she would play against 🙃💔 But joke's on her because we won anyways 💪🏆 (due in no part to me because she was right that I may be the worst pickleballer to ever step on the court)

I also learned a new card game called Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza (yes that's its name) which I am equally bad at. It was quite comical, and I enjoyed being terrible at it

Tuesday we walked and walked. We went to a less-active member's house. We pretended to need a drink to explain why we were there. It worked too well because they invited us in and gave us two giant glasses of water. But that worked out because they were pretty awkward and quiet, so every time the conversation lulled, I took a big drink. Finished that glass in no time 😎

We then walked to another house to see someone who had been taught previously. He answered the door and, when asked if he has attended church, told us "I won't be answering any questions" uhhhhhh ok, its not an interrogation. I half expected him to say he wanted a lawyer next. But he said "I'm doing important work for the US government" (which is what all people doing something suspicious would say) and the vibes were super weird so we skedaddled on outta there. Which is really too bad because we had a great excuse to be let in: "Can we use your bathroom?"

Luckily the next stop was the church because that glass of water was coming back to haunt us. It rained on us as we were going back, but not too bad. Just enough to be a vibe. Which is good because I didn't bring my umbrella.

Wednesday we had our meetings and we played Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza with the zone. I'm still terrible at it. Then we walked.

Thursday we walked and walked and walked.

Friday we walked to the church so Sister Maughan could have real wifi for her zoom meeting. Our house's service is actually so terrible it's not even funny. While she had her meeting, I decided to take a nap on the church couch. And I wake up to members entering the building 😱😵‍💫 Super awkward. This older guy comes up to me and goes "Are you a Seminary student? 🧐🤔" #perpetualchild #nevergrowup #nomatterhowharditry Sir-- I'm a missionary... I could legally buy alcohol if I wanted... which I don't (see: I'm a missionary) Then they were like "where is your companion" like I was a toddler lost in the mall. Luckily she had just finished her meeting and came down the hallway to save me from being called a child for a third time.

Then we walked to the store to get hair scissors because of this conversation we had that morning:

S Maughan-would you let me cut your hair?

S Entrikin-sure

So after we did more walking and eventually arrived back at our apartment, Sister Maughan cut my hair. Did this happen because we were bored and didn't give ourselves time to think it through? Probably. But that's how memories are made 😌

Also my hair looks pretty dang good. Especially for being cut by a 21 year old with absolutely no experience aside from cutting her own bangs before. My hair is nice and short again, and I have a fun story to tell. (Don't worry President, I still look presentable and at church on Sunday, none of our members noticed I got my hair cut)

Saturday we walked to the church. I was feeling very depresso espresso. Sister Maughan made me say like 15 things I was grateful for because I was being "too negative" THEN when we got to the church she said "stop throwing yourself a pity party" 😲😡 I was mad, so I decided to not talk to her about how I was feeling anymore and just do work. Frustratingly, when I did that I started to feel better 😔 It sucks when other people are right.

Also it started DUMPING while we were at the church. Like I've never seen it rain so hard dumping. It was like a movie. And what did we decide to do? Walk. We had been asked to help move a couch (because we're so strong). So we started off. The only problem was that we only had one umbrella and we had left our ponchos at home. So we huddled together and tried to share as best we could. We saw the dollar store and decided to buy a second umbrella. We get there and they had just sold out of umbrellas the day before. Just our luck.

After we left, we got a call from the lady who wanted us to move her friend's couch: "they had a neighbor come over and help them, but could you still go over? I think it would be great for them to meet the missionaries" What else did we have to do? So we went off to walk a mile in the rain to move a couch that was already moved. We figured out a pretty good system of walking arm in arm to get as much of us under the umbrella as possible. We probably looked pretty silly, but our heads were dry! Not much else was, but oh well.

When we finally got there, we walked up and there were two guys in the garage. We said "we're the missionaries and we came to help move your couch." They took us in: two tiny girls who looked like drowned rats. They gave each other a look and said "we're already done, but thanks" haha, okayyyyyyyy. So we walked back around the corner to figure out our next course of action. Then the friend who called us pulled up. And she took us back to house; we did the walk of shame back up the driveway past the two men and she said "they're with me" after the guys were like, "we saw them already." Super awkward, wanted to die: 0/10. And we went in and talked with the lady of the house for a bit (sitting on towels because the couch was brand new and we were quite wet) And then the lady drove us home (which was super nice because, as mentioned earlier, we were pretty wet) And we put everything we had on in the dryer. And that was the end of our rainy Saturday adventure.

Thanks for reading my long email! (Or scrolling to the bottom to look at the pictures) hope you all have a great week!

Spiritual Thought:

Alma 1:27-28 "And they did impart of their substance, every man according to that which he had, to the poor, and the needy, and the sick, and the afflicted; ... And thus they did establish the affairs of the church; and thus they began to have continual peace again, notwithstanding all their persecutions."

We have a lot more peace and good times when we look out for and care for each other

Love, Sister Aysha May Entrikin

Addresses:

House - 2013 Meridian Way, Rocklin, CA 95765

Mission office - 8583 Watt Avenue, Antelope, CA 95843

Pictures:

1&2) walkin

3) drenched rats

4) squoshed

5) rinsing my hair off in the tub like a pro

6) ghostie shadows

7) moments before disaster