Of Pedals And Pew-pews: The Richmond Lyfestyle

Hello once again everyone! Reporting live fresh from the treacherous ride named Shockoe bottom, its Elder McMullin with a special Thursday report! As always, feel free to send me any bolt-action rifles or a new etch a sketch, and I will happily receive it. But, without further ado, here we go! 

  To start out, interviews! It turns out that President invites you to his home if you live in the Northern Zones, so we rocked up to his house with a full charcuterie board on the kitchen table while you waited for your turn. Once I went in, President blindsided me that it was to be our last interview together, as he will leave shortly after next transfer begins. We talked for a while about why I was in the office and about Easter, and then he joked about how long I had been down south for. I laughed about my banishment to the land of North Carolina, when he gave me one of the greatest compliments I have received for a while: “You did good work down there”. For a few weeks now I had been debating if I had done enough in that stupid little town, if I could have been better or worked harder or more diligent to standards or any other of a million different things to find more success. I was discouraged that I had to watch it from the backseat, as other elders took my baby and ran it differently than I did. But to hear from the president, and by extension God, that I did good was all I needed to hear to know that my time was not wasted, and that I fulfilled the measures that God put me down there to do. Now all I have to do is figure out why I'm here now, and work some more miracles.

    This work week then kicked off with a macho day for work. You may be thinking “Wow! I’m so glad that Gayton is finally seeing some success from those diligent and hardworking elders!”. Twas not so, as we had our ZL exchange in downtown Richmond and spent the day working there, and thus found actual success. Downtown Richmond was a blast to say the least, and being back in a highly populated area took me back to the Newtown days of yore where church invites are a dime a dozen. I gave out more invites than usual as well, because I had to bike the whole day. Now, my original bike was swiped from me before I even got to the field, and then THAT bike got stolen in VB, and then my current bike’s chain snapped and I never bothered to fix it, so I got to ride Elder Morgan’s bike for the duration of the day. Despite all the previous failures, it was a perfectly smooth ride! I had a great time with Elder Christensen cruising around Mosby and Gilpin, as well as riding down the previously mentioned Shockoe hill (which gave me terrifying levels of speed, especially as sidewalks will just spontaneously end into freeway exchanges out here). The best/worst part was at the end of the day, when Elder Christensen admitted that he planned to bike through the hoodest of hoods to get back home on time. So, squeaking along through one of the sketchiest parts of the mission, we trundled into a gas station for some last minute finding. I was jovially inviting people left and right, and stopped to talk to this one gentleman on his dirt bike. The words died in my throat as I looked down and saw he was holding an automatic rifle, with full mag and the safety very much off, casually dangling by his leg. I swerved away (a magnificent feat for a bike I had been on for about six hours) and skedaddled to Elder Christensen, when by using a mixture of dramatic hand signals and outofbreathrushedenglishthatsoundedabitlikethis, he got the memo and we booked it out, along with an entourage of about five other customers who noticed the same situation. Ladies and gents, let it be known the Holy Ghost protects, because in all of this I felt nervous and the need to go, but never afraid. I know it was Him who stopped my words, and Him who inspired us to get out of literal Dodge, because He would never let His servants face danger unprepared and unaided. After that though, I was excited to kiss RVA goodbye for another six weeks, having my fill of the crazy old city.

         This connects marvelously to a spiritual thought I had this week, so I might as well put it here while I’m thinking about it. We were teaching a lesson (in Richmond- remember: if people are listening it’s because they don't live in Gayton) and the lady had a couple questions about the Holy Ghost. Seeing as she was protestant for most of her life, I resort to the good ol’ “Use the New Testament and hope it all works out” strategy and talk about the Day of Pentecost. Then it hit me: Peter never had the Holy Ghost throughout all of Christ’s ministry. He promises it later, but he also tells Peter that he will be a great messenger “Once you are converted”. Proof of this is that after the death of Christ, Peter gives his infamous “I go a fishing.” He didn’t know what to do and didn’t have the spirit to guide him. After Pentecost, he went from Peter the fisherman to Peter the Prophet, who stood before 3,000 and testified of Christ, ran the church and solved its Semitic problems, and healed those around him with such force that people yearned to be touched by his shadow. And even, to stare death in the face, upside down, as he died for Him Who Lived. That difference was the near-so sole product of receiving the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost isn’t just the warm fuzzies. It isn’t even limited to a still small voice that tells you when you miss a turn or to call your grandma. It’s the transformative, exalting power that makes bad men good and good men better, and even turns fishermen into fishers of men. And what a privilege it is to me and to anyone reading this to be able to feel, enjoy, and be changed by this most great gift from our loving Heavenly Father.

     Anyways, I hope yall have a great rest of your week, and excited to talk to you in just a few short days!

 From your favorite Richmond Renegade,

Elder McMullin

Photos!

1: Well you don't see that drink combo at Swig...

2:  Which one is it?

3: Good ol' RVA, home of bad gun laws and good proseletyzing.

4: I am a gooch, thank you so much for noticing

5: At the richmond Capitol!