"Dear Family & Friends,

This last week Almost all the kids in [Name Withheld] went back to school.
It got a little tedious Tracting. Everyone is depressed and kinda
sour.
Oh, by the way I am back on bike. On Friday my bike
unfortunately got a flat, as well as the shifting cable components
came apart. It would of taken two hours to walk "to" our area, so I
spent a few hours trying to fix my bike. I managed to put together my
shifting cables, but the patch that put one the tube did not hold. I
ended up getting a new tube the next day, with the help of a member
taking us to Walmart. I really dislike bicycles!! I love riding, but
the maintenance is terrible. I guess I will be riding bikes for a long
time even after my mission, because I ain't got no money for a car. I
know the lord will provide.
The revenge of the washer,
We had a washer and dryer that was not working right. The washer
leaked/ not washing right and the dryer was not drying. You may be
able to tell how that might be a problem, if you actually want clean
clothes. The mission brought us a brand new washer and dryer. Before
we installed it we had to move out the old ones. As we were beginning
to rotate the washer, we noticed huge black spots all over the
laminate floor. "It was black mold." We cleaned up the mold and
finally got the washer and dryer hooked up. However that's not the end
of the story, so we plugged them in and Elder [Name Withheld] put a load of
darks the washer. When the wash cycle got to rinse; it stopped. It
left the clothes soaked with some soap still on the clothes. The brand
new washer was not working! So, we put the clothes in the dryer. The
dryer worked nice! The only problem was the clothes smelt worst then
before he put them in the washer. I thought we should try again, but
this time I should try to wash my clothes. It was not a good idea. The
same exact think happened. Although the clothes this time smelt ten
times worst. The odor was so, so bad. The smell was like I throw my
clothes in a sewer, then pulled them out and put them on. Now all my
clothes smell terrible. The other Elders got a new apartment and got a
new washer and dryer that actually work! We were a bit mad at them for
getting something that actually work. Sorry for the rant about my
washer and dryer.
The part member family that we are working with will be out of
town this week, but we got in with them twice this pas week and taught
the restoration and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Since they will be
gone for an entire week the mom wanted to study for our next lesson
with the kids, while they are on the trip. THE MISSION IS THE GREATEST
EXPERIENCE EVER! I love the people that we work with as well as the
beautiful scenery. Remember, Remember to be what God wants you to
become.


Sincerely,
Into the life of
Elder [Name Withheld]
Missionary in [Name Withheld]"

Thanks for thinking of us, EB!!!!!

90% of his letter is about a broken bike, broken washer, and clothes that smell like sewage...and "THE MISSION IS THE GREATEST
EXPERIENCE EVER!"? Sure sounds like it!

Ha! I saw that, but a mission has a way of doing that to you. You spend an awful week mending your bike and smelling like a toilet, then a part member family wants to study the scriptures and suddenly it's like you've won the lottery. Sad, but you take what you can.

Um, black mold is BAD!!! It should be checked by a professional to see if that's what it is and then mitigated. Geez.

And clothes washed in a washer should not smell like sewage. They should smell like tide and downy. There is something wrong with that.

I hope they don't get sick from the mold especially because it was messed with. Yuck. Isn't he coming home soon? Seems like he's been there forever!! Poor kid.

My 19 year old son is hanging out with his dads, going to SF, the beach, learning to surf. That's what kids should be doing.

I hope they made sure to remove any extra plastic & packing material that might be in/on the washer & dryer.

Or look for a laundromat...

black mold can give lifetime health problems, should be cleaned by a professional.

Black mold can't live on garments. So he's got that going for him.

elderolddog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Black mold can't live on garments. So he's got
> that going for him.


I like your positive outlook.

hahahahahhahahahahhahahahhahaha

Why couldn't the church pay to have the washer ans dryer installed properly?

Black mold is VERY dangerous and should be mitigated by a licensed contractor. They should not be living in a contaminated space. If I were them, I would take photos of the mold just in case they get sick later. I would also report the conditions to the Mission President and keep a copy of the letter or email. Could be useful someday.

BB

Next thing you know, TSCC won't even pay for the meager/crappy apartments and appliances they give them. They'll have the members chip in to pay for those and volunteer to fix them too.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/15/2016 09:51PM by raiku.

Tell me if this sounds right. The bike story reminded me of an incident about 3 years ago.
I was in a local bike store looking at helmet with my kid. Two missionaries came in and were looking around. The shop was pretty empty. They needed a tube (about $4.00). I was also near the counter. They asked me if I was local. I said yes. They asked if I belonged to the church. I said "No, and I don't want to be". One guy said oh, usually members help us out sometimes. I said "Well, I'm not a member".
Later, I told my neighbor (used to be LDS, but not for 20+ years) the story. He told me the missionaries have to use their own money for bike repairs and maintenance. I said-surely they're reimbursed. He said he didn't think so. Is that true? These kids have to pay to sell the church for 2 years PLUS they have to pay for bike repairs? What about missionaries and cars- do they have to pay for repairs? Thanks.

This is like second and third hand, from stories I've read...

The missionaries in first world countries are issued debit cards and the first of every month the debit cards are 'loaded' with whatever the MP has decided they get out of the $400 that's being paid to the missionary fund (so that it's tax deductible). That amount has to see them through the month, and it's from that amount that they buy food, sundries and the occasional bit of clothing or whatever...and make their bike repairs. The bikes are theirs, whereas the mission cars aren't, so those are repaired by the mission.

I wish I knew if there was any correlation between what the MP is given in bonuses and how much he lets the mishies have every month. It makes sense to me that a forward thinking financial manager would see that if the money the MP can have is increased when he lowers what the missionaries can have, it might save the church a few bucks.

But I don't know what the church stand is on a parent or relative sending a missionary a gift card or a pre-loaded Visa card, so that life could be easier. When I was out, there were missionaries just scraping by, and there were missionaries with all the money they wanted.

It's a brand new washer, call the store it came from and get a replacement washer or have them fix it. It must have a warranty of some sort.

That's what I was thinking. You don't have to keep a brand new broken washer. Kids may not know that though.

Maybe they were attempting to wash their clothes on Sunday!

It sure reminds me of all those crazy F&T stories about household appliances going haywire ONLY on Sundays.

My new washer suddenly did the same thing. Then I noticed what i thought was the low setting for spin was actually an off setting.

Easy fix to set the spin cycle higher. Now she works fine.

As for the smell....I bet the washer is second hand. New to them, just not new.

I bet the smell is from leaving the clothes sitting in soapy water or with soap all over them. Clothes left sitting in laundry soap start smelling TERRIBLE within hours...especially if the clothes are sweat-stained missionary g's that already have a permanent funk to them.

They should try resetting the spin setting then run it through a cycle with nothing in it and see how it goes. If that doesn't work, call the place it came from, or the mission home whichever is faster.

His clothes stink, his bike is falling apart, tracting sucks...
But the mission experiences is the best ever!

Yeah!

"Black Mold Matters!"

Satan rules the washers.

Some time ago we got this really great dryer. We call it "the Sun."

After we wash the clothes (sometimes by hand, because our ancient washer is often on the blink) we take the clothes over to these things we call "clotheslines" and hang the clothes on them using things we call "clothespins." Given that we're up in the Andes near the Equator the clothes dry really quickly, and the constant breeze keeps them from being stiff.

Did I mention the low price?

Rather than complain about his trials and tribulations he ought to focus on learning all he can about the Church so he can build a testimony that has conviction. How much does he know about the Book of Abraham? Has he read all of the beloved prophet Brigham Young's sermons? Does he have a strong testimony that the Brethren have taught that the Book of Mormon is the most correct book on earth and a record of the principal ancestors of the Native Americans? A mission is a good time to really study hard on those things and encourage all his companions, investigators, and everyone to do likewise. That way it'll help cement in world opinion that the Mormons have the most honest and truthful organization in the history of the world where people can feel safe to ask any question.

Critical thinking skills aren't a missionary strength.

Actually a detriment in the MP's eyes I'm sure.

I would have loved to spend hours working on my bike. I prayed everyday on my mission for bike problems. More time spent on bike problems, less time spent knocking on doors.

In Japan in the late seventies we never bought bikes. We looked for abandoned ones and fixed them up. When we transferred, we didn't take our bikes with us. We left them in that area and hoped there was a decent bike waiting for us when we got to our new area.