Death by bicycle - 01/22/13

Day 7. By the grace and mercy of God, I have been spared the tedium of biking to the library by virtue of my Zone Leaders' benevolence. I shall engrave their names upon my heart forever. I still have to bike to the top of the Cole Canyon ward for a lesson at 5, back down to the Murrieta Hills Ward for dinner at 6, and then back to the middle of Cole Canyon for a lesson at 7. At 8, the Cole Canyon Relief Society President will be meeting us at our homeshare. I could not be more pleased with her decision to come and meet us.

 

Up until day 4, I was under the impression that biking would be a 3 or 4 day experiment. Now I am told it will last 9 days. May the Almighty have mercy upon my legs, for the hills of Calle Del Oso Oro beneath my bicycle tires will have none.

 

In all seriousness, my area is not as hilly as it could be, and it's quite small by comparison to other areas in the zone, but I am so out of shape that I am completely whipped at the end of the day. It is difficult enough that I can't help but think about how much cushier my computer chair was back home compared to the bicycle seat that I find myself struggling to stay on top of.

 

My greenie used to bike from his home in Springville, Utah to classes at BYU every day, and then after the 20 mile round trip, he'd sometimes go biking for fun for an additional 30+ miles. He bikes circles around me. And every time he passes by somebody that we could have stopped to talk to, it hurts me. I've skipped right by people out of fear of my companion waiting at our destination for 45 minutes while I plod along at my own pace and stop to talk to everyone he skips. It's a little bit frustrating. But I'm getting better. And I'm sure that I'm getting stronger at cycling. But I'm still pretty weak, and it's humbling, for sure.

 We've talked to a lot of people in the past week, including several inactives that miraculously let us in even though nobody else has been able to get in the door in months. I guess that's the power of greenie work. Or perhaps they just can't help but let me in when I look so tired and pathetic. Who knows.

The lessons are starting to pick back up after the holiday excuses. Our new investigators from last week continue to progress. I love being a missionary here.

The homeshare has a baby in it. The daughter and son in law of Sister "Y", had their baby boy Jacob last week but he had to stay in the NICU until just last night. So now we have the tiny sounds of newborn cries in the hallways whenever we're home. Which honestly, is more often than I'd like because of the training program that takes 12 weeks to finish.

 Well, I'm off to save the world. Thanks to anyone who's still sending me mail!