Lebanon, Missouri (pronounced "Leb-ah-nin Mi-ser-ah, say it fast) was my first area. It's about halfway between between the Oklahoma border and St. Louis on I-44. It's original name was Wyota, but back around the turn of the century one of the 'major players' in the city decided to rename it to Lebanon, the name of his hometown. It's located in the heart of the Ozark "mountains" and is home to five boat factories (G3, Tracker, Sundancer, Lowe, and another that I forget) and one barrel factory. It's a town of about 13,000 people and contains a good stretch of old Route 66. There are a lot of farms/cattle ranches surrounding the town.
My first companion and trainer was Elder Davis, who is an awesome missionary. I was very excited to see several small Lego sets on his desk . We got along rather well and had a pretty good time. When I got there a wonderful sister named Mary had just gotten baptized. Her close friend Betty was investigating the church as well. An awesome young man named Ryan was poised for baptism if he could just come to church the required five times. During the two transfers (total of 3 months) that Elder Davis and I were together, Betty got baptized and Ryan dumped us. The day that Ryan dropped us was a really hard one for Elder Davis. Betty had big problems with depression, and it was amazing to see the change in her and her lifestyle that the gospel brought into her life! She and Mary both will be strong sisters in the ward there.
Another investigator we were working with there was named Shelly. She was up for a baptismal interview the saturday after I got there, but she told us that she was on probation for an act committed a long time ago. To get off probation, which our mission president (President Seal, more on him later) deemed nessecary to be baptized, she needed to pass the GED test. We helped her with that, but due to many different cirucmstances she still had not passsed when I left Lebanon at the end of April. We had many wonderful visits with Shelly, who is an amazing lady. She has a son named Gage who is a riot to play with. We were able to witness a true medical miracle with them. Right before I left to come home, President Seal said that he was considering approving her baptism because of the great effort she has put forth to get off probation. I hope to soon hear that she was baptized.
So, while I was in Lebanon it was hit with the worst Ice storm in over 50 years. Friday, January 12th, Elder Davis and I were working about 3 miles from our appartment. We'd biked over there, then started tracting. It had started raining so we went back to our bikes so that we could go visit some people. We discovered that Elder Davis' brakes had literally frozen! We thus decided to just walk home. 45 minutes later we got home, and we were both covered in ice. Our coats were stiff with the stuff, and there was a couple millimeters covering our bikes. The next morning we went outside, and it looked like a war zone. There are a lot of trees in Lebanon, and many of them (or parts thereof) were on the ground. Lebanon has overhead powerlines (as opposed to burried utilities) so about 60% of the city lost power from the ice storm. It remained cold for about 3 weeks after that, with temps in the teens many times, and dropping to single digits every once and a while. This doesn't include the wind chill, which probably dropped it below zero. All in all, it was pretty fun. We were lucky in our appartment to not lose power. In march we were helping one of the members of the ward clean up some brush in his backyard, where I was exposed to Poison Ivy. I had a rash on my arms for about 2 weeks, but it didn't get too bad. On the last saturday of each transfer (OK, technically it's the second to last saturday, but it would be the last saturday in the area) President Seal and his assistants would call all the missionaries who were going to be transferred. Elder Davis got a call from President Seal saying that he would be a Zone Leader in Fayetteville, AR. He really flipped out- he didn't think he was ready. He was scared, but since has mastered the art of leadership and has become a wonderful Zone Leader. I won't be surprised if he becomes an Assistant to the President before he leaves.
My second companion was Elder Bailey, who would be going home the transfer after this one. He was kinda different from Elder Davis. While he was there we were able to help Monte to be baptized. He's a really fun guy and would make a great scout leader. He's very sincere and very spiritual. He had a problem with coffee, but when we impressed to him that he couldn't be baptized til he stopped drinking coffee he said, "watch this!" He got up, took his coffee pot, and dumped it down the drain. Elder Bailey and I sat there kinda dumbfounded for a moment. I was actually about to suggest that he do that, but he went ahead and did it himself! He was to receive the Aaronic priesthood the Sunday after I left Lebanon.
We had a couple of other investigators there that haven't been baptized yet, as far as I know. One was a seemingly golden investigator named John, who read everything and seemed to really feel the spirit. He had given up his job to be able to come to church, and had left the place where he was staying when they said that he couldn't meet with us there anymore. Then one day he just kinda disappeared. We later got word that he was in Dallas at a truck driving school. I don't know what's become of him. Mike and Cheri were a couple we tracted into, but they had to take some time off when Cheri gave birth right after I left Lebanon, and I'm likewise unsure what's happened. One wonderful old gentleman we were teaching was Lloyd. He is an old, retired policeman who is in the twilight of his life.
The ward in Lebanon was small but fun. Brother Morter was the Ward Mission Leader for most of the time I was there. He is a very spiritual man and it was a thrill to work with him. While I was with Elder Bailey he was released and Brother Hobert Ruble (Roo-bell) was called to be the new WML. It was great to work with him as he grew in his knowledge of the church. Brother Ritchell was a constant support for us, offering meals and exchanges whenever he could. I really look up to him. The bishops family was really fun as well.
So, about President Seal. President Seal was a dentist in Sandy before he got called to be a mission president. He is an awesome man who really cares about his missionaries. His mottos are 'Obedience with exactness" and "quick to observe." He was big on obeying the rules, but didn't invent new rules or silly games (like running from door to door, like I've heard of other presidents requiring their missionaries to do). He followed the white handbook and Preach My Gospel, as these are the words of the Lord through His chosen Apostles.
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