The Fair Has Come to Town!

Probably the biggest event Othello has ever experienced. It’s one of those times where everyone drops everything and all they can think of is the [Adams County] Fair. I guess that happens in a small town such as this but from what it sounds like it was a good fair as it always is. Last Saturday (not two days before the time of this writing but the week before that) the entire stake (all the members of the church that live in Othello) came to help clean up the fair grounds. Since it only gets used once a year there was a lot to be done but it all got cleaned up pretty quick. In three hours we had turned it from looking abandoned for 11 months to presentable. My comp and I ending up spending most of the day spreading sawdust everywhere but it was a great chance to get to know some of the members. The giant barbecue they gave us at the end was pretty nice too. 

We also had the opportunity to help volunteer in the church's booth that they have. They use the booth as a fundraiser for girl’s camp and scout camp and from what I understand, they make enough in the four days the fair is open to have everyone go at a very minimal cost, if at all. The booth is a super big hit though in the fair; they basically sell deep-fried dough called Elephant Ears. Think a 15-inch diameter piece of dough, fried, then dusted with cinnamon sugar. It almost tastes like funnel cake, but better. It was super good. I personally got to be the one sitting behind the fryer so I was charged with the lofty task of not burning the food but all in all it was pretty fun. Nothing quite like fair food. 

And in this week’s random department, we were out knocking some doors on a pretty slow day since the fair was going on but we come across this one house and a guy answers the door and we start talking to him (in Spanish) and he asks us to wait and then goes back into the house to talk to someone and in the meantime some guy walks in the back door, stares at us, says “Hola” and then keeps walking. Finally just as we were about to leave this super old guy comes to the door and wraps a green towel around his head and says hi and stares at us with a weird smile. In my mind I was like okay this is a little weird but we keep going anyways. We go through our spiel and then ask him if he has ever talked with missionaries before and this is how the conversation went:

Us: "Ha placticado con misioneros en el pasado?" (Have you ever talked with missionaries before?)

Him: "como?" (Sorry? Meaning, ‘I don't understand’)

Us: "Ha placticado con misioneros el el pasado?"

Him: "Estoy casado? (Am I married?)

Us: (now a little frustrated and assuming he can't understand us because he is hard of hearing: "Ha hablado con misioneros?" (Have you ever talked to missionaries?)

Him: "No entiendo ingles" (I don't understand English)

At this point he kind of just closed the door on us so we sat there for a second and tried to collect our thoughts about what happened. Tracting is never fun but it does have its moments. 

This past weekend we also had the opportunity of having Elder [Brad K.] Risenmay of the Seventy come to our Stake Conference. While normally having any General Authority come is big, this was especially neat because this is his home stake. Twenty-two years ago he was called to be the Othello Stake President and now was able to come back on assignment as a Seventy. It was great being able to learn and hear the great talks and testimonies of not only the stake members but also Elder Risenmay. The big central theme is that God is our Heavenly Father and we are His children. It was an amazing conference. This conference is where this week's quote comes from. He (Elder Risenmay) was talking with Elder [Davd A.] Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and he said in regards to the battle between good and evil:

"We know how this plays out, and we win."

The only question now is we have to decide which team we want to be on. 

Until next week!

Elder Kupferer

[Editor’s Note]  Elder Brad K. Risenmay, from Othello, Washington is an Area Seventy.  Area Seventies give part-time voluntary Church service within their assigned geographic areas and support area presidencies in international areas.