Letter from Colin: 
This week I found out about Fire Ants, and my wrists and ankles are covered in bites. It's safe to say I am not a fan of Fire Ants. It's not that they really hurt very bad, but they are just so irritating. While we were doing service, I felt something prick my wrist, and I looked down and there were Fire Ants all over my wrists. By the time I got them all off they had gotten my ankles.

         For service this week we went and helped Brother Lee in his chicken houses, so now I can say I have worked in a chicken house. The people just came and loaded up all the chickens, so they had to take out all the slats and uprights that hold the slats up. The slats are basically big grates and when all the chickens are in there, the chicken poop falls underneath the slats. Then when all the chickens are gone at the end of each cycle, they take out all the grates and a guy comes and collects all the chicken poop for fertilizer. Once you remove the slats, the upright pieces that hold them up are left, but they are buried in chicken poop and sawdust so you can't just pull them up. So--Brother Lee's Dad, Brother Lee, who is 82 and still works everyday, takes his father’s John Deere (not tractor--but his handplow from the 1880's), and follows it while it's pulled behind their other John Deere (the actual tractor). He's in his 80's and he used that ancient old plow for a total of about a mile digging a channel next to the uprights so we could pull them out. When we asked if we could take over for a bit to give him a break, he laughed and said, "Ain't none of y'all ever even seen one of these here plows! Y'all will just muss it up," and he kept on going.

         On Saturday we went to teach this guy, Norburt, who is a funny old guy. He believes that unless you've seen the meat you're eating while it's still wearing it's coat and walking around-- you don't really know what you're eating. The only meat he eats is from the animals he raises on his land, and slaughters and butchers himself. When we got to his house there were tons of cars all over the place, and when we found him, he told us to go right on in and get us something to eat. Turns out that “something” was steak, and lots of it! They were all the very best cuts of meat from the steer too, and it was all cooked over woodfire coals. When we walked in the door there were about 30 of his extended family there. Mind you, none of these people are members of our church, but from the second we opened the door they welcomed us and treated us like we were their family, too. Someone got us plates and utensils while someone else got us something to drink, and others were serving us food and talking to us like we were good old friends. His whole family treated us like you would family or your best friends that you haven't seen in a very long time. The entire time I have been on my mission I have never felt so welcomed-in by anyone so immediately-- and these were just random people, too.

         All in all it was a good week. A lot has happened, but we are still getting used to being new to this area. Well, I hope y'all have a blessed week!

---Elder White