Dear Mom-
I am doing pretty good. My back is hurting lately and I'll tell you why later but besides that I am feeling good. I have had a pretty good week and there have been uplifting things but it has also been "meh" at times as well. There has been a lot that has happened this week including our annual mission conference. For Christmas I believe I can Skype for 45 minutes, maybe an hour. Yes, I will be using Skype and we will probably do it at 7:30 our time. I'm so excited!! It will be so fun! We haven't done any service this week but we did some caroling in a park out in front of one of the casinos :) I probably felt the spirit most when in Hattiesburg for our Mission Conference. And for Christmas, we will probably visit some ward families and Idk what else.
My Spanish is doing ok, I am slowly being able to read it better and understand it better but it is still harder to speak it, haha. It's still all hard but speaking is what is most difficult right now. There are moments when a little bit of Spanish is spoken but besides memorizing or practicing in Spanish, we don't really speak Spanish to each other. Elder Hubert really doesn't want to do that, it would take a ton of patience from him cuz Elder Hyde and I still aren't good.
This week started out pretty good. Sunday night we slept at the D'Iberville Elders' pad cuz the Pascagoula Elders were staying over to spend P-day with us and then carpool to the mission conference. The neighbors at their apartment are kinda stingy and we were up late that night just talking and I would have gone to sleep but with that many people in the apartment, I wasn't able to. We weren't loud but I guess the neighbors didn't like the walking around and they banged on the wall to tell us to be quiet. Then later there was a knock on the door and then the doorbell and it was a cop. He wasn't the nicest guy but basically just said to be quiet so everyone went to sleep after that. On Monday after getting groceries and emailing and such things, we went to a trampoline park. I was hesitant about this but everyone was on board and I couldn't be without my companions and it wasn't really anything I had control of. It doesn't specifically say not to jump on trampolines in the missionary handbook, but if you read between the lines it's probably not something we should do cuz it's an activity that can cause injury. Anyway, since I was there, I kinda gave in and just had fun. It was a ton of fun and we played dodge ball and dunked on the basketball hoop and fought on the tight rope over the foam pit and jumped into the foam pit. And did flips and all kinds of stuff. Then I was jumping across the room and went to land on my back but kinda not thinking about it, went into a back flip and landed really badly. I did what they call a lawn chair, but a bit worse. I landed vertically from really high, on the back of my head and my body folded over me and it wrecked my back. I hurt really bad and writhed in pain and Elder Pedersen was near but didn't see it. I laid there and he told me not to move and I wasn't about to. I stayed there on my back for quite a while and they went on jumping. I then was able to get up but knew I was done jumping and knew it was my consequence for going there. Then we went bowling after, which is okay to do, but I couldn't do that either. I was in a lot of pain because of that for the rest of the day and next few days but I have just been dealing with it. I am okay though. My muscles took the brute of it, I think my back itself is okay. On Tuesday, we went to Hattiesburg (Oak Grove Church Building) and we had our Mission Conference, which Elder Claudio R.M. Costa came. President Olsen and his wife spoke and then Elder Costa spoke and then we had lunch. Then Sister Costa spoke and then Elder Costa spoke again. It was a spiritual conference and Elder Costa was funny and enjoyable to listen to. He talked about some of the aspects of missionary work and working with members. I really enjoyed it. My back hurt but it was manageable, it was much better when I woke up that morning than it was the day it happened. We went to a member's house that Elder Hubert knew up there and they fed us dinner. Then we thought we were going home but in summary Elder Hubert took us to the pad of the Zone Leaders in Hattiesburg. It was them and two others already there and we chilled there and talked for a while and then Elder Hubert wanted to stay the night cuz he didn't want to drive back 1 hour and 30 minutes that night. Elder Beahner didn't want him to stay because that was a lot of people to have there and the AP's were already asking him questions about "sleep over type things" and then it turned into a battle of stubbornness and Elder Hubert, despite his friend Elder Beahner telling him it was time to leave, multiple times, waited until it was too late to go back and wouldn't even go to a different pad nearby and then went to sleep in their study room. We didn't have blankets, pillows, beds, or anything. My back was really hurting and Elder Hyde wanted to sleep in his own bed so we weren't very happy with the situation. Elder Beahner and Elder Wilson drove us to the Oak Grove Elders' pad and we slept there for the night. We stayed up until 11 talking with Elder Farren(he came out to Mississippi with Elder Hyde) and his greenie and that was relaxing. Then Elder Hyde slept on the couch and I slept in the room on the floor to try and help my back. We ate some breakfast with them in the morning and then Elder Hubert showed up and we drove home. On Thursday we rode our bikes all day, at this point I still couldn't go up stairs more than one at a time and couldn't run but I could carry my bike up the stairs and ride it. I just have to keep my back straight. Friday we did studies and weekly planning and went to some appointments. Saturday we went on exchanges and Elder Hyde and I went with Elder Jex to his pad and Elder Hubert and Elder Curtis were together. We planned our day, ate lunch at Wendy's, and then went and visited an older guy in our ward and then planned our sharing time for Primary on Sunday. Then we went down to the casinos and waited at the park for the Sisters and Elder Curtis and Hubert. We then caroled to those who passed through the park and gave them "Light the World" cards, little candles, and candy canes. It was actually lots of fun and we did it for about an hour or two and then a member bought us hot chocolate and we stayed there talking with them for another hour or so and then went home for the night. Sunday was good, we didn't have any extra meetings before church and then it was the ward Christmas program which was really good. Then Elder Jex, Hyde, and I did sharing time for the older kids in primary and then also the younger kids. We talked about Christmas and the Nativity Scene and then helped them make candy cane ornaments. Anyway the week was pretty crazy but it has still been a good one. The pain in my back has mostly left the middle of it but last night wasn't the best night of sleep and so now the lower part of my back is hurting more. I still can't run and I can't run up stairs but can go up 2 stairs at a time even though it still hurts. I'm trying not to use Ibuprofen except if it really hurts or if I want it to help while I sleep.
Even though I may be feeling some pain, it's not like I'm not used to back pain and I am still doing well. Have a wonderful week!!
Love your missionary,
Elder Acton
Me and Elder Hubert
My Twelve Days of Christmas
Thank you MOM!
Christmas lights in the park
We caroled in the park near the Hard Rock Casino
Thanks Fam for the Lights, made it feel a
bit more like Christmas.
A Buddhist Temple we saw
Elder Hyde, Elder Hubert, and Me
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