Some "Whacky" Times . . .

Dear Brethren,
I'm trying to remember exactly where I left off last week. I remember now what I was saying, however I think I will spare you for another week, and make this letter a little different.
This time, I'm going to just report on how things are going, and what rocks about my mission! Maybe I'll go over the whacky times, and some summaries!

The First Day of Proselyting On My Mission: I don't know how many of you I ever got to tell about the first day of my mission, but it's work retelling. I think start preaching a little less, and start sharing a few more experiences--both spiritual and crazy! My first day I was taken out by one of my trainers, Elder Thornock. We went out to downtown Omaha, and man it was crazy! It was 40 degrees below 0 with the windchill, and schools had been shut down all over the place for days. Nebraska drivers just cannot drive in the snow. In fact, they can hardly drive AT ALL! Anyway, to set the scene, imagine skyscrapers, cold cold weather, almost nobody outside (those who were out were extremely bundled up), and a brand new missionary out on the streets! I start walking down the sidewalk toward the first people I can sight, which are waiting at a bus stop. There is a man just yelling his guts out--only he isn't an intimidating guy, just weird--and he's screaming some wild things, almost like talking to himself though. Well, we talked to him first. We asked him if he has a faith in Jesus Christ. He responds, "Well, you see, I think that God is the devil, and Satan is Jesus". Now, some people mess with us...but this guy was serious. We kind of just moved on, and talked to some black people who stood at the bus stop and told us we could talk to them right there, but they weren't really interested--mostly just cold, with bloodshot and yellow eyes, and not a great first impression. Then we moved on, and talked to a guy walking quickly down the sidewalk, and he told us we could walk with him to his destination. So we did, and we walked into an amazing antique shop. He told us he owned the shop. He was a catholic guy who was very smart, and he wrote about several religions (basically to tear them apart), but the one he was never able to find problems with, was our church (heck yeah!). Well, we went on to talk about the Plan of Salvation a lot, and he went on to tell us how it makes sense that angels do exist, and explained it to us using evolution. He said, "You have man, then angel, then god." Whoa! Is he in the wrong religion, or what?
Well, after teaching him, we went to an appointment. On our way to the appointment, we learned the other missionaries talked to the crazy guy yelling things in the street. As they talked to him, the guy claimed he was possessed by a devil. One of the missionaries promptly offered to "take care of it" for him. He decilined, and said, "Oh no. I like it." Well, we had a talk about whether or not we should go back and do it anyway--of course, who's to say whether or not he really was? Perhaps he just belongs in the looney bin. Anyway, we eventually made it to the next apppointment. Elder Thornock briefed me on the guy's situation that we were going to see. He was a black guy who just stole his friend's gun because his friend was going to go kill somebody for some reason. He was a good guy who likes the missionaries, but what an appointment!
We went in, and talked to him for a bit. As we did, these two girls chimed in. Well, turns out they were both Lesbian, but they weren't dating each other, so it wasn't that awkward. However, they asked us all sorts of prying questions when they found out we can't even go on dates for two years. They asked, "How are you supposed to get some booty?" Awkwardly we answerd that we aren't, and don't have sexual relations till marriage. They flipped out, and it was nutty. One of them, I guess, actually wanted to join the church at some point, but couldn't cause she wouldn't quit being lesbian. However, awkwardly, she was pregnant because she decided to try not being a lesbian. What a first day, huh?
Anyway, that's not what I intended to write about, but was crazy. Here I am thinking this is how my entire two years would be. I hope you can find the humor in it, even if it's all awkward. Things did still stay crazy on my mission, and we laugh about a lot of things. However, none of my areas have been as crazy as Omaha. Moral of the story: Stay out of Omaha. It's full of weirdies. I'll give more examples in the future. This world is messed up. I guess the whole situation isn't funny. There's a lot to just learn from this experience, and I hope you future missionaries do. We have a lot of work to do out there. Love you all.
Love, Elder Chris Petersen