CHALMETTE CHRONICLES: CHAPTER FOURTEEN- I put the Mardi in Gras

My dearly beloved,

Y'all, this week has been real. Like, first things first, I am now officially a realist. I have survived an authentic week full of both mission and Louisiana experience alike. To say the culture and spirit slapped me in the face like a Slapotron 5000 conveys only the smallest part of what I feel. I can quite frankly say with full sincerity of heart that this week has, once again, been monumental. You'd think I'd run out of these, "life-changing experiences" eventually, but hey, this mission is just a subscription to the Jelly of the Month Club: the gift that keeps on giving. And I feel like.. as long as I'm a receiver who keeps on receiving, these miracles will truly never cease. With faith in every footstep, and an ingrained memory of an eager 11-year-old getting smacked in the face with a coconut thrown by a drunk Zulu warrior we enjoy the ferocious.. the BOYDacious... CHALMETTE CHRONICLES: CHAPTER FOURTEEN- I put the Mardi in Gras. *indeed*

Well yes, indubitably, by some majestic miracle I have graciously braved my first REAL Mardi Gras. Now for all you NOLA wannabees out there, if you say you observe the Mardi Gras holiday.. and yet, you don't attend a four-hour festivity of shameful shenanigans.. do you really celebrate Mardi Gras? The answer is, no. No, you don't. Mardi Gras is NOTHING like wrapping a few beads around your neck while enjoying the comfort of your Pacific Northwest abode and humble fireplace. NOTHING, I SAY. I HAVE SEEN THINGS. THINGS THAT CANNOT BE UNSEEN. ONCE YOU GO MARDI GRAS, YOU NEVER GO BACK. Granted, it was a pretty spectacular culture punch in the throat, but one that I will definitely need a year to recover from. And boy, oh boy, did I get a NOLA WELCOME this past week. As a horde of missionaries, we anxiously attended the "Zulu Parade." Little did I know at the time, Zulu is actually one of the more rambunctious and maniacal parades that are hosted annually. However, the benefit of attending such a fiasco is to acquire the luxurious.. the ILLUSTRIOUS.. coconut. After hearing the rumors of the hairy fruit legends.. needless to say, I was pretty fired up to get my hands on some coconut action. Also, always plan to park beforehand. As the designated driver of the companionship, I drew the lot of DRIVING IN ALL OF THIS INSANITY. YOU THINK WALKING AROUND THESE BLUBBERING BALLOONS IS A PARTY, IMAGINE DRIVING IN IT. I have acquired the confidence, as a result, that I can do anything. I feel pretty invincible after driving in Mardi Gras season. You can't stop Elder Boyd. ANYWAYS, when we finally parked at the Zone Leaders apartment (5 miles away mind you..) and walked our five-mile course, we arrived at the parade... I can honestly say with full purpose of heart, I did not know what to expect. Goodness, what a rude awakening it was when I found myself springing like a jumping bean in hopes of attracting some merciful Zulu monster who might donate a small offering of a simple coconut. These coconuts are legit like I said, I saw this child get pelted in the face with the furry creature, and she couldn't have been more satisfied with her harvest. SHE WAS WILLING TO GET BONKERED IN THE NOGGIN TO ACQUIRE THIS HOT COMMODITY With beads flying everywhere, the aroma of fermented grain lacing the frosty air, and a colony of Blanco missionaries yelping at floats for coconuts- this was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. The floats were pretty nifty though and the whole culture extravaganza.. apart from the commandment breaking citizens.. was pretty invigorating. And I know what you're all thinking.. no, I was not fortunate enough to entice one of the parade teasers to donate a coconut to this charitable cause, Yes, there is a coconut void.. and yes, I am trying to get over it. SO MUCH ANGST OVER ONE. SMALL. COCONUT. I'm over it, it's whatever. What I am not over, however, is the fact that we got lost on our way to our car and ended up walking 13 miles in pursuit of our automobile. We thought we were going the right way, and then Elder Flores's GPS told us to go the other way.. well it turns out we were supposed to go the way we were originally going.. so we walked 2 miles one way.. and two miles back.. then two miles one way.. and two miles back.. And after 13 miles of trekking, including CROSSING ANOTHER PARADE BY HOPPING A CHAIN LINKED FENCE (which I think is illegal?), and two and a half hours of lugging around 20 pounds of spoils.. minus the coconut.. we reached our leather seats and appreciated air conditioning. In short, my thunder thighs grew three sizes larger that fateful day. So yes, HAPPY MARDI GRAS- in my honest opinion, just stick to Valentine's Day, its a lot more lighthearted and thankfully has no part in coconuts. I took quite a fair bit of photo so I could do you the pleasure of basking vicariously in the Mardi Gras glory.

Another crazy awesome, fabulous, fantastic development that happened this week, as some of you may already know, is that ELDER BOYD WENT VIRAL. LETS GO. That's right my fellow citizens, the Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission has taken Facebook by storm. Be prepared for witty spiritual comments and scriptures with the occasional debonair picture and or quote. I'm quite ecstatic to have yet ANOTHER tool in my belt to help hasten the Lords work. I sense great things in the future of this church and am truly humbled that our nation was perserved to inherit technology as a resource in the harvest. With the Internet and the Book of Mormon, we're virtually unstoppable (pun intended). So, if you see some incredibly hilarious and oh so touching post on the Facebooks, no I did not get hacked.. I have just been upgraded to a more developed disciple. And if you're one of those people who read these weekly novels and yet.. never write back.. hit me up! I'd love to chat and discuss the incredible and everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Facebook Post:

What is success without sacrifice?
What is loyalty without trust?
What is agency without responsibility?
What is the Bible without the Book of Mormon?

These are what we call relationships. A relationship being, the state of being connected. There is a special bond between each of these items that allows a sense of completeness- neither is one without the other. So is the Bible and the Book of Mormon. There is a divine relationship between these two books of scripture.

I know that the Bible is true because of my undeniable testimony and unadulterated love of the Book of Mormon. As I read its sacred text, my testimony of one confirms my testimony of the other. They are inseparably connected, and to use one without the other is depriving yourself of complete revelation.

Read the Bible. Read the Book of Mormon. Pray about both and I promise you that you will come closest to Christ as you receive the fullness of his everlasting Gospel. These are the instructions- so will you try and build salvation by yourself? Or will you swallow your stubbornness, and read the manuals in their entirety- putting your trust in the Maker, following his specific direction, and leaning upon the very author of salvation? The choice is yours, but you know what they say-

Dual-wielding is always better.

Ezekiel 37: 16-19

One of the most sincerely awesome experiences happened this week. The scriptures came true in my life Y'all. I feel as though I am developing into the representative that God wants me to be, which is a pretty sensational feeling. I have found comfort in talking to our fellow brothers and sisters and feel equipped with more power and authority to preach than ever before. I know that as long as I am absolutely obedient and am doing my best to live worthy of the Spirit and its promptings, and the commission to which I've been called, the Lord will continue to help me mature and grow and will bless me with even more outstanding experiences. OKAY SO, SPIRITUAL GOODNESS OF THE WEEK:

5 Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people; speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men;
6 For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say. -Doctrine and Covenants 100: 5-6

One of the most incredible feelings that I think exists in our mortal capacity is to submit ourselves to the guidance and comfort of the Spirit. When we, "let go, and let God," we can stand with complete confidence that what we are doing is divine in the sight of the Lord. This, out of body goodness actually happened to me this past week, in a real way, and one that I will never forget. Elder Carter and I were tracting, as you do, and we knocked on the door of this man who immediately opened, almost suspiciously fast. When he first came out.. my carnal mind perceived him as, "not ready for baptism" because he was covered in tattoos.. but that's when the Spirit began to take over.. within seconds that judgemental persona was replaced with the quiet assurance that, "this is a child of God. You were sent here for a reason." So, after being chastised by a loving Spirit, he was interested in our restored message and we got the ball rolling. But here was another intervention from the Spirit. As is typical we started bearing testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel, starting with God being our loving Heavenly Father.. but something didn't quite feel right. Although we were doing everything as planned.. I knew that what we were offering was OUR PLAN, not his. He had some impeccable questions about the Second Coming of the Savior: "how do we know he's not already here, the Jews missed him the first time, whos to say we won't miss him again?" Like I said, REALLY good questions. Something changed in my countenance that I am sure he could witness.. the second I heard this was the second the Spirit took over: I felt myself teaching and testifying of the Book of Mormon and Christs appearance to the Nephites with so much passion and conviction. Every. Single. Word. Was. Revelation. The Spirit knew exactly what he needed to hear and as a result, he gained an anxious interest in the Book of Mormon. had we of kept talking about the Book of Mormon, we would have never heard his inspired question and known which road to take at this particular spiritual crossroad. I KNOW that the Spirit testifies in our minds and hearts with the exact thing we need to say to avoid confoundment. Isn't the Gift of the Holy Ghost just the best?

6 And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do. -1 Nephi 4:6

This one was pretty gnarly as well- and it happened on two separate occasions. The first one happened this past Wednesday as we were tracting in Chalmette... I felt impressed earlier in the day to visit an investigator he hadn't seen in a while, out of the blue.. and so as we were preparing to do a bit of finding before seeing him, another man was brought to my remembrance.. one we had agrred to see that day but had completely neglected to include him in our plans as he was all the way out in the East.. well, I have never been one to deny the SPirit, bad idea, so I told Elder Carter and we decided that we would wrap up our finding efforts fifteen minutes early to make time for our new inspiration.. Well when we arrived at our investigators street there was this large family outside, talking about God and whatnot, and we passed them to get to our investigator's door when we suddenly I was smacked with the Spirit, "they're the ones you're here to see." So I told Elder Carter and we bee-lined it over to the family, had a stellar lesson, scheduled a return appointment, and left feeling truly touched by the Spirit. We didn't even get to see the guy in the East, but isn't it so interesting how God works? If we hadn't have left finding 15 minutes early, that family may not have been outside, we never would have met them, and that would've been a teaching opportunity lost. Imagine if we didn't have the faith to follow the prompting? God had a plan for us that day and I am sure he was smiling that we were willing to choose his over ours. 

The second example of being lead beforehand by the Spirit came this Sunday actually. We were struggling to figure out what to do on the Sabbath Day, and i had decided that for some reason we needed to visit this random muchaho that we had only seen once.. when I say it was random, it seemed pretty far-fetched that we would, "waste" our time trying to see someone we've barely seen- but once again, with the Gospel, there is no coincidences. We made an attempt to visit the one we planned to see.. and alas.. he wasn't home yet again. But after we left his doorstep, I felt weirdly drawn to walk down the street.. i didn't know why.. I didn't even tell Elder Carter why... I just felt very impressed to quite simply, walk. So we did, and as I looked at each door we passed, I knew we weren't walking to find a door to knock, but a person to teach.We had walked for a good minute at this point, and thankfully Elder Carter didn't ask questions, and right when we were about to turn back, I saw them.. once again the Spirit whispered, "these are the people you're here to see."granted, they weren't the most, "pure" bunch. We ran across them while they were huddled around this deformed, fluorescent bong. We uttered our friendly approach and initially, they said no... but the Spirit doesn't take no for an answer. As we were walking away one of them spoke up and said, "I've been thinking about Jesus a lot recently.. and I think you guys are the people I've been praying for." Well, the Lord certainly answers our prayers through other people and I know that the reason we were drawn that way was so that we could be an answer to his prayer. God works in mysterious ways, but as we follow the Spirit, the mystery becomes progressively unfolded.

How cool is that? The stuff they talk about in the scriptures is TRUE! It really does happen! I personally have such a strengthened testimony of the power that lies within the pages of our holy scriptures. The counsels in there are not rhetoric statements.. they demand action. I know that as we act upon the writings of the scriptures we will continue to see miracles in our own lives: I know I have, and I know I would be nothing of a teacher or follower if I didn't have the gift of the Holy Ghost with me. I am full of thanksgiving that I have personally been blessed and edified by one of God's greatest gifts.

We also had a really cool experience on Sunday where one of the Sisters investigators who was on date for baptism but became overcome with doubt so they had to postpone her date, came to church again for the second time. Our Branch President was gone, so the presiding authority, the first counselor in the branch presidency, wanted to wrap up church after the first hour. Sister Banner and I, however, were not going to tolerate that. If SHE IS HERE THEN WE ARE HAVING SUNDAY SCHOOL. END OF STORY. So with a little persistence and Irish charm we swindled him in allowing us to hold a lesson on the Plan of Salvation while he locked up the building. And y'all, golly am I glad we had this lesson, because if we hadn't *spoiler alert* she wouldn't have been rescheduled for baptism. The Spirit was so strong as we testified of the reality and security in the Plan of Salvation. I personally felt a great deal of burning in my bosom as we tried our very darndest to help her realize how true this Church was. Well, our combined efforts with the Spirit worked because she eventually said.."I'm ready to get baptized again. I know God ain't done with me yet." SO true, so true. God has a plan for each of us, and on that sunny Sabbath day, I think she seriously listened to what the Spirit was telling her and capitalized in faith in re-declaring her baptismal date. Miracles are everywhere my friends when the Spirit is always present. 

Well that was a spiritual explosion, wasn't it? Elder Carter and I are having just the best of times, singing and laughing all the live long day. Assuming a role of leadership has taught me a whole awful lot about what type of Priesthood holder and man of God I want to be. I have found so much comfort in general authorities and the scriptures this past week, that there is once again no doubt in my mind that this church is true. Faith is a life-changing concept, and the sooner you let faith into your life, the sooner your faith produces miracles and testimony. Take it from me, I see miracles every single day and feel my testimony ever strengthened. If those aren't fruits of Christs restored church, then I don't know what is. 

Well Y'all, there was our monumental week. Pretty exciting, eh? Above it all though, I am just filled with so much love and appreciation for my incredible support group back at home. Shoutout to my family, the friends who actually care, and my God and your God who gives us every opportunity to experience everlasting happiness. I pray that you all have the best weeks ever and know how much I LOVE AND APPRECIATE YOU. THIS CHURCH IS TRUE AND I KNOW IT BECAUSE IT HAS BLESSED ME WITH ALL OF YOU. STAY BLESSED. STAY RIGHTEOUS. STAY INCREDIBLE. ELDER BOYD LOVES YOU. Seriously, thanks, y'all. :)

With a superb surplus of sincerely stupendous appreciation and affection,

Elder Boyd