42 is also, Matthew noted, "The answer to life, the universe, and everything."

He commented on an expected hot spell in Kalama this weekend (we may hit 90):

Here, we're just happy when the high temperature is below 100. President Larkin said some of the least comforting words possible to the entire mission: "Remember, it's only June!"
 

Journal of the week:

Monday was P-day. Because a few missionaries in the mission recently tested positive for covid, we weren't allowed to get together or go to the church building for P-day. As a result, we stayed at our apartment, and cleaned.

Tuesday, I learned more about how someone could believe in the Trinity (the Godhead being one personage). Take for example, Acts 7:55-56. In this scripture, the apostle Stephen is being killed, and he says that he sees "Jesus standing on the right hand of God". Someone who believes in the Trinity takes this passage of scripture...to mean that Jesus is literally the right hand of God. There were many other scriptures that we discussed with the people we were teaching, and I must say that they get an A in creative thinking.

Wednesday, we discovered an ant problem. We left dishes in the sink Tuesday night, and in the morning, we had ants swarming the sink and various cupboards in the kitchen. Upon further investigation in another cuboard, we figured that they could smell the jelly in there, but liked the peanut butter better when they found that. So, we mixed together a concoction of peanut butter, jelly, and ant poison and stuck it behind the fridge, which is where we could best determine where the ants were coming from. And mind you, down here in the south, if anyone says "ants", they are talking about "fire ants". Fire ants bite. I got a bite by a fire ant last week between my fingers, and the lower part of all my fingers on that hand swelled up, plus the upper part of my palm / back of hand swelled. Nasty little creatures.
In the afternoon, we did some service for Phillip. Did you know that it isn't a smart idea to wedge a 8' 4x4 piece of lumber in such a way that it is standing up by itself, without being attached to anything? And did you know that this hypothethical piece of lumber decided to fall without any warning? I had my back to it, and was squatting on the ground doing something else, and suddenly this said piece of lumber decided it didn't like me and pushed itself over and landed on my shoulder.

Thursday, I discovered that my rash was spreading. I called the mission nurse, and as expected, she told me to go to urgent care. I searched up "urgent care" on Google Maps, and selected one. At the location I selected, I happened to be seen by a doctor there that was a member of our church, and has a son that just got his mission call to the Oregon Salem mission. When he saw my rash (both old and new stuff), he said that the old rash on my legs were chigger bites, not poison ivy. But the new rash on my feet was certainly poison ivy. I got a shot and a prescription, which was supposed to basically tell my immune system to calm down and stop overreacting to the poison ivy.