Floss. . . Who Knew???

    Today I have a funny story that I wish to share with you all, it blew Elder Nelson's and my minds, I still don't understand if I can really comprehend how it worked, just that it did work. To preface this story you need to understand a little about Lumberton, the town I'm currently serving in for my 2 year mission for the LDS Church. Lumberton is an extremely diverse place to live, full of a lot of humble people, who are the ones that are truly ready to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because what did Christ say? "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." So the missionaries here in Lumberton spent most of our time teaching people who are immigrants of the countries of Burma, Haiti, and Elder Nelson and I are soon to be teaching some Micronesian's (don't ask me where that is on the map). Now these people are some of the most humble people I've met in my life, also the most Christ-like, mostly due to poverty. But there are many blessings that come from poverty. And Resourcefulness is truly a blessing these people poses.

    News Flash to the world, missionaries Love riding bikes. It's a great stress relief, it gets us to burn some energy we have after sitting and studying every day, and we get to burn off some extra weight we pick up from our Beloved Members not being happy till we have had three plates full of food. Now as all missionaries and bikers know your worst enemy on a bike, is a flat tire. They just stink, you're out of commission till you get it fixed, which usually takes a bit more than a wink, smile, and a Priesthood Blessing. Kidding we don't bless our flats.

    Two weeks ago I got a flat, and it stunk, my companion and I were both frustrated and we really wanted to get some work done and get out and enjoy the spring time in North Carolina. When Preparation Day came around we went to Wal-Mart to try to get something to fix it, and I saw the green slime stuff that seals flats. And well me as a missionary am all about wanting to see things Sealed together (if you don't get that joke ask for some missionaries to come over and explain it to you, they'd love to do it). So I buy it and follow the instructions on the bottle and it works, for about an hour then I can hear that awful sound I hate, of air going out of the inter-tube, HIIISSSSSS, and get more annoyed at the situation. Luckily I've got a great missionary in the district I'm a part of down here who knows a lot about bikes. He's Elder Standing, and he is in the Lumberton A area, who works with all Haitian's, he's almost fluent in Creole and is a stud Elder. So he gives me some patches for the tire and some advice, oh and also tells me as a joke what the Haitian's do when they have a flat. They just take some floss and wrap it around the inter-tube and it works. So I tried the patch, HIIISSSSSS. Then tried cleaning out the slime from the tube, and filled it again with the rest of the slime, HIIISSSS. So now I'm out 8$ on slime that didn't work, I'll probably have to buy a new tube, so get the specs of the tube, buy the right one, get it put in, get it all working. Probably another 10$ plus 2 hours of shopping and hooking it up. I'm really frustrated by now and am covered with slime, grease, and sweat, and decide to go for broke. I'll have to throw the tube away anyway I figure so might as well try the Haitian's Floss.

    I borrow some floss from Elder Nelson, as we both joke about how this'll never work. We get a good 4 feet long strand and talk for a second over what we think Elder Standing was talking about when told us the story, we figure that I'd have to wrap the floss around the hole as tight as I could, pinching the tube, and make it wide enough to cover the whole thing. It was a great moment in the history of "those moments" for Mormon Missionaries. Us wrapping some floss around my punctured tire, hoping, but not believing at all that it will work. I get the floss wrapped around it and it looked pretty sloppy but not half bad. I pump up the tire a bit and put my earn by the floss and wait for the sound. But, I hear nothing. . . I look at Elder Nelson, Look at the tire, Look at the floss, Back to Elder Nelson, Back to the floss, pump the tire full, put my ear by it again, Nothing. . . by now out we're speechless, and completely dumbfounded. then I just start saying, "no. . no way. . no way this worked! No, No way!!!" I didn't know to laugh for yell, but I hurried and put the tube in the tire and hook it up to my bike, and take it out to the street and start riding it around. and it worked. It held up as we went to go teach someone later that night, and has held up for the last week and a half.

    I learned two lessons from this, One; don't ever give up on something, when you've tried everything, try something new, or different, or maybe even stupid, try and it just might work out. and Two; the people in Lumberton are the best in the world. honestly I've never loved people so much, they're the greatest. I may speak a different language then them, look different, eat different foods, but one thing is always the same. When a person feels the Holy Ghost, it's completely universal, everyone can understand it and know that what they are feeling is good. Through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we can have that good feeling every week as we come to Church, but what's more is that we can have that feeling always as we receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, after Baptism.



Final lesson learned; Floss. . . who Knew??? The Haitian's apparently.