So first off biking
in NOLA is nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be! The area is
actually super bike friendly and there are so many back roads to take
that you can avoid the major roads very easily. The one problem right
now is Mardi Gras. We live about 4 blocks from St Charles Ave and that
street has almost constant parades during Mardi Gras! On car it is so
look hard to get around. Biking makes it easier but you still have to
weave your way through a ton of people and parade floats to get to the
other side to work. So that has been the adventure of the week is trying
to get through the parades.
On transfer Wednesday
we went to the St Charles Church building and met for a ward function
and to watch one of the parades with the ward! It was super fun and a
good way to meet members but the funny thing was that some of the
members that came for the function were from the Chalmette Branch! So I
got to see the Farrells less that 24 hours after leaving Chalmette which
was actually pretty cool. And the parade was super fun but it was also
raining so we got soaked but it was worth it! Elder T even caught a
teddy bear from one of the floats.
The
last adventure that we had this week was biking to a ward King Cake
party to meet more of the members and to talk with the non-member
families they invited. It was about an hour and twenty minute ride! As
we were leaving to go back home we realized that the Mardi Gras parades
would be in full swing by our house and ghat there would be crazy
drivers everywhere so we called the Mission President and got permission
to stay with the Spanish Zone Leaders for the night. It's a good thing
we did too cause as we went to load up our bikes onto their bike rack I
realized that my front tire had gone flat while we were at the party. So
it was a blessing that President gave us permission to stay the night!
Other
than that this week has been pretty slow. Getting doubled into an area
around Mardi Gras is kinda difficult. We spent the rest of our time
trying to learn a bit more of the area and trying to find where the
Hispanics live in this area but we weren't too successful this week.
Hopefully when the craziness of Mardi Gras dies down we will be able to
get around better and find more people.
Love y'all and hope y'all have a great week!
Elder Nathan Stoddard
