Letter 4-21-08

Hi Family,

So this week was kinda interesting. I got very few letters from family, but quite a bit from friends. It’s ok, though, I have received evidence that most of you are interested and I’m not as harsh as I sound, so don’t be offended.

So I hear that the laws of physics were defied in Basketball, NCAA and NBA. Good thing there are sports fans out here, because no one has told me much about the sports world. To be honest actually, I had forgotten about the NBA playoffs until the member who fed us this weekend brought it up. The Lakers are number 1 and the Hornets are number 2, the Mavericks are 7 and the Suns are 6, the Jazz get the opportunity to beat down on the Rockets again, the Spurs and Suns are playing each other in the first round, and the Hornets actually beat the Mavs in the first game of that series. Yikes! That’s scary. Not to mention that all number 1 teams in March Madness made it to the final four this year in NCAA. That never happens! EVER! Crazy year.

But like I said, I had forgotten that all this was going on until someone brought it up. That’s all really cool, but do you know what’s better? We have a rock solid investigator. The Ward mission leader started teaching him due to issues in his family. His wife left the church as a teenager because she wasn’t accepted by the young women of her ward (take notes on that) and got involved with the wrong crowd because they did accept her. Anyway, she married this guy and now has four kids. We found them because she actually wanted her youngest to get blessed. We found that her husband was interested so the ward mission leader started teaching them and the guy has shot through the roof. In the last few weeks, he has read all the way through Jacob. But yet, he doesn’t just read, he takes notes, marks his scriptures, and really studies them. His first time in church a question was asked in gospel principles about why it is important to come to church every week. This guy pulled out his scriptures and threw out 2 Nephi 31 where it talks about Enduring to the End. He said that it is important to come to church every week because it is a part of enduring to the end. We haven’t even taught him the third lesson yet where we explain enduring to the end. He got that out of his own personal study. He made the comment about how he is excited about his baptism. He went cold turkey on smoking. The ward mission leader taught him the Word of Wisdom and he just stopped then and there right after the lesson and hasn’t touched a cigarette since. We were teaching him yesterday about tithing and fasting and afterwards he asked where the closest temple was for WHEN he and his wife get married in the temple. His wife has caught fire because of him and is now working on being re-baptized. The lord has prepared people for us if we go out and work.

Remember what Elder Bednar said, “MISSIONARIES ARE FULL-TIME TEACHERS, MEMBERS ARE FULL-TIME FINDERS.” You all need to go out and find people for us missionaries to teach because we can’t do it alone and we need your help in finding the people that the lord has prepared.

We ran into a Muslim guy here that we are trying to teach. It is very interesting teaching him because we have to shift gears completely because we are used to talking to Christians, not Muslims.

I also went on an exchange with the Zone Leader. That was a neat experience. He is a much better missionary then me. I learned a lot.

Bruce – So my whole American Idol thing got trashed now. Michael Johns isn’t supposed to go home this early. He was supposed to make it to the Finale. Grrr… Well, at least my winner is still in, David Cook. I just have to pick a new finalist and Brooke White is next on my list of best candidates.

Joe – I love the comics you send. There has been a couple times where I have felt just like the missionaries in that picture, running into a sign in my head that says if you are here you are lost. But don’t worry, I am finding my way around pretty good, partially because my companion knows where he is going. Teaching is going good and the members here are absolutely amazing. They are really missionary minded, they are all really cool people and amazing fellowshippers if we ever have investigators that decide they want to come to church and keep commitments, and we get fed every night. The meal calendar gets passed around every week and gets filled super fast. We were booked for all of April at the beginning of the month because they pass it 2 months in advance.

It is the end of the first transfer. I look at transfers as a trading deadline in the NBA or NFL. They call you up on Monday morning, the day before transfers and tell you that you have been transferred or you are staying. If you get transferred you are suddenly on the Bus the next day and off to a new city with a new companion, leaving your old city, companion, and investigators behind just like that, without a say in your part. It’s like getting traded from one team to the next at trading deadline. The only difference is that they don’t tell you where you’re going exactly. They just say that you are either getting on the bus and going south on Tuesday or north on Wednesday. At each stop they read off the names of who’s getting off the bus right then and tell you who your companion is. For me this transfer, the trading deadline has passed and I haven’t got traded. I am staying here in Midland with the Bushmans for at least another 6 weeks. My companion didn’t get traded either. But every other companionship in our district had someone get trading. No whitewashing though (whitewashing is when both companions get traded).

Anyway. Peace out. I'll write again next Monday.