Letter 11-10-08

Dear Family,

Right now I am kind of surprised. My thoughts don’t dwell on mail very much. I could care less. However, when I get a week where absolutely no one writes, it shocks me a little. Usually someone from home sends something, but no. No family letters. No friend letters. Not even Mom, Dad, Bruce, or Joe. Outside transfer weeks, I think that’s a first. I’ve been trying to avoid the missionary stereotype where the missionary is obligated to write but people back home don’t have to because they are just too darn busy to say anything. Well, I would promise you that I am busier than all of you combined, but it’s not worth it. I guess this will just have to be like this and I will accept it. I’ve been out long enough that you all just have got used to me not being there so you don’t think to write. Sucks to be me, I guess. I honestly think that it is hypocritical for people to expect me to write every week when they don’t send squat. Well, guess what, I’ve been tempted to go back to what I did earlier in my mission, only send letters to those who deserve to hear from me and haven’t been hypocritical, but I won’t. I had 3 or 4 people hypocritically threaten to disown me earlier, which is why I stopped and decided not to go back, but just know that I still love the idea, so don’t tempt me. Elder Pearson of the First Quorum of the Seventy was bold enough to tell all of us TLM-ites that 2.2 baptisms a year is ridiculous. Well, I can say the same thing. Not writing your missionary is absolutely ridiculous. Nonsense. Garbage. Needs to be stopped. I can be bold in saying that because it’s true and has even been said in conference. Its especially bad for you that have gone on missions and know how it feels not to receive letters. Repent all ye slothful people! I think it’s humorous that the most consistent writers, Mom, Bruce, and Joe, are the ones who have never served a mission. Bruce and Joe – I’ll make a vow right now. When you go on your missions, I will remember my mission and these instances where no one cared enough to say anything and how rejected I felt and on thinking back on these moments I will write consistently and update you on me and everyone else. You can count on it. I feel like Moroni condemning Pahoran. Hopefully I will get the same response saying I’m sorry you were offended, I did have a purpose in not responding, and I will do what I can to help you.

Now, there are a few of you who deserve to hear from me because you have tried your hardest. I won’t point you out, you know who you are. Quietly and silently to you, this condemnation letter doesn’t apply to you. Please read on. I’m not going to put anyone on my blacklist. If I don’t send an email to you, it’s due to my own stupidity in forgetting to check the box. However, if you have gone over a month without sending anything, be honest and close this email right now. I’m finished with this hypocrisy. Repent and send a letter. Then you can open the email back up and see how I’m doing. Then commit yourself to write consistently. That doesn’t mean every week necessarily. That would be nice, of course, but at least every other week or every third week. If you decide to do it monthly, great, just make sure to send some hardcopy pictures or a sports update with your letter and that will make due.

Now on to me. This last week has been great. On Sunday we did a mission wide fast to double the baptisms here in the TLM, like Elder Pearson said needed to happen. Then Tuesday was district meeting / interviews with President Robison. Everything that Elder Pearson said about how much potential this area has and what we need to do here really hit a chord with President Robison in the sense that he sees the same way as Elder Pearson. Everyone has a stereotypical attitude about this area. It is the Bible belt. Very few have had success. It won’t ever go anywhere. Hence the fact that there has been a mission average of 2.2 baptisms per year per missionary. Well, that is what we are trying to get rid of. President Eyring, a while back when he was Elder Eyring, I believe, came to this area and said West Texas will blossom. The stake president back in the Odessa Stake (when I was in Midland) had this same prophetic vision. He pretty much prophesied that there will be many wards, stakes, and temples in West Texas, which is why he was very adamant about BAPTIZE NOW! The bishop back in Midland had a dream one night of the congregation overflowing with people. Now this. President Robison told us in District Meeting that this will happen. It’s not just a dream. It’s reality. They put a temple in Lubbock for a reason. How has it made me feel? Overjoyed. I’ve had a wonderful week. Amazing spirits. Why? Just go ask Mom what has been promised about me on my mission in several occasions. I feel like blessings about me are finally going to be fulfilled. I’ve been confused my whole mission on how few people have listened here, but I have a new resolved drive. President Robison also said that we don’t yet know exactly how this is going to happen, we just know it will. Miracles can happen and they will happen in this mission. In future meetings, we’ll be slowly discussing various things that we can do, but right now the focus President Robison and Elder Pearson have had is mainly obedience. How fitting. Obedience has been my theme for my mission. I’ve tried to be exactly obedient, down to the very letter of the law. That’s how I’ve always been and honestly I’ve been disgusted and appalled by how many missionaries here are disobedient. No real worthiness issues, of course, but disobedient to all the small rules that don’t make sense, like, for example, why to get up at 6:30 when you can get 10 extra minutes of sleep and still make it to studies on time. Little things like that. President threw down on obedience and lovingly chastised us all and quite honestly, I enjoyed every second of it because I have a testimony of obedience and I think everyone else needs one. This won’t happen overnight, but I know that it will and I am excited and pumped.

As for this week, it has been great statistically. We had six new investigators, half of which being a family of three. Coincidence? I think not. Still no investigators of note yet. This area was bone dry when I got here due to the fact that it’s only been opened to missionaries for a few months, but we’re working on it. We’ve got quite a few new investigators now that we’re starting to work with so things are about to catch fire, so that’s a step in the right direction, I guess. I’ll promise to let you know when we have anyone worth talking about that will go somewhere.

Know that I am doing absolutely wonderful. I love it here. I am enjoying every minute of it and not even the fact that my mailbox has been real empty recently can get me down.

Oh before I forget, 2 items of Business.
1 – Bruce – that address you sent me for Julien hasn’t worked. I’ve tried formatting it several ways, but the letter always comes back to me. The only thing I figured out that is the city is Culver City (I looked on a map). If you can somehow manage to get me a correct address that is formatted correctly that would be bueno. If not, I won’t cry too hard.
2 – Mom – I got the most recent bank statement from Zions that was late September and October and that was all peachy, but they never sent a statement for August and Early September. If you could manage to somehow get me a copy for that time period, that would also be bueno. If not…well…I guess I just won’t be able to fully balance my checkbook and that isn’t peachy.

Peace Out and Git-R-Done!!


Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester

Letter 10-27-08

Dear Family,

Well, I am writing a few hours earlier than usual today. Tomorrow is a combined Zone Conference where Elder Pearson of the Seventy is coming. It is located it good ole Midland Texas. This Morning we are driving up to Abilene where we will depart for Midland at 6 tonight. We are going over early to Abilene so that we can hang out with some other missionaries while we are there. So if you intended to email some small note and missed me, sorry.

So I finally got the letters of who the new bishopric back home is…from two different sources…thanks. And that is really surprising. I didn’t expect Jared Larsen to be the new bishop. Isn’t he only in his 30’s? If he’s older, he doesn’t look like it. I guess that’s not too surprising since he was on the high council, but still.

Hey, Annie, that thing that you sent about President Packer’s testimony in his home ward was really amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you haven’t read it, read it. Don’t just read it either, listen and follow closely what it says. We are in perilous times and this nation is on its way to being humbled, and if we’re not prepared, that’s a very bad thing. We need to really pray, read, study, and worship the Lord like we mean it.

I also got some crazy, scary news from home. Emily Hartvigsen is getting married next month. Mom asked me if that’s cool. Um, well, kinda and kinda not. To think that someone that is my age and that I have grown up with and graduated with is getting married scares me. That means that I am, theoretically, old enough to getting married. Yikes! Let’s not think of that too much. I’m not really that old. I’m still a teenager! Well, for another 3 months anyway. But hey, on the bright side, tell soon to be Mrs. Emily congrats for me. You could also make mention that I have yet to receive a wedding announcement on my mission. Let me rephrase that. I haven’t ever received a wedding announcement that was directed right to me. It might be cool to get that on my record, if you know what I mean…

So, I haven’t received any political opinions as of yet, but let me switch the trivia right quick. We have an investigator that is part member family and the dude in that couple loves to ask random questions. One of those questions that he asked this week has to do with a subject that I know a little bit about, but I have never looked into that deeply. He asked what our church’s view on astrology. I know that astrology is looked down on. I remember that mom always says that astrology is the devil’s version of astronomy, but that’s about all I know. So 1 – what exactly is astrology and 2 – what is our view on it? I told him that I would email home and ask about it and I would let him know what the response is really fast. So please, chop chop! Don’t make me a liar!

Well, quite honestly, that is about it for me this week. Our one investigator that was going through a rough time with her dad dying officially dropped us. She was honest with us and I commend her for that. Not everyone is. In fact, most people aren’t. I don’t worry about her. She’s only 26 and will get more chances in the future. Before you say that that is horrible and feel all bad, hold yourselves. It didn’t really phase me because I really didn’t know her that well. The only other good investigator we have, I just barely met this last week and haven’t taught him a lesson, so that’s that. I am doing great. Being in the Branch Presidency is a good experience; it gets me overwhelmed at times, but hey, that’s ok. Dad tells me it’s an omen for the future. I would certainly hope not, but I guess you never know. Lift where you stand, right? Don’t seek for a crown and don’t seek for a cave. Just stand close together and lift where you stand. Don’t aspire to certain callings, but if the Lord calls you, magnify your calling. There are many people that could be in leadership callings, but those callings may not be what the Lord has called them to do in this life.

That all came from President Uchtdorf’s talk in priesthood. When the Ensign comes out, that’s definitely a talk to look at and study. But I have to go now. Bye!

[ELDER DROGE HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!!!]


Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester

Letter 11-3-08

Dear Family,

Well, this has been quite the eventful week. First off, I got both of the answers I wanted from my last two serious trivia questions about Obama and Astrology this last week, so thanks. That really helps. One now I can answer the question that the part member family we're teaching had about Astrology. Two - now I know that the world isn't going to explode when Obama gets elected like them Texans here think. In fact, things are pretty much the same from when I left and now I wished I would've thought to ask for an absentee ballot or what not so I could actually vote. I am supposed to remain silent here and I do, its not worth the contention that I would cause and the instruction about being politically neutral is in the white handbook, so I follow that. I will just be silently glad if/when McCain loses and Obama wins because, I know it's harsh, but I don't think it would be good for a senile old man to run the country when he can't even count to 10 without making a mistake. The fact that he selected Palin as his vice-presidential nominee instead of Romney says a lot. He could've won with Romney. That would've been the best combo. McCain could run the war because he's a POW and Romney could run the rest of the country because he actually knows what he's doing. Did I ever tell you that the people here loved Mitt Romney to death? He would've won Texas in a landslide over McCain and Obama. People were ticked when he dropped out. That would've given us a lot of attention. It really would've. People would've listened to us. Oh well. But no, McCain doesn't select Romney, he selects Palin just so we could make history and say we have the first woman vice president. Anyway, I'll shut up about that. I just had to get that out since I 't been able to and Shawn brought some light on the subject of Obama. Texans have a tendency to be biased, judgemental, and stereotypical. It's quite humorous, really.

Speaking of Shawn's letter, I hear that he is now or very soon going to be officially Chaplin Shawn that could still be going to BYU. That is way fun. Isn't it great that if we trust in the lord with all our hearts and in all our ways acknowledge him that he will direct our paths? Solomon really hit that on the nail. Congrats! So, I ran out of serious trivia questions that actually meant something, but I did think of a small trivia that comes from the Book of Mormon. How old was Mormon (son of Mormon, father of Moroni) when he, 1- was first the leader of the army, abandoned the Nephites as their war leader due to their wickedness, 3 decided to repent of the oath he made and lead them once again, and 4 got killed in battle? So, on to me. This past week was really quite eventful. It started on Monday where me and Elder Sosi drove down to Abilene for P-Day and went paintballing with all of the Abilene missionaries. Paintballing was awesome. I enjoyed it. Getting hit didn't even hurt. If you haven't gone yet, you should go. That could be the next family outing, a paintballing trip. That would be a blast.20 Anyway, after that was over, we headed down for our long drive to the combined Zone Conference, which was why we went to Abilene in the first place. Zone Conference was Tuesday morning. You'll never guess where it was. Good ole Midland, Texas. Yep, I returned home. It was great reliving the memories of being in Midland. Guess what was even better? When we got to Midland Monday night, guess where we stayed? Yep, you got it. Brother and Sister Blaine and Margene Bushman. There were 17 missionaries who slept comfortably in their home that night. It was really nice of them and they loved it to death. When they asked if I was going to be there, they were told that I wasn't going to be there that night. Well, I guess plans changed or something because they got a pleasant surprise when I walked in Monday night. It was great seeing the Bushmans again. They really felt like parents to me and it was great returning home. It's like coming home from college for a weekend. It was great. After Zone Conference was over on Tuesday, us Abilene missionaries went back to pick up some stuff and decided to take pictures around and in their big tree up front. You'll see those pictures in the next CD I send. Then as we were about to leave, the Bushmans got home again and offered us dinner which we gladly accepted. I was sad to leave that night, but knew it had to happen, so I was just grateful to have had the opportunity to return home to Midland. About Zone Conference, though, it was incredible. I don't know if I mentioned this, but Kevin W Pearson of the first quorum of the seventy was there and boy, he's intense. He was just ordained last April, so if you don't recognize the name, don't panic. He was also a mission president of the Tacoma Washington mission, I believe, and definitely fits the general authority mold. His message was basically on how to become a more effective disciple of Christ. In the nicest way possible, he made us feel really small. In a normal sense, I see it as he ripped us into to pieces, threw us in a blender, and turned it on high. He said that 2.2 baptisms per missionary per year (the average here in the TLM) was ridiculous and threw down on obedience hardcore amongst many other things. I really enjoyed it. I took plenty of notes that I can look over and learn how to be a better missionary. It was/is/will be very beneficial. Wednesday, the day after we got home, Elder Sosi got a huge headache and couldn't go out, so we stayed in. That wasn't very fun.

Friday was lots of fun though. It was Halloween. We went over to a potential investigators house who is big on Halloween and tried on a bunch of costumes and got plenty of pictures that you will all enjoy. We then went over to a member's place at the nursing home and got more fun pictures because all the nurses were dressed up for Halloween. Then we had to be done with missionary work at 6, so we went over and hung out at another member's house that evening. It was fun, but can anyone believe Halloween 2008 has passed and it is officially November? Where has this blast year gone?20 Being in the branch presidency continues to be a great experience. This Sunday, I had my first experience conducting Sacrament Meeting. I didn't think I'd do that in at least like 40 years if ever. It was great. I also taught priesthood for the second time this transfer. Elder Sosi and I switch off every other week on that. I also had fun with the financial clerk stuff. It being fast Sunday, there was lots of tithing and fast offerings to do. I also did the reconciliation thing for the month. There were some unreconciled differences. I didn't know what to do and so the stake financial clerk is coming over to help me this week. Don't ask me what all that means. I don't have time to explain it and I hardly know what it is myself, I just do it. Go ask your ward financial clerk what it means.

So to conclude my long epistle this week, mom said that she or someone has been praying for an extended autumn this year and it has worked. I find that humorous. Do you know why? Here in Texas, it doesn't even feel like autumn has even begun. It is still in the 70's and 80s pretty consistently. Its funny how the weather worked out down here this season. May was scorching hot and made me nervous for the summer. It was above 100 and many days close to 110 for the last half of May. June, July and August cooled off a bit but it was consistently in the 90s and upper 80's. There was a good stretch of time where it was actually a degree or two hotter in Utah during July. Now in September, October, and running in to November it has coasted in the 80's and 70's. Very different than Utah. I've been used to having all 4 seasons. That hasn't been the case and I don't think it will be the case. I've really only had 1 season and a small glimpse of a second season. I laughed when I heard it snowed in Utah. Snow hasn't even been a thought in the back of mother nature's head down here. It's nice. But I gotta go. I've spent too much time. Peace Out!