Letter 5-26-09

Dear Family,

Happy Memorial Day everyone! The only thing that happened with us yesterday is that we were reminded that Libraries everywhere are holiday natzis. They close down on every single holiday, big or small. Many of those holidays come on Mondays so it makes it lots of fun when you want to email on P-day. Then you go out in the evening and no one wants to talk to you; they want to spend time with their family and not with missionaries. It makes life fun.

So this last Saturday we had another baptism here in Eastland. It was an eight year old girl named McKayla Williamson. No one in her family are members. She was able to get in contact with a few of the members in the branch. I don't really no the full story, I wasn't here when it started, but somehow she got to the point where she wanted to be baptized, the only problem was that she was only seven years old. So she started to come to church when she could. There is a member that always picked her up. She was going to church for about a year when she turned eight last month. We then got to work, taught her the lessons really briefly and got her baptized Saturday. Because of the fact that her parents aren't members, it counts as a convert baptism. The great thing about it was that her whole family showed up to the baptism to support her. I didn't think they would, but they did. It was great. The idea that I got is that some time down the road, how short or long I do not know, McKayla will make an impact on her family through her example and create a domino effect in which they will want to be baptized.

So that is all I have. I hope all of you have a great week.

Elder Adam R Droge

The DrogeMiester

Letter 5-18-09

Dear Family,

Well, once again I am sitting at the computer and writing a letter back home. Weeks keep flying by. So last week I had a story to tell and ran out of time to tell it, so I will do so now. Elder Reed and I were up in Breckenridge, the city with the highest percentage of unsolved murders in the United States, and we were out finding. Well, we knocked on this door and there was a house that was empty. We didn’t know it was empty, or else we would’ve skipped it, but that’s beside the point. A guy drove by that lived a few doors down and was really angry that we knocked on this door. I’m not sure why, but he just was. He yelled at us, told us to get away from that house, and if we didn’t he would file a report against us and call the police. I found his threat quite amusing actually. Knowing how the police are in this town, they wouldn’t have done anything anyway. However, just like dad always told me growing up, there is a space between action and reaction and although my natural, prideful human tendencies wanted to shout back and not let him get the best of me, I chose to react in a nice, polite christlike way. Instead of shouting back at him, telling him that he was overreacting and that we didn’t know any better as well as the police wouldn’t do anything, we chose to just apologize, leave the door, and walk on. As a missionary, you rarely see the fruits of your efforts and your christlike attitude, which is hard sometimes, but this time was different and taught me a great lesson. A few hours later, we were walking back on the same street, when a car pulled over beside us. It was the same guy that yelled at us before. This time he was different. He was very nice and sorrowfully he apologized for his actions earlier in the day. You know me. Just like Nephi did frankly forgive Laman and Lemuel for trying to kill him, I did frankly forgive the guy for yelling at me and we departed on great terms. Now imagine to yourself what would’ve happened if I had chosen to react poorly. Would he have pulled over and apologized? Would he have felt bad about what he did? How do you think he would’ve acted the next time missionaries knocked on his door? How long do you think it would’ve taken for him to accept the fullness of the gospel as opposed to how long it will take him now? I testify that acting in a christlike manner to whatever situation we are placed in will pay off. People will see our humble example and know that there is hope for them in this life.

News-wise this week I have wonderful news. Josh Hasell, the investigator I have talked about, was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this past weekend. Elder Reed performed that baptism and I confirmed him the following day in sacrament meeting. Not that I have ever cared about numbers too much on my mission, but baptism number four is in the books. This baptism was a unique one. The other three came in a manner where we would work our hardest with our investigators and nothing would work out, then we would be blessed with the gift of finding a person that was just plain ready to listen and would get baptized with minimal effort on our part. This time we worked our very hardest with Josh. After nine months and five different missionaries, Josh finally came to realize that the church was true and that he needed to be baptized. I was fortunate enough to be there when he figured that out, even though I was almost positive that I was going to be transferred before I got baptized. We have another baptism of the 8 year old girl whose parents are non-members and are not interested in religion that I mentioned in our phone call planned for this Saturday. I will let you know how that goes.

One last piece of news and I will sign off. On Mother’s Day I told a story of us running into a big wolf spider. Someone asked if I got a picture. I answered no. Well, this last week, we ran into another one sitting there on the side of the house and guess what we did. We took pictures. He was about the size of a quarter or 50 cent piece. He was fat, black, and hairy with white spots on his back. He also had huge fangs and big scary eyes. The pictures I took were wicked awesome. Best spider pictures that I have ever taken and very close up. You’ll enjoy them when you get the photo CD of Eastland part 3, unless of course I get enough pictures to split up Eastland to part 3 and part 4. In that case it’ll be on part 4, but either way, I’m making you wait. It’ll be worth it. :) But anyways, I’ve talked for too long, so I am signing off. Adios Amigos!

Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester

Letter 5-11-09

Dear Family,

So the letter to the family right after the phone call home is always a weird one because I already told you everything yesterday and we had a great conversation. That was a lot of fun having that 150 way call. It was like everyone was gathered together in one place. I will admit that I feel bad for David, Greg, and Mike dying down and not being able to talk, but only listening. That's never fun, but I guess it's better than nothing. There was one thing I wanted to talk about. I think it was Annie that asked a question and because of something happening and me getting sidetrack, the question was never answered. The question had to do with the population of the branches/wards that I'd been in and which one was biggest. Well, Midland, my first area was the biggest. It was a normal sized ward like back home. There would be 200 – 300 people at church each week. I went from there to Brady. Brady met in a house that was dedicated into a church and felt like a church inside. 40 – 50 people came each week. Eastland was my next area and there was/is now 30 – 40 people that come every week. Brady and Eastland were branches. My 4th area, Big Spring, was technically a ward, and the chapel was a normal sized chapel, but I considered it a Branch on steroids. 60 – 70 people came each week. That chapel looked fairly empty every week. It could fit 300 people easily. So thats that. I really have nothing else to say. Everyone have a great week. There is a cool story that happened to us in Breckenridge last week, but I'll save that for next week so that I can have something to write about. Mwa ha ha. And no mom, it doesn't have anything to do with Breckenridge being the highest city in the United States per capita to get away with murder (that is worded funny, but you get the idea. Lots of crime). I just hope I don't forget... anyways, peace out.

Elder Adam R Droge

The DrogeMiester

Letter 5-4-09

Dear Family,

Once again another week has come and gone. May of 2009 has begun. I sent the Big Spring Photo CD last Monday. It should be there by now. I hope you enjoy it. Mother's day is next Sunday which means that I should be able to call home this Sunday. I have received no input as to when would be a good time. Church here in Eastland goes from 9 to 12. Those hours are out of the picture. If I'm correct B-town has church from 1 to 4, which means evening will be good. If I don't hear anything I will probably call sometime in the evening, maybe 6 o'clock central time, 5 o'clock Mountain Standard Time. So I mentioned a few weeks ago about a part member family we are teaching here in Eastland, Josh and Amber Hassell. They have now been taught for 8 months, slowly progressing. Well, this last week was a huge step, probably the biggest one. Josh committed himself to baptism. He knows that this is the true church. He stopped smoking 2 days ago and as of today he said that he has had no desire to smoke. They both fasted for that purpose yesterday and Elder Reed and I here in Eastland fasted for him as well. The date is set for Saturday May 16th. That should go through. I'm excited. Eastland will break this silly little drought once and for all. So there you have it. Following up on my homework I gave last week, I'm sure you all read the entry of sacrifice in 'True to the Faith'. Some points that stuck out to me: As members of the church, we should be willing to sacrifice anything that the Lord asks us to. We can not have true faith until we are willing to sacrifice the things of the world for the sake of the Lord. When we maintain an eternal perspective, we will realize that sacrificing things of the world really isn't a sacrifice at all. The blessings we will receive for sacrificing worldly things are far greater than any earthly blessings we will receive. I love being here on a mission. I learn so much. The church is true. There is no doubt in my mind. Talk to you soon... :)

Elder Adam R Droge

The DrogeMiester