So apparently this last week is a popular week to die. We were in the parking lot at our branch president’s apartment in Breckenridge, putting our bikes on the bike rack, about to drive home, when our branch president, President May, walks out and tells us that Michael Jackson is dead. Elder Reed and I were both dumbstruck. That was shocking news. Then, later, Saturday night, we were informed by an investigator that Fara Fawcett (sp?) and Ed McMahon died. Wow, thought I. No, we weren’t done though. Apparently Billy Mays, the oxi-clean dude / inventor guy, got nailed in the head with something when his plane landed and died 2 days later. Interesting week. Surprisingly, the Billy Mays death surprises me more then the Michael Jackson death. Well, silver lining is that those four will soon be informed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and be taught in the spirit world. How fun for them.
So we parked the other day and went out finding (tracting) in the ghetto when something funny happened. Apparently, some girl saw us park and decided to have a little fun with our car. We got back an hour or so later and discovered that the phrase ‘Jesus Loves You’ was written all over our windows. I got a kick out that. We washed our car last P-Day, like we always do, and it didn’t quite come out, so we have been stuck with it all week. This week is car inspections at Zone Conference, so hopefully we can get it out today, but if not, so be it. At least the vehicle coordinator will get a laugh before he marks us down.
So I have a very random, very unimportant question that jumped into my mind last week. It came when I was gazing at the first vision picture I have on my wall by my study desk. Every picture of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that we see is depicted of them having a beard. I know that Christ probably did during his mortal ministry, just because that was the trend back then; it was kinda difficult to shave in my mind. Do you think they will have beards when we see them? Do you think that we will be allowed to have beards? If you look at any other picture of a heavenly messenger, none are ever drawn with beards. Puzzling thing. Only Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Maybe that is why Jesus was selected as the savior. Out of all our father’s spirit children, Jesus was the only one who had a beard like our father. Hehe. On that note, I’ll sign off. Everyone have a nice week and a wonderful 4th of July on Saturday.
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Letter 6-22-09
Dear Family,
Well another week has come and gone. This last Sunday, as I’m sure all of you know, was Father’s Day. Typically, holidays aren’t too big for missionaries, but it’s nice to have a special day where we can think of our fathers, even though we don’t get to call home on like we get to on Mother’s Day. Nothing too exciting happened, outside the fact that Elder Reed and I spoke in sacrament meeting here in Eastland. That’s happened several times here in Eastland. I think I have spoken 4 or 5 times since coming here last October. Joys of being missionaries in a small branch. This time I talked about a very good story that pertains well to fathers. Alma the younger went about destroying the church and was a very wicked and idolatrous man. What happened? He had a lovely visit from a friendly angel that kinda chastised him a little. Turns out that Alma decided not to argue and was born of God and spent the rest of his life as an amazing servant. Well, it’s not very often that something like that happens. There are a lot of wicked people on the earth and not too many get the opportunity of being chastised by angel from the other side of the veil. So why Alma? Well, in Mosiah 27, verse 12 I think, the angel clearly states that he came to convince Alma of the power of God because his father prayed with much faith that he would. That is a good lesson taught right there. Every one of us should learn from this great father. We have people we know that have strayed from the path or that have never got on the path and we are obligated to pray for them and help them out. We can’t just pray any old prayer. We have to pray with faith. Dad must’ve had a revelation of what story to send this past week because the one he sent went along perfectly and I actually used it in my talk. It’s about a story of a town that is about to die because of no rain. They all gather in to pray and rain comes. As they are celebrating they see a seven year old girl who had an umbrella. What’s the significance to that? Well, she had so much faith that she expected the rain to come, despite the circumstances, and thus brought an umbrella with her. That’s the type of faith we need to have. That is the type of faith that Alma Sr. had towards his son and because of it, a miracle happened. Praying with that type of faith does indeed produce miracles and that is the type of faith we need to have. As I think about that, I have a long way to go; I’ll get there one of these days. But anyway, have a nice week everyone.
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
Well another week has come and gone. This last Sunday, as I’m sure all of you know, was Father’s Day. Typically, holidays aren’t too big for missionaries, but it’s nice to have a special day where we can think of our fathers, even though we don’t get to call home on like we get to on Mother’s Day. Nothing too exciting happened, outside the fact that Elder Reed and I spoke in sacrament meeting here in Eastland. That’s happened several times here in Eastland. I think I have spoken 4 or 5 times since coming here last October. Joys of being missionaries in a small branch. This time I talked about a very good story that pertains well to fathers. Alma the younger went about destroying the church and was a very wicked and idolatrous man. What happened? He had a lovely visit from a friendly angel that kinda chastised him a little. Turns out that Alma decided not to argue and was born of God and spent the rest of his life as an amazing servant. Well, it’s not very often that something like that happens. There are a lot of wicked people on the earth and not too many get the opportunity of being chastised by angel from the other side of the veil. So why Alma? Well, in Mosiah 27, verse 12 I think, the angel clearly states that he came to convince Alma of the power of God because his father prayed with much faith that he would. That is a good lesson taught right there. Every one of us should learn from this great father. We have people we know that have strayed from the path or that have never got on the path and we are obligated to pray for them and help them out. We can’t just pray any old prayer. We have to pray with faith. Dad must’ve had a revelation of what story to send this past week because the one he sent went along perfectly and I actually used it in my talk. It’s about a story of a town that is about to die because of no rain. They all gather in to pray and rain comes. As they are celebrating they see a seven year old girl who had an umbrella. What’s the significance to that? Well, she had so much faith that she expected the rain to come, despite the circumstances, and thus brought an umbrella with her. That’s the type of faith we need to have. That is the type of faith that Alma Sr. had towards his son and because of it, a miracle happened. Praying with that type of faith does indeed produce miracles and that is the type of faith we need to have. As I think about that, I have a long way to go; I’ll get there one of these days. But anyway, have a nice week everyone.
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
Monday, June 15, 2009
Letter 6-15-09
Dear family,
So I made mention a few weeks back when I was talking about the cookbook that I may not be in Eastland very much longer. Umm, well, I was wrong. I didn’t think I’d ever pull off a 4 transfer (6 month) companion and a 6 transfer (9 month) area, but I have. I’ll be staying here in Eastland till at least the End of July now. I was thinking, after this transfer I have 5 transfers (7 months) left. If I were to stay in Eastland with Elder Reed for the rest of my mission I will have tied Dad’s record that he always talks about. 15 months in one area and 10 months with the same companion. Think I can make it? Well I certainly hope not. That might drive me crazy. As much as I love Eastland, I would love to go to at least one more area, hopefully two. I have this weird goal of being able to see the whole mission, serving in all 5 zones. Most missionaries get close, but I have a weird record of only hitting 2 zones, those being the two southern zones. I’ve served the Texas Lubbock South mission. I have yet to meet a missionary to pull off the same feat as me. It would be nice to break that streak make it north some time and get to Lubbock, Amarillo, or New Mexico, but we’ll see what happens. In concordance with that (me being in Eastland for a while, I've made the decision to split up the photo CD's for my second stay in Eastland. Eastland part 3 will be coming to you shortly. And no, it will not include pictures of the wolf spider I took. Those will be on Eastland part 4, which will not come till at least August. But I did get some good pictures on part 3, so it'll be ok.
So outside that, the only other news is that I laugh at Texans once again. Every time they see a dark cloud they say that a tornado is coming. It is quite comical. Yes, it is tornado season here in June, but I doubt that I’ll ever see a tornado. I think in the last week Eastland County was under 2 or 3 tornado watches, with surrounding counties getting a tornado warning. We did get some good storms and good pictures for me, but in my opinion, none were even close to what we experienced in Utah that one year. I looked at the clouds and said to myself, ‘we ain’t gonna get no tornado today.’ (I don’t know if I actually said it that way, but that is how any Texan would say it). However, if a tornado does come our way, don’t you worry, I’ll be ready. …ready to take a picture! Mwa ha ha! That would complete my mission. A picture of a hurricane would be fun, too, but those don’t touch our mission. We’re too far west, dangit. All we get when a hurricane hits is a little bit of rain. Anyway, on that note, I’m signing off. Peace out!
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
So I made mention a few weeks back when I was talking about the cookbook that I may not be in Eastland very much longer. Umm, well, I was wrong. I didn’t think I’d ever pull off a 4 transfer (6 month) companion and a 6 transfer (9 month) area, but I have. I’ll be staying here in Eastland till at least the End of July now. I was thinking, after this transfer I have 5 transfers (7 months) left. If I were to stay in Eastland with Elder Reed for the rest of my mission I will have tied Dad’s record that he always talks about. 15 months in one area and 10 months with the same companion. Think I can make it? Well I certainly hope not. That might drive me crazy. As much as I love Eastland, I would love to go to at least one more area, hopefully two. I have this weird goal of being able to see the whole mission, serving in all 5 zones. Most missionaries get close, but I have a weird record of only hitting 2 zones, those being the two southern zones. I’ve served the Texas Lubbock South mission. I have yet to meet a missionary to pull off the same feat as me. It would be nice to break that streak make it north some time and get to Lubbock, Amarillo, or New Mexico, but we’ll see what happens. In concordance with that (me being in Eastland for a while, I've made the decision to split up the photo CD's for my second stay in Eastland. Eastland part 3 will be coming to you shortly. And no, it will not include pictures of the wolf spider I took. Those will be on Eastland part 4, which will not come till at least August. But I did get some good pictures on part 3, so it'll be ok.
So outside that, the only other news is that I laugh at Texans once again. Every time they see a dark cloud they say that a tornado is coming. It is quite comical. Yes, it is tornado season here in June, but I doubt that I’ll ever see a tornado. I think in the last week Eastland County was under 2 or 3 tornado watches, with surrounding counties getting a tornado warning. We did get some good storms and good pictures for me, but in my opinion, none were even close to what we experienced in Utah that one year. I looked at the clouds and said to myself, ‘we ain’t gonna get no tornado today.’ (I don’t know if I actually said it that way, but that is how any Texan would say it). However, if a tornado does come our way, don’t you worry, I’ll be ready. …ready to take a picture! Mwa ha ha! That would complete my mission. A picture of a hurricane would be fun, too, but those don’t touch our mission. We’re too far west, dangit. All we get when a hurricane hits is a little bit of rain. Anyway, on that note, I’m signing off. Peace out!
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Letter 6-8-09
Dear Family,
Well I hope all is well with everyone. Thanks for all the recipes that were sent. If you still desire to send some to contribute to the Eastland Branch cookbook, you still have some time. I’d say tomorrow is the deadline to get them sent. So that’s that. I’m still plugging away here in Eastland. Only God knows how long I will remain. Not a whole lot to report on this week. After our two baptisms of Josh and McKayla, we’ve had a minor dry spell. I try not to let that happen, but sometimes it just does. I feel kinda bad. President Robison instructed on the idea of an escalator effect and not an elevator effect. He said that some missionaries will work hard, then get a ton of baptisms at once and then start from scratch and a while later get a ton more baptisms. That’s the elevator effect. What is much better is to have the escalator. Once you get someone baptized you should have someone right behind them ready to get baptized then continue down having someone on each level of progression. Then you don’t skip a beat in your work. I tried to do that here in Eastland, but people just decided jump off my escalator, so once we got our baptisms, there was quite the jump in going to the next step where there was someone present. Oh well. What can you do? When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. We must press forward with a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and all men, feasting upon the words of Christ. Good things will come. They just don’t always come in the way and time I expect them to. That’s quite alright. I can find comfort in knowing that God hasn’t forgotten about his children in Eastland, Texas. He will prepare a way for them to come to the light. But if not, I will still trust in the Lord. Have a dandy week everyone.
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Letter 6-1-09
Dear Family,
First item of business in this week's letter is a request from everyone. The Eastland branch is putting together a branch cookbook and one of the members that is heading the project asked Elder Reed and me if we had anything that we could contribute. Well, of course I did. There are many unique and great recipes that I have grown up with that have been family favorites. I would love to contribute. The only problem is that I am not currently in possession of any of them. They are back in Utah. That is the request. Send some recipes to me that could be included in the Eastland Branch recipe book. That would be greatly appreciated. Anything goes, really. The ideal recipes would be those that are unique and/or are family favorites. The two examples that I thought of right off the bat are No-Bake cookies and Peanut Butter Bars. Yet keep in mind that my mind isn't the most creative mind right now. It's been quite some time since I last sat down and browsed through a recipe book. One last thing for this. It's kinda urgent. Yes, it isn't officially due till the latter part of June, but being that I've been in Eastland for a combined total of 7 months now, I may be shipped away before that due date, in fact might I say 2 weeks, so if you could git 'r done this week that would greatly appreciated. Absolute deadline to send recipes would be Monday or Tuesday of next week so I can turn them in either this coming Sunday or the 14th. Thank you. If I don't get any recipes from anyone, I won't be too offended, Eastland Branch just will just not got a contribution from Elder Droge. That would sad. Don't wait for everyone else to send them in, send in some of your favorite. If I get 50 recipes, so much the better. If half of them are duplicates, well then, it doesn't hurt anything, does it? I'll just not turn in the same recipe twice.
So I mentioned that Breckenridge, Texas is the highest city in the nation per capita to get away with murder. I almost added to that number this week. No need to panic. I didn't almost kill people. I almost smashed two animals with our car. Both in the same day. First was as we were about to enter. A turtle, yes, you heard that right, a wild turtle decided that he wanted to cross the very busy highway. Almost the stupidest and last mistake that fellow ever made. Turtles aren't the fastest of creatures. Luckily, because of my exceeding expertise with driving, I saw him just in time and drove right over him, without touching him with the wheels of the car. I say it almost gave me a heart attack, but the turtle probably felt a lot worse. I looked back and he was rightfully all hidden in his shell. There was a big yellow Penske truck right behind me, so I can't say for sure if the turtle ever finished his journey across the road, but I don't recall seeing a smashed turtle so I think he was okay. The second story came later that day as we were driving down the busiest road in Breckenridge. The stupidest squirrel I have ever met. He apparently had no patience in crossing the road, no animals seem to, so he decided to play a live game of Frogger, if you know what I mean. He darted right past me into the next lane where there was a car five feet in front of me. I could've sworn he got smashed, but he darted backwards, right in front of me. It was too late for me to do anything, and I thought I smashed the little bugger, but he escaped again somehow. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw him hanging out in the middle lane ready to cross again. Stupid animals. No wonder Texas is the roadkill capital of the United States. I made up that statistic after being here for 15 months, so I don't know if it actually is, but it sure wouldn't surprise me. Roadkill everywhere here.
So last thought. We talked to an old guy a week or so ago and he told us with a straight face that the second coming would be May 31st of this year. I was quite amused. Well, its June 1st now. Did I miss something? Did Jesus come yesterday and is secretly hanging out somewhere in Missouri or Utah or some other place like that? Let me know if you've talked to him. Hehe... Peace out all!
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
First item of business in this week's letter is a request from everyone. The Eastland branch is putting together a branch cookbook and one of the members that is heading the project asked Elder Reed and me if we had anything that we could contribute. Well, of course I did. There are many unique and great recipes that I have grown up with that have been family favorites. I would love to contribute. The only problem is that I am not currently in possession of any of them. They are back in Utah. That is the request. Send some recipes to me that could be included in the Eastland Branch recipe book. That would be greatly appreciated. Anything goes, really. The ideal recipes would be those that are unique and/or are family favorites. The two examples that I thought of right off the bat are No-Bake cookies and Peanut Butter Bars. Yet keep in mind that my mind isn't the most creative mind right now. It's been quite some time since I last sat down and browsed through a recipe book. One last thing for this. It's kinda urgent. Yes, it isn't officially due till the latter part of June, but being that I've been in Eastland for a combined total of 7 months now, I may be shipped away before that due date, in fact might I say 2 weeks, so if you could git 'r done this week that would greatly appreciated. Absolute deadline to send recipes would be Monday or Tuesday of next week so I can turn them in either this coming Sunday or the 14th. Thank you. If I don't get any recipes from anyone, I won't be too offended, Eastland Branch just will just not got a contribution from Elder Droge. That would sad. Don't wait for everyone else to send them in, send in some of your favorite. If I get 50 recipes, so much the better. If half of them are duplicates, well then, it doesn't hurt anything, does it? I'll just not turn in the same recipe twice.
So I mentioned that Breckenridge, Texas is the highest city in the nation per capita to get away with murder. I almost added to that number this week. No need to panic. I didn't almost kill people. I almost smashed two animals with our car. Both in the same day. First was as we were about to enter. A turtle, yes, you heard that right, a wild turtle decided that he wanted to cross the very busy highway. Almost the stupidest and last mistake that fellow ever made. Turtles aren't the fastest of creatures. Luckily, because of my exceeding expertise with driving, I saw him just in time and drove right over him, without touching him with the wheels of the car. I say it almost gave me a heart attack, but the turtle probably felt a lot worse. I looked back and he was rightfully all hidden in his shell. There was a big yellow Penske truck right behind me, so I can't say for sure if the turtle ever finished his journey across the road, but I don't recall seeing a smashed turtle so I think he was okay. The second story came later that day as we were driving down the busiest road in Breckenridge. The stupidest squirrel I have ever met. He apparently had no patience in crossing the road, no animals seem to, so he decided to play a live game of Frogger, if you know what I mean. He darted right past me into the next lane where there was a car five feet in front of me. I could've sworn he got smashed, but he darted backwards, right in front of me. It was too late for me to do anything, and I thought I smashed the little bugger, but he escaped again somehow. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw him hanging out in the middle lane ready to cross again. Stupid animals. No wonder Texas is the roadkill capital of the United States. I made up that statistic after being here for 15 months, so I don't know if it actually is, but it sure wouldn't surprise me. Roadkill everywhere here.
So last thought. We talked to an old guy a week or so ago and he told us with a straight face that the second coming would be May 31st of this year. I was quite amused. Well, its June 1st now. Did I miss something? Did Jesus come yesterday and is secretly hanging out somewhere in Missouri or Utah or some other place like that? Let me know if you've talked to him. Hehe... Peace out all!
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
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