Letter 6-9-08

Dear Family,

Well this week was an interesting week. Like I said, it was transfer week and my companion, Elder Hill, got sent away. It’s interesting how they do it. They call you up Monday morning and tell you if you are going or staying. If you are going, all that they say is that you are going north or south and leaving Tuesday or Wednesday. They don’t tell you where you’re going or who your companion is until you get to the area where you are staying. Elder Hill left Tuesday and my new companion, Elder Larrabee got here Wednesday. Elder Larrabee’s dad is in the coastguard so he is from everywhere. Recently from Layton and Boston being his favorite. Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I stayed with the other missionary in town that lost his companion. I had a very interesting experience that I vowed not to tell anyone about while I was with that other missionary. Sorry, but I have to leave you hanging there.

So the rest of this week was a bust. We got in and taught only 2 lessons, one on Thursday and one on Sunday. We did have an investigator at church, so that is really good. Her name is Veronica Allred. Her husband, Evan, is a less-active member who’s whole family is members. His dad is even a branch president. They both were at his brother’s homecoming a while back. Listening to that got her interested in the Gospel. We have been trying to teach them more, but he is really busy at work in the oil field and is like never home and she doesn’t want us to teach her or come to church unless he is there, so that has been an obstacle because he is never home, but like I said, yesterday they randomly showed up at church. We have taught them the first lesson and are working on the second. Hopefully we will get that in sometime. When we taught the first lesson a month back it was really good. They invited us over for dinner and we had the lesson afterwards. She said she’d start reading the Book of Mormon more once summer comes and summer is here so hopefully she will start and hopefully we will be able to teach them the second lesson, the plan of salvation, here really soon.

So one more thing that is really cool. This is actually specifically for Dad. We had dinner with a member down here, Quinn Carroll. You should know him. He graduated high school from Bountiful High in 1970, a year before you. He was in band. He played the Saxophone. He talked about a cool song that he composed/arranged during the summer. It was two popular songs in that day that he put together. It was four pages long with many different parts. The whole band played it during a concert and he even conducted it when they played. He said that you should remember that song. We grabbed his yearbook and we looked through it and I was able to see your junior picture in his yearbook. It’s a small world isn’t it?

Anyway, that’s about it for this week. One of these weeks that I have nothing to talk about or respond to I’ll give you that shpeal about opposition that I really liked, but not this week. I’ll leave you hanging again.

So far no one has guessed my recent scripture trivia, so it will stand again this week.

Good Luck and Peace Out

DrogeTheElder Adam R

(PS – Bruce, I’m glad you like my closing title. Looks familiar, doesn’t it?)

Elder Adam R Droge Alienator345

Letter 6-2-08

Dear Family,

Life is great here in Midland. The trading deadline has past for the second time and once again I survived the chopping block and will be staying here in Midland for at least another 6 weeks. My companion however wasn’t so lucky. He got traded to some place up north. He will be leaving tomorrow afternoon and I will get my new companion either when he leaves or Wednesday afternoon.

One worldly thing to get out of the way, for those of you who don’t like worldly things, you can skip this paragraph, but my letters from Mom, Bruce, and Joe all talked about the American Idol finale so that’s all I have to respond to. Something of note to those of you who haven’t jumped the American Idol bandwagon yet, you better jump, because even Mom has become addicted from what I read, even though she doesn’t want to accept it. And if mom likes American Idol, then that means you will too. By the way, Mom, I was laughing out loud when I read your reaction to David Archuleta losing. It would’ve been cool for him to win, but let me justify David Cook. The way I judge American Idol is I try to picture myself listening to their music after they are finished with American Idol is finished and I ask myself, would I listen to their album that they put out? I’ll root for whoever sings closer to my taste and that person was David Cook this year and it’s about time that America gets it right for the first time in 6 seasons. Thanks for recording all the episodes for me. That’ll be fun when I get home. But anyway, Bruce brings up an interesting point. David Archuleta is a member of the church and only in high school. Maybe he’ll go on a mission. That would be cool, Elder Archuleta. One problem though, they’d have to send him to some foreign country that knows nothing about American media or else there would be people that would join the church just because of him and that is the wrong reason.

I heard from Joe that you guys are all going on all kinds of fun trips now that I’m gone. Not only are you going to the big vacation this summer, but you all decided to take off to Zion’s canyon. That’s no fair… Don’t worry, I don’t need vacations. I’m on a better vacation so ha!

Bruce – In answer to your question, I’m sorry that that video we made got deleted. I’m not sure if it’s on my flash drive or not. I can’t remember. Greg and Wendy have that flash drive so talk to them and make them check. Sorry. I hope it is. Let me know what you find out.

Anyway, about me talking more about my experiences, I’ll promise that I’ll talk about anyone who might go anywhere that we’ve taught more than once. Cody Chambers is at a standstill right now. We did teach him about opposition so I hope that helps and he did bring up that he has slipped up with smoking, so that is something we’ll have to work with. He has had an incredibly hectic work schedule, so we haven’t met with him in a while and he hasn’t been to church in a few weeks due to his work. Melissa is pretty serious about coming back, but she has had some medical issues and hasn’t made it to church the last two weeks because of it. She has pushed Cody a lot to get baptized, so that shows her desire.

A few others worth mentioning: First, Chris. He is a guy that has done a lot of bad things in his life. He has tattoos up and down his arms and had a house arrest ankle bracelet on the first time we met him. However, he does want to change his ways and become a better person. He is familiar with the Bible, so that is also good. We read 2 Nephi 31 with him and talked a lot about baptism. We found he wasn’t on parole and has never been to prison, so we extended a hard baptismal commitment, that is where we set a specific date, and he accepted it, but the problem is he said he wants to get baptized in his mom’s church when he does get baptized. Hmmm, wrong answer. We’ll have to teach him about that more.

The second person we taught a second lesson to is a guy named Jonathan Alcantara. He is about 20 years old. He grew up catholic but it didn’t feel right to him so he turned atheist. Recently though, his girlfriend re-sparked a religious interest in him so he no longer feels atheist, but he is confused and in the dark about which religion is true. That is the type of situation we like. He was actually a referral given to us by a member, so that is even better. The first two lessons, the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation, made a ton of sense to him, we just need to get him to read the Book of Mormon and come to church and we’ll get him.

Last, but not least is a young Hispanic couple, Junior and Lupé, that we have taught a few times. They have never been much on religion, but they like us coming and talking with them. He, like everyone else, works in the oil field, the same type of work Cody Chambers does. They do huge 12 – 16 hour shifts with very few days off. It is horrible and hard to teach and get them to come to church. He is always working and she doesn’t want to come alone. We’ll see what happens with them, but at least they invite us in, so that’s a step forward.

That’s about everyone right now that has real potential. Everyone else is people we’ve taught once and never seen again or are trying to get back in. I’ll keep you updated. The opposition discourse from President Rose will have to wait because of the fact that I had people to talk about so keep in touch.

So I thought my scripture last week was going to be harder to get, but Wendy nailed it, so I have to try harder. Here’s my best shot for now:

“Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you. For if ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.”

Try to get that one. Until next time, peace out!

DrogeTheElder Adam R

PS - someone give me Joe's email address. The one I have right now isn't working.

Elder Adam R Droge Alienator345

Letter 5-27-08

Dear Family,

I am writing this on a Tuesday. Why? Because yesterday was a holiday and the computers were closed everywhere. Holidays are all wonderful and joyous and everything outside of a mission, but not on the mission. Holidays are horrible because everyone is gone, those home don’t want to talk, and we can’t email. Good thing it was P-Day. We almost didn’t email at all this week, but district leader decided to do it today, so you guys are all lucky.

Anyway, a few thoughts on my mind before I get into the letter too far. First off, what are the gas prices up there in Utah? Down here they are 3.80 a gallon for normal unleaded and for diesel in is 4.50. It is skyrocketing and that is ridiculous. Food storage suddenly sounds like a great idea in case truckers go on strike.Sounds like everyone had fun on the Father and Sons outing. Hey Dad, thanks for the pictures. It was cool seeing my home ward again as well as family. I have evidence that they are all alive.

Hey Annie – I have some homework for you. I was reading in the church news about the sister missionary that collapsed in England and died. That is a horrible story. What was worse is that the last name and place she was from was very familiar. Lindsey Spjute from Farmington, Utah. Remember in band the big Tuba player, Russell Spjute? Well, that’s not a very common name. Figure out if they were related in some way then report. It will give you an excuse to write another letter.

One of my highlights for this week was reading Greg’s letter. Thanks for that. That was a wonderful discourse about the justice of God. I enjoyed it and it gave me things to think about. Another very interesting thought arose in my mind because of that letter. If I was born and raised in Texas, would I accept the gospel? I’ve put myself in their shoes, tried to think of what they have been taught via scriptures from the Bible and from their preachers and I’m not sure if I would. It makes me feel grateful that I was born and raised in the Church.

Wendy got that passage of scripture that I left last week. It was 2 Nephi 4. I wasn’t meaning for it to be hard, it was just what was on my mind and I thought that it was very appropriate to what had been going on in my mind. If you want a difficult challenge, try this one:“O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and their children for ever! Go say to them, Get you into your tents again. But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak into thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgements, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it. Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or the left. Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.”

Anyway, I’ve had some requests and softly been cried repentance unto. People want to hear more about missionary work and about experiences that I’ve had. I’ve noticed that I’ve been slothful in that aspect, so I will try to be better. That is why it is important to write, because I don’t always know what to talk about and I didn’t realize that I was being slothful. I’ll try to be better. But to be honest, I have told you about every single investigator that is going anywhere and keeping commitments. But Adam, you have only told us about one investigator! Exactly! Isn’t Texas great? I can tell you all about the investigators that don’t keep commitments, don’t come to church, and many of whom we teach once and never see again. I can mention all the times we spend hours knocking on doors and all the rude people, but I haven’t because I’m not sure you want to hear that. Let me know. There are some things that I can talk about and a few spiritual discourses that I can give via studies and meetings and I would’ve today, but I have no time. Look forward to me talking about what President Rose told us about opposition the other week. Stay Tuned.

Stay strong. Stay firm in the faith. This is the truth. Elder Droge has now left the Building and ran out of time.

DrogeTheElder Adam R.

Elder Adam R Droge Alienator345

Letter 5-19-08

Dear Family,

My soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do easily beset me. And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted. My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep. He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh. He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me. Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the nighttime. And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me. And upon the wings of his spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even to great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them. O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy, why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions? And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy? Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul. Do not anger because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions. Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation. O Lord, wilt thou redeem my soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make that I should shake at the appearance of sin? May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road! O Lord, wilt thou encircle me about in the robe of thy righteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not place a stumbling block in my way—but that thou wouldst clear my way before me, and hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy. O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or makes flesh his arm. Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen.

Now that you are all in tears because of this wonderful poetic psalm that I have written, I’ll admit, I’m quoting this from somewhere. Brownie Points to those who tell me where it’s from. I’ll give you a clue. This person says he’s not a good writer. Ha! Whatever! I thought it was good to write that this week since everyone had a hangover from talking to me on the phone and neglected to write, except Bruce of course. He had an American Idol update to give me. Which by the way, I know all of you are cheering from the David Archuleta from Murray, but GO DAVID COOK!! I’ve never had an American Idol season go my way, so you might as well vote for Archuleta for that reason, but hey, there’s a first for everything, right? I’m also glad that there are a few sport fans out here because no one has given me a sports update in a long time. I was preaching to everyone that the Jazz would beat the Lakers and of course everyone had to make sure that I was aware of it when the Lakers eliminated the Jazz. Grr… Oh, well. I heard it was one heck of a series, Jazz taking LA to game 7 where they lost by 3 points, having 2 shots to tie it at the end and missing both. It’s kinda fun, one of the ward missionaries down here just came down from Utah, having recently graduated from BYU, was a sports writer for several different papers, and is now a weekend sports broadcaster for channel 9 news. So I hear a little bit here and there, I even got into a big NBA conversion during dinner with a member who is a huge Lakers and NBA fan. That’s still not an excuse not to update me because I still haven’t figured out what happened in the NFL draft or NFL free agency… Don’t worry it’s something I hardly think about, but it would still be nice to know. Thanks to Dave for the updates he has given. One more thing, it would be fun to see how I did in the Fantasy Basketball League we (Dave, Joe, and I).

Now onto more important matters, missionary work. We now have 3 ward missionaries to go out with us in the day, so that is good. Our baptism last week didn’t happen. Its kinda sad, but understandable. Cody Chambers had been receiving some opposition that caused him to have second thoughts about what he was doing. He wanted to wait a little longer to make sure that he knew what he is doing is the right thing and also he wants to make sure he can keep all the commitments of being a member. It will happen. It’s just a matter of time. It’s a process that shouldn’t be rushed. We’re here to prepare people for exaltation, not increase church membership.

Anyway that’s all for now. I’m excited to read all of your letters now that it has been 2 weeks since I’ve called and I know you all want to start writing again. I’m sure I’ll get a letter from Mom today or tomorrow because it didn’t come Saturday like it usually does, and Greg mentioned an epistle that should get here Wednesday or Thursday. Bruce will be writing me telling that Syesha went home (that’s a guess by the way, I don’t really know) because there’s no way the Davids go home instead of her. Those are guaranteed. And I’m sure everyone else will want to write in order to keep up and get as much credibility as Bruce and Joe have right now, and Mom of course. Peace out all.

Droge

the

Elder Adam R

Elder Adam R Droge

Alienator345

Letter 5-12-08

Hey Peoples of in the distant land of Utah!

It was good talking to all of you again. It did seem really short, but it was great. Because of the fact that I talked yesterday, I don’t have a ton to say, but I’ll see what I can do.

So Greg and Wendy, I totally forgot to mention this, but… HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!! It’s been one whole year, can you believe it? Probably not. I’ve almost been out 3 months on a mission. Time sure flies.

So I got an email saying that my email failed to make it to Joe, so someone make sure that he gets the email from this week and last week if he didn’t already. I always look forward to letters from Bruce and Joe, because they write every week. Joe didn’t this week, so I was wondering what was wrong, but that may be it, so make sure he gets this letter and last weeks as well.

I didn’t hear much from Bruce and Joe while calling, but yet I remember that I never said much. Anyway, Joe, how have you been? Any success with the Lawn Mowing business or has it snowed again? Can you believe that 7th grade is almost over for you? You’ll be half way through Junior High in a few months. Isn’t that really weird? Make sure you tell me if you make the Basketball team next year. Keep practicing every day and you will have a good shot. So are you going to do football next year at all?

Sorry that I called when Byron was gone. I read the email that said that 5:30 would be the best time for everyone, but I could only call when I did. We had dinner after Elder Hill finished calling his home and had to go out and work because there were some people that we needed to get caught up with that evening.

So Bruce, it sounds like you had a really fun elephant rock trip. That would be exciting. So is it fun to Spencer in the ward? I know it would be awesome for me. American Idol update: Remember how I said that David Cook was going to win it this year? Ever since his first audition I liked him and now he is still in with only 4 people left. Bruce, how does it feel to be almost done with Junior High? You will be in High School in a few months. Isn’t that crazy?

So there isn’t much that I can think of on my end. We do pretty much the same thing every day and we already talked about a lot yesterday, so if you want to know anything about me, make sure to write and ask.

So Byron, I read that first email about the watch finally. The watch is really nice. I figured that it set automatically, because I could only change time zones so that it really cool and it is nice that it is solar powered. It has served me well, so thanks a lot.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Stay strong and true till the end of time, which will never come. Feel blessed that you live and Utah and feel grateful for the gospel because the percentage of people in this world that have the truth is slim to none. Have a great week.

---Elder Adam R Droge
The Alienator

Letter 5-5-08

Dearest Family,

God said, “Let there be light.” Chuck Norris said, “Say Please.”
He he. I thought some of you would get a kick out of that. I did.

Today is Cinco de Mayo. That is a big thing down here because there are a lot of Mexicans, but it is on P-Day, so I don’t really think I’ll run into any extra problems. Nice Timing ☺.

Bruce – I liked your letter. That was very entertaining to read. Keep it up. You, Mom, and Joe are the best writers so don’t stop. Even when American Idol is over, there will always be something to write about, even if it is just messing around and doing a funny letter. If you have nothing to write about, just do that. Oh and by the way, I haven’t heard anyone say peace out at all. So I guess they don’t say that down here.

Joe – You should keep sending those comics to me. I have used that first one on my planner this transfer and if you keep sending them, I can have a variety of comics to choose from to put on my planners in the future. ☺

The highlight of this week came yesterday. There are three missionaries going around to all the stakes here in the mission putting on an incredible musical program that is based around the first lesson, the message of the restoration. It was awesome. They were very talented missionaries. Then President Rose got up and bore his testimony. He talked about Hugh B Brown’s talk, “Profile of a Prophet.” It is an amazing talk. You should all look it up. I mentioned Cody Chambers a few weeks ago. He is the investigator that is absolutely loves the Church. He is going to be baptized on the 17th of this month. What’s even better is that he seems to be dragging his family along with him. He reactivated his excommunicated wife that didn’t really like the church and now he has his mom, Ginger Keyes, investigating the church. She went to church Sunday and to this fireside and loved it.

Not much else new here on my part and nothing else to respond to, so I will share with you the most ingenious analogy that I thought of this week while finding. The Plan of Salvation compared to the NFL Season.
Pre-Earth Life vs. Preseason – In the pre-earth life all of us were present. There was a battle where a third of the hosts of heaven were cast out and never made it to the next stage of the Plan. In the preseason, there are 32 teams with about 80 to 90 people on each team. Throughout the preseason there are many battles to determine who will make each team. At the end of the season, the teams have to be cut down to 53 players, making it so about a third of the NFL players that were there in the preseason don’t make it to the regular season.
Earth-Life vs. NFL Season – Our purpose here on life is to prepare to meet God. We do so by following all of God’s commandments. We all make mistakes. None of us are perfect. We have good times and bad times. The world is filled with people who don’t follow all of God’s commandments. Only the choice people, a handful of God’s children, work hard enough and perform well enough in this life to achieve eternal glory. The Last days are the hardest, where we are really tested in our faith to see if we can endure. In the NFL, the purpose is to win the super bowl. You do so but practicing your hardest, preparing yourself well enough, and performing to the best of your ability. No team is perfect. Every team has their hard times where they don’t perform well. Most teams don’t practice and perform hard enough. The NFL is filled with people who will never win a super bowl. Only the players who perform to the best of their ability will win the super bowl and achieve NFL immortality. The last days of the season, the playoffs, are the roughest times. Every good player is challenged their hardest and many good players fall.
After-life vs. Offseason – At the end of this life, as it says in the last verse of 3 Nephi 27, narrow is the path to eternal life and few be there that find it. A very small percentage of people make it to the Celestial Kingdom and achieve eternal happiness. Everyone is, however, separated into three main places, the Celestial Kingdom, Terrestrial Kingdom, and Telestial Kingdom, which are comparable in glory to the Sun, Moon, Stars. Moon and Stars do have some glory, but the Sun surpasses them by a long shot. When all is said and done in the NFL season, very few people actually achieve the goal of winning the super bowl and gaining that NFL immortality and celebrating throughout the offseason knowing that they made it and achieved their goal. There are 3 main categories of players, those who won the Super Bowl, those who made it to the playoffs, but lost when they got there, and those who never made the playoffs. The glory of each is comparable to the sun, moon, and stars. Even if you didn’t make it to the playoffs, you still get some glory, knowing that you actually got to play in the NFL, but not much. It is another big step to say that you made it to the playoffs, but still there is some emptiness knowing that you didn’t quite make it, then there is the ultimate glory that surpasses the other two, knowing that you did it. You won the super bowl. You get to celebrate all of the offseason, knowing what you have done.

Its genius isn’t it? That will be famous one day, so take notes now… ☺. So before I sign off this week, there is this rumor that I get to call home next Sunday, but I don’t know the details. All that I know that it will most likely be between 2 and 4 PM in the afternoon, YOUR TIME, so I would camp around the phone in the Droge home in Bountiful between those hours.

Peace Out All!

-Elder Adam R. Droge
The Alientator

Letter 4-28-08

Hello Family!

This week was an off week, everything punched on us. But its ok. Such is life here. It sounds like you guys had a real fun ping-pong tournament. Thanks for sending the scorecard Dave. You were right when you said I like that stuff. And by the way, Mike – I could’ve kicked your trash in that ping-pong tournament so be glad I wasn’t there ☺.

Bruce – That was the best American Idol update yet. You should do that every week. I just feel bad, because on the best week of your updates, was the one time I knew who was going home. We dropped into a members home to update him on a referral he gave us, and he turned the TV on to see who went home. I just happened to be right in front of the TV when he did so. So I was apostate and talked about American Idol with them for a little bit. I know, I’m horrible. But to justify myself, I don’t even think about American Idol until someone else brings it up, like you in your letters.

While I’m on the reality TV subject, I have to throw this in: Who won celebrity apprentice?

Dad – thanks for the letter and the advise. Just for your information, I have been writing in my journal every night that there is something to write about and I do use specific names. I figure that this is the best two years of my life so I might as well have it all written down so I can look back at it at one point of time. That is part of the reason that I don’t care to write people that don’t show interest. I have it all written down. Every good experience and every good lesson. One other thing, while it may sound like I focus too much on the outside world, I really don’t. I don’t even remember anything about the outside world and the world of sports unless it is brought up by someone else. My focus is on the work. Not letters. Not American Idol. Not Sports. It just brings an added bonus when I get home and find that someone cares enough to inform me, because I do like hearing about all that stuff, its just not as high of a priority as many people have come to think.

Shawn – You mentioned about me bringing the Bush supporters to repentance. I have tried my best in doing so, the people just don’t listen. It does bring up an interesting point though. Most people here in Midland are republican. That really surprised me. Everyone I have talked to was ready to vote for Mitt Romney before he dropped out. Not many are huge John McCain supporters either. Its just like Utah, politically. Kinda cool.You also mentioned that Summer is around the corner. I know you meant that figuratively, being that June is around the corner from April, but you can also make that literal as well. Texas is around the corner geographically from Tennessee. You say summer is around the corner there. I say its here in Texas. Its been in the 90’s this last week. So you’re right. Summer is around the corner in tennessee – its in Texas.Oh, by the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECCA!!! That’s fun. I now remember that you had a birthday in April. Sorry I forgot. I hope it was good. Sarah and Ethan are going to be 4 and 5 when I get home. That’s scary. I’m glad they’re doing good.

So its kinda funny that the one time everyone decides to go on vacation is the one year I’m not home. Oh, well. Someone better write me and tell me all about it. Make it like I was there.

So this week there was a tornado watch here in Midland. It was really dissappointing. I got all excited to see a tornado and it never happened. I was thinking that a Tornado through the town would humble the people and make them listen… No just kidding. It would be cool to see a tornado though. Get a picture on my camera. But it didn’t happen. I’m sure Mom is happy about that though ☺.

So living here in a members home, they get the church news and I look through it on occasion. This week I read some horrible news. It was telling about the notable people who died and in there it mentioned F Britton McConkie from Bountiful. That is way sad. How come no one told me about that?

This week was kinda slow, like I said, but its all good. I’m surviving and life is still great. It would be an added bonus if someone updated me on the NFL Draft that happened. That would be kinda fun. Give me a copy of what happened in the first round and what BYU players got drafted. Whoever did that would be my best friend because I sinned and did a mock draft before I left and it would be an added bonus to know how right I was and who went where and which team drafted which players and what positions they are. That would be fun.

But I am out of time for this week. Everyone have a good week and be safe. Life is good and feel blessed that you live in Utah.

-Elder Adam R Droge The Alienator