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

Letter 4-27-09

Dear Family,

I don’t have much time this week. I spent most of my email time doing other things. This last week was a little rough, but with patience and diligence, we persevered and made it through with smiles on our faces. This morning I read a great story in Mosiah 24 that boosted my spirits. You all know the story. Alma and his people had been taken captive by the Lamanites and the Amulonites and went through much affliction, but the Lord did visit them in their afflictions and delivered them out. The moral of the story that came to me that can be applied in our everyday lives is that the Lord promises all of us that he will visit us in our afflictions, so we need to submit to the will of the Lord cheerfully and with much patience. Another theme of this week was consecration. President Robison asked us to study it and so I did and it so happens that the Sunday school lesson was on consecration. When I studied consecration, I did a webster’s dictionary tour. I looked up the word consecration, wrote down the definition and then looked up the words in that definition and continued on with that effect until I got a definition that I really liked. Here it is: To consecrate is “to be highly serious in binding your whole soul to a particular course or purpose.” Binding our whole soul. Very good counsel from Webster. That is what we need to do. Bind ourselves to Christ and his gospel, sacrificing what we need to in order to make that possible. True to the Faith has some very good insights when it defines sacrifice. I don’t have the time to elaborate this week, so that will be my homework for all of you this week. Study the section in True to the Faith about sacrifice and then report any insights to me. Thank you and have a nice week.

Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester

Letter 4-20-09

Dear Family,

Wow. The 20th has rolled around again. That means it has been 14 months since I have left. Scary. So I really don’t have much to say this week, but I have an interesting thought. There was an investigator that we had that had a concern about the fall, so I decided to read the account of Adam and Eve in the book of Moses. In doing so I came across a scripture that gave an idea that I had never really known. Here is the scripture:

“And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all livingãB fore thus have I, the Lord God, called the first of all women, which are many” (Moses 4:26).

It was that last part that caught me, ‘for thus have I…called the first of all women, which are many.’ I didn’t quite know what that meant, so I looked at the footnotes and found a cross reference for earlieer in eMoses:

“And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the son I created them, which is mine only begotten.And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many.But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them” (Moses 1:33-35).

So, if I interpreted that right, those two scriptures are saying that God created many worlds that are inhabited by people and the first two people on every earth were named Adam and Eve. That is an interesting thought that I’ve never heard before. Studying those scriptures, and looking at more cross references, also poses lots of other questions and interesting insights, some of which we may never find out in this life, but it’s interesting to think about. The Pearl of Great Price is loaded. Its name is very fitting. That is all I had for this week. Some time in the next week or two I will make and send a photo CD of me in Big Spring. I was going to combine Big Spring and Eastland Part 3, but I have racked up enough photos in Eastland this time around to separate them. I would’ve done it this week, but the machine at Wal-Mart was down, so it’ll have to wait. Anyways, that’s all folks! Peace out!

Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester

Letter 4-13-09

Dear Family,

Happy Easter everyone! Thanks you for those who participated in sending the Easter package. That was very good. I say was, but I mean still is. It’s not gone quite yet. And, hey, thank you for finding the wedding ties that I had been wanting. That really made my day. I’m only a few ties off my goal now. The goal is to get to the point where I can wear a different tie every day of the transfer. That would mean 42 ties. I’m at 37 or 38. 5 more ties to collect. Don’t be amazed at that. That is actually quite a small number compared to some missionaries I know.

This last week was zone conference. At zone conference we were made aware of a certain number. Back in November we were given the commission by Elder Pearson to double the baptisms here. For the last 6 years in this mission, the average per month has been 20 baptisms a month for the whole mission. To double baptize, we would need to get a consistent average of 40. Well, for the first 3 months of this year, we have made an average of 30. We are almost there. Baptisms are possible. The Texas Lubbock Mission is a baptizing mission. We are shooting for a goal right now to average 35 per month. Then once we hit that, we’ll jump up to 40. Once we hit 40, then we will celebrate by having the whole mission get together at the Lubbock Temple and get a picture. It’ll be great. You can help me by praying for this to happen. I have confidence that it won’t take more than a few months to make this happen.

So yesterday on Easter, we were eating dinner with one of the senior couple missionaries that are serving in our area, Elder and Sister Romero. Sister Romero told a great story that gave me inspiration and I felt like sharing it. Sister Romero’s brother is very less active. Less active for 40 years. One day she was really stressed. She had tried her hardest to help him, but nothing was working. As she pondered, a voice came to her mind that said this, “Remember, he’s my son, too.” That is very good counsel that we should all remember. I look at the people here in Eastland, especially less active members and investigators that are struggling. I try to think about what more I can do. Sometimes I get frustrated because I work my best to get them to listen and they just don’t. Nothing I try works. Sometimes I have to step back and remember that Heavenly Father knows each one of his children and will do far more than I can ever do. When the time is right, he will lead his lost children back and we need to be patient. Truly patient. Study patience in Preach My Gospel, chapter 6. It teaches that patience is enduring without getting frustrated or anxious. If any of you have any friends that aren’t members or are less active members, do what you can to help when the spirit prompts you, but don’t get frustrated when they don’t listen. Be patient and don’t push them over the edge. Remember, they are heavenly father’s son as well and he will lead them back. Joseph Smith, when asked why his people listen to him and follow his teachings so closely, responded, “I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves.” Do your best and leave the rest up to the Lord. That is my counsel for this week. Have a great week everyone.

Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester

Letter 4-6-09

Dear Family,

Happy Birthday Jesus and Happy Birthday Church!

Conference has come and gone. It went way too fast. It’s hard to believe that I only have one more conference left on my mission. General Conference on the mission is always really good and I have learned a great skill at General Conference that helps make conference much more enjoyable and helps you learn a lot more. Taking notes. I have learned so much more from the last three General Conferences than I have from all the other general conferences growing up. If you’ve never tried it before, you should. That’s my advice, take it or leave it.

In talking about conference, let me first make mention. My prophesy that Elder Pearson would speak in conference came true. I don’t know how many caught that, but Elder Pearson, who came to our mission back in November, spoke about faith on Saturday afternoon. It was a great talk. The cool thing was is that is was kind of a de-ja-vu. Lots of the stuff he spoke about in conference are things he told us about. Smart man. He uses his resources. Some of that stuff included spiritual photosynthesis, faith coming by exact obedience, and the 6 destructive D’s that destroy our faith. Great talk.

Other things to note, in my opinion, there were several amazing talks and for me to talk of all of them would be redundant, but let me make mention of a few others that stuck out to me. Elder Holland’s talk, in my opinion, was the best overall. He talked about the last week of the savior’s life and how because the savior was all alone, none of us have to be, he’s always there for us and we should never forsake him. That talk was the other de-ja-vu. Elder Holland uses his resources as well. He came to the MTC and that is what he talked about in part of his address to us. The only difference at the MTC is that he is allowed to be more enthusiastic. He basically threatened all the missionaries and almost broke the pulpit when he smacked it in saying, ‘don’t you dare abandon the savior.’

We also got drilled on the temple, just like I said we would a couple of weeks ago. 4 specific talks that I can think of talked specifically about temples and temple covenants – Christofferson, Scott, Bednar, and Stevensen. The talk most personal to me was Elder Snow’s talk about how to deal with change. I hate change. Never have liked it. The missionary winner this time around is obvious. Elder Perry wins. There has been a big focus on member missionary work recently among not only our mission, but I assume several others. Elder Perry heads the missionary program so it’s only fitting for him to throw down on the members, the huge majority of whom kick back and relax and expect the full-time missionaries to do all the work. Interestingly enough, 3 or 4 weeks ago, Elder Reed and I were asked to speak in sacrament meeting about member missionary work. Elder Perry pretty repeated what we said; only he said it a lot better than we could. You gotta love the foreigners. Elder Costa and Elder Teixeira were quite fun to listen to and, bless your heart Elder Pino, I loved your message about overcoming pains and sorrows, but I am going to have to go study it again when the ensign comes out because I couldn’t understand half the things you said. Best talk to the youth came from Elder Ballard. It’s frustrating being a teenager because your parents are the stupidest, most stubborn people, and will never listen to you. Then you grow up and realize how smart they really were and you become embarrassed because you realize that you were the one that was quite stupid, stubborn, and close-minded. President Uchtdorf never ceases to amaze me. I never think he can give a better talk than the one he most recently gave, and then he proves me wrong time after time without fail. President Packer looked a lot more upbeat than he has previously. Last but not least, I was excited when I heard the announcement of Elder Andersen as the new apostle. He’s a stud and will do great. I still remember his great talk last October when he instructed me that I don’t know everything, but I know enough.

But that’s all. With no further ado, I will sign off for this week.


Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester

Letter 3-30-09

Dear Family,

Well, another week has come and gone. March is on its way out this week and in comes April. I have no idea what happened to March. I have been saying that every month now, you would think that I would get used to time going so fast, but I don’t. I’ve been trying to tell time to slow down but it hasn’t really listened, so I think I’ll just extend my mission for another year or two. I wonder if President Robison would let me do that. Not much news on my part. I am still doing great, although I think I’m a little depressed. My dad just died. Now don’t panic. To those of you who don’t know missionary lingo, that means my trainer just went home. Back to his small podunk ranch town of Carey, Idaho. The sad thing is that I never got to see him or talk to him after he left me on my own in Midland to a crazy second companion. He camped out in the panhandle and Roswell, New Mexico while I got stuck down south. Sounds like everyone is doing good, except for Greg; from what I hear, he got drunk and decided that BYU wasn’t good enough for him and made a decision to join the rebellious Shawn down in Georgia. What’s this whole Georgia move about? Isn’t that the place where the devil went down to? For those of you who are curious, I have every intention of being a good boy and staying in Utah when I get home.

But, hey, conference is this upcoming weekend. That is exciting. A few names to watch out for. Kevin W Pearson came to our mission this last November and I was really impressed with everything he told us. He is a cool guy. Watch for him to speak at some point during conference. I have a strong feeling he will. He just got sustained last April and usually they make the newer guys speak soon after they get sustained to the first quorum of the seventy. One more name to look out for. Our old mission president, D Brent Rose, would make an excellent Seventy. That would be fun. It will be interesting to see who the new apostle will be. I’m not going to try to predict that. Church callings have a tendency to be very unpredictable. I’d get it wrong. But anyways, I’m signing off. Everyone have a great week.

Elder Adam R Droge

The DrogeMiester

Letter 3-23-09

Dear Family,

Well, all is well in Eastland. I don’t know how many of you have heard this, but something crazy happened this last week. We heard this from a part member family we are working with, Amber and Josh Hassell. Amber is a less active member and Josh is an investigator who should get baptized next month sometime. Anyway, there is this big show on TV, HBO to be specific, called Big Love. Apparently it is the number one show on HBO. That means tons of people watch it. The show is about the FLDS church. Well, this week on the show there was a character who stole a temple recommend from a family member who was LDS and was able to get in to the temple and participate in an endowment session and it showed an enactment of the session right there on HBO in front of the whole nation. Apparently one of the people working on the show is an excommunicated member who had been to the temple before and that person was the source from which Big Love got their information. Well, the Hassells like the show, well, liked the show, but were disturbed at what happened so Amber got in contact with her mother who had been to the temple many times and Josh got on the internet to see the reaction from people. Apparently Big Love was freakishly accurate, almost word for word. That is way bad. Big Man upstairs isn’t going to be too happy with a select few people if you know what I mean. To make things better, guess who is the producer of this TV show? You may have heard of him. A man by the name of Tom Hanks, AKA Woody. …I know. That’s what I said. I liked Tom Hanks.

On a higher note, Josh Hassell’s story is great. For one, he told us that this wouldn’t change his views on the church at all. That was good. Back before I got to Eastland, Amber Hassell flagged down the missionaries somehow because she wanted to take the lessons so that she could come back to church. Well, Josh was against the church back then, but Amber somehow convinced him to take the lessons with her. That is where I came in back in October. Josh was only taking the lessons so that he could basically prove to himself that this church is false. Well, long story short, he has come a long way and before we closed the area he was getting excited about the church. When we left, he was devastated and prayed for guidance. Well, turns out that we came back and he saw that as an obvious answer to his prayer. We have used that as leverage to show him that he knows the church is true. He has faught it a little bit, just because of his views before on religion, but we discussed opposition and that really helped. Yesterday he came to church for the very first time. He is strugging with the Word of Wisdom, but once he stops that he should get baptized.

So that is your missionary story for the day. Eastland is doing good. The church will go forward, despite opposition. We are making real progress here and I guess Big Love is Satan’s way of fighting back. Conference is coming up. I wonder how much emphasis will be placed on temples… but anyway, I’m signing off for the day. Peace out.

Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester