Dear Family,
This week has felt like a weird week. I have been so used to having P-day on Monday that now that it is on Thursday, I feel like this is my 2nd P-day this week. This is also going to make the week go by fast because now that I am emailing it feels that it is only Monday, but yet it’s already Thursday and my brain is all confused. This week was also the infamous trading deadline as I like to call it. Transfer week. No I am not leaving Roswell. But I bring that I because I now have a new companion. Elder Pitts, the old companion, is gone. I wish the best for him. I did my best to help him out and put my full effort into helping us be united, but nothing worked. No matter what I did, the guy yelled at me and treated me like dirt. I couldn’t please him. Oh well. Life goes on. I just hope that his mission will change him like it has many thousands of other missionaries. I am way excited for this new companion, though. His name is Elder Trason Thode from Blanding, Utah. He has only been out 6 weeks, but is way humble and spiritual. He has a great knowledge of the gospel. After only one day I can already tell that this will be a great transfer. We will get along great. The spirit is here in much greater abundance and I can feel the striking contrast from last transfer where the spirit seemed absent much of the time.
One thing of note, yesterday while I was waiting for my new companion to get here, we got a call from the Ruidoso Elders. There was a young couple named Freddie and Elizabeth that Elder Wheeler and I were teaching that moved to Ruidoso. We passed them over to the Ruidoso Elders and they picked up the teaching. Yesterday the call to us was that Freddie and Elizabeth were back down in Roswell and the great news is that they now have a baptismal date for November 1st that the Ruidoso Elders set with them. We talked with them last night and they are way excited for that date. I’ll let you know how that goes. Also, there is another young couple named Mike and Kristy that we’ve been working with. Mike is a less active member and Kristy is his nonmember girlfriend (hopefully wife in the very near future). Mike has showed a sincere desire to come back to church and has followed through with that desire. He has come to church the last 2 weeks and is doing everything that he can. The great thing is that since this, Kristy has started to follow in his footsteps and has actually come to church with him the last 2 weeks. We plan on following up with her to see how she feels about the church and about baptism. Hopefully all will go well.
I am now about to sign off, but I will do so by making a small request. If you remember we were working with a Strangite Mormon lady. We had a chat with her this last week and she has a strong testimony of Joseph Smith, but yet is confused. She doesn’t believe in lots of the doctrines of our church. One particular one being the statement, “As man is, God once was, as God is man may become.” She thinks Brigham Young came up with that doctrine, but I was wanting to show her that Joseph Smith taught that as well, because she seems like she is really humble and open, just a little misdirected in my mind. If someone could get a hold of the King Follet Sermon by Joseph Smith and send me a copy as soon as possible, that would be appreciated. Thanks and have a great week.
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Letter 10-12-09
Dear Family,
So the good thing about being a missionary is that when something bad happens, there is a way good support system. I think I mentioned briefly in last weeks email that I had a mysterious rash that was bothering me. Well, it got real bad this last week and so I got it checked out. Monday we were over at the stake president's house, President Wiser, on P-day (the Zone Leaders in town live with them, so we relax there instead of in our small cramped apartment) and he was concerned when I showed him it. One of the counselors in the stake presidency is a doctor, so President Wiser took a picture of the rash and sent it to him to look at. That night we were visiting one of the recent converts here, Dominique, and her Dad was over. When we showed her Dad, he thought it looked like shingles, so Dominique jumped on to Web MD and we looked at pictures and read information about Shingles and it matched perfectly with what I had. We then went over to a member's house and she gave me a bunch of advice and a few things that would help. Next morning comes around and the doctor in the stake presidency, Doctor Torres calls me and I basically have a free doctor's appointment over the phone and he confirmed that I had Shingles and prescribed some medication that would help. I got the medication and it has worked like a charm. I've felt almost no pain since taking it and now the shingles are almost gone. Sister Robison, the mission president's wife, was also involved in this. I had called her Monday. So all is well and now I just get to look back and remember the added drama this past week that has continued to make my mission a very dramatic mission.
So last week I made some comments about conference and gave my feelings on what we were taught. This week I wanted to hand out some awards for conference, or better said, make mention of the specific talks that stood out to me. First, I think the best talk this conference once again came from Elder Holland. His talk on the Book of Mormon was way hardcore. It made me scared to ever deny the Book Mormon. Not that I ever would, but hey. Elder Brent H Neilson told me that I was fulfilling prophesy right now and said that the field has never been whiter and more ready to harvest. I thought that was cool. Last transfer I took the advice of my companion and decided to write down the personal revelations that I receive. I found it has helped. Elder Scott referenced to doing that same thing and made me feel happy that I am already taking the advice of an apostle. Meanwhile I think President Uchtdorf snuck in to my apartment here in Roswell and read my revelation journal before he gave his talk on love. On my mission, the passage where Jesus tells the pharisees that the greatest commandment is to love God and love your neighbor has really hit me hard, especially in correlating the love of God with obedience, because 'if ye love me, keep my commandments.' That was President Uchtdorf's whole talk on Saturday morning. That was awesome. Elder Oaks taught us some way cool doctrine on law. God's love and God's law correlate perfectly because we are judged based on the law we can handle. Elder Hales gave the loving assurance to all of us that God lives and Jesus is the Christ. That helps anyone who has questioned those two facts. Last but not least, the general authority that I felt was speaking directly to me was Elder Ballard in priesthood session when he gave the loving advice to returned missionaries. No I am not one yet, but I will be before the next conference session and I have accepted that. No I am not trunky and not excited to go home. Rather it has given me the extra drive to work even harder and made me kind of sad. I do not want to leave this great work, but my time is soon up and I need to move on with my life. Elder Ballard told me personally what I need to do next. All in all, there were many great talks and all of them should be studied and if I'm not mistaken, we made history Sunday afternoon - the first African American to speak in a general conference. These are just talks that stood the highest to me personally.
So it is time for me to end, but I have 2 matters of business real quick that I need to bring up.
1 - It has been advised by the mission that we get a flu shot and a swine flu shot, but the catch is that we will have to pay for them. President Robison asked us to talk to our families about the matter and see what they think. So that is what I am doing right now. Hint, hint…
2 - President Robison has also decided to switch up or P-days from Monday to Thursday. Don't expect an email next Monday, the 19th. My next email will come on Thursday the 22nd, 10 days from now. Talk to you then. :)
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
So the good thing about being a missionary is that when something bad happens, there is a way good support system. I think I mentioned briefly in last weeks email that I had a mysterious rash that was bothering me. Well, it got real bad this last week and so I got it checked out. Monday we were over at the stake president's house, President Wiser, on P-day (the Zone Leaders in town live with them, so we relax there instead of in our small cramped apartment) and he was concerned when I showed him it. One of the counselors in the stake presidency is a doctor, so President Wiser took a picture of the rash and sent it to him to look at. That night we were visiting one of the recent converts here, Dominique, and her Dad was over. When we showed her Dad, he thought it looked like shingles, so Dominique jumped on to Web MD and we looked at pictures and read information about Shingles and it matched perfectly with what I had. We then went over to a member's house and she gave me a bunch of advice and a few things that would help. Next morning comes around and the doctor in the stake presidency, Doctor Torres calls me and I basically have a free doctor's appointment over the phone and he confirmed that I had Shingles and prescribed some medication that would help. I got the medication and it has worked like a charm. I've felt almost no pain since taking it and now the shingles are almost gone. Sister Robison, the mission president's wife, was also involved in this. I had called her Monday. So all is well and now I just get to look back and remember the added drama this past week that has continued to make my mission a very dramatic mission.
So last week I made some comments about conference and gave my feelings on what we were taught. This week I wanted to hand out some awards for conference, or better said, make mention of the specific talks that stood out to me. First, I think the best talk this conference once again came from Elder Holland. His talk on the Book of Mormon was way hardcore. It made me scared to ever deny the Book Mormon. Not that I ever would, but hey. Elder Brent H Neilson told me that I was fulfilling prophesy right now and said that the field has never been whiter and more ready to harvest. I thought that was cool. Last transfer I took the advice of my companion and decided to write down the personal revelations that I receive. I found it has helped. Elder Scott referenced to doing that same thing and made me feel happy that I am already taking the advice of an apostle. Meanwhile I think President Uchtdorf snuck in to my apartment here in Roswell and read my revelation journal before he gave his talk on love. On my mission, the passage where Jesus tells the pharisees that the greatest commandment is to love God and love your neighbor has really hit me hard, especially in correlating the love of God with obedience, because 'if ye love me, keep my commandments.' That was President Uchtdorf's whole talk on Saturday morning. That was awesome. Elder Oaks taught us some way cool doctrine on law. God's love and God's law correlate perfectly because we are judged based on the law we can handle. Elder Hales gave the loving assurance to all of us that God lives and Jesus is the Christ. That helps anyone who has questioned those two facts. Last but not least, the general authority that I felt was speaking directly to me was Elder Ballard in priesthood session when he gave the loving advice to returned missionaries. No I am not one yet, but I will be before the next conference session and I have accepted that. No I am not trunky and not excited to go home. Rather it has given me the extra drive to work even harder and made me kind of sad. I do not want to leave this great work, but my time is soon up and I need to move on with my life. Elder Ballard told me personally what I need to do next. All in all, there were many great talks and all of them should be studied and if I'm not mistaken, we made history Sunday afternoon - the first African American to speak in a general conference. These are just talks that stood the highest to me personally.
So it is time for me to end, but I have 2 matters of business real quick that I need to bring up.
1 - It has been advised by the mission that we get a flu shot and a swine flu shot, but the catch is that we will have to pay for them. President Robison asked us to talk to our families about the matter and see what they think. So that is what I am doing right now. Hint, hint…
2 - President Robison has also decided to switch up or P-days from Monday to Thursday. Don't expect an email next Monday, the 19th. My next email will come on Thursday the 22nd, 10 days from now. Talk to you then. :)
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
10-5-09
Dear Family,
So last week was a great experience. We in the Roswell district did something that I never dreamed I’d do in this mission. This mission is flat. No mountains anywhere. I never dreamed of hiking a mountain in the TLM, but that’s what we did. An hour west of here is a pretty town called Ruidoso and Ruidoso is real hilly and even has a few mountains nearby. We hiked up the mountain named Sierra Blanca, the highest point in the Texas Lubbock Mission. Honestly, it was really hard and I was not physically ready for it. I did ok, but it wore me out a ton. However, when we made it to the peak and then when we made it back to the vehicles, I felt a sense of accomplishment. My legs felt like jello, about ready to collapse. It seemed as if my lungs were about to give out on me. I experienced altitude sickness and almost lost it on the drive home (um yes, never thought I’d say that, but Roswell is 3000 and jumping suddenly up to 10,000 in one day drains you). Now I have a big rash that is really hurting me right now that may or may not have come from this hike. But do you know what, I did it. I climbed to the peak. I made it to the top, conquering the mountain and the physical ailments that came with it. I applied this experience to life and found that it perfectly aligns. In life we are going along an uphill battle. Lots of obstacles come our way and many of them we are not ready for. Opposition comes your way, totally catching you off guard. But what do we need to do. Press forward and put one foot in front of the other. It’s not a race. We need not compare ourselves with the progress of others. All that matters is that we make it. We make it through life, being as valiant and faithful as we can and we can conquer life. We can make it to the top and look down and say ‘I did it.’ Then comes to us a great feeling of love and joy that will never go away.
So also to report on last week was the baptism of Charlie Harper on September the 27th. It’s not very often that you see an 85 year old entering into the waters of baptism. Its truly an inspiration to me to know that anyone, no matter where they are in their life and what has happened can come unto Christ and repent. It’s not to late, never to late. Charlie had a lot of opposition. Satan didn’t want him to go through with this. His family was against this decision. They were confused and angered as to why he was being baptized into the Mormon church when he’d already been baptized a Baptist when he was young. It made Charlie question himself and his decision. We talked about it and then got him committed. He was interviewed and all ready when what happened? 3 days before he gets baptized a 500 pound horse falls right on his leg and puts him in the hospital for the weekend and immobilized him for nearly a month. He healed very quickly, especially for a man his age. I know some people that it would’ve taken them a year to recover when Charlie recovered in a month. However, in that month he also had time to think. A thought arose that maybe God was punishing him for deciding to be baptized into this church. We quickly dismissed that, telling him it was merely a test. Through all that, he made it and I am happy for him.
Now on to this week. Conference was this last weekend if you didn’t get the memo. We were given a wonderful spiritual feast. It gave me the added motivation to press forward through these last few months and knowing that, even though I am already sad about leaving the mission, everything will be alright. God has a plan for me. Serving Christ doesn’t end when I’m released as a missionary. I’ll just be moved to a different part of the vineyard. I felt that in conference, we were given the great instruction of knowing that God’s arms are opened for us. He lives and loves us and wants us to repent. He doesn’t want us to compare ourselves to others, but wants us to do our own personal best. That comparison can hurt us. If we compare ourselves to others, many times we will feel unworthy, unwanted, underappreciated, and will ultimately give up and go through an identity crisis. We were instructed of the love that God has for us as an individual and told to follow the basics of the gospel, to read the Book of Mormon, to pray, and to attend our church meetings. Ultimately, we need to show God our love towards him and everything will fall into place. We need to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost and seek the personal revelation for us in our own lives. We were instructed on how we are to go about receiving that revelation. Ultimately were comforted in knowing that God lives, Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. My testimony is the same as the testimony our leaders gave. I know for myself, independent of any other person that God does live. He is my Heavenly Father and loves me. He sent his son Jesus Christ to atone for my sins and to support me in my weaknesses. Joseph Smith was called of him to restore his gospel. This is the true and living church, the only true and living church, and believe me, there are many. I am grateful to be a part of the Lord’s kingdom and am truly grateful to have had this opportunity to serve Him as a full time missionary and look forward to the months that I still have. I am signing off now, but I will talk to you all soon, next week even. Peace!
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
So last week was a great experience. We in the Roswell district did something that I never dreamed I’d do in this mission. This mission is flat. No mountains anywhere. I never dreamed of hiking a mountain in the TLM, but that’s what we did. An hour west of here is a pretty town called Ruidoso and Ruidoso is real hilly and even has a few mountains nearby. We hiked up the mountain named Sierra Blanca, the highest point in the Texas Lubbock Mission. Honestly, it was really hard and I was not physically ready for it. I did ok, but it wore me out a ton. However, when we made it to the peak and then when we made it back to the vehicles, I felt a sense of accomplishment. My legs felt like jello, about ready to collapse. It seemed as if my lungs were about to give out on me. I experienced altitude sickness and almost lost it on the drive home (um yes, never thought I’d say that, but Roswell is 3000 and jumping suddenly up to 10,000 in one day drains you). Now I have a big rash that is really hurting me right now that may or may not have come from this hike. But do you know what, I did it. I climbed to the peak. I made it to the top, conquering the mountain and the physical ailments that came with it. I applied this experience to life and found that it perfectly aligns. In life we are going along an uphill battle. Lots of obstacles come our way and many of them we are not ready for. Opposition comes your way, totally catching you off guard. But what do we need to do. Press forward and put one foot in front of the other. It’s not a race. We need not compare ourselves with the progress of others. All that matters is that we make it. We make it through life, being as valiant and faithful as we can and we can conquer life. We can make it to the top and look down and say ‘I did it.’ Then comes to us a great feeling of love and joy that will never go away.
So also to report on last week was the baptism of Charlie Harper on September the 27th. It’s not very often that you see an 85 year old entering into the waters of baptism. Its truly an inspiration to me to know that anyone, no matter where they are in their life and what has happened can come unto Christ and repent. It’s not to late, never to late. Charlie had a lot of opposition. Satan didn’t want him to go through with this. His family was against this decision. They were confused and angered as to why he was being baptized into the Mormon church when he’d already been baptized a Baptist when he was young. It made Charlie question himself and his decision. We talked about it and then got him committed. He was interviewed and all ready when what happened? 3 days before he gets baptized a 500 pound horse falls right on his leg and puts him in the hospital for the weekend and immobilized him for nearly a month. He healed very quickly, especially for a man his age. I know some people that it would’ve taken them a year to recover when Charlie recovered in a month. However, in that month he also had time to think. A thought arose that maybe God was punishing him for deciding to be baptized into this church. We quickly dismissed that, telling him it was merely a test. Through all that, he made it and I am happy for him.
Now on to this week. Conference was this last weekend if you didn’t get the memo. We were given a wonderful spiritual feast. It gave me the added motivation to press forward through these last few months and knowing that, even though I am already sad about leaving the mission, everything will be alright. God has a plan for me. Serving Christ doesn’t end when I’m released as a missionary. I’ll just be moved to a different part of the vineyard. I felt that in conference, we were given the great instruction of knowing that God’s arms are opened for us. He lives and loves us and wants us to repent. He doesn’t want us to compare ourselves to others, but wants us to do our own personal best. That comparison can hurt us. If we compare ourselves to others, many times we will feel unworthy, unwanted, underappreciated, and will ultimately give up and go through an identity crisis. We were instructed of the love that God has for us as an individual and told to follow the basics of the gospel, to read the Book of Mormon, to pray, and to attend our church meetings. Ultimately, we need to show God our love towards him and everything will fall into place. We need to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost and seek the personal revelation for us in our own lives. We were instructed on how we are to go about receiving that revelation. Ultimately were comforted in knowing that God lives, Jesus Christ is our Savior, and that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. My testimony is the same as the testimony our leaders gave. I know for myself, independent of any other person that God does live. He is my Heavenly Father and loves me. He sent his son Jesus Christ to atone for my sins and to support me in my weaknesses. Joseph Smith was called of him to restore his gospel. This is the true and living church, the only true and living church, and believe me, there are many. I am grateful to be a part of the Lord’s kingdom and am truly grateful to have had this opportunity to serve Him as a full time missionary and look forward to the months that I still have. I am signing off now, but I will talk to you all soon, next week even. Peace!
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
Letter 9-28-09
Dear Family,
So it is 6:00 PM on Monday evening. We had quite the eventful day and because of it have no time to email. Sorry about the inconvenience. The baptism of Charlie Harper also went through. I’ll leave you hanging on that as well. Sorry, but it should be a great email next week so stay tuned.
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
So it is 6:00 PM on Monday evening. We had quite the eventful day and because of it have no time to email. Sorry about the inconvenience. The baptism of Charlie Harper also went through. I’ll leave you hanging on that as well. Sorry, but it should be a great email next week so stay tuned.
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
Monday, September 21, 2009
Letter 9-21-09
Dear Family,
Another week has gone by here in the Texas Lubbock Mission and time continues to rush on. September is on the verge of ending and October is looming around the corner. The great news of the week comes in with Charlie Harper, the 85 year old investigator who broke his leg 3 days before his baptism. If you remember the story, a horse slipped and landed right on his leg. 500 pounds right on your leg wouldn´t feel that great if you know what I mean. Well, we visited Charlie this week and what I saw shocked me. Only a month afterwards, it´s almost fully healed. He´s already walking around it! So we discussed it and set the baptism back up for the 27th of this month, which is this upcoming Sunday. That is way exciting.
That is really about it. We did better this week, but still not up to par as to where I would like us to be. That is alright though, I´ll live. I´ve ran into another obstacle as well. Elder Droge´s companion isn´t a big fan of Elder Droge. His personality and how he grew up is completely opposite of me and thus he doesn´t really like to listen to anything I say and gets upset at me for the smallest things. It has actually caused me to grow a lot in the past few weeks. I have been praying alot as well as studying patience and humility and it has taught me alot and given me plenty of opportunities to excersize it. It seems like the story of my mission. I have been given trial after trial after trial. As soon as I overcome one thing, another gets thrown at me. It´s caused me to have a very hard mission, but I have learned alot because of it. Just like Joseph Smith said, if I had not gone through what I have, I would not be the same person I am now. Just have to move forward and endure well and all will be good. I hope all of you have a great week and I will do the same.
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
Another week has gone by here in the Texas Lubbock Mission and time continues to rush on. September is on the verge of ending and October is looming around the corner. The great news of the week comes in with Charlie Harper, the 85 year old investigator who broke his leg 3 days before his baptism. If you remember the story, a horse slipped and landed right on his leg. 500 pounds right on your leg wouldn´t feel that great if you know what I mean. Well, we visited Charlie this week and what I saw shocked me. Only a month afterwards, it´s almost fully healed. He´s already walking around it! So we discussed it and set the baptism back up for the 27th of this month, which is this upcoming Sunday. That is way exciting.
That is really about it. We did better this week, but still not up to par as to where I would like us to be. That is alright though, I´ll live. I´ve ran into another obstacle as well. Elder Droge´s companion isn´t a big fan of Elder Droge. His personality and how he grew up is completely opposite of me and thus he doesn´t really like to listen to anything I say and gets upset at me for the smallest things. It has actually caused me to grow a lot in the past few weeks. I have been praying alot as well as studying patience and humility and it has taught me alot and given me plenty of opportunities to excersize it. It seems like the story of my mission. I have been given trial after trial after trial. As soon as I overcome one thing, another gets thrown at me. It´s caused me to have a very hard mission, but I have learned alot because of it. Just like Joseph Smith said, if I had not gone through what I have, I would not be the same person I am now. Just have to move forward and endure well and all will be good. I hope all of you have a great week and I will do the same.
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
Letter 9-14-09
Dear Family,
Well, my new companion is here. Like I said, his name is Elder Gordon Pitts. He is from a town called Spring Creek, Nevada, which is right next to Elko, Nevada. He has been out almost 5 months now, which is quite comical, because he hits 5 months right near when I hit 19 months. Do the math and me and him added together equals 24 months or one full mission. Mwa ha ha! Elder Pitts is an older missionary. He is already 22 years old. After he graduated high school in 2005, he worked as a fire fighter for almost 4 years until he made the decision to come out on a mission. So that is fun. He is a good guy. I'll enjoy this time serving with him.
So this first week of the transfer wasn't all that spectacular. We hit a horrible streak of bad luck with getting in and teaching lessons. That's ok, though. Just part of missionary life. You just gotta keep moving forward and strive to work harder than you did the last week. We did do a lot of service, which was good. 3 different projects came up in which we spent 2 to 3 hours each in the morning hours. We dug a ditch, we helped with a roofing project, and we helped move. Service pays off in the long run. This week it also rained real hard. It almost feels like Roswell is built in a bowl type thing because the streets flood bad every time it rains hard. There was like 3 to 4 inches of water in the streets in some parts. I also got attacked by some ants and got bit a couple times, which hurt for a few hours, but luckily went away. We were talking to a guy and I was unknowingly stepping right on their little lair and apparently they didn't like it, so they started running up my leg. The ants down here are like 5 times the size as they are back home and most of them pack a powerful bite, so they can get creepy, but I think it's way cool… as long as they keep their distance.
So that is all for this week. We hope to be picking things up this week, but we'll see what happens. Yes, being in a slump is part of missionary life, but it still doesn't feel that great, so we hope to end it, with the Lord's help of course. Keep us in your prayers and have a great week.
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
Well, my new companion is here. Like I said, his name is Elder Gordon Pitts. He is from a town called Spring Creek, Nevada, which is right next to Elko, Nevada. He has been out almost 5 months now, which is quite comical, because he hits 5 months right near when I hit 19 months. Do the math and me and him added together equals 24 months or one full mission. Mwa ha ha! Elder Pitts is an older missionary. He is already 22 years old. After he graduated high school in 2005, he worked as a fire fighter for almost 4 years until he made the decision to come out on a mission. So that is fun. He is a good guy. I'll enjoy this time serving with him.
So this first week of the transfer wasn't all that spectacular. We hit a horrible streak of bad luck with getting in and teaching lessons. That's ok, though. Just part of missionary life. You just gotta keep moving forward and strive to work harder than you did the last week. We did do a lot of service, which was good. 3 different projects came up in which we spent 2 to 3 hours each in the morning hours. We dug a ditch, we helped with a roofing project, and we helped move. Service pays off in the long run. This week it also rained real hard. It almost feels like Roswell is built in a bowl type thing because the streets flood bad every time it rains hard. There was like 3 to 4 inches of water in the streets in some parts. I also got attacked by some ants and got bit a couple times, which hurt for a few hours, but luckily went away. We were talking to a guy and I was unknowingly stepping right on their little lair and apparently they didn't like it, so they started running up my leg. The ants down here are like 5 times the size as they are back home and most of them pack a powerful bite, so they can get creepy, but I think it's way cool… as long as they keep their distance.
So that is all for this week. We hope to be picking things up this week, but we'll see what happens. Yes, being in a slump is part of missionary life, but it still doesn't feel that great, so we hope to end it, with the Lord's help of course. Keep us in your prayers and have a great week.
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
Letter 9-8-09
Dear Family,
So, it is Tuesday morning. Like always, no emails on holidays for missionaries because the libraries decide to close at every chance they get. For today I am hanging out with the Zone Leaders. A new transfer is upon us and like aforementioned, my companion, Elder Wheeler is going home. He is now on his way to catch the transfer bus up to Lubbock where he will fly home tomorrow morning. My Spanish companion, Elder Frederick, also got transferred and left with Elder Wheeler an hour ago. So I am companionless until tomorrow afternoon, which is why I am with the Zone Leaders right now. All that I know about my new companion is that his name is Elder Pitts, he has been out for 4 1/2 months, and he is a bigger guy.
So reflecting back, 6 weeks ago, when I first got to Roswell, we (the member that gave us the ride from Hobbs to Roswell) pulled up to my new apartment and waited for 10 minutes or so for my new companion, Elder Wheeler, to show up. When Elder Wheeler arrived, the first thing he told me is to get my scriptures and come with him to an appointment that we had right then. I was surprised at the sudden notion of being put right to work the very moment I got to my new area, but wasn't about to argue. The appointment was with a single mother named Marina Cobb where we taught her the first lesson, the message of the restoration. Great story. As to why I bring that up is that on Sunday, the last day of Elder Droge's 13th transfer, Marina and her kids were confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after being baptized the day before. Interesting coincidence. Meet her the first real day of the transfer, confirm her the very last. It's not very often that I get to say that. It was quite a glorious weekend seeing the Cobb family enter their new life as members of Christ's kingdom here on earth. Elder Wheeler and I stood as the 2 witnesses to the baptisms, so I got to see it happen up close. That was fun. I was invited to confirm Marina, that's the third time I've done that on my mission. Lastly, Marina's oldest son Eli, 12 years old, received the Aaronic Priesthood right after church. It's great to end a transfer with 4 baptisms. Momentum is on our side here in Roswell and now I will be assuming the role of senior companion after spending the last 6 weeks as a co-senior with Elder Wheeler. I'm hoping and praying that I will be able to continue what Elder Wheeler and I started. I could use your prayers as well as I set out on this newly opened chapter of my mission. That's all I have for this week. Peace Out!
Oh, and yes, for those people who are statistically minded and are intrigued by numbers, I am now in the double digits with baptisms. 11 is the official number. The last six years the average has been 2 per year per missionary and now look what is happening. That average is increasing dramatically as I am but one of the many to have numbers like these. The Lord has worked wonders here in the TLM. I give all the credit to him.
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
So, it is Tuesday morning. Like always, no emails on holidays for missionaries because the libraries decide to close at every chance they get. For today I am hanging out with the Zone Leaders. A new transfer is upon us and like aforementioned, my companion, Elder Wheeler is going home. He is now on his way to catch the transfer bus up to Lubbock where he will fly home tomorrow morning. My Spanish companion, Elder Frederick, also got transferred and left with Elder Wheeler an hour ago. So I am companionless until tomorrow afternoon, which is why I am with the Zone Leaders right now. All that I know about my new companion is that his name is Elder Pitts, he has been out for 4 1/2 months, and he is a bigger guy.
So reflecting back, 6 weeks ago, when I first got to Roswell, we (the member that gave us the ride from Hobbs to Roswell) pulled up to my new apartment and waited for 10 minutes or so for my new companion, Elder Wheeler, to show up. When Elder Wheeler arrived, the first thing he told me is to get my scriptures and come with him to an appointment that we had right then. I was surprised at the sudden notion of being put right to work the very moment I got to my new area, but wasn't about to argue. The appointment was with a single mother named Marina Cobb where we taught her the first lesson, the message of the restoration. Great story. As to why I bring that up is that on Sunday, the last day of Elder Droge's 13th transfer, Marina and her kids were confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after being baptized the day before. Interesting coincidence. Meet her the first real day of the transfer, confirm her the very last. It's not very often that I get to say that. It was quite a glorious weekend seeing the Cobb family enter their new life as members of Christ's kingdom here on earth. Elder Wheeler and I stood as the 2 witnesses to the baptisms, so I got to see it happen up close. That was fun. I was invited to confirm Marina, that's the third time I've done that on my mission. Lastly, Marina's oldest son Eli, 12 years old, received the Aaronic Priesthood right after church. It's great to end a transfer with 4 baptisms. Momentum is on our side here in Roswell and now I will be assuming the role of senior companion after spending the last 6 weeks as a co-senior with Elder Wheeler. I'm hoping and praying that I will be able to continue what Elder Wheeler and I started. I could use your prayers as well as I set out on this newly opened chapter of my mission. That's all I have for this week. Peace Out!
Oh, and yes, for those people who are statistically minded and are intrigued by numbers, I am now in the double digits with baptisms. 11 is the official number. The last six years the average has been 2 per year per missionary and now look what is happening. That average is increasing dramatically as I am but one of the many to have numbers like these. The Lord has worked wonders here in the TLM. I give all the credit to him.
Elder Adam R Droge
The DrogeMiester
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