Mission Update 9/3/08

We got an email from Elder McMullin today! Here it is. Words in brackets are my comments.


Hi Family,
Today was great! Sorry this is late! We just had zone activity, and had something like a 2 hour drive to get there... So we couldn't get to a library til now. This week was good overall, but had ups and downs... I guess that's just how it goes!
We went and checked on past / almost present investigators earlier on, and I got my first absurd rejection! The sisters had one guy that was hearing lessons, Ray, but he would never answer the phone when we called him... So we did a stop by, and knocked on his door. We asked for Ray, but he told us, "Ray? I don't know Ray, nope no Ray!" Blatant lie. It was actually pretty funny, if in a sad sense. We had a good dinner with President La Turner and Co. later, so it was alright though. After dinner, he took us by to meet Tony and Pamela.
Saturday was good... We went to help Tony work on his attic. He's doing some intense remodeling, so it was quite the job. All we really did was some mudding on the ceiling though. We stayed over for dinner, and didn't really talk about church. They said they liked how we just got to know them first, and how we helped them out AND...... We had a family of 8 investigators come to church on Sunday!!!!
It was really awesome! The congregation was about 3 people away from being twice as large as the week before, so it was way awesome! Elder Adair and I taught Sunday School to a guy that got baptized, but then went inactive I think. That evening we visited alot of people with President La Turner and Brother Spraklin.
Oh yeah, there was also a Linger Longer which was pretty good.... But I got food poisoned from it, and that night / part of Monday was BAD. I took some medicine and was OK for the Labor Day picnic, but not good. The picnic itself was really good. I didn't eat much, but we played football and it was fun. Elder Na'a from my district was offered a full ride to BYU, but he turned it down... He wants to play for USC. In other words, he's really really good. It was young guys vs old guys, and I did alright... I caught a 60 yarder (in the air) for a touch down. Artie's [an investigator] brothers were there playing, so that was way good too. They're awesome. Artie wasn't there though because April [his wife] has been sick.
Today was great. We drove to Joliet to some country club's park and played sports. It rained ALOT. We got soaked... It was so fun! I got to see Elder Baum, Elder Philbrick [Elders Baum and Philbrick were in his district in the MTC] and all the other Elders in the Zone... So that was way fun. My softball & football teams won. Undefeated baby. Me, Na'a and Thornhill.
I'm loving my mission so much. It's been good so far, and I can see it getting much better soon. The members are getting excited which is great, and we've even got some referrals that are going to come in! Two of them are some of the Watseka High football players, so we're going with the Clutteurs and possibly some investigators to the game on Friday. It should be fun. The weather's great, and the people are nice.
I know the church is true, and would die before denying that. God lives and loves us. I'm so thankful for all I've been given. I'm thankful for my opportunity to share my knowledge of the Gospel with the people of Watseka, Crescent City, Milfort, Ashkun, Chebanse, Gillman, and all the other towns are in my area. God answers prayers, and I'm thankful for that. Last of all, I'm so thankful for the wonderful family the Lord was kind enough to put me into.
I love you all,
Love your son, grandson, or brother,
Elder Bradley Edward McMullin