Mission Update -- 10/1/08

Another update from Elder McMullin. Sounds like it's been a disappointing week in some respects, but good in others. Here it is:


Hello.
Ok, so this week has been very up and down... in the generally bad direction. So, where to begin...
Ok, so here's an up. We were at Tony and Pamela's Wednesday night, and I had the great opportunity to talk to Kye's friend Brett. He's in 8th grade, and is strangely mature. He hasn't had very good experiences with church, but he was really interested and said he'd come on Sunday! We talked about church, and the gospel for quite a while, so it was all around very good. I have really good feelings about this kid.
Thursday was pretty packed. We started off by going to the hospital to "apply" for a volunteer job there. The sisters had been doing it apparently, but hadn't told us. We just happened to meet the lady that was in charge of them, and she told us to come over. We'll probably be greeters for a couple hours one day a week. After that, we went over to Grandma Willow's. Both she and Wanda are sick... Yikes. We also went to watch Kye's tennis match, then drove to Onarga. We taught the Girls (Rosa Linda, the 11 year old grand daughter of Rosa, Isabelle, the 17 year old grand daughter of Rosa, and Selena, the 14 year old grand daughter of Rosa) the last of the commandments. We had taught them everything requisite for baptism, so we left them with a list of the baptismal interview questions so they could prepare.
The next day we left early to do an exchange with Elder Na'a. He's the district leader, so he is the one to do all the interviews. I actually ended up going to Frankfort with Elder Bird, because they hadn't done an exchange yet this transfer. We hurried up to Frankfort (which is like an Anthem of Chicago) to do some scheduled service at a retirement center. We served coffee and tea to some bingo players. It was actually pretty fun.
After bingo, we left to get dressed in Pros. We went to do a couple stop-bys, and I got to meet some investigators. They are having pretty good success at getting people to believe in Frankfort, but those with newfound testimonies aren't having great success at quitting smoking. They started an addiction recovery program at the Joliet Stakehouse that they're excited about, and they seem to have made improvement, so that's really good news.
After going around for the day, we went over to the O'Rourke's for dinner. Brother O'Rourke just got married to his wife, who introduced him to the gospel at work a couple years ago. He joined the church, and they got married, and they are way awesome. Brother O'Rourke looks and acts like Rich Kraus... I wouldn't be surprised if they're related. Anyways, he prepared an amazing dinner with chilled forks, deep dish pizza, gourmet ice cream, and a lot more. It was pretty funny actually, he acted just like Cornwall and the other servers from the cruise ship. We ended the night with a really good lesson, and subsequent discussion. The day was great... Until we got the nightly call:
When Elders Adair and Na'a went to Onarga to interview the girls, they were approached by a brother. He said they couldn't be baptized. He had gotten violent, so it wouldn't be good for them to just do it anyways. They want to move out, and have testimonies, so it'll happen, but until then, please pray for them. It was very dissappointing news, but what can you do except carry on?
Saturday was good, even if it could have been great. [That was the day the girls were supposed to be baptized.] We started it off early with service at the church. After mulching for a couple hours, we went over and painted at an investigator's house. Her aunt and uncle were in town, who happened to live just outside of the Watseka area - on the Indiana side. We talked for a while, and they got a good impression of missionaries, so that was good. After that, we got dressed and did stop-bys / tracting. I had my first bible basher, first drunk, first creepy old wiccan-ish woman, and a couple other funny experiences. We stopped by one old investigator's house, but she wasn't home. We went and tracted a little bit, then came back to the car which was outside the former's home. We were sitting in the car deciding what to do next, and the former drove up. We were like sweet, and jumped out... The little kids from the car ran away, and the lady was totally freaked out that some stalkers were waiting for her in a car by her house. It actually wasn't even the former anyways... so yeah, we're pretty much creepers out here in Chicago.
Anyways, Sunday was good, albeit fairly uneventful. Brett did come to church for a surprise fast Sunday. He liked it and wants to come back, which is very good news! We had some powerful testimonies shared, which is nice when investigators are there. Ok, speaking of investigators, Artie wasn't at church because he's still out of town. He should be back soon.
Monday was our last district meeting of the transfer. It was pretty good, and we also ended up having a little basketball tournament. We thought that there would be 2 transfers, possibly even 3 or 4, but it turns out that we were wrong...
Tuesday night everyone in the mission gets 'the call' to find out if they're being transferred. Neither Elder Adair and I are being transferred, and shocker here neither Elder Bird or Elder Thornhill are being transferred. Elder Na'a is training, and Elder Grether is moving to the City. Missionaries are usually with each other for 1-2 transfers, and can be in an area anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months. Every once in a while missionaries are together for 3 transfers, like Elder Bird and Thornhill, or will stay in an area for 7.5 months.
Anyways, new missionaries are coming in now, so I'm no longer the youngest! Weird! On missionaries first transfers, they actually get moved fairly often, so we had thought we'd go to the city tomorrow for a coat and companion swap, but that didn't happen. It's actually just starting to get cold, like today, so we're going to go coat shopping today. After the library, Burlington Coat factory is the next stop.... Wherever we can find one!
Anyways, I've been doing good. I know that as long as we trust in the Lord, everything will work out. I'm so grateful for the many blessings he's given me, and those around me.
That's so exciting for Elder Mooker Bentz! I just sent him a letter at the MTC, so he'll probably get it on day 1 or 2! That's way exciting for Aaron! I can't wait to find out where he goes! Tell him congratulations for me.
Dad, that picture did come through... Thanks! I like it.
Have a great week! I love you all, and am so grateful for your support! Have a great week Tay! You too Caitlin! Love you G&G! Thanks for your letters and packages!
Grandma, what's your new email again? I still have to answer the questions you wrote me... I'm just waiting for the next letter to come from you and Grandpa! ;)
Love, Elder Bradley E McMullin