Here's this week's update:
Hola Family!
This week has been crazy! We've gotten a lot done, and had some fun. We've had ups and downs, but overall it's been very good. I have my planner, so I'll just go through the days, starting on Friday:
Friday started out well, but very cold. It was 17 degrees outside, and windy, but we still went for a run. After studying, we went to MCM. We have MCM at the ward mission leaders apartment, which is in downtown Chicago. We had a good meeting, then went to the huge Target next door. We bought some food, then went home. After we got home, Elder Gardner and I booked it to visit a less active. She wasn't home, so we went to drop off a media referral bible for Annetta. She was feeling ill, so we rescheduled. After this dissappointing afternoon, we went to the Leal's for dinner (we have dinner with them every Friday). Dinner was great, but it was after dinner that was awesome. We rode way over to visit Mary, who had ordered a Bible, and ended up teaching her and her grown son a full lesson. They were very excited about the Book of Mormon, and we scheduled another appointment. This was awesome, because we got our first new investigators! We didn't have any investigators, so this was a huge step.
Saturday was pretty good, but not very fruitful. We went out looking for people, but didn't find... anyone. Pretty lame, but it happens. We did however find an amazing face mask shop, and bought some. The mask I got covers my mouth, cheeks, nose and ears. It cost $2.00, and is definitely the best value investment I've ever made in my life! After we got home, we made a bunch of calls to set up appointments. Something funny also happened - I was looking through the area book and found a record from Elder Busby! By the way, would you mind asking Sister Busby what areas he was in? One obviously was the Stockyards, but I'd be interested in hearing about the others!
Sunday was extremely weird. Elder Gardners pedal ripped off right as we were pulling into the church parking lot. We were very fortunate it didn't break sooner, or we'd have an awful walk. We didn't have any investigators, but church was still great. The scheduling there is very strange... They have their block completely the opposite of ours. I don't know if I'll ever get used to sacrament last. The ward is very good though. It may seriously be the most diverse ward in the entire world. The members are of every ethnicity and background. Some are extremely rich businessmen that live in skyscraper penthouses, and many struggle to pay rent in desolate neighborhoods. Some are white, some are black, and one is half Korean, half Vietnameese, with a dual citizenship from Iran and the United States... AND, a couple couples are from Arizona! I met families from Mesa and Chandler, and they were awesome! I also met Elder Adair's uncle, who invited us over to dinner for Thanksgiving. This will be awesome, especially since we only get fed once a week.
So there was church, but that was the mildly crazy part. We had a lot of appointments for after church, so Elder Gardner switched Elder Greenway bikes. After eating a quick ramen lunch in the church kitchen, Elder Gardner and I took off at a windsprint pace to get to our first appointment. We were almost there when Elder Greenways bike broke! The pedal got ripped off, so we ended up having to walk a few miles home. Were going to the very corner of our area, and were far away from the other appointments we had, so we had to reschedule. We got home and made some calls, then tried to fix the bikes. One was "totaled," so it is very good that mine is in the mail from home! We also were able to arrange our temple trip with a member from Wheaton too, so that was very good news.
Monday was a crazy day. Elder Maliwake came over on exchanges for a very full day of appointments. We went out and taught Earl and his sister Diane. Diane is a preacher, and runs her own youth ministry in her apartment. Their beliefs are pretty much the exact same as ours, and they're very excited about the Book of Mormon. Their church has about 8 members, and just may be the means through which they all find the fullness of the Gospel! Diane had a crazy life, but shaped up and found the Lord. She went to a lot of churches, but finally felt that God wanted her to have her youth ministry because the other churches werent right. They want to learn more about the Book of Mormon, and are excited to read it. There's 2 more new investigators! After that, we walked way over to visit a man named William. He has been taught alot in the past, and is what we call an Eternigator. He'll be very easy to teach, but hard to baptize. Either way, there's another new investigator, which is extremely great news for this area. The day was good, and we went to bed tired.
Tuesday was also a very good day. Elder Gardner and I went out walking after studying and making calls. We first went to a media referral, and found out the address didn't exist... Bummer. After that, we went and visited a less active. We helped her out and taught her a lesson. She'll try to come to church, but she's pretty ill. We then went to visit Annetta, who was ill the other day. She just had a heart surgery, so is woozy sometimes, but she is a very good lady. We taught her the whole first lesson, and are going to come back with a large print Book of Mormon and Bible. There's another New Investigator! We've gotten 6 so far, which is almost beyond awesome! After visiting Annetta, we went over to visit a less active family that just moved into the ward. They were living at a homeless shelter, and hadn't gone to church in a long time, but they finally got financially stable and want to be active in the church again. They're very nice, and we had a good lesson with them and their kids (who just may be crazier than Tony and Pamela's!!!!!).
Anyways, now it's Wednesday, and we don't have much planned. Just do laundry, shop, and hang out. We have a Turkey Bowl tomorrow, and Thanksgiving dinner, so all's well.
We've been doing well, and are loving the work out here. The Gospel is true, and I'm grateful for it. 45 seconds left, gotta go!
Love Elder McMullin
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Mission Update -- 11/19/08
Elder M is enjoying serving in the city. Here are his emails. He did a quick one on Tuesday the 18th to ask if we could send him his bike and then another quick one on Wednesday. Here they are:
11/18/08:
Hey Mom!
I'm here at the library... My companion is getting us museum passes for tomorrow... We're going to the Science and Industries Museum, and if we get the passes here today it's significantly cheaper.
Anyways, I'll still email you tomorrow, but I'm just letting you know I'm alright! This new area is AWESOME, and my new companion is AMAZING. Seriously, this transfer is going to be phenominal.
It's been cold, but I've stayed warm. My coat is great, and bike riding keeps you warm... Actually you start sweating after a couple miles, but it's alright.
Anyways, they told us at the beginning that we may get a car, so I haven't bought a bike. There was an old crappy bike here that I've been riding, and it's pretty bad. It's going to be awful riding on this, so I pretty much need a new bike. Since I've got this junkola one, I can get around until you send me mine from home... That one's pretty nice, and I would do all but kill to have it. So would you mind looking up the price to ship it and stuff (apparantly it's about $100), because I'm pretty sure that'd save, and I'd be happy to ride around on a junk bike for a week until that one came if it meant that I could get a nice electric shaver, and save you some money! :-) And actually, it would pretty much be a pain to buy one here, since the shop is miles away...
But, please let me know what is best for you and what you want to do. If you send it to the mission office, they'll get it, then the APs will just bring it to me the next day... They're pretty much the delivery boys for the Chicago Zone.
Thanks, love you! I've been doing well, and having a lot of fun. Elder Gardner is a great missionary, and he's very easy to work with. We're getting caught up with all the referrals they had jammed up, and have a good amount of appointments set for Thursday! This area doesn't really have any members, so food should be interesting... But I've been cooking some mean quesodilla's with the stuff I bought at the mexican store right next to us. We live on Talman and 51st by the way... The house with a McMullen Realty sign in the yard!
Anyways, gotta go.
Love,
Elder Bradley Edward McMullin
11/19/08:
Hello family!
Will you please forward this to G&G, I've got 15 minutes, so I've got to pump this out fast.
Anyways, this week has been SO good. This area is so awesome, and my companion is great. We've gotten organized, and are going to be exceedingly busy, but that's good. Neither Elder Gardner or I like the cold, but we both want to work hard more than we hate it out side - so we ride our bikes ridiculously far every day. I've been getting pretty beat up from the bike I've been riding, because I can't really sit on the seat. Haha, anyways, I'm super excited to get mine in the mail! Maybe just call the office if it's not going to work.
So, we had quite the experience moving in because we had to refurnish the apartment. It was pretty crazy because there were only two beds there. [There are 4 missionaries sharing the apartment.] We got some new ones and moved desks around, and now are totally situated. The apartment has two heaters and is pretty warm.
I forgot to bring my planner here today (I'm in jeans and ready to go to the science and industry museum), so I don't have my list of all the crazy things that have happened, but I'll try to say some.
On Thursday we had transfers. For transfers, everyone meets at the Pulaski Chapel (which is mine now), and after a meeting, packs up and goes to new areas. That's pretty much it for the day besides unpacking.
Friday was good, we did a little work, but mostly rearranged the apartment. The APs brought over the new beds, so we set them up. We also went out to a couple of media referrals, and went to dinner at the Leal family home near Marquette Park. They live about as far south as our area goes... And Elder Greenway's bike tire popped right by their house... So we had a long walk! We also had MCM with Brother Patton, the ward mission leader at about lunch time.
Saturday was very good. We had a bunch of media referrals, and rode bikes a lot. It was exciting just to see the areas, some of which were pretty trashy. One area we spent a while in was pretty bad... Like every other duplex was boarded up, and there was trash EVERYWHERE. Actually, that's pretty much my whole area. I don't think I've seen an unbroken sidewalk brick in Chicago... Or one without grass growing through, and with trash all over. It's ok though, the people are nice. Funny thing of the day - we saw 2 guys with eyepatches.
Sunday was good, I'll tell you more about church next week though.
Monday was excellent. We did a lot of delivery and tracting. We were really far south east... Like 78th and Yale, if you look that up. A kindergarten age kid told me "give me yo bike!" it was pretty funny.
Gosh, I hate having this limit... This library I'm at is the Englewood library, and has a lot of computers, but you can't go on for long w/o a library card... I don't have one yet.
50 seconds.
Love you!
Take care!
Elder Bradley Edward McMullin
11/18/08:
Hey Mom!
I'm here at the library... My companion is getting us museum passes for tomorrow... We're going to the Science and Industries Museum, and if we get the passes here today it's significantly cheaper.
Anyways, I'll still email you tomorrow, but I'm just letting you know I'm alright! This new area is AWESOME, and my new companion is AMAZING. Seriously, this transfer is going to be phenominal.
It's been cold, but I've stayed warm. My coat is great, and bike riding keeps you warm... Actually you start sweating after a couple miles, but it's alright.
Anyways, they told us at the beginning that we may get a car, so I haven't bought a bike. There was an old crappy bike here that I've been riding, and it's pretty bad. It's going to be awful riding on this, so I pretty much need a new bike. Since I've got this junkola one, I can get around until you send me mine from home... That one's pretty nice, and I would do all but kill to have it. So would you mind looking up the price to ship it and stuff (apparantly it's about $100), because I'm pretty sure that'd save, and I'd be happy to ride around on a junk bike for a week until that one came if it meant that I could get a nice electric shaver, and save you some money! :-) And actually, it would pretty much be a pain to buy one here, since the shop is miles away...
But, please let me know what is best for you and what you want to do. If you send it to the mission office, they'll get it, then the APs will just bring it to me the next day... They're pretty much the delivery boys for the Chicago Zone.
Thanks, love you! I've been doing well, and having a lot of fun. Elder Gardner is a great missionary, and he's very easy to work with. We're getting caught up with all the referrals they had jammed up, and have a good amount of appointments set for Thursday! This area doesn't really have any members, so food should be interesting... But I've been cooking some mean quesodilla's with the stuff I bought at the mexican store right next to us. We live on Talman and 51st by the way... The house with a McMullen Realty sign in the yard!
Anyways, gotta go.
Love,
Elder Bradley Edward McMullin
11/19/08:
Hello family!
Will you please forward this to G&G, I've got 15 minutes, so I've got to pump this out fast.
Anyways, this week has been SO good. This area is so awesome, and my companion is great. We've gotten organized, and are going to be exceedingly busy, but that's good. Neither Elder Gardner or I like the cold, but we both want to work hard more than we hate it out side - so we ride our bikes ridiculously far every day. I've been getting pretty beat up from the bike I've been riding, because I can't really sit on the seat. Haha, anyways, I'm super excited to get mine in the mail! Maybe just call the office if it's not going to work.
So, we had quite the experience moving in because we had to refurnish the apartment. It was pretty crazy because there were only two beds there. [There are 4 missionaries sharing the apartment.] We got some new ones and moved desks around, and now are totally situated. The apartment has two heaters and is pretty warm.
I forgot to bring my planner here today (I'm in jeans and ready to go to the science and industry museum), so I don't have my list of all the crazy things that have happened, but I'll try to say some.
On Thursday we had transfers. For transfers, everyone meets at the Pulaski Chapel (which is mine now), and after a meeting, packs up and goes to new areas. That's pretty much it for the day besides unpacking.
Friday was good, we did a little work, but mostly rearranged the apartment. The APs brought over the new beds, so we set them up. We also went out to a couple of media referrals, and went to dinner at the Leal family home near Marquette Park. They live about as far south as our area goes... And Elder Greenway's bike tire popped right by their house... So we had a long walk! We also had MCM with Brother Patton, the ward mission leader at about lunch time.
Saturday was very good. We had a bunch of media referrals, and rode bikes a lot. It was exciting just to see the areas, some of which were pretty trashy. One area we spent a while in was pretty bad... Like every other duplex was boarded up, and there was trash EVERYWHERE. Actually, that's pretty much my whole area. I don't think I've seen an unbroken sidewalk brick in Chicago... Or one without grass growing through, and with trash all over. It's ok though, the people are nice. Funny thing of the day - we saw 2 guys with eyepatches.
Sunday was good, I'll tell you more about church next week though.
Monday was excellent. We did a lot of delivery and tracting. We were really far south east... Like 78th and Yale, if you look that up. A kindergarten age kid told me "give me yo bike!" it was pretty funny.
Gosh, I hate having this limit... This library I'm at is the Englewood library, and has a lot of computers, but you can't go on for long w/o a library card... I don't have one yet.
50 seconds.
Love you!
Take care!
Elder Bradley Edward McMullin
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Mission Update -- 11/12/08 (Transfer)
Elder McMullin is being transfered tomorrow. Take a look at his email below to find out where he's headed!
Hello family!
This week has been CRAZY!
So, I'm writing this in Watseka now... I'll probably be on a computer later today in Gilman, because I have to e mail the mission office some pictures. A deer jumped in front of Elder Na'a, and Na'a swerved out of the way, but then rolled his car a few times. Elder Jenks from the office came down, and had to use my camera to take pictures at the junkyard. The missionaries in the accident are fine... Actually, it's pretty crazy how fine they are. The only injury between them is a cut on an arm that came from crawling out of the upside down car! It's a good thing the Lord was watching out for them!
I've been doing pretty well though... It's been cold, but we're doing great. The other night it was 25 degrees at about 9 PM, and I'm sure got quite a bit colder! Yikes! At least we've got a car here in Watseka though...
Ok, so now to the crazy happenings of the week. Artie came to church Sunday without April! That was completely awesome, he's really progressing, and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets baptized within the next transfer! Also, Grandma Willow said that she's seriously considering joining the Church. Every time she goes to read the Bible, she reads the Book of Mormon instead. She's definitely feeling the Spirit, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the most stubborn lady ever step into a font within the next transfer. Phil has really helped us work wonders there.
We were going to go to the Temple this Tuesday, but something came up, and Sister Clutteur ended up going to Tennessee with Darrin that day... And our backup ride ended up not being able to go either! It was a perfect storm of crappiness, but we called President Roach, and he told us just to go next transfer. So, I'll be going to the Temple next transfer, which will be totally fine.
Speaking of this next transfer, we got calls last night! Our District is going to be very shaken up. We figured Elder Na'a's companion, Elder Bradsher is going to some suburb, and Elder Birkett is coming from Naperville to be with Na'a. Birkett looks a lot like David Archuletta (we were trying to think of who he was, and that's what we came up with). Elder Bird and Elder Thornhill finally got split up. Thorny is going to Ottawa with my MTC companion, Elder Philbrick. Elder Bird is staying in Frankfort, and will be training a greenie. He's a very good missionary, and should be an excellent trainer.
So now here's the transfer call you've been waiting for:
I'm getting transferred to The Stockyards area, and will be serving with Elder Gardner! The area should be really interesting, to say the least. Elder Na'a has served there, and Elder Adair has served in the area next to it, so I've heard a lot about it. The Stockyards is in the city, and isn't a very affluent area. The area boundaries go West from the freeway next to the University of Chicago to right next to Midway Airport, and I'm not sure the north and south, but I think it's like 38th on the north, and 71st on the south.
I'll be living in an apartment with another missionary companionship, and I'm not really sure where the apartment will be, but I'll tell you my address because Google probably will have a street view around there so you can see it! Aparantly the apartments not that nice, but I guess when you're living in that area, there aren't really any nice one's to get. It will be fun living with other Elders, but should be a little cramped because... we're all riding bikes!
That's the fun part about it, I'll be biking through the snow! Hahaha, actually, I'll probably freeze, but I'll definitely learn to appreciate the burning in my bosom from the Holy Ghost that much more. We're driving up there for transfers tomorrow, so I'll get a bike there. I also am going to have to get some intense gloves and probably a scarf or neck beanie pretty fast too. Mom, I'm so glad that you sent me those smart wool pants, because they're going to keep me alive tomorrow!
So, I'm pretty excited about the transfer since it's going to be such a huge change. After averaging 1 media referral a transfer in Watseka, I'll pretty much be a glorified delivery boy in The Stockyards... It will be an excelent way to get into houses, so I'm pretty excited for that. I've been packing today, and am just out making the good bye rounds. I was going to take a picture with Grandma Willow today, but she wasn't home! Lame! I can't get one with Sister Clutteur either, but I'll get one with Brother Clutteur and Curly, so that'll be ok. I'll probably email those to you later today.
Well, I ought to go and say some more goodbyes, then do some packing to get ready for tomorrow! I love you so much, and am so grateful for my opportunity to serve the Lord here in Illinois! I know the Gospel is true, and am so excited to share it with the people in Chicago!
Take Care,
Love,
Elder Bradley Edward McMullin
Hello family!
This week has been CRAZY!
So, I'm writing this in Watseka now... I'll probably be on a computer later today in Gilman, because I have to e mail the mission office some pictures. A deer jumped in front of Elder Na'a, and Na'a swerved out of the way, but then rolled his car a few times. Elder Jenks from the office came down, and had to use my camera to take pictures at the junkyard. The missionaries in the accident are fine... Actually, it's pretty crazy how fine they are. The only injury between them is a cut on an arm that came from crawling out of the upside down car! It's a good thing the Lord was watching out for them!
I've been doing pretty well though... It's been cold, but we're doing great. The other night it was 25 degrees at about 9 PM, and I'm sure got quite a bit colder! Yikes! At least we've got a car here in Watseka though...
Ok, so now to the crazy happenings of the week. Artie came to church Sunday without April! That was completely awesome, he's really progressing, and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets baptized within the next transfer! Also, Grandma Willow said that she's seriously considering joining the Church. Every time she goes to read the Bible, she reads the Book of Mormon instead. She's definitely feeling the Spirit, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the most stubborn lady ever step into a font within the next transfer. Phil has really helped us work wonders there.
We were going to go to the Temple this Tuesday, but something came up, and Sister Clutteur ended up going to Tennessee with Darrin that day... And our backup ride ended up not being able to go either! It was a perfect storm of crappiness, but we called President Roach, and he told us just to go next transfer. So, I'll be going to the Temple next transfer, which will be totally fine.
Speaking of this next transfer, we got calls last night! Our District is going to be very shaken up. We figured Elder Na'a's companion, Elder Bradsher is going to some suburb, and Elder Birkett is coming from Naperville to be with Na'a. Birkett looks a lot like David Archuletta (we were trying to think of who he was, and that's what we came up with). Elder Bird and Elder Thornhill finally got split up. Thorny is going to Ottawa with my MTC companion, Elder Philbrick. Elder Bird is staying in Frankfort, and will be training a greenie. He's a very good missionary, and should be an excellent trainer.
So now here's the transfer call you've been waiting for:
I'm getting transferred to The Stockyards area, and will be serving with Elder Gardner! The area should be really interesting, to say the least. Elder Na'a has served there, and Elder Adair has served in the area next to it, so I've heard a lot about it. The Stockyards is in the city, and isn't a very affluent area. The area boundaries go West from the freeway next to the University of Chicago to right next to Midway Airport, and I'm not sure the north and south, but I think it's like 38th on the north, and 71st on the south.
I'll be living in an apartment with another missionary companionship, and I'm not really sure where the apartment will be, but I'll tell you my address because Google probably will have a street view around there so you can see it! Aparantly the apartments not that nice, but I guess when you're living in that area, there aren't really any nice one's to get. It will be fun living with other Elders, but should be a little cramped because... we're all riding bikes!
That's the fun part about it, I'll be biking through the snow! Hahaha, actually, I'll probably freeze, but I'll definitely learn to appreciate the burning in my bosom from the Holy Ghost that much more. We're driving up there for transfers tomorrow, so I'll get a bike there. I also am going to have to get some intense gloves and probably a scarf or neck beanie pretty fast too. Mom, I'm so glad that you sent me those smart wool pants, because they're going to keep me alive tomorrow!
So, I'm pretty excited about the transfer since it's going to be such a huge change. After averaging 1 media referral a transfer in Watseka, I'll pretty much be a glorified delivery boy in The Stockyards... It will be an excelent way to get into houses, so I'm pretty excited for that. I've been packing today, and am just out making the good bye rounds. I was going to take a picture with Grandma Willow today, but she wasn't home! Lame! I can't get one with Sister Clutteur either, but I'll get one with Brother Clutteur and Curly, so that'll be ok. I'll probably email those to you later today.
Well, I ought to go and say some more goodbyes, then do some packing to get ready for tomorrow! I love you so much, and am so grateful for my opportunity to serve the Lord here in Illinois! I know the Gospel is true, and am so excited to share it with the people in Chicago!
Take Care,
Love,
Elder Bradley Edward McMullin
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Mission Update -- 11/6/08
Here's Elder McMullin's update from Nov. 6. It came on Thursday because they had a zone thing on Wednesday and couldn't get to the library. I've been busy busy, so it's taken me a few days to post, but I hope you enjoy! Here's the email:
Hello Family,
Yesterday we had our Zone Activity in Joliet, so we're just emailing today. Zone Activity was really fun, but I'm sore today ... We played Chicagoball (softball with a huge soft ball... no gloves) and football. I still have never lost a game on my mission! They were pretty close this time though. After playing games, we all went to Cici's pizza buffet. We were pretty much dying because they had no water at the park. I drank about a gallon of root beer, and it was probably the best thing I've tasted in my life. The pizza was really good too. Extra bonus of the day: The Zone Leaders also brought me down 2 packages! I got a Thanksgiving package from home, and a package from the Gallup McMullins! Thanks!!
I laughed about the squid jerky [this probably seems crazy, but our package to Elder M had a package of squid jerky in it -- kind of a family joke], and then gave some to as many elders as would take it. Only one threw up a little bit. One Tongan elder actually liked it! hahahaha. I'm keeping what I have left to give to Tony and Pamela's kids... It's going to be funny as heck seeing their faces!
So, right now we just got done taking around meals on wheels to our seniors. It was pretty good, although Earl didn't say a word. He's an old man (obviously), and I never heard him talk til about the 8th visit, and I have once or twice since then... So it's always exciting when he says hi! We're about to go mow a less active's lawn, so we're dressed in shorts and t shirts. It's pretty nice today, and hopefully it won't rain!
The weather has been great the last week or so... It's the Indian Summer... The last bit of warmth before the icy winter. Yikes. It was really cold a week and a half ago or so... We were wearing coats the whole day. It was pretty crazy, but not too bad. I still have to buy some gloves, but that hopefully won't be an issue for a while! Thanks for sending me the thermal pants, Mom! Those will definitely be nice... I was fine under my coat and stuff last week, but my legs were cold!
The lint roller will also come in handy, I've kinda been mooching off Elder Adair for that.
This whole week has been pretty good... We've visited most everyone throughout it, and have done plenty of service. Brother Navas is stopping the English classes, which is a bummer, but the students really have decent English now! I don't know if I ever told you this, but I got a hair cut a while ago... Cut really short! I like it though, so that's good. One of the members in the Branch cuts hair, so he did it for free.
Church was good on Sunday. We called Tony and Pamela to 'wake them up' on Sunday, and they were going to come, but they didn't. We did have a few investigators come, and of course Artie. We haven't been able to see Artie since then though, because he's been driving a car to Utah. April's sister drove home for a week, and Phil's homecoming. She somehow conned Artie into driving back with her all the way.
We also had a very good Missionary Correlation Meeting, and a lot of input from an unusual amount of church leaders. Mom, how often do you have these at home? Our Branch mission leader is a bit spacey, but we still have them every other week or so. They're very helpful in getting the ward to help us with our work. Working with the members is the most effective way of missionary work, and that's what they've been stressing at Zone Conference.
On Saturday night, we went to Andy and Marcell's last football game. They lost to Central, which was pretty sad. It went into overtime, and Watseka barely barely lost. They were killing in the first half, but then Andy got ejected for a bogus call (they looked on film later, and saw it was bad) and the team just fell apart. Andy had the most takles in the area, and was pretty much the man, but is super bummed now.
We're going to go to the Temple next Tuesday with the Clutteurs, so that should be good. It's pretty much the last day we can go up there, because the transfer is almost over. We'll get calls Tuesday night to tell us where we'll be, and who we'll be with. One of us will almost definitely be moved, so it'll be interesting. I could be anywhere from Naperville, Downtown Chicago, Indiana, or right here in Watseka!
Hey, here's something cool that happened this week: We got our first media referral! At the MTC, we answer phones for people calling in about TV ads and pass a long cards... We then set them up for appointments with missionaries. Some Elder or Sister, maybe even Mooker, answered the phone and gave us their address! We are going to go this weekend, so that's pretty exciting. In some areas, the majority of missionaries' day is going to media referrals. From the sounds of it, Watseka is the worst area in the mission for getting media referrals... but that's just because it's not very populated.
We've been doing good though, and have been eating alright. We don't get fed every night, but when we do get fed, we get fed alot. I've gained like 5 pounds or so! Uh oh, I better get called to a bike area haha. I still haven't had a nasty meal yet, so I'm lucky for that. It was funny listening to some Elders talk about what they had just eaten at an Indian man's house. They first got their tongues burned out, then they got a drink to cool their mouths off... But, the drink was a salt n jalapeno pepper smoothie or something like that, and they just about died. Haha.
This next week will be good. We'll meet with Artie, and have a lesson on praying for the truth... He knows the church is true, and is a very active almostmember.
Phil's Grandmothers are doing well, and should start coming to church. They're both very good ladies, and are awesome. They should start to progress much faster now that Phil's home, and hopefully we'll see some of that in the next week.
We haven't seen Brett in a while, so hopefully we'll be able to track him down, and teach him something along with Dana and Kye.
Pat moved out from the Clutteurs, which is a bummer for us, but will probably be good for him. He's a good guy, and hopefully we can at least check on him if he comes and visits.
We haven't seen the Onarga girls in a while... They haven't answered the phone, so we'll go stop by this week. They said they wanted to come to church, so we'll arrange a ride for them, assuming we can catch them, and they'll still come!
Hopefully we can find some new people to teach too! Brother Navas has someone he's trying to talk to at work, and we gave a bunch of fliers and pamphlets out to Brother Francis a couple weeks ago. Brother Francis lives on the edge of our boundaries to the East, where we don't have many people to teach... We're going to go visit him though, and hopefully can get into contact with his friends he got the pamplets for! He said they were interested, so that's good at least. We'll go around and see what's up in the town there, and knock around a little. Everyone's very cold around here, but hopefully they'll be a little more open. If they are, we'll be spending more time in that area. We've also got the good ol media referral too, so this week should be good!
Oh yeah, we also had Halloween this week. It wasn't too eventful actually. We had to be inside at dark, but we took around some bags of candy to kids we know. We dressed up as missionaries...
Tay, that's awesome you've got the Mission Viejo meet coming up! That'll be so fun!
Cater, hope your Homecoming was good! Or will be good? :)
Well, I think that's it for this week! I'm so grateful to have a wonderful family! I know the Gospel is true, and am so grateful to be out here on my mission. I'm excited to help the people in this area, and love to see when they come to church, and most importantly appreciate it. I know that we can only be saved through Jesus Christ, and am so grateful for his Atoning sacrifice. We can be perfect through Him, and return to live with our Heavenly Father. I'm so grateful for everything my Heavenly Father has done for me, and am happy to do as much as I can for Him.
Take care, and have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Bradley Edward McMullin
Hello Family,
Yesterday we had our Zone Activity in Joliet, so we're just emailing today. Zone Activity was really fun, but I'm sore today ... We played Chicagoball (softball with a huge soft ball... no gloves) and football. I still have never lost a game on my mission! They were pretty close this time though. After playing games, we all went to Cici's pizza buffet. We were pretty much dying because they had no water at the park. I drank about a gallon of root beer, and it was probably the best thing I've tasted in my life. The pizza was really good too. Extra bonus of the day: The Zone Leaders also brought me down 2 packages! I got a Thanksgiving package from home, and a package from the Gallup McMullins! Thanks!!
I laughed about the squid jerky [this probably seems crazy, but our package to Elder M had a package of squid jerky in it -- kind of a family joke], and then gave some to as many elders as would take it. Only one threw up a little bit. One Tongan elder actually liked it! hahahaha. I'm keeping what I have left to give to Tony and Pamela's kids... It's going to be funny as heck seeing their faces!
So, right now we just got done taking around meals on wheels to our seniors. It was pretty good, although Earl didn't say a word. He's an old man (obviously), and I never heard him talk til about the 8th visit, and I have once or twice since then... So it's always exciting when he says hi! We're about to go mow a less active's lawn, so we're dressed in shorts and t shirts. It's pretty nice today, and hopefully it won't rain!
The weather has been great the last week or so... It's the Indian Summer... The last bit of warmth before the icy winter. Yikes. It was really cold a week and a half ago or so... We were wearing coats the whole day. It was pretty crazy, but not too bad. I still have to buy some gloves, but that hopefully won't be an issue for a while! Thanks for sending me the thermal pants, Mom! Those will definitely be nice... I was fine under my coat and stuff last week, but my legs were cold!
The lint roller will also come in handy, I've kinda been mooching off Elder Adair for that.
This whole week has been pretty good... We've visited most everyone throughout it, and have done plenty of service. Brother Navas is stopping the English classes, which is a bummer, but the students really have decent English now! I don't know if I ever told you this, but I got a hair cut a while ago... Cut really short! I like it though, so that's good. One of the members in the Branch cuts hair, so he did it for free.
Church was good on Sunday. We called Tony and Pamela to 'wake them up' on Sunday, and they were going to come, but they didn't. We did have a few investigators come, and of course Artie. We haven't been able to see Artie since then though, because he's been driving a car to Utah. April's sister drove home for a week, and Phil's homecoming. She somehow conned Artie into driving back with her all the way.
We also had a very good Missionary Correlation Meeting, and a lot of input from an unusual amount of church leaders. Mom, how often do you have these at home? Our Branch mission leader is a bit spacey, but we still have them every other week or so. They're very helpful in getting the ward to help us with our work. Working with the members is the most effective way of missionary work, and that's what they've been stressing at Zone Conference.
On Saturday night, we went to Andy and Marcell's last football game. They lost to Central, which was pretty sad. It went into overtime, and Watseka barely barely lost. They were killing in the first half, but then Andy got ejected for a bogus call (they looked on film later, and saw it was bad) and the team just fell apart. Andy had the most takles in the area, and was pretty much the man, but is super bummed now.
We're going to go to the Temple next Tuesday with the Clutteurs, so that should be good. It's pretty much the last day we can go up there, because the transfer is almost over. We'll get calls Tuesday night to tell us where we'll be, and who we'll be with. One of us will almost definitely be moved, so it'll be interesting. I could be anywhere from Naperville, Downtown Chicago, Indiana, or right here in Watseka!
Hey, here's something cool that happened this week: We got our first media referral! At the MTC, we answer phones for people calling in about TV ads and pass a long cards... We then set them up for appointments with missionaries. Some Elder or Sister, maybe even Mooker, answered the phone and gave us their address! We are going to go this weekend, so that's pretty exciting. In some areas, the majority of missionaries' day is going to media referrals. From the sounds of it, Watseka is the worst area in the mission for getting media referrals... but that's just because it's not very populated.
We've been doing good though, and have been eating alright. We don't get fed every night, but when we do get fed, we get fed alot. I've gained like 5 pounds or so! Uh oh, I better get called to a bike area haha. I still haven't had a nasty meal yet, so I'm lucky for that. It was funny listening to some Elders talk about what they had just eaten at an Indian man's house. They first got their tongues burned out, then they got a drink to cool their mouths off... But, the drink was a salt n jalapeno pepper smoothie or something like that, and they just about died. Haha.
This next week will be good. We'll meet with Artie, and have a lesson on praying for the truth... He knows the church is true, and is a very active almostmember.
Phil's Grandmothers are doing well, and should start coming to church. They're both very good ladies, and are awesome. They should start to progress much faster now that Phil's home, and hopefully we'll see some of that in the next week.
We haven't seen Brett in a while, so hopefully we'll be able to track him down, and teach him something along with Dana and Kye.
Pat moved out from the Clutteurs, which is a bummer for us, but will probably be good for him. He's a good guy, and hopefully we can at least check on him if he comes and visits.
We haven't seen the Onarga girls in a while... They haven't answered the phone, so we'll go stop by this week. They said they wanted to come to church, so we'll arrange a ride for them, assuming we can catch them, and they'll still come!
Hopefully we can find some new people to teach too! Brother Navas has someone he's trying to talk to at work, and we gave a bunch of fliers and pamphlets out to Brother Francis a couple weeks ago. Brother Francis lives on the edge of our boundaries to the East, where we don't have many people to teach... We're going to go visit him though, and hopefully can get into contact with his friends he got the pamplets for! He said they were interested, so that's good at least. We'll go around and see what's up in the town there, and knock around a little. Everyone's very cold around here, but hopefully they'll be a little more open. If they are, we'll be spending more time in that area. We've also got the good ol media referral too, so this week should be good!
Oh yeah, we also had Halloween this week. It wasn't too eventful actually. We had to be inside at dark, but we took around some bags of candy to kids we know. We dressed up as missionaries...
Tay, that's awesome you've got the Mission Viejo meet coming up! That'll be so fun!
Cater, hope your Homecoming was good! Or will be good? :)
Well, I think that's it for this week! I'm so grateful to have a wonderful family! I know the Gospel is true, and am so grateful to be out here on my mission. I'm excited to help the people in this area, and love to see when they come to church, and most importantly appreciate it. I know that we can only be saved through Jesus Christ, and am so grateful for his Atoning sacrifice. We can be perfect through Him, and return to live with our Heavenly Father. I'm so grateful for everything my Heavenly Father has done for me, and am happy to do as much as I can for Him.
Take care, and have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Bradley Edward McMullin
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Mission Update -- 10/29/08
Here's an edited version of Elder M's email. We've been asking him to tell us about his investigators or people he randomly mentions in his emails, and he spent a lot of the email telling us about them (lots of really nice things -- they sound like wonderful people), but I'm not going to duplicate all of that here. So....here is the email with all of that removed.
Hola family,
It's been good to hear from you today! I'm here at the Gilman library at the same computer that doesn't write sometimes, so forgive me if half a word is missing! I had to sit here because this is the only computer that prints... And the man that lives downstairs from us is being evicted for 'gross overuse of water,' amongst other reasons, and wants a written statement that we live in the same house and are using water. We called the mission office, and they okayed it, so now I have to type up a letter head. Fun stuff!
I just got some letters today, which were fun to read! Thanks for sending them, and thank Sue for sending all those pictures! They were fun to look at. I can't remember if it was Mom or Grandma that was talking about the people here, and how I sometimes mention some random people like Grandma Willow. Sorry I'm not so clear on all the people we visit! The obscure Grandma Willow is actually one of the people we spend the most time with! I'll type up a little bit about everyone right here: [He gave us a little paragraph about each person.]
So there's the investigators we visit pretty regularly. We spend a lot of our time doing service for them, which has been a good way to strengthen their relationship with missionaries in general. We also spend a lot of our time doing service for less active members. One of the main goals of missionary work is reactivation. There are a lot of less active members in Watseka, so we go around and try to get ahold of them alot, which is a lot harder than it sounds! We also go around trying to find people, but most people around here are pretty cold towards the Church. It's really sad, especially since the Church did so much for them when it flooded. We get some one time visits, but get stuffed pretty regularly.
So work could be going better, but we're always optimistic! Especially because we recently had two missionaries return! Derrin has been home for a while now, but has been very sick. We still haven't been able to go out with him because he's had some bad tonsilitus, and is going into surgery to get his tonsils out! Phil's back, and we'll probably go out with him tomorrow! We went around town with him, and met his family (none of whom are LDS), which was very good. They're all nice, and very excited for Phil to be home. He's got more people for us to meet, so that will be awesome! People are infinitely more willing to have us teach them when someone else brings us to them.
Elder Adair and I have been doing alright this last week too. We both got sick, which hasn't been fun, but are finally feeling better today. We've bought and consumed a LOT of cold medicine! We didn't see investigators that much until yesterday, but no one want's sickos in their house... Especally not our older folks.
On Monday, we found out that there was a mall in Bourbonnais. This was ironic, because we had traveled to the next town into the city to get my coat. We had been told there weren't any good shops in Bourbonnais, but there was actually the same store I bought my coat at. Elder Adair had been dreaming of a coat he saw when I bought mine, so we went over there after District Meeting so he could get it. I got a towell because I left my second one at the MTC. My towell is HUGE! It covers from my neck to my knee, and wraps around me two times. It's pretty insane, but is soft and I like it alot. I still have to buy a beanie and some gloves, so I'll get those after Zone Activity next week. We have it in Joliet.
So, I also had Zone Conference this week. It was in Naperville, which is incredibly far away. Like three hours far a way. We had to wake up at 4 AM to get there. It was really good, but we were beat at the end of the day. Actually, in retrospect, I'm sure that's what got us sick! We're ok now, and have some good notes in our binders, so we're set!
I'm not sure what we'll do [for Halloween]. We're thinking about going to a member's house to pass out candy or something, but who knows. We'll have to pass out pass a long cards too :-) . The branch is not having a Halloween party... We just had two for the returning missionaries, so they're partied out for a while!
This Friday is going to be pretty exciting... Watseka made the playoffs, and it's their first game. It's against Central, which is up in Chebanse or something, so it's in our area. We watch the games with Mark and Nancy Clutteur, Derrin, and Pat. They should win because some big time player on Central just got injured.
Caitlin, good luck at your regional meet! Tell me how you do! Tell me how Homecoming goes too, and send a picture!
Dad, I'm glad you're reading the book of Mormon! You're going to beat me to the finish of it! I'm reading it really slow and in depth, marking a lot and writing notes and stuff. It's pretty fun, and definitely helps me to remember key points and doctrine.
Our temple trip is whenever we want. We just have to find someone to take us, and will go in the next week or two. There aren't many members that go from Watseka, so we may end up carpooling with the Bourbonnais Elders. We're pretty excited about going!
Well, I ought to write up this letter for Roger, our neighbor that's being evicted!
I love you a lot and am so grateful you're in my life! I love the Lord, and love to serve Him. I'm so grateful for my opportunity to share the Restored Gospel, and to see how it affects lives. I have a testimony that it brings families together, and am grateful we had it in ours. I know that the Lord died for all of our sins, and am so grateful for that. By ourselves we can only make it to the Terestial Kingdom... but we can all make it to the Celestial through Christ.
Love you,
Elder Bradley Edward McMullin
Hola family,
It's been good to hear from you today! I'm here at the Gilman library at the same computer that doesn't write sometimes, so forgive me if half a word is missing! I had to sit here because this is the only computer that prints... And the man that lives downstairs from us is being evicted for 'gross overuse of water,' amongst other reasons, and wants a written statement that we live in the same house and are using water. We called the mission office, and they okayed it, so now I have to type up a letter head. Fun stuff!
I just got some letters today, which were fun to read! Thanks for sending them, and thank Sue for sending all those pictures! They were fun to look at. I can't remember if it was Mom or Grandma that was talking about the people here, and how I sometimes mention some random people like Grandma Willow. Sorry I'm not so clear on all the people we visit! The obscure Grandma Willow is actually one of the people we spend the most time with! I'll type up a little bit about everyone right here: [He gave us a little paragraph about each person.]
So there's the investigators we visit pretty regularly. We spend a lot of our time doing service for them, which has been a good way to strengthen their relationship with missionaries in general. We also spend a lot of our time doing service for less active members. One of the main goals of missionary work is reactivation. There are a lot of less active members in Watseka, so we go around and try to get ahold of them alot, which is a lot harder than it sounds! We also go around trying to find people, but most people around here are pretty cold towards the Church. It's really sad, especially since the Church did so much for them when it flooded. We get some one time visits, but get stuffed pretty regularly.
So work could be going better, but we're always optimistic! Especially because we recently had two missionaries return! Derrin has been home for a while now, but has been very sick. We still haven't been able to go out with him because he's had some bad tonsilitus, and is going into surgery to get his tonsils out! Phil's back, and we'll probably go out with him tomorrow! We went around town with him, and met his family (none of whom are LDS), which was very good. They're all nice, and very excited for Phil to be home. He's got more people for us to meet, so that will be awesome! People are infinitely more willing to have us teach them when someone else brings us to them.
Elder Adair and I have been doing alright this last week too. We both got sick, which hasn't been fun, but are finally feeling better today. We've bought and consumed a LOT of cold medicine! We didn't see investigators that much until yesterday, but no one want's sickos in their house... Especally not our older folks.
On Monday, we found out that there was a mall in Bourbonnais. This was ironic, because we had traveled to the next town into the city to get my coat. We had been told there weren't any good shops in Bourbonnais, but there was actually the same store I bought my coat at. Elder Adair had been dreaming of a coat he saw when I bought mine, so we went over there after District Meeting so he could get it. I got a towell because I left my second one at the MTC. My towell is HUGE! It covers from my neck to my knee, and wraps around me two times. It's pretty insane, but is soft and I like it alot. I still have to buy a beanie and some gloves, so I'll get those after Zone Activity next week. We have it in Joliet.
So, I also had Zone Conference this week. It was in Naperville, which is incredibly far away. Like three hours far a way. We had to wake up at 4 AM to get there. It was really good, but we were beat at the end of the day. Actually, in retrospect, I'm sure that's what got us sick! We're ok now, and have some good notes in our binders, so we're set!
I'm not sure what we'll do [for Halloween]. We're thinking about going to a member's house to pass out candy or something, but who knows. We'll have to pass out pass a long cards too :-) . The branch is not having a Halloween party... We just had two for the returning missionaries, so they're partied out for a while!
This Friday is going to be pretty exciting... Watseka made the playoffs, and it's their first game. It's against Central, which is up in Chebanse or something, so it's in our area. We watch the games with Mark and Nancy Clutteur, Derrin, and Pat. They should win because some big time player on Central just got injured.
Caitlin, good luck at your regional meet! Tell me how you do! Tell me how Homecoming goes too, and send a picture!
Dad, I'm glad you're reading the book of Mormon! You're going to beat me to the finish of it! I'm reading it really slow and in depth, marking a lot and writing notes and stuff. It's pretty fun, and definitely helps me to remember key points and doctrine.
Our temple trip is whenever we want. We just have to find someone to take us, and will go in the next week or two. There aren't many members that go from Watseka, so we may end up carpooling with the Bourbonnais Elders. We're pretty excited about going!
Well, I ought to write up this letter for Roger, our neighbor that's being evicted!
I love you a lot and am so grateful you're in my life! I love the Lord, and love to serve Him. I'm so grateful for my opportunity to share the Restored Gospel, and to see how it affects lives. I have a testimony that it brings families together, and am grateful we had it in ours. I know that the Lord died for all of our sins, and am so grateful for that. By ourselves we can only make it to the Terestial Kingdom... but we can all make it to the Celestial through Christ.
Love you,
Elder Bradley Edward McMullin
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