Mission Update -- 4/16/09

I've been out of town so haven't had a chance to update for a while. Elder M. wasn't able to use the computer for long on his Pday on the 15th and his companion wasn't able to use it at all, so they went to the library on the 16th to do their emails. Here is Elder M's:


Hi!
Ok, so I didn't write another email yesterday... Sorry! We were busy until too late, so we just had to rearrange our schedule for this morning. [He had written us a quick note on the 15th telling us he would email later in the day after his companion got back from a meeting in Naperville. 3 missionaries who are going home soon went to a meeting in Naperville while their companions stayed in Joliet. Brad, of course, was one of the ones who stayed in Joliet.]
Anyways, I've been doing well, and am loving all of the candy I got in the mail. I got an interesting request from Kathy... I've got to take pictures of a few ridiculous things as we tract! I'll send you her demands, and some pictures next week.
Well, here's the weekly update...
Last Wednesday was ok. We played some basketball with some Lincoln Way East players, who weren't very good... Other than that, we didn't do much until going to set up for the Walk with Christ.
Thursday was pretty good. We set out to tract, and had a pretty good day. We got a new investigator, and taught a few lessons... Which is really awesome for the middle of the day on a weekday! That evening, we met Brother Johnson for team teaching. He took us to Jim's house, which was interesting, as always, then to dinner at Panera Bread, which is pretty much just Wildflower in Illinois. After that, we all met President Hunsaker at the Chapel. Elder Collier went with President to visit the Cravens (it went great, as it typically does when President Hunsaker is there), and I went with Brother Johnson to the Lovelaces (a super less active family that likes four wheeling more than church). Overall, it was a great day.
Friday was good too.We had one appointment in the day, and went out with a member to invite a bunch of people to the Walk with Christ. We didn't get a hold of many people, but it was fun going around with Brother Giese. After that, we ate and got ready for the Walk. The Walk with Christ turned out really well! There was a good amount of people there, including some non members. The highlight of it was finding a part member family that had been looking for the church since moving in town, but couldn't find it due to a messed up map on mormon.org. They saw the ad I put in the paper, and found their way to the Walk with Christ though, and it went well. It was the husband's first contact with the Church, and he was really beaming and seemed happy to hear the lessons! It was really great to see them, and to have a good time with the branch. We also ended up taking home a few pounds of food!
Saturday was good. We visited Sharon in the morning, then played basketball, then tracted, then had a FHE with Lisa Young's family. The FHE was actually really awesome... Lauren Young, a high school freshman, invited 2 friends over for it, and they were really interested. One had just come to the Walk with Christ, and the other said she wants to come to church. She couldn't on Sunday, because it was Easter, but she should be coming soon!
Sunday was sweet. We had MCM at 8, then got picked up at the Church by the Cravens for Stake Conference in Bourbonnais. They have a few sessions of Stake Conference at different buildings - at least for regional Stake Conference, which is what we had. We got to watch a broadcast where President Snow, Sister Lifferth, Elder Dallin H Oaks, and the Prophet, President Thomas S Monson all spoke! It was really great! I also got to see some people from Watseka and Bourbonnais, which was great. After that, we went over for Easter Dinner with the Youngs. We had a great meal, and had a good time. After that, we were going to call the Greys to see if we could stop by, but they called us first... So we spent the evening over there, and had some good pie.
Monday was good, and almost great, but not quite great. We had a District Meeting, then came home to plan. We were going to have another appointment with Doug, one of our super promising investigators... But he tripped over his neighbor kid's toy and landed on his neck. He had to go to the doctor's office, so we'll have to see him soon. That's ok though, we still had some other appointments. We were able to see President Fredin's mother, who's a non member. We got an appointment with her from the Walk with Christ. She's super friendly, so it was good. It was fun hearing about President Fredin's family too. After that, we tried to find. Then we went over to the Hunsakers' for dinner. My first bite of beef yum had a big pepper on it, so I got smoked fast. It was SO hot. Even Sister Hunsaker's kids had a lot of trouble with that beef yum. It was really good though. We also had this amazing chicken in green beans, and some noodles with chicken and stuff. It was an excellent dinner. After dessert, they busted out some crazy Thai fruits... We got to try Mangosteen, which is really good actually! Look it up on Google, it looks weird. After that, we helped them make a family mission plan, and gave their daughter a hard time about texting too much. It came up that Caitlin crashed the Jeep, so that turned into a teaching moment for their kids, haha. After that, we rearranged the area book to set up another round of stop bys.
Tuesday was alright. We got tubed and had a canceled appointment, so that was lame. We did some stop bys in Peotone, which was unfruitful, then had dinner with a family out there. Dinner was great, but the non member of the family split when we had the lesson... Bummer.
Wednesday was good though! Elder Collier went up to Naperville with Elders Na'a and Neibaur. They had that employment thing up there while Elders Mitchell and Shaw and I stayed in Joliet. We played a lot of darts, pool, and some ping pong at a members house. They were really nice, and also fed us dinner. One of the best parts of the day was I got a few packages. Sweet! Thanks for sending all of that stuff! I really appreciate it. There's a dentist in the Branch... I'll ask him when I can come in. We're actually having lunch with a dental hygenist in a couple of hours too, so there's another possibility.
Well, you all take care! I love you a lot and am grateful for all you do. Have a great week,
Love,
Elder Bradley Edward McMullin