Here's Elder McMullin's update for the week. Sounds like things are going very well in Frankfort!
Hello family! It sounds like you've had an eventful week! Sounds like girls camp was fun. I've been doing well out here in Illinois, and I think we just may have you all beat for eventfulness of the week! Let's just say we've got a baptism coming up next week, and should be planning a couple more soon!
Last P-Day was good. We played frisbee golf. I shot 9 under, and Elder Hunt shot 8 under... So it was a pretty good round. After that, we went over to the Fredin's house for a dinner / lesson with JoAnne. The lesson went well. She didn't know whether to get baptized here, or get baptized when she goes back to school in 3 months now, but she decided to pray about it. That was it for the day.
Thursday was great. We drove down to Manhattan for lunch and a lesson with the less active Sister DeLaney. She's someone President Hunsaker referred us too, and she's really appreciative of our visits. She's got a lot of questions and concerns, and has been attending church. She even gave Sharon a ride the other week! After being down there for a while, we came up and tried to get some appointments, but couldn't get much until the evening. We went over to Lisa's, and ended up eating dinner there. They're one of the nicest families ever. After that, we went over to the Lovelaces with President Carlson (Stake President's councilor), and had a great visit. I've got to call them today to make sure they read Alma 32 actually! After that, we were going to split... I would have gone over to commit Sis Portwood to baptism, and Elder Hunt would have gone to Branch council, but that fell through. They're moving now too, which is unfortunate. They're trying to find a place to live in the Branch boundaries... Please say a prayer that they can find one! Branch Council was good though. This Branch is so awesome. I wouldn't mind being here a couple more transfers.
Friday was Zone Conference day! We had a great conference that focused on nothing but BAPTISM. What's your purpose Elders? TO BAPTIZE. It was really good, but at the same time kind of frustrating since we've got so many people that are so close, but have one little thing holding them back. After Zone conference, we came back, stopped by the Cravens, then went out to dinner with Nick Grey. We went to some place that was supposed to have a huge pizza eating challenge that we were going to do, but it was only on Monday nights... So we just ate pizza and gellato, then came home.
Saturday was one of the eventful days. We went to softball in the morning, which was really fun. We were playing Bourbonnais, but we split up teams (completely unfairly... it was something like 9 on 6). We ended up playing for a really long time, but it was good since JoAnne was there and got along well with everyone. After that, everyone went over to the smoothie shop, which was great. I've kind of grown accustomed to people just buying me stuff. I caught myself "thinking about what I wanted" until someone offered to pay for Elder Hunt and I. Hahahaha... That must be what it's like serving a mission in Utah. Ok, now to the good part. After getting ready for the rest of the day, we went over to the Hunsaker's home for a lesson with JoAnne. She told us she wants to be baptized here. We made plans, and set a date. It's going to be on June 4th! The day before Dad's Birthday. That's how I remember it at least. We had a good lesson with her too, and are excited for her to make this covenant with our Heavenly Father. She's really excited and happy about her decision. After that, we went over for dinner at the Hansen's, which went really well.
Sunday was great too. We took Joaquin to church. I can't remember if I told you, but we've developed a nifty nigh-Pharisaical satisfaction of the law for that, until we can get someone else to take him... We're allowed to take members in our car to teaching appointments, so we teach him a lesson on the way. I think it's pretty clever, but we can't keep doing it, and are trying to get someone else for the job. Church went well though. We sat next to JoAnne and Joaquin, and had a good time. JoAnne asked me to baptize her when we were there too, so that will be pretty neat. After church and MCM, we left for the Erickson's home. We had a good lunch there, and a good lesson. They're a really good missionary family, and are pretty easy to give commitments. After that, Elder Hunt was feeling ill, and I had a headache (for probably the first time this year), so we came home and slept for a while. We woke up for dinner though, and headed over to the Grey's home for some BBQ. When we were over there, Sister Erickson called and told us we left our coats at her house. She was going somewhere already, so she took our coats over to the Grey's. Then she also realized that we had left some frozen pizzas someone gave us at church in her freezer too. Oh crap. I think those pizzas are just sitting in our car still. Uggghhhh. Well, after dinner we had a lesson and that was it for the week.
Monday was great. We had a service project for the Branch in the morning. We all went over to this Civil War graveyard and cleared it of undergrowth. It was pretty wild how much we accomplished. We also taught JoAnne about the Word of Wisdom, and she was pretty shocked to find out iced tea is bad. We showed her Section 89, and she likes the blessings, so she won't have too much of a problem. After that, we had a really late district meeting. It went well. Right as it was finishing, a party started in the church. We got some great food and stuff there. After that, the day was mostly shot, but we got the news that the old AP was in town, so we went over for dinner at the house where he was. That was pretty neat too.
Tuesday was great! In the morning, I went over to Brother Spencer's dentist office to get my teeth cleaned and checked. He cleaned them, and said I don't need any fillings! YESSS! I went up to the counter to pay, and they said it's all been taken care of. Thanks Brother Spencer! If Elder Carpenter (Brother Spencer's nephew) ever comes to our Ward, you better be really nice to him! After that, we went out to Pizza Hut with JoAnne, and actually had quite the discussion about the commandment Dad talked about in his email. Her family isn't the greatest of supports, so it's hard for her not to judge them. JoAnne is great though, and has made such great progress. After lunch, we went over to the Hansen's home to help them develop a family mission plan. It went really well. They're a pretty young couple from Arizona! They got married at the Mesa Temple while in an ASU student ward. After that, we went over to the Erickson's home for another lesson with JoAnne. It went pretty well, and we also came up with most of the baptism program. After that, we went over with Brother Erickson to the Brown's home. We discussed baptism for Amber, and what it means. They want her baptized, so we explained what had to happen before then. They're going to come to church on Sunday, and after that, we'll set a date and come up with a more thorough plan. It's pretty great, because Sister Brown's issue about attending church is Amber HAS to have her in Primary with her. We came up with the idea that we'd get Sister Grey (less active, but missionary minded) to come be Amber's buddy in Primary. This will not only pave the way for the Browns to become active members, but will get Toni to church! It'll be awesome. Anyways, after the lesson with the Browns, we went over to the Spencers for dinner. It went great. We did a follow up for their family mission plan, and had a funny discussion that lead up to their committing to having a family home evening and remaking their plan. After that, we went over to visit the Youngs, and had a great visit. They had had a pretty stressful and momentous day, and were pretty appreciative of the visit (they forgot we had an appointment, and were like, wow, I'm so glad to see you!).
Well, that leads us into today. We want to go frisbee golfing with a couple less actives and JoAnne, but it may be too nasty out. It rained a ton yesterday, so it's probably muddy. Tonight, President Fredin is taking us to an appointment to go teach a super less active lady that has been incredibly elusive for like 15 years. That should be really good.
We've got a great week coming up too. Tomorrow is going to be really busy, which is great. The Craven kids should get a baptismal date on Friday, when James has an interview with President Hunsaker.Saturday will be great, because we're going to go down to Bourbonnais with JoAnne, and whoever can drive us, to see a baptism. You'll never guess whose baptism it is.... ARTIE KIRKPATRICK! [Brad taught Artie when he was in Watseka last summer.] He's been set for the past month, but told the missionaries they couldn't tell anyone until he talked to his Mom. He did last week, and it's all clear for him to be baptized! That's one of the other pretty big events that made this week one of the most eventful weeks ever. Hopefully next week is even more eventful!
Well, you all take care! Know that I love you! I'm enjoying my service of the Lord and the people here in Bourbonnais [he meant Frankfort -- a brain cramp I guess!], and am appreciative of your support.
Love,
Elder Bradley E McMullin
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Mission Update 5/20/09
I went to girls' camp last week so didn't have a chance to update the blog. Here's Elder M's email from the 20th:
Hello,
How's it going? Hopefully well! It sounds like there's been a lot going on, but I guess that's how it always is.
Well, we've had a lot going on here. Things are going really well too, so that's great.
I really can't remember what we did last Wednesday... Probably played frisbee golf, or basketball. We then went to dinner at the Fredrick's, which was great. Most of their family has iphones or the ipods that look like iphones. They were crazy about them, just like pretty much everyone else here in Frankfort. I want one of those phones when I get back home! After a lesson with them and their less active son, we headed home.
Thursday was pretty good! We got to meet Joaquin, who was the latest Frankfort convert. He joined the church about a year and a half ago, and just got out of prison. We had a good lesson with him. After that, we came home for lunch, then taught a lesson to the Swensons. We don't do that very often, but when we've got a huge space of nothing, sometimes we do. After that, I think we cleaned our room for a while, then went to dinner. We had some excellent Italian food from Tony Cammarata, who's Sicilian. It was complete with goat cheese and everything. Yum. After that, we went and had a lesson with the Portwoods, who are moving.
Friday was President Interviews day. The interviews went well... He had a lot of good to say about Frankfort. After that, we went to visit Jim with Brother Johnson. It's pretty funny... The two times Brother Johnson has come with us, Jim starts talking about alcohol and drinking. The man doesn't drink, but has done an incredible job of making a bad impression on Brother Johnson. We laughed with Gerry Johnson about how Jim must think he looks like a good drinker. After that, we had dinner with Brother Johnson. After that, we went to stop by the Cravens, but they're all really ill. Bummer.
Saturday was good. We went to frisbee with Joaquin, and the other regulars. It was SUPER muddy. I dove for one or two catches, so I was pretty gross. Our shower at the Swenson's is like 3 foot by 3 foot, so it was pretty tough to get really clean in there! After cleaning up, we left for the Vines' and were there for a lesson, dinner and desert. After that, we tried unsuccessfully to find someone else to teach.
Sunday was good too. We had church and MCM like always. Our MCM progress record was 3 pages long, which was pretty incredible. This was probably the most productive week in Frankfort history! Most of it was on the first couple days of the week though, which is pretty much backwards of normal. After church, we had a dinner / lesson appointment with JoAnne. She's now preparing for baptism, so that's really great. After that, we went over to the Grey's for dessert and a lesson.
Monday was a slow day. We had a Sharon appointment in the morning. After that, I came home and showered... I always do that because her home is infested with cats. After getting ready, we ate lunch, then tried to find people to stop by. We made a lot of phone calls, and were able to set up some good appointments for the week... just none for Monday. We didn't have district meeting because Zone Conference is this Friday. We ended up just teaching one more lesson for the day, and went out for a late dinner.
Tuesday was much better! We were able to visit Jim again. After that, we went over to Sister Brown / Amber's. Sister Brown is a less active that wants her granddaughter baptized. It was a pretty good lesson, and we're going to go over there next week, and should hopefully set a baptismal date for Amber then. After that, we went to go visit the part member family that saw the newspaper article. They've been out of town for a while, but we'll teach them a lesson next week. After that, we went over to the Hunsaker's to meet with President H. He drove us down to Peotone, where we taught and ate with Dan and Jean. Their house is infested with cats too... Yuk. President Hunsaker was pretty not thrilled to find that out too. After that, we all went over to the Portwoods to have a lesson there.
That leads us to today. We haven't done much yet today, but will probably go frisbee golfing. We have a 5 o'clock dinner lesson appointment with JoAnne at the Fredin's (which is as good as it gets).
So there you go! Life's been good here in Frankfort. I love you all. Take care.
Love,
Elder Bradley E McMullin
Hello,
How's it going? Hopefully well! It sounds like there's been a lot going on, but I guess that's how it always is.
Well, we've had a lot going on here. Things are going really well too, so that's great.
I really can't remember what we did last Wednesday... Probably played frisbee golf, or basketball. We then went to dinner at the Fredrick's, which was great. Most of their family has iphones or the ipods that look like iphones. They were crazy about them, just like pretty much everyone else here in Frankfort. I want one of those phones when I get back home! After a lesson with them and their less active son, we headed home.
Thursday was pretty good! We got to meet Joaquin, who was the latest Frankfort convert. He joined the church about a year and a half ago, and just got out of prison. We had a good lesson with him. After that, we came home for lunch, then taught a lesson to the Swensons. We don't do that very often, but when we've got a huge space of nothing, sometimes we do. After that, I think we cleaned our room for a while, then went to dinner. We had some excellent Italian food from Tony Cammarata, who's Sicilian. It was complete with goat cheese and everything. Yum. After that, we went and had a lesson with the Portwoods, who are moving.
Friday was President Interviews day. The interviews went well... He had a lot of good to say about Frankfort. After that, we went to visit Jim with Brother Johnson. It's pretty funny... The two times Brother Johnson has come with us, Jim starts talking about alcohol and drinking. The man doesn't drink, but has done an incredible job of making a bad impression on Brother Johnson. We laughed with Gerry Johnson about how Jim must think he looks like a good drinker. After that, we had dinner with Brother Johnson. After that, we went to stop by the Cravens, but they're all really ill. Bummer.
Saturday was good. We went to frisbee with Joaquin, and the other regulars. It was SUPER muddy. I dove for one or two catches, so I was pretty gross. Our shower at the Swenson's is like 3 foot by 3 foot, so it was pretty tough to get really clean in there! After cleaning up, we left for the Vines' and were there for a lesson, dinner and desert. After that, we tried unsuccessfully to find someone else to teach.
Sunday was good too. We had church and MCM like always. Our MCM progress record was 3 pages long, which was pretty incredible. This was probably the most productive week in Frankfort history! Most of it was on the first couple days of the week though, which is pretty much backwards of normal. After church, we had a dinner / lesson appointment with JoAnne. She's now preparing for baptism, so that's really great. After that, we went over to the Grey's for dessert and a lesson.
Monday was a slow day. We had a Sharon appointment in the morning. After that, I came home and showered... I always do that because her home is infested with cats. After getting ready, we ate lunch, then tried to find people to stop by. We made a lot of phone calls, and were able to set up some good appointments for the week... just none for Monday. We didn't have district meeting because Zone Conference is this Friday. We ended up just teaching one more lesson for the day, and went out for a late dinner.
Tuesday was much better! We were able to visit Jim again. After that, we went over to Sister Brown / Amber's. Sister Brown is a less active that wants her granddaughter baptized. It was a pretty good lesson, and we're going to go over there next week, and should hopefully set a baptismal date for Amber then. After that, we went to go visit the part member family that saw the newspaper article. They've been out of town for a while, but we'll teach them a lesson next week. After that, we went over to the Hunsaker's to meet with President H. He drove us down to Peotone, where we taught and ate with Dan and Jean. Their house is infested with cats too... Yuk. President Hunsaker was pretty not thrilled to find that out too. After that, we all went over to the Portwoods to have a lesson there.
That leads us to today. We haven't done much yet today, but will probably go frisbee golfing. We have a 5 o'clock dinner lesson appointment with JoAnne at the Fredin's (which is as good as it gets).
So there you go! Life's been good here in Frankfort. I love you all. Take care.
Love,
Elder Bradley E McMullin
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Mission Update 5/13/09
Here's Elder McMullin's update for the week!
Hello!
Hey, it was good talking to you on Mothers Day!!! I hope everyone's doing well still. Get feeling better Caitlin!
Guess what I just realized when I was talking on the phone on Sunday... Grandpa's voice sounds just like Boyd K. Packer's! Crazy.
Well, we've had a good week here in Frankfort. Things are going well here with Elder Hunt. It's pretty funny... He reminds me a lot of Tyler Wadsworth. I guess it's just a Nevada thing.
Well, here's the weekly update.
Last Wednesday, we had dinner over at the Vines' home. They invited a part member family, and we taught the nonmember the first lesson. It was Jean Young, who's usually pretty elusive at lesson time, so this was really great. We also had dinner with Tracy Vines, a Vines kid, and his girlfriend from Chebanse (a small town in Watseka's area). She's going to come again for her own Restoration lesson session. We'll probably try to go on exchanges with a Watseka Elder on that night so we can smoothly hand her over to them.
Thursday was pretty good. We went over to help Tony Cammarata do some more yardwork, then went to Giordanno's with him. We ate a LOT! After that, we met with a couple of less actives, had a canceled appointment, then tried to find something for the rest of the evening. We couldn't ever find anything, and eventually settled on going out to eat.
Friday was good too. We got taken out for breakfast by Brother Giese. He's the funniest guy ever, so it was pretty good. After that, we went and did stop bys, and got to teach a good lesson to a man we tracted into before. After doing some more stop bys that didn't turn out quite as well, we went to steak and shake with some missionaries that were passing through our area. They've got really good shakes at that place, so it was of course great. After that, we ended up teaching a less active family, an active family, and the Cravens.
Saturday was awesome! We went to frisbee in the morning, which was really fun. Then we ate lunch and went to the Portwood's, which was great. Then we went to Brother Giese's. He took us team teaching to a less active, where we had a great lesson and discussion. After that, we went back to the Giese's and had a roast. Then, they bought us tickets to the play, so we went to that! It was pretty funny, we went there and Brother Guymon gave us some tickets (he was working the ticket booth) that ended up being for the empty spaces made for wheel chairs. We were looking around for our seats, and finally had to get an usher to get us some new tickets. It was pretty funny. The play ended pretty late, so we had to run out of the building the second the curtains closed to go home!
Sunday was GREAT. We had an awesome time at church, and had 5 investigators there... Including a new one that has been investigating the church in Kentucky for a couple months, and is super solid. After church, we went over to the Stachura's for dinner, which was great. It was pretty funny... Ma cooked everyone dinner. Her son and daughter in law are slackers. After that, we came home and talked on the phone for the rest of the day!
Monday was pretty good. Our first real action of the day was at lunch with Sister Bagnara and Vicki. Sister Bagnara's less active son was also there. He just got home for summer from college, and is a really cool guy. The lesson was great, and now Vicki and Sister Bagnara are going to go to church in Orland Park. Vicki didn't want to learn from the missionaries up there, but I think this will be a good way to shift her up there. I think I'll ask President Roach to let me go on an exchange with Elder Gardner when they can set up an appointment at Vicki's home. Well, those appointments always go for a really really long time, so we didn't do much else for the rest of the day. We had some failed stop- by's, so we took a combined lunch and dinner break and went to play a round of frisbee golf. That was really fun, but we got our dress pants muddy. Elder Hunt and I both scored 4 or 5 over on 27 holes, so we did alright (just wait). After that, we had a brief visit with the Murphys, then headed over to the Guymons' home to have a lesson with JoAnne, the new investigator from Kentucky. JoAnne was having some troubles with buying a new car, so she came really late. We still had a pretty good discussion, but it was too late to do too much. We set up an appointment with her at the Guymons' for next Sunday. That should be pretty good. She knew John Guymon from school, so they're the perfect fellowshipping family.
Tuesday was kind of funny. The morning started off by 3 of 4 appointments calling us to cancel. Then some people that we thought we could get appointments with crapped out too. We tried to find some new investigators in the morning, but were pretty unsuccessful. We eventually decided to take a lunch / dinner break to eat McDonald's and play a round of frisbee golf. I got a -8 this time, so there's some significant improvement! After our round of golf, we went to visit the less active Sister Brown, and her non member granddaughter. Sister Brown never comes to church, but wants her Granddaughter to be baptized. They are super friendly, and have testimonies of the Restored Gospel, so I think we've got some serious potential there. We've got another appointment with them for next week. After that, we visited the Nordsells, a less active part member family. After that, we visited the Weichingers, another less active part member family. After that, we visited Lisa Young really briefly. After that, we visited the Witts, yet another less active part member family. After that, we visited the Greys. It was a really busy and productive evening!
Today should be good. We've got a dinner appointment that's been rescheduled like 5 times, and has taken up all the slots on our calendar, but should be good. It's really rainy outside today, so we probably won't be able to play frisbee golf. Bummer. We were going to get 54 holes in today. At least. We really like frisbee golf.
Well, I love you a lot and am grateful for all you do! Take care and have a great week! The Gospel is true and I love you.
Elder Bradley E McMullin
Hello!
Hey, it was good talking to you on Mothers Day!!! I hope everyone's doing well still. Get feeling better Caitlin!
Guess what I just realized when I was talking on the phone on Sunday... Grandpa's voice sounds just like Boyd K. Packer's! Crazy.
Well, we've had a good week here in Frankfort. Things are going well here with Elder Hunt. It's pretty funny... He reminds me a lot of Tyler Wadsworth. I guess it's just a Nevada thing.
Well, here's the weekly update.
Last Wednesday, we had dinner over at the Vines' home. They invited a part member family, and we taught the nonmember the first lesson. It was Jean Young, who's usually pretty elusive at lesson time, so this was really great. We also had dinner with Tracy Vines, a Vines kid, and his girlfriend from Chebanse (a small town in Watseka's area). She's going to come again for her own Restoration lesson session. We'll probably try to go on exchanges with a Watseka Elder on that night so we can smoothly hand her over to them.
Thursday was pretty good. We went over to help Tony Cammarata do some more yardwork, then went to Giordanno's with him. We ate a LOT! After that, we met with a couple of less actives, had a canceled appointment, then tried to find something for the rest of the evening. We couldn't ever find anything, and eventually settled on going out to eat.
Friday was good too. We got taken out for breakfast by Brother Giese. He's the funniest guy ever, so it was pretty good. After that, we went and did stop bys, and got to teach a good lesson to a man we tracted into before. After doing some more stop bys that didn't turn out quite as well, we went to steak and shake with some missionaries that were passing through our area. They've got really good shakes at that place, so it was of course great. After that, we ended up teaching a less active family, an active family, and the Cravens.
Saturday was awesome! We went to frisbee in the morning, which was really fun. Then we ate lunch and went to the Portwood's, which was great. Then we went to Brother Giese's. He took us team teaching to a less active, where we had a great lesson and discussion. After that, we went back to the Giese's and had a roast. Then, they bought us tickets to the play, so we went to that! It was pretty funny, we went there and Brother Guymon gave us some tickets (he was working the ticket booth) that ended up being for the empty spaces made for wheel chairs. We were looking around for our seats, and finally had to get an usher to get us some new tickets. It was pretty funny. The play ended pretty late, so we had to run out of the building the second the curtains closed to go home!
Sunday was GREAT. We had an awesome time at church, and had 5 investigators there... Including a new one that has been investigating the church in Kentucky for a couple months, and is super solid. After church, we went over to the Stachura's for dinner, which was great. It was pretty funny... Ma cooked everyone dinner. Her son and daughter in law are slackers. After that, we came home and talked on the phone for the rest of the day!
Monday was pretty good. Our first real action of the day was at lunch with Sister Bagnara and Vicki. Sister Bagnara's less active son was also there. He just got home for summer from college, and is a really cool guy. The lesson was great, and now Vicki and Sister Bagnara are going to go to church in Orland Park. Vicki didn't want to learn from the missionaries up there, but I think this will be a good way to shift her up there. I think I'll ask President Roach to let me go on an exchange with Elder Gardner when they can set up an appointment at Vicki's home. Well, those appointments always go for a really really long time, so we didn't do much else for the rest of the day. We had some failed stop- by's, so we took a combined lunch and dinner break and went to play a round of frisbee golf. That was really fun, but we got our dress pants muddy. Elder Hunt and I both scored 4 or 5 over on 27 holes, so we did alright (just wait). After that, we had a brief visit with the Murphys, then headed over to the Guymons' home to have a lesson with JoAnne, the new investigator from Kentucky. JoAnne was having some troubles with buying a new car, so she came really late. We still had a pretty good discussion, but it was too late to do too much. We set up an appointment with her at the Guymons' for next Sunday. That should be pretty good. She knew John Guymon from school, so they're the perfect fellowshipping family.
Tuesday was kind of funny. The morning started off by 3 of 4 appointments calling us to cancel. Then some people that we thought we could get appointments with crapped out too. We tried to find some new investigators in the morning, but were pretty unsuccessful. We eventually decided to take a lunch / dinner break to eat McDonald's and play a round of frisbee golf. I got a -8 this time, so there's some significant improvement! After our round of golf, we went to visit the less active Sister Brown, and her non member granddaughter. Sister Brown never comes to church, but wants her Granddaughter to be baptized. They are super friendly, and have testimonies of the Restored Gospel, so I think we've got some serious potential there. We've got another appointment with them for next week. After that, we visited the Nordsells, a less active part member family. After that, we visited the Weichingers, another less active part member family. After that, we visited Lisa Young really briefly. After that, we visited the Witts, yet another less active part member family. After that, we visited the Greys. It was a really busy and productive evening!
Today should be good. We've got a dinner appointment that's been rescheduled like 5 times, and has taken up all the slots on our calendar, but should be good. It's really rainy outside today, so we probably won't be able to play frisbee golf. Bummer. We were going to get 54 holes in today. At least. We really like frisbee golf.
Well, I love you a lot and am grateful for all you do! Take care and have a great week! The Gospel is true and I love you.
Elder Bradley E McMullin
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Mission Update -- 5/6/09
Wow, this week got away from me and I realized that I haven't posted last weeks email yet! First of all, I have to report that we had a FANTASTIC phone call from Elder M on Mother's Day!! We talked for a while and then conferenced my parents into the call so they were able to talk too. It was funny -- Brad asked us what the caller ID said when he called. We looked and told him it said Ali Syed. He said "Oh no, they still haven't changed it!!!" Apparently it's said that since they got it (maybe the previous owner of that number??) and they've called to get it fixed, but it never has been. Kind of funny! He told us that he is loving being in Frankfort. He says the members are so incredibly helpful and supportive that he hopes he can stay there for a while. He told us that there will probably be some baptisms soon. There are a couple of kids from a family that has become active that he thinks are well on there way to baptism and there is also a college age woman that they are teaching that is pretty close to baptism. So that's pretty exciting. We'll see how that progresses in his emails. As I think of more things from the conversation I'll post them, but here's a copy of the email that we got a few days before Mother's Day:
Hello Family!
Well, we just got news that we can't call home for mothers day. I guess our mission went over on minutes for the last 2 months straight, so we have to cut down... Not! I'm actually really excited to call! That's so funny you're both giving talks, Mom & Dad, Elder Hunt's parents both are too... And so is Elder Hunt! It seems like I'm the only one that got off free.
Well, this week was pretty good. It's always exciting to get a new companion, and Elder Hunt's a good guy. It's pretty funny... He was with the other Elder McMullin just a couple transfers ago. The other Elder Mac has been in Indiana the entire time I've been here, so I have only met him a couple times.
I'm excited to get the photos and letters you've sent. I just sent a letter home to Mother and have one going to Grandma soon! Hopefully they'll make it in time. Thanks for all you do Mothers!!! I love you a lot! Oh yeah, can you send me some more singulair please? Thanks!
Well, I've been doing pretty well... Except the new APs stole my Malibu. There's now 4 APs since we're missing 1 senior couple in the office. Some dumb Elder wiped snow off of our car with a metal shovel, and then we got another scratch on our car... So it "had to get fixed" AKA the APs wanted it. We've got a little Go Kart (Mazda 3) now, which is alright. It's alright though, the new APs are both great guys, so I can probably use this to get into Bourbonnais easily! And on exchanges, I helped find one of them a new investigator that I believe got baptized too...
Anyways, enough with that. Last Wednesday was pretty good... Elder Collier just packed, we went to dinner at the Stachuras, then said goodbye to the Cravens. That's pretty much it!
Thursday was pretty good. We drove up to transfers, said goodbye to Collier, then loaded up Elder Hunt's crap. It didn't fit in our little Mazda, so Elder Church and his Greenie (another Elder Hunt, this one from Fredonia, Arizona) took some of the Las Vegas Elder Hunt's stuff. We all went to lunch at Freddie's, then made the journey down to Frankfort. We stopped by someone in Hunt's old area on the way, which was pretty neat... Although I'm sure it was much more neat for him than it was for me. After that, we unloaded some stuff, then went to the Grey's. They're doing well, and were excited to see a new missionary. Elder Hunt's been out 20 months by the way, so he's just new to the area.
Friday was pretty good. We had a canceled appointment, then stayed at the house until the Bourbonnais Elders came up with Elder Hunt's stuff. We chatted with them for a while, then left to visit Jim. Jim and Hunt are actually old friends! Hunt started his mission in Orland Park, which is actually where Jim used to live.
**Aside - There's some crazy girl sitting close to me that is just cussing up a storm. She walked in a minute ago, and is just saying all these obscenities really loud! **
Ok, back to Friday. After Jim's we went and stopped by a potential, who turned out to be Buddhist, but is interested in all religions. She's a good gal, and a hard core hippie. After that, we visited the Cravens, who were pretty excited to meet Elder Hunt, because James is from Las Vegas too. After playing basketball and having a lesson with the Cravens, we went over to Lisa Young's home and had a good lesson / visit there.
Saturday didn't start out with a bang. Only 4 people showed up to frisbee, so we ended up just going to McDonald's for McGriddles (which are kind of nasty), then doing to play basketball at the Choate's house. We ended up just shooting a Choate boy's airsoft guns, which were CO2 powered and ridiculous, then going home to get ready for the day. We went out tracting for a while, and tracted a supposed Cub's players home / castle in New Lenox. Nobody answered, unfortunately. We ended up going to visit a couple of members, and having good lessons / family mission plan commitments. After that, we went to the Branch Progressive Dinner. We had dinner at the Murphy's home with The Murphys, Brother Erickson and Keri Stachura. It was really good! After eating ham, German Potato Salad (which is infinitely better than American Potato Salad), we left to the church for dessert and a game. It was a quiz game where they gave 10 facts about different people to see who knows everyone the best. I tied President and Sister Hunsaker and I think Sister Dupin with 5/8 right, but got beat in the tie breaker. Bummer! It was a really good activity, and the Cravens liked it a lot, which was great.
Sunday was pretty good, but pretty mixed. We had church, MCM, and a President Hunsaker Monthly Meeting. All of those went well, and we got a list of a few names of less actives to focus on. Elder Hunt got a migraine though, so after church we just went home, and he slept for the rest of the day. I read some Hugh Nibley and got really bored, but it was good to rest I guess.
Monday was pretty good. We had a really late District Meeting, which killed the day. Watseka had their monthly Meals on Wheels service, and didn't get a replacement for the day. After District Meeting, we went to go visit a family, and ended up watching their kid's little league game. That was pretty much the entire day.
Tuesday was pretty good. We visited Sharon, and had lunch there. After that, we went over to Tony Cammarata's (he's pretty much just Grandpa... Not a member of the church because he's stubborn, but still is a great guy.) and taught a lesson. Tony committed to reading from the Book of Mormon and praying about it though, which is actually pretty good! After the lesson, we cut his grass, and did some yard work. He was just in the hospital with a bad virus (not H1N1), and was incapacitated for a while. After that, he left and his wife came home, so we taught her a lesson too. Elder Hunt's migraine flared up again, so Sister Cammarata gave him some ice and cracked the heck out of his back. After that, we went home for a while so Hunt's head would stop hurting, then left for stop bys in the evening. We met with a Weichinger I haven't met, and taught her a lesson. Hooray for New Investigators. We tried a lot of other places, but couldn't get anyone. We did have some coupons for completely free KFC meals that Tony gave us though, so we got dinner there.
That leads us in to today. We haven't had much going on yet, but we're going to go down to Bourbonnais in a bit. We're going to mini golf there. We got a new car, so we got a lot of free miles, and Watseka just got a crazy amount of extra miles, so we're probably going to go down there fairly often, which will make P-Days a lot more fun. We've got a dinner appointment tonight, and the family is bringing over an investigator. Awesome. That's pretty much it for the day!
Oh yeah, the other day we tracted into a full family that committed to coming to church! The wife, Breeza (Spanish for Breezy) is from Puerto Vallarta, and they're all really friendly. They're pretty good potentials, and hopefully they'll join the church soon! We also tracted into this man that had been praying for help in his life, and enjoyed our discussion, but didn't want us to come back. That was really disappointing, but still was a testament of the Spirit guiding us to where we need to go.
Well, I'm doing well and am enjoying my mission! I know the Gospel blesses families, and am glad to bring joy into as many people's lives as possible!
Take care,
Can't wait to talk to you! A simple 3 way call will get you in G&G, so that will be good.
Love,
Elder Bradley Edward McMullin
Hello Family!
Well, we just got news that we can't call home for mothers day. I guess our mission went over on minutes for the last 2 months straight, so we have to cut down... Not! I'm actually really excited to call! That's so funny you're both giving talks, Mom & Dad, Elder Hunt's parents both are too... And so is Elder Hunt! It seems like I'm the only one that got off free.
Well, this week was pretty good. It's always exciting to get a new companion, and Elder Hunt's a good guy. It's pretty funny... He was with the other Elder McMullin just a couple transfers ago. The other Elder Mac has been in Indiana the entire time I've been here, so I have only met him a couple times.
I'm excited to get the photos and letters you've sent. I just sent a letter home to Mother and have one going to Grandma soon! Hopefully they'll make it in time. Thanks for all you do Mothers!!! I love you a lot! Oh yeah, can you send me some more singulair please? Thanks!
Well, I've been doing pretty well... Except the new APs stole my Malibu. There's now 4 APs since we're missing 1 senior couple in the office. Some dumb Elder wiped snow off of our car with a metal shovel, and then we got another scratch on our car... So it "had to get fixed" AKA the APs wanted it. We've got a little Go Kart (Mazda 3) now, which is alright. It's alright though, the new APs are both great guys, so I can probably use this to get into Bourbonnais easily! And on exchanges, I helped find one of them a new investigator that I believe got baptized too...
Anyways, enough with that. Last Wednesday was pretty good... Elder Collier just packed, we went to dinner at the Stachuras, then said goodbye to the Cravens. That's pretty much it!
Thursday was pretty good. We drove up to transfers, said goodbye to Collier, then loaded up Elder Hunt's crap. It didn't fit in our little Mazda, so Elder Church and his Greenie (another Elder Hunt, this one from Fredonia, Arizona) took some of the Las Vegas Elder Hunt's stuff. We all went to lunch at Freddie's, then made the journey down to Frankfort. We stopped by someone in Hunt's old area on the way, which was pretty neat... Although I'm sure it was much more neat for him than it was for me. After that, we unloaded some stuff, then went to the Grey's. They're doing well, and were excited to see a new missionary. Elder Hunt's been out 20 months by the way, so he's just new to the area.
Friday was pretty good. We had a canceled appointment, then stayed at the house until the Bourbonnais Elders came up with Elder Hunt's stuff. We chatted with them for a while, then left to visit Jim. Jim and Hunt are actually old friends! Hunt started his mission in Orland Park, which is actually where Jim used to live.
**Aside - There's some crazy girl sitting close to me that is just cussing up a storm. She walked in a minute ago, and is just saying all these obscenities really loud! **
Ok, back to Friday. After Jim's we went and stopped by a potential, who turned out to be Buddhist, but is interested in all religions. She's a good gal, and a hard core hippie. After that, we visited the Cravens, who were pretty excited to meet Elder Hunt, because James is from Las Vegas too. After playing basketball and having a lesson with the Cravens, we went over to Lisa Young's home and had a good lesson / visit there.
Saturday didn't start out with a bang. Only 4 people showed up to frisbee, so we ended up just going to McDonald's for McGriddles (which are kind of nasty), then doing to play basketball at the Choate's house. We ended up just shooting a Choate boy's airsoft guns, which were CO2 powered and ridiculous, then going home to get ready for the day. We went out tracting for a while, and tracted a supposed Cub's players home / castle in New Lenox. Nobody answered, unfortunately. We ended up going to visit a couple of members, and having good lessons / family mission plan commitments. After that, we went to the Branch Progressive Dinner. We had dinner at the Murphy's home with The Murphys, Brother Erickson and Keri Stachura. It was really good! After eating ham, German Potato Salad (which is infinitely better than American Potato Salad), we left to the church for dessert and a game. It was a quiz game where they gave 10 facts about different people to see who knows everyone the best. I tied President and Sister Hunsaker and I think Sister Dupin with 5/8 right, but got beat in the tie breaker. Bummer! It was a really good activity, and the Cravens liked it a lot, which was great.
Sunday was pretty good, but pretty mixed. We had church, MCM, and a President Hunsaker Monthly Meeting. All of those went well, and we got a list of a few names of less actives to focus on. Elder Hunt got a migraine though, so after church we just went home, and he slept for the rest of the day. I read some Hugh Nibley and got really bored, but it was good to rest I guess.
Monday was pretty good. We had a really late District Meeting, which killed the day. Watseka had their monthly Meals on Wheels service, and didn't get a replacement for the day. After District Meeting, we went to go visit a family, and ended up watching their kid's little league game. That was pretty much the entire day.
Tuesday was pretty good. We visited Sharon, and had lunch there. After that, we went over to Tony Cammarata's (he's pretty much just Grandpa... Not a member of the church because he's stubborn, but still is a great guy.) and taught a lesson. Tony committed to reading from the Book of Mormon and praying about it though, which is actually pretty good! After the lesson, we cut his grass, and did some yard work. He was just in the hospital with a bad virus (not H1N1), and was incapacitated for a while. After that, he left and his wife came home, so we taught her a lesson too. Elder Hunt's migraine flared up again, so Sister Cammarata gave him some ice and cracked the heck out of his back. After that, we went home for a while so Hunt's head would stop hurting, then left for stop bys in the evening. We met with a Weichinger I haven't met, and taught her a lesson. Hooray for New Investigators. We tried a lot of other places, but couldn't get anyone. We did have some coupons for completely free KFC meals that Tony gave us though, so we got dinner there.
That leads us in to today. We haven't had much going on yet, but we're going to go down to Bourbonnais in a bit. We're going to mini golf there. We got a new car, so we got a lot of free miles, and Watseka just got a crazy amount of extra miles, so we're probably going to go down there fairly often, which will make P-Days a lot more fun. We've got a dinner appointment tonight, and the family is bringing over an investigator. Awesome. That's pretty much it for the day!
Oh yeah, the other day we tracted into a full family that committed to coming to church! The wife, Breeza (Spanish for Breezy) is from Puerto Vallarta, and they're all really friendly. They're pretty good potentials, and hopefully they'll join the church soon! We also tracted into this man that had been praying for help in his life, and enjoyed our discussion, but didn't want us to come back. That was really disappointing, but still was a testament of the Spirit guiding us to where we need to go.
Well, I'm doing well and am enjoying my mission! I know the Gospel blesses families, and am glad to bring joy into as many people's lives as possible!
Take care,
Can't wait to talk to you! A simple 3 way call will get you in G&G, so that will be good.
Love,
Elder Bradley Edward McMullin
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