Mission Update -- 6/24/09

We received this email while we were in San Diego on vacation, so it's taken a while to post it. Sounds like Chicago was beyond miserable (hot and humid) that week! Here's the email:


Hello Family,
I hope you're having a good time at the beach!!! I sure hope it's nice out there, because it is miserable here! It's been in the 90's with 90% humidity! You pour sweat even walking from the car to a house, let a lone teaching people at doorsteps! Good news though - The Swensons let us put an air conditioner in our home!
So how is the beach this year? Is everyone boogie boarding? Playing baseball? Are the Bentzs and Johnstons there this year? I'm assuming the Piochers are. Tell everyone hi!
Well, this last week has been pretty good, other than it being gross outside. Spring is over. We apparently had the wettest Spring in recorded Chicago history!!!! It's rained SO MUCH! It still rains, but has mostly just gotten hellishly humid. It's not that hot, it's just gross in a suit. Ok, I'm done complaining about that... Here's what we did for the week:
Wednesday after we emailed was pretty good! The whole district came up to frisbee golf. We did best disc teams. My teammate and I shot -10, which is not too bad. After playing frisbee golf (which is just like golf, but with frisbees. Instead of holes, there are metal baskets that you toss them into), we went over to the Cammaratas for dinner. We committed Tony to baptism again, but he's still not ready (hahaha). We had a good Italian roast, pasta, ice cream cake, and lesson. After that, we went over to Lisa Young's for a lesson, which went well. We had JoAnne over there too, and went over parables.
Thursday was pretty great! We had a good lesson with the Browns in the morning, then visited Sharon, then visited Jim, then did some planning, then got ready for the evening. We went over to the Carlsons for dinner, then went out to teach with President Carlson, but didn't get the chance with anyone, so we went to the Weichingers' home to teach them after he left for a meeting.
Friday was great too. We had an early morning meeting at the Vines' home, then went over to the Cancialosis' to teach Bob. He changed his baptismal date to July 11th, and is excited to enter the waters of baptism! We're excited for him too! After that, we came home to put the air conditioner in... The Swensons work at the temple on Fridays, so this was our chance. We put it in, got it all set up, then stood in front of it for a long time. After this, we went back out to sweat, and ended up teaching a lesson to an atheist, and got a return appointment. He didn't believe in God, but was quite open to finding out if he exists through reading the Book of Mormon. It went really well actually. After that, we went over to the Cravens' for dinner, and had a good lesson there. It started raining and storming like crazy when we were over there, so we stayed there for a while. There were tornado watches and stuff near by, so it was pretty crazy. They're excited for the baptism too, as are we!
Saturday was pretty good. It was still pretty nasty out, and crazy humid and hot. We just could not set any appointments up, so we deep cleaned our room. It looks so good now! Later in the afternoon, we taught Joaquin, then went over with him and some other people for a cookout at Lisa Young's. It was really good and really fun. That was pretty much it for the day.
Sunday was a very mixed day. We had a pretty good time at church, and had a linger longer. Then we got some bad news. Kevin (Sharon's son) got hit by a train and was killed. We went over to Sharon's to see what we could do and to discuss the Plan of Salvation. It's pretty sad, but she is very comforted by the Plan. She's hanging in there, but the whole family could use a lot of prayers. After that, we went over to the Carlsons for dinner, games, and a lesson. That was quite fun, and was the last thing we did for the day. It was really weird... It started raining there when we were eating, but was only raining in the front yard. The back yard was totally dry! Weirdest thing ever. Well, here's a late Happy Fathers Day to you Dad and Grandpa! Did you both get the cards I sent you??
Monday was as good as can be. We had a district meeting in the morning which went well. It was hot as heck, so we went to McDonald's for ice cream and lunch... Only to find out their ice cream machine was broken!! Lame. After that, Elder Richmond came back to Frankfort with me (to do the Cravens' interviews). We visited Sharon (who is doing much better now than she was on Sunday), then JoAnne. After those lessons, we went over to the Fredricks' home for dinner, and to help them create a family mission plan. After that, we went over to Lisa Young's home. They're pretty upset about Kevin's death too. Monday wasn't a very happy day overall.
Tuesday was really great! We had a ton of appointments, which was awesome... Especially because it was the hottest and most humid day ever. We started off by having a lesson with the Cancialosis. Bob's excited for his baptism. After that, we ate some Wendy's for lunch, then went over to Joaquin's. After that, we took him with us to go to Austin's (he's a less active). After that, we took Joaquin with us to go visit the atheist, but it turns out the atheist wasn't home. Bummer. Joaquin told us he did that a lot too when he was first investigating the church, which makes me laugh. After that, we talked to Sharon, then went and stood in front of our air conditioner. We got ready, then went over the Cravens for their baptismal interview and lesson. After that, we went over to the Murphys' for hamburgers and banana splits! That was one of the best desserts I've ever had on my mission. After that, we went over to the Portwoods' for a lesson. It went well enough for them to give us some really good eclair cake. Yum. I'm getting so fat.
Today should be great. We're going to go down to Bourbonnais soon to switch back and to do whatever. Maybe mini golf. After coming back, we've got an appointment for dinner and a lesson with an investigator. Sweet.
Well, you take care! I'm loving my mission. It's great to serve the Lord full time. He's blessed us so much, and I'm grateful for that.
With love,
Elder Bradley Edward McMullin