Elder M. left on July 30, 2008, so tomorrow is his "hump day". Ed and I talked this morning about "one year ago today". One year ago today was a pretty stressful day for Elder M. -- just general, normal feelings of anxiety...until he was set apart in the evening. Then he became calm and peaceful and I don't think he's had a minute of being anything but enthusiastic since then. It's been a good year.
This was his first week in Naperville! Here's what he had to say:
Hello Family!
It sounds like you've all been pretty busy. How is Nevada? [Taylor is in Nevada on vacation.] How is quiet quiet home? [That's for mom and dad, not on any vacations!!] I can't wait to hear about Israel! [Caitlin is in Israel on vacation.]
I've been doing pretty well. We've had some awesome stuff happen here. This area is pretty nice. It's got some really really weird boundaries, so I can't give you the exact ones, but here's the address of our apartment clubhouse, where we email - 245 N Oakhurst. It's in Aurora I think, but is on the border of Aurora and Naperville. Our area is super small, and shaped like a half-straightened banana. Weird. We only have us in this ward. Naperville has some missionaries that cover two wards though... It's pretty dense LDS.
Elder Denter is awesome, and we're doing quite well here. They had one investigator with a baptismal date when I came in, which is nice (not the one you saw... That's a member's child). Since then, we've committed a couple more, and have found some new investigators too. Sweet.
So, last Wednesday was pretty sad. Last day in Frankfort. Other than packing, we visited a whole bunch of people from the Branch. I had such a great time in Frankfort, and will miss it. The Guymons gave me a gift bag and a tie, which was really nice of them.
Thursday was pretty good. We left for transfer meeting in the early morning. There was hardly any traffic, which was nice, so we got there really early. We had a good meeting, ate lunch, then left for Naperville. I now get cals from people having problems. The first was a missionary from Peru and his new-to-the-area companion who got lost. We busted out the GPS and figured out they were right next to their apartment. After that, we came back and unpacked a little bit, then did a bunch of stop bys. We also had one set appointment, which went well. We committed and set an investigator for baptism on August 15th! It was a pretty good first appointment. The investigator's name is Jeremy. He's one that has been nervous for a while, but keeps commitments he makes. After that, we visited a bunch of other people, but nothing else was quite so exciting.
Friday was pretty good. We started it off by tracting, and had a great time. The first person we talked to and invited us in. Regelio was slightly crazy, but interested. He liked to talk about the Gospel, and decry the iniquities of internet addicted children. We got a return appointment, then got out of there to go to our first appointment of the day. We headed out to go visit Brother Houser, who is recovering from quintouple bypass surgery. We were with him for a while, then left to go visit Javier, a man we found Thursday. We had a great lesson with Javier, who was extremely interested in the Gospel, and liked to discuss conspiracies. He was happy that the Restoration answered so many questions, and wants to learn more. Awesome. After that, we had an appointment that fell through, then went to visit a less active member. Ralph Cano is a war vetran, and is pretty funny. He's a recent convert, and enjoys missionary lessons. After that, we had dinner and did some stop bys for the evening.
Saturday was great. We had MCM in the morning, which was alright. We didn't have half the Branch like we were starting to in Frankfort, but it was still pretty good. We learned that an investigator that was a member, but had her records lost got cleared for baptism. She's been waiting for about 5 months or so. Her date is set for August 15th. After this we did some finding until we had an appointment with Kim, who's the friend of a couple young women. That went very well, but Kim is not quite ready for baptism. After that, we visited David, who's a 15 year old kid that should be baptized soon. We helped him make a study calendar, and got him a ride to church. After that, we had a couple of caneled appointments, then went to Stake Priesthood meeting.
Sunday was great. We missed PEC because we thought it was at 8, but it was really at 7. Oooops! We did have a good time at church though. This ward seems like it's pretty similar to the Tempe 10th. It's going to be hard to remember everyones names. After church, we had a couple appointments and ate dinner at Nancy's home. I got very ill to my stomach in the evening, so we came home and stayed there. Somethings been going around, because this was just the start for the Zone's sickness.
Monday was pretty good. We started it off with District Meeting, which went well. In the district we have the Geneva Elders, which are Elder Church (from Bourbonnais) and Elder Brown, the Prestbury Elders, Elder Sorensen (was in Soldier Field when I was in Stockyards), and Elder Houston (who was in the other Stockyards companionship). This is one of 3 districts in the Zone. Our Zone is pretty small, but still good. After District Meeting, we went to visit Regelio. He tubed us. We tracted though, and found a new investigator who was walking his dog. We got tubed by Javier too. We did have a good meeting with David, and better yet, his dad. David's father said he could get baptized when he really wants to. This is a huge improvement. David is praying and should be baptized soon. Awesome. After this, we had dinner at the Robbins family home. They were really nice, but had one crazy crazy kid. It was pretty good though. At the end of dinner, Elder Denter got very ill to his stomach, so we had to rush home and stay there. We learned that several other missionaries had the same problem too. Yikes.
Tuesday was pretty good. We started it off by working at a homeless shelter. They had us serve food and wrap a bunch of Christmas in July presents. After that, we taught one homeless man who was quite interested, and gave him some information. After that, we went to visit a recent convert. After that, we went to visit the investigator who was set when I got here, but whose baptismal date has fallen through. She had to go to the hospital, which was the problem, but should get a new date. After that, we went to go visit Jeremy with the Bishop's son, Ezra. That went really well. Jeremy has stopped drinking beer, and is pretty much ready for baptism now. After that, we went home to go to the restroom. As we were there, a young man knocked on our door and told us he wanted to hear a lesson. He had been taught about 9 months ago, and just had some questions. He has had a tough past and is concerned, and thus is a great investigator. We should see him soon, and hopefully can help him progress towards baptism. Sweet new investigator. After that, we went over to dinner at a young couple's home. We had a good meal and a good time there. After teaching them a lesson, we left to tract. We found a new person to teach at our second door. Awesome. This area sounds great huh? I think I came at the right time to see the work pick up. We just had the best week for the area in many months last week, and should have an even better week this week, so that is great.
Today should be good. We are going to go to an outlet mall with the district. I'll probably buy a new watch. My old one broke just barely. They've got a fossil outlet, so I can get a nice watch for really cheap. I've also got to get a hair cut to get ready for Zone Leader Council and Stake MCM.
Well, I love you all so much! Take care and have a great week!
Love,
Elder Bradley E. McMullin
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