Mission Update 10/7/09

All is going well! We received a flash drive from Brad a couple of days ago with several pictures on it and three little videos. At some point I'll try to post them, but for now, enjoy the email:


Hello Family,

It's good to hear from you. That will be so fun you're going on a cruise! Send me some pictures of that. Is any other family going?

It was pretty fun going to the mission office a couple days after Dad! Thanks for bringing that stuff in! It's pretty nice, there's an Edwardo's pretty close to the Chicago Temple, so we'll be able to go get some on Saturday! Yum.

Ok... You asked for what I want for Christmas. How about an IOU for a ski pass for Winter 2010-2011? Or maybe a personal trainer IOU since I'm not in the greatest shape ever? Or a new suit for when I get home? Hahaha, I don't really need anything much out here on my mission. Just give the girls extra presents! I wouldn't mind more nice socks actually.

Yep, you said we've got transfers next week, and we do. We're both thinking we'll probably stay together... Which will be our 3rd transfer. I don't know why, but it seems like that will happen. It should be pretty interesting to see what else happens in the Zone.

Oh... Here's the investigator update. Kim is no longer set for baptism next Sunday. She wasn't quite as open with her parents as she made it sound, and they want to learn more before they let her get baptized. She still really wants to, and they're pretty open, so it should be fine. I'll let you know what's new there. There is good baptismal news though... Kayla is going to get baptized on October 24th! They've come to church, and are doing really well, so she'll be good to go!

Here's what happened last week:

Last Wednesday, we went to dinner at the Rosas' home for dinner after playing tennis. It was great.

Thursday was pretty good. We prepared for Stake MCM, which is always on the 1st Sunday. After that, we went to visit and teach Amanda. She's doing ok, but not great. After that, we went and taught the less active Sister D. She's "Baptist" and pretty funny. After that, we visited Sister Apodaca, then David. After seeing both them, we went to teach Krista and Jessica. They're doing well. They went on a road trip to Oklahoma with their family over the weekend. After that, we went to dinner at the Houghtons. It was pretty fun over there. They've got really funny kids. After that, we went over to the Zacas home, and had a good lesson with the family. Kayla and her mom accepted a baptismal date, and are pretty excited for the baptism. We are too. After that, we went over to Elitania's home to teach her. She's doing pretty well, and is reading the Book of Mormon still. Her gas has been off for a while, and she's been a little ill, but she'll be fine. After that, we went home.

Friday was pretty good. We had President's interviews / District Meeting at the mission office at 11. That was pretty good. I got Dad's stuff when I was there. President and Sister Roach said thanks for what you gave them, Dad. After that, we went to finish Stake MCM. One companionship didn't give information up, so we had to wait to get it. After that, we went to teach Nancy. After that, we went to the Gamboas. We did some stop bys, and had an overall pretty slow day after that.

Saturday was great! We had a lot of General Conference to watch. We had a meeting with the Assistants before the first session, which was good. After that, we all went to the Stake Center to watch Conference. It was great. Between sessions, we drove to Aurora to teach David, and try to get him to come to Conference. He told us it was "eternally boring" and that last time he watched it, he was scarred for life. Quite the hyperbole. We gave him President Dieter F Uchtdorf's talk to watch on the computer, and figured that would be good. After that, we drove all the way back to the Stake Center for the second session. That was great. After that, we came back to Aurora with the intention of doing stop bys. There was traffic, and there was very little time, so we just ate some dinner. After that, we went all the way back for Priesthood session, which was great.

Sunday was really good too. We had Stake MCM at 9:30. That went well. The Zone surpassed last years total over the last month, and is doing extremely well. August was the best month in 3 years at least, and possibly even the history of the Stake. The leadership is getting really excited, as are we. After that, we watched Conference, which was great. Between sessions, we went to the Taylors' home. They're a family in the Naperville 1st Ward. The Taylors, and the Mannings (the family of the missionary work High Councilman) had almost the entire Zone over for lunch. It was great. After that, we drove to Aurora to watch Conference at the Zacas' home. That went well too. After that, we went over to dinner at the Verhaarens' home. Brother Verhaaren is an archaeologist. Pretty neat. That ended up being about it for the day.

Monday was pretty good. We went to the Spanish District's District Meeting. After that, we exchanged. Elder Solis came here to Naper 4 with me, and Elder Denter went with Elder Yarrington to speak Spanish for the day. Elder Solis and I had a great day. It was fun to hear about his home country Peru. His dad was a mission president over there, and they would have close to 4000 baptisms a year in that mission! Our goal for the year is 275, and that is considered incredible here! Crazy. Anyways, we went to visit the Gamboas, and had a good lesson there. After that, we went to a doctor's appointment Elder Solis had so he could get some shots. It went well. After that, we went to visit a less active family whom I had cold called out of the ward list the other day. It turns out it's a huge part member family that is super nice, and really interested. The Akrongs are looking good, and hopefully we can see them progress really well. Sister Akrong is from Ghana, and has an adopted daughter living with her. The adopted daughter, Kelly, has got 5 kids and has lately been feeling like she needs to attend a church. We're excited to help her out. After that, we went to the Mitchells for dinner. Brother Mitchell is a High Councilman, and was preparing a talk on Preach My Gospel, so we had a lesson about that. After that, we went over to share a message with the Adams family. Brother Adams is a religious scholar, and is really smart. We enjoy going over there to "teach" and learn a lot from questions we ask him. We had a good time there, then went home for the evening.

Tuesday went well too. We taught Amanda Alvarez in the morning before exchanging back. We then exchanged back. Elder Denter and I went straightaway to the Hesed House. It was crazy there. There was a fight. They took the two men into the office, where I happened to be. They closed the door, and I got the opportunity to be about 5 feet away as they sorted things out, and ended up kicking a guy out of the shelter. Soon after that, a man had a siezure, and the paramedics were called. That was all the excitment for the day, but it was definitely enough. After leaving the Hesed House, we went to read the Book of Mormon with Mike C. He's doing alright. After that, we went to stop by and tract. We had some good tracting in the rain, but didn't find an investigator. We got a good potential though. After that, we went to visit Brandon and Nancy. We took Brandon with us to teach Krista and Jessica, who are doing alright. After that, we took Brandon home, then went over to the Newcombes' home for dinner. We helped them prepare and eat chicken parmesan. It was good. They're family is really nice, and they've got a genius daughter. Jenna just turned 8, and was great at giving really in depth answers to questions. She even at one point told us how rainbows are the sign of the covenant that God made with Noah that he would never flood the earth again. She also wants to be a Sister missionary, and will make a great one! That was pretty much it for the day. We did some deep cleaning when we got home in the evening though, which was good to do.

Today should be fun. We're going over to the Stake Center to play some indoor soccer and have fun. We've got a dinner with the Coopers (some New Yorkers), then have an appointment with Tania, then will go on exchanges with the Naper 6 Elders.

Well, I'm enjoying my service of the Lord, and love His work. I love you all, and am grateful for all you do for me. Keep looking for missionary opportunities and share the Restored Gospel with others! Have a great week, and a fun cruise.

Love,

Elder Bradley E McMullin

PS you got all the pictures I sent