Mission Update 12/16/09

Only one more week until we get to talk to our dear Elder!! I'm sure looking forward to it. Here's his email for the week:

Hello Family,

Things are going pretty well. We're getting excited for Christmas! It will be great to talk to you, and hear how you are doing. Can you believe it's already been a year? It has gone by so fast!

So when is winter break for school? Finals? Good luck on those! What are you doing for the Christmas season too? We've got a few appointments on Christmas Day, so we'll have to email you next Wednesday to set up a call time. Christmas is our P-Day, but we'll probably email at lunch break, just like we did before Thanksgiving.

Here's some answers to questions that were sent to me:

I have not got anything for Christmas yet! They're holding all of the boxes in the mission office and are going to give everything out at Zone Conference. It's going to be a zoo! It will be fun to catch up on all of my "12 days!" [We sent him little gifts to open for the 12 days of Christmas, starting on Dec. 13. Oops, that day passed! I guess they'll have 5 or 6 days to open at once!]

Last week it did snow a lot after I took the picture! It was a pretty intense storm. It warmed up for a day or two, and a lot has melted. Since then, it's been in the teens a lot though. All the ice is frozen solid, and sounds like breaking glass when you step on it.

Ok there you go.

So, here's a few more of my questions... Mom, how did the baptism go for the convert? Is this new stake presidency doing the same thing as the old - where they attend the baptism and buy them a set of scriptures? I was really impressed when I heard about that! Who are the counselors in the young mens presidency, Dad? How are you doing, Caitlin? I haven't heard from you in forever! You too, Tay. G&G as well.
Grandma, can you drive with your shoulder injury? We had a part member family we were working with whose mother had the same thing. She couldn't drive, so we had to try and find her a ride.

Well, things are going great. Here's some of what's happened within the past week:

The rest of last Wednesday was awesome! We had our Book of Mormon P-Day, which was good. We went out to proselyte in the evening, which went well. We had one appointment that tubed us. It was really cold out, so we froze as we walked up to her house. After that, we had a dinner appointment... With Jeremy Hwang and his family! It was really good. We had Bee-Bim-Bop, which is a delicious Korean dish, and also some Kai-beh, which is great too. Jeremy's wife is very nice, and was pretty open to our lesson. She's due in a couple weeks, but hopefully will start coming to church after the child is born. We taught about Eternal Families, which went well. We have another appointment with them for tonight actually.

Thursday was pretty good. We woke up and saw it was sunny out, so we were happy. It was 8 degrees, and -16 with wind chill! After our studies, we went out to shovel a family's driveway. They gave us some needed hot chocolate. After that, we did our weekly planning, which went well. Weekly planning is a pretty big ordeal. We go through and set a lot of goals, and how to achieve them. It's pretty effective at keeping us focused on what is most important. After that, we went to teach Roger! The Lord really began answering our prayers. Roger really is getting it. He loves the Book of Mormon, and was able to have many of his life long questions answered by it. While reading it in his personal study, he was given the confidence to attend church (which he did)! We had a good lesson there, and are happy to see his progression. After that, we went to do some more stop bys in Maple Terrace. We then went out tracting! We found a new investigator, which was great. Sebastian lives very close to Krista and Jessica. After tracting, we went to teach Krista and Jessica. The lesson went well, and both committed to come to church (Krista did). After that, we went to visit Denise. The lesson there went very well. She's quite busy, but is doing alright. It's pretty funny, her mother who passed away was actually something of a mother figure for Solomon Strickland! After visiting Denise, we met with the Spanish Elders and exchanged. Elder Ahlman went to be with Elder Melton in the Spanish area, and Elder Ferrel came to be with me in Naper 4. We then went to the Matuck's home for dinner and a lesson. We taught about Gifts of the Spirit with them, which went well. Other than Sister Matuck being a little sick, they're doing great! They're setting their eyes on the temple and being sealed.

Friday was a pretty good day for Elder Ferrel and I. After our studies, we went out proselyting. We met an awesome family in our parking lot. The Lord led us to meet Asencion, a Spanish woman that prefers English over Spanish, which is great, because the Spanish steal so many investigators. She lives close by with two kids. She brought up baptism when we talked with her, so hopefully she'll progress well! After that, we went over to the hospital to give Sister Glaviano a blessing. While there, we taught some visitors Sister Glaviano had, and helped her prepare to share the Gospel with others that were going to come in. It was pretty awesome actually. We also got the single best parking spot in the garage... They had a spot for clergy which was even closer to the enterance than the handicapped spots. Awesome. Anyways, after this, we went to visit Nancy and her family. They're doing well. They were getting ready for Brandon's birthday. We had a great lesson there. Afterwards, we went over to the Gamboas to get some work for the Spanish Elders. Sister Gamboa had to leave for work, but we taught Alex and Lidia, and gave them both a pass a long card to hand out. After that, we went to the Beans' home, and taught them. They're a really nice family, and are also pretty funny. They're very similar to Elder Gardner. After that, we went to the Israelsens for dinner and a lesson. We got a referral from them, which was very nice. After this, we exchanged back, then went to teach the Housers. We helped them make plans to share the Gospel with others. They're giving out several copies of the Book of Mormon, and some other media from the Church. You ought to do the same!

Saturday was a pretty interesting day. We had a great MCM. We also had quite a few appointments, but ended up not teaching much at them. We helped the Beans put up insulation over their windows. It was pretty wild, and some scented oil was spilled which made everything stink. It was pretty funny though. After that, we took Stephen Bean with us to visit the Langstons. He fellowshipped with them really well, but we didn't get to teach. It was alright though... He got Charles excited about church, and activities. We then took Charles and Stephen over to Brandon's birthday party. While there, Elder Ahlman and I cooked hamburgers and pizza. Most of the Young Men came to Brandon's party, which was great. After this we had a dinner appointment with the Zinns. It went really well, and was pretty fun. We were able to set them up with a ton of media to hand out to their friends. They're pretty excited for this missionary work, and are excited to help others come unto Christ!

Sunday was pretty good. We had some good meetings in the morning, and a great Sunday at church. Brother Pope attended High Priests the week before, and volunteered to teach this week. So, a week after being confirmed a member of the Church, he was the teacher for the High Priests Group! After church, we did some finding. It was pretty cold tracting, but it was worth it. We found a great new investigator that pulled up to a house right before we went to knock on it. We also talked to some Hispanics and kind of helped them set up a garage door and opener. After that, we had an early dinner with the Harris family. They are awesome! They cooked us steaks. The grill didn't really work well, because it was so cold, so they took the half grilled steaks inside and put them in the oven. They were delicious. The Harris family is doing great missionary work. They made us a ton of fliers for the Christmas Devotional, and invited 8 or so people, I believe. They've also given out a copy of the Friend, and have invited a family to be taught by the missionaries! We're very excited to see the blessings that the Lord pours upon them for their service! They also gave us a box of Captain Crunch. Anyways, after dinner there, we went to the Woodridge Pageant. It is a huge production put on by the Woodridge Wards. It's of the Nativity, and is complete with live animals and everything. They even had Hollywood spotlights shining from the church building that you could see from miles away. It was pretty intense. They had a ton of things going on inside as well, so it was a great experience for everyone.

Monday was a pretty good day. We planned Zone Conference for a good chunk of it. We also had to go to Pep Boys to get our oil change. That unfortunately took forever. After that, we took out a young man to teach with us. We went to the Mitchells home to help them with service, and also to teach them. They're doing great with their missionary work. They're giving out some media, and gave us a referral! They're also preparing to go on a mission. We're excited to see their ministry continue. After that, we went to the Eldredges' home for dinner. We taught them, and set up another appointment to help them plan their missionary work. They're a great family, and have helped us out a lot. It was actually on a team teaching excursion that Brother Eldredge took Elder Denter and I to visit the Zacas. This started the chain of appointments that led to Kayla's baptism (they're doing well, and are excited for church to change from 9AM to 11AM for the new year). After this, we went over to the Nielsen's home (where we taught Kim Christie) to swap with the Naper 6 Elders. After eating ice cream with the Nielsens, Elder Baum and I went over to Brother Mitchell's son's home to do a baptismal interview for Brother Mitchell's grandson's friend, who will be baptized this weekend. It went very well. Elder Baum and Elder Hathenbruck had told us his name was David Martinez when they first set him for baptism a month and a half ago. I forgot his first name, and was praying for "Brother Martinez" for quite some time. I found out there that his last name is actually Ramirez. I don't know who this Brother Martinez is that I was praying for, but I hope he appreciates the prayers! Anyways, David is awesome. He'll be a great member. After that interview, we exchanged back. We split because we had an appointment with the Rosas in our area. Elder Ahlman and Elder Kotowski helped them plan their missionary work. They're awesome. They've brought over 7 friends to church since I've been here. They also were instrumental in the reactivation of the Matucks, and have been great support for the Popes. They're now going to hand out some media. We're excited to see the opportunites that come up for them to invite others to take the missionary lessons as they distribute these gifts.

Tuesday was a pretty good day. We had the Hesed House, which was good. After that, we went to Maple Terrace and taught some people there. Mike is awesome, and has really been helping us out a lot. He really likes Pepsi, so we think we're going to get him a big bottle of Coca-Cola for Christmas! We also taught Lorenszo, who committed to coming to church. After this, we did stop bys, which went well. We didn't really get much out of doing it though. We also made a lot of calls and got a list of more people to stop by. After this, we went to the Matucks for dinner. We had a great lesson with them, that was truly given to us by revelation in Companion Study in the morning. We read a lot of 1 Nephi 17, and made some specific comparisons to their lives. Their next step in preparing for the Temple is going to be getting their Patriarchal Blessings! They came up with that, and are excited for it. They're going to talk to the Bishop about that on Sunday.

Today should be good. We've got some fun stuff going on during the day, then an awesome line up of appointments for the evening. We're going to teach Jeremy and his family, go to the Neuders' home for dinner, and finally meet with the Adams to help them plan their next steps for missionary work. The Neuders have done an awesome job with their missionary work so far, and are working on giving out 6 DVDs. The Adams have brought over 3 people for us to teach in their home since I've been here (2 planned, 1 unwittingly). We're very excited to see the missionary zeal of this great Ward continue to increase.

Well, things are great. I hope you're doing well! I love you a lot, and am looking forward to talking with you. I'm glad I'm out here, and have the opportunity to share the Gospel with others. I know it is the way for us to inherit Eternal Life, and am to excited to help many of God's Children prepare for the life to come. I've got a great hope of a better world, and plan on living there with you.

Well, I'll talk to you next week (write and talk)! I hope you have an awesome week. My companion is typing some stuff up still, so if you want to write anything back now, I'll probably be able to answer it. [Sadly, I was gone when the email came, so no chance to email back. :-(]

Love,

Elder Bradley E McMullin