Mission Update 12/23/09

We had a nice talk with Elder M. on Christmas. It was good to hear his voice. It was a pretty short visit (relatively), so I don't have too much to report from the call, but we sure enjoyed visiting with him! He had several appointments at members' homes throughout the day, so that was good to hear. Quite different from last year when he was in the Stockyards! Here's his email from a couple of days before Christmas:

HELLO FAMILY,

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE EVE! I hope all is well in Tempe. Our phone call in 2 days should be great. Just like the missionaries in Tempe, we're going to a member family's home for Christmas breakfast.[Our missionaries here in Tempe came to our house for breakfast.] We'll be at the Houghtons. After that, we'll come home and have the phone calls. I'll probably call at around 12 our time. After I call, you'll have to call us right back, so it's counted as an incoming call. We've just got the rule for this years Christmas calls too... Only 40 minutes. It will be ok though, but we should probably set up some sort of system of who gets to talk when, and for how long, etc. You come up with that... I'm excited to talk to everyone! I've also got a Christmas package that I'm going to send home that will unfortunately come late. Sorry I'm such a procrastinator. I'll just tell you what it is though, so you don't have to wait too long.

The gift is a copy of the Book of Mormon for everyone, and a challenge that goes with it - read that copy of the Book of Mormon, and mark it in a particular way... by Easter! After you've finished it, write your testimony of the Book in the back. I'm looking forwards to hearing about your experience. I've been doing a very similar challenge that our mission gave to us, but with the goal being Christmas. I have discovered I am incapable of completing a cursory reading of the Book of Mormon (I read about 8 chapters before developing a more thorough marking system, and annotating nearly every page), and will not complete the challenge by Christmas. Even with my tearing apart of the Book of Mormon, I should finish before too long. I've given you more time than our mission gave us, so you should be able to thoroughly read the Book of Mormon quite easily. You do have to buy your own red and blue colored pencils though. Thanks!

So, this last week has been great. In order to save time on the phone, I'll write about as much as I usually do. Here is the week:

We had a great Wednesday. We did some preparation and also went to play soccer at the Stake Center. It was pretty fun. After that, we went to teach Jeremy Hwang. He's doing great, as is his family. We didn't get to teach his wife that day, but it was still good. After that, we went to dinner at the Neuders. They're doing great with their missionary work. They're giving out 6 copies of Joy to the World to their friends, and are going to invite one of their friends to take the missionary lessons before New Years! We're very excited to see how the Lord blesses them for their missionary efforts.

On Thursday we had quite a few appointments fall through, so it was a somewhat abnormal day. We had some good finding opportunities though, and did have some good lessons. We taught Nikita again, and she recommitted to progress, and set a baptismal date. Chiquita has had some bad things happen to her, which really shook up both her and Nikita. That put a momentary halt in their progression unfortunately, but Nikita is doing great. Chiquita should be fine too. We also found a new investigator in Maple Terrace named Nicole. She expressed interest in baptism, and accepted a date as well. We got to teach Jessica Langston, which went well. The Langston family is doing great. We took Mike out with us to do some stop bys, which didn't really lead to much of anything. After that, we took Mike over to Nancy's with us for dinner. We taught about preparing for the temple. They're both doing great. Brandon is doing well too, and is going to be ordained to be a Priest soon.

Friday was good. We had Zone Conference, which was good. We had a lot of the normal stuff, but watched the movie "The 4th Wise Man," which was pretty fun. I conducted the first half of the combined session, and Elder Ahlman conducted the second half. Our Zone training went well too. Lunch was catered by our Ward, which was pretty fun. After Zone Conference, we did stop bys and finding before dinner. We got taken out to eat by the Housers. They got us a T-bone steak and ribs, which was really nice. It was very good. We taught them there at the restaurant. After that, our day was pretty much over.

Saturday was a really productive day. We had MCM in the morning, which was great. After that, we had some finding time. We found one potential investigator that committed to attending church! That fell through due to some maintenance workers helping her do something at her home on Sunday, but she wants to learn and come to church. We're going to teach her today actually. Anyways, we eventually went to Maple Terrace. We first taught Wilma with Mike. She's pretty deaf, but it was a good lesson. After that, we taught Nikita with Mike. She's doing great, and is looking forwards to progressing. Without any solicitation from us, she's been praying for help preparing for baptism! After teaching her, we went to teach Krista and Jessica. Jessica committed to being baptized! Krista wants to as well. Now their only concern is choosing when. They're torn between getting baptized now, or waiting for their brother to turn 16 and be baptized by him in July. We're going to teach them today, and help them with that. After that, we visited Sister Apodaca. We then went to teach the Beans, which went very well too. We then went to the Stavrons for dinner. That was very fun and very good. They're doing great, and are going to Georgia for dinner. Since Brother Stavron won't be in town for his Sunday School class, Mark Pope will be teaching!

Sunday was a pretty good day. We didn't have morning meetings, which was kind of nice. We did have a great day at church though. Nikita loved it. Krista and Jessica sang in the choir, which was pretty fun. We also heard some great talks and some great musical numbers. After church, we had some good appointments, all of which with members. We helped the Eldgredges with their missionary work. They're going to distribute some media, and help a friend with family history. They're going to try and set up that friend with the family history center in the Stake Center, which should be great. Hopefully they'll be able to get a pedigree chart, and possibly have missionaries deliver it and a message! We later had dinner with the La Plants. They're a very nice family. They're coming up with 5 names of people to share the Gospel with. The Adams are doing well too. We visited them, and helped them with their missionary work. They set up a time for us to visit with one of their friends to give her a Christmas DVD. We aslo had a meeting with the Assistants to discuss the Zone and needs for transfers.

Monday was a good day. We had President's Interviews and District Meeting at the mission office. That went very well. Our mission is doing great. We've already broken the (at least recorded in somewhat recent history) record for most baptisms in a year, and are very close to reaching our mission goal of 275 baptisms! It will come right down to the wire, and will require almost all of the baptismal sets to go through this next weekend. We're praying they do! After this, we had an appointment with Krista and Jessica. They're doing well. We also had a dinner appointment with the Capeners. They invited a whole bunch of people over for dinner and FHE. They had the Hoyts, the Houghtons, the Israelsens, and Jeremy Hwang's family over. It was really fun, and was a great experience for Sister Hwang. In addition to dinner and a lesson, there was also a huge lightsaber and nerf gun fight with all the kids. Elder Ahlman and I got mob attacked, which was pretty funny.

Tuesday was Elder Ahlman's birthday, which went well. We had the Hesed House, like always. After that, we went to visit Mike. We also went to teach Roger, who is doing ok. He's going through a lot, and is really doing well. After teaching him, we went to teach Lorenszo, and ended up teaching a couple of his friends. One is a Hesed House resident, and the other is Bill, who lives in Maple Terrace. We see Bill almost every time we're in Maple Terrace, and he's turned down our offers to learn so many times it's become a sort of running joke. He really does want to learn now, and seems like he'll progress well. After this, we went to read the Book of Mormon with Jeremy. He made a detailed chart of who wrote what scriptures including the Brass plates, both sets of Nephi's plates, the Old Testament, New Testament, and Doctrine and Covenants. He also made a family history chart of Lehi's family, even including Israel and Joseph of Egypt. Let's just say Jeremy is doing really well. He got the Priesthood on Sunday too! After that appointment, we went to the Houghtons for dinner. They're doing really well, and are having us over for Christmas breakfast, which should be great. After that, we went to teach Nikita at the Matucks. They're another great family, and gave Elder Ahlman a birthday Cubs scarf. I also got one because "they missed my birthday." They're doing really really well, and are happy to continue helping us teach investigators.

Today should be good. It's not a Preparation day, but we're allowed to email. We've got some good appointments set up, so it should be great.

Well, you all take care. I'm looking forwards to talking to you. Thanks for all you do! Have a great Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.

Love,

Elder Bradley E McMullin