Mission Update 12/30/09

The last update from 2009! Here's Elder M's email:

Hello Family,

Things are going great! It was very good to hear from you. I did go get the present from Taylor, which was great. Without any disrespect to anyone who has given me a gift throughout my life (all of which I've appreciated), I'd like to say that Tay's scrap book very well may have been the single greatest Christmas gift I have ever received. That being said, I loved all the gifts everyone gave me, most especially the love and service which you have given me. Thank you.

I am very excited to hear how the Book of Mormon reading is going! Please send me updates on that every week. [He sent us all Books of Mormon and asked us to read and mark them a certain way.] Mother, I'm happy you're going through "how to read the scriptures" in Relief Society. That Gene R. Cook fireside you sent me is probably the authority on that topic. Elder Ahlman and I have learned a lot from it, and are learning much more as we apply his teachings into our lives. I can testify that the book is true, and have seen it's affect my life for the better.

So, here's some things that have gone on this week:

Thursday - Christmas Eve - was great! After the morning schedule, we went out to do some stop bys. We delivered some cookies and treats to people we needed to contact (remember how I said we were overflowing with food... This was our solution). We then went to Maple Terrace to teach. We taught Nikita and also saw a few people. After this, we went to the Adams to pick up some things, and say hi to them. Brother Adams gave us a ridiculous amount of talks and other literature. They're great. They also have been doing excellent missionary work - they've got us 3 people to teach in their home, and are working on another! After visiting them, we went to the Whipple's for Christmas Eve dinner and festivities. We had a great dinner, and had some fun with a talent show, showing of Mr. Kreuger's Christmas, and testimonies. After this, we came home and got ready.

Christmas was awesome! We woke up and opened presents. There were some left, which was nice. We went to the Houghtons for breakfast which was great. They cooked some home ground whole wheat pancakes. We had fun having a dart gun war, and sharing a message. Brother Houghton gave us 2 referrals for families in Elder Wiser's area. The Houghtons are great member missionaries. I also got to play the violin there, and made an arrangement of Canon in C for 2 violins and me on piano, which was fun. They've got two kids that play the violin, so we had a little trio going. After that, we came home to apartments and called home to our families! It was great talking to every one! After this, we went to the Housers for appetizers. They had over a few non-members and Jeremy Hwang's family! It was perfect to have the Hwangs in their home, and they enjoyed it. After spending a short amount of time there, we left for the Blackham's home for Christmas dinner. They are great, and we had a good time eating there. After this, we went to visit Nancy and Co., who had Mike C and Nikita over for Christmas. This was the end of our good Christmas.

Saturday was also a good day. We had some finding and stop bys throughout the day. We also had some good appointments. We had a lunch with the Weislers, which was great. We also got to teach quite a bit in Maple Terrace. We taught Nikita again. She's doing great, and is getting excited for her baptism. We also got to teach Gail, who committed to coming to church. We saw Krista and Jessica, and the Gamboas as well. We went to Nancy's for dinner and took Mike with us there. He's been coming out with us a lot lately, and is quite the missionary.

Sunday was a good day. We had some meetings in the morning before church. They went well. We had the blessing of partaking of the Sacrament at church, and also got to learn quite a bit. We heard a great talk on Eternal Families. We also got to learn from Brother Mark Pope, who taught Sunday School! He taught High Priests last week, and did Gospel Principles this week. Let's just say he's doing well. After church, we had weekly planning (usually on Thursday, but it got delayed because we were busy). We then went out to find. We didn't find anyone, but did stop by and had an excellent lesson with Krista and Jessica. We learned a lot throughout the evening about receiving and recognizing revelation, and it will probably go down as one of the most personally productive nights of our missions, if not our lives. We came up with a lesson plan for Krista and Jessica, then prayed before going into their home. A stupor of thought came, and we felt we shouldn't teach what we had planned. We discussed our feelings, then prayed for guidance on making a new lesson plan. The Lord blessed us, and gave us a lesson plan that was radically different from what we had planned on. We decided to confirm our feelings with the Lord, and received a burning in the bosom to confirm that we in with the Lord's lesson plan. The lesson was powerful. The Spirit was truly the "senior companion." Krista prayed in the lesson and the Spirit bore powerful witness of the importance of baptism. I was also blessed with much personal revelation. The great thing about this experience was that it was not an isolated one. We've applied the same principles and have been striving to teach using the Lord's lesson plans. Instead of just going off of the plans we came up with during weekly and daily planning, we're confirming with the Lord that they are in fact what He wants us to teach, and making changes when necessary. We had a couple of other experiences that same night that fully confirmed this is a true order of effectively receiving revelation. We also had a lesson with Nikita, which went well.

Monday was a pretty good day too. We had a good district meeting, then went out to proselyte. We utilized the same method to receive revelation pertaining to finding. This has brought an added measure of companionship unity almost beyond belief. We went finding, and were able to come back into contact with a former investigator who drove by us as we were tracting a street. The Lord truly did put him in our path, and us in his. We later went to visit Maple Terrace, and spent some time there. We left to do stop bys at some less active members' homes. After that, we went to the Matucks, who had us, Mike, and Nikita over, for dinner and a viewing of the Testaments. It was great. The Matucks are doing such wonderful missionary work, They're having us over weekly with investigators to be taught in their home. What a great service.

Tuesday was a productive day. We had the Hesed House after studies, as always. We worked on reorganizing some board games they had. After lunch, we went to Maple Terrace. We had our weekly scripture reading with Mike, We also gave Nikita a new baptismal calendar. We found a new investigator there, and taught her. The Lord put Dorothy in our path, and we're grateful for the chance to teach her. After we did, we went to teach Bill. He's going to read 2 Nephi 9 and 3 Nephi 11. After this, we went to visit Jeremy. He's doing very well. Kay is having her baby today actually! Exciting. After that, we went to the Weislers for a lesson with Krista and 2 of her friends, and dinner. The Weislers are great member missionaries, and helped us out a ton.

Today should be good. We've got Zone Activity today. We're going to Denny's in a few minutes, then are going sledding. It should be fun.

Well, I love you a bunch. Thanks for all you do. Have a great week, and keep reading the Book of Mormon and marking it up! Invite others to come unto Christ and partake of the blessings of the Restored Gospel too.

Love,
Elder Bradley E McMullin