Mission Update -- 12/9/09

Here's Elder M's email for the week. It was sure good to hear from him (as always). My favorite day of the week!!


Hello!

I'm glad to hear how things are going. I'm sorry you're having such cold weather, Grandma! It's been great here. We've only had a few inches of snow, and the wind has been pretty calm... It's only expected to get up to 40 or 50 miles per hour. Not bad, huh!

Well, I'm glad things are going ok for everyone. Sorry about your ear infection, Tay! It sounds like Cater is having some fun trips. Have a good time on them. Thanks for sending me your 50 for 50 list, Dad! Keep it up! What's new on your busy agenda, Mom? Are you doing a gift drive or anything? Grandpa, are you keeping busy at the Chamber still? Have you finished the Book of Mormon? I hope all goes well over this next week!

We've had a wild week here. Here's what has happened:

Last Wednesday, we played tennis and soccer. This was a good call, because it was the last day we were able to for a long time. It was still pretty cold, but it was fun. After spending time with other missionaries doing that, we went over to the Popes for another Thanksgiving dinner. We brought some other missionaries too. Elder Gates did the baptismal interview. Brother Pope passed with flying colors! It was a great night of excitement.

Thursday was pretty good too. We did some finding and planning for District Leader Council. We also did some service for Sister Glaviano, and helped her plan for her missionary work. We also taught Lorenszo, and cried repentance unto him. We taught Roger a little later with Mike. Roger is doing well, and is progressing. He really gets everything we teach, and is reading the Book of Mormon. He's got a bright future, and we're pretty excited for him. We did some other stop bys in Maple Terrace. After that, we went to the Richards' home for dinner. They're a young couple, and are very nice. We also helped them make some plans for missionary work, which was great.

Friday was a pretty good day. We had District Leader Council after our morning schedule. District Leader Council is a meeting where all of the District Leaders from our Zone come, and we teach what we were taught in Zone Leader Council. It's a council, so we have a lot of input from everyone, and it's pretty productive. This one went well. After that, we went out to find. We found a new investigator by tracting. After that, we went to teach Krista and Jessica. They're doing well. Krista is reading the Book of Mormon, and is doing great. She's at least to 2 Nephi now. Krista also committed to come to Mark Pope's baptism. After that, we went to teach the Gamboas. They're great. After that, we went to dinner at the Adams.

It's pretty funny... We've been keeping track of what we've had at all dinner appointments this transfer. As of Saturday we had either a bird (mostly chicken, but turkey twice) or lasagna. We have had SO MUCH CHICKEN it is insane. It's good, but we're ready for beef.

Saturday was awesome. Brother Pope's baptism was great. It was pretty packed too. We had Sister Bentley, one of their friends from Arizona, give the talk on baptism. Brother Bentley baptized Brother Pope. The Rosa family did a musical number. Brother Masters, Sister Pope's brother, gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. The Stake President, President Peterson, gave some remarks. Elder Ahlman and I said the opening and closing prayers, respectively. Brother Pope also bore his testimony, which was perfect. It was a touching event. Sister Pope's family was awesome. They are so excited for the baptism, and Sister Pope's full activation. Everyone is excited for the Popes to go to the temple in a year (especially them). After the baptism, we went to teach the Zacas. They're doing well. After that, we went back to prepare for Stake MCM. The Naperville Zone is doing quite well. After that, we went to our Ward Christmas party. It was really fun. They had a bunch of fun, food, and a great talent show. We were impressed with how talented the members are. That took up a lot of time, and afterwards our day was over.

Sunday was one of the best days ever. In the early morning, we had a productive Stake MCM which went well. After that, we had a great fast and testimony meeting. We heard the testimonies of Mark and Lily Pope. They were powerful. We've heard Mark's a lot, which is great, but it was especially touching to hear Lily's. Their relatives and friends also bore their testimonies. The Spirit of God was truly burning like a fire in our hearts. President Duffield confirmed Brother Pope as well, which was powerful. We were grateful to have the opportunity to stand in the circle for that. After church, I was able to confer the Aaronic Priesthood to Brother Pope. It will be pretty fun for him to get his priesthood line... Because of a weird connection we found. His middle name is Edward, after his father. His father's name is Edward Ralph! He's excited to go through the temple for Edward Ralph Pope. Anyways, after that, we left church. We went over to the Petersons' home for our monthly break the fast lunch! It was great, as always. We then went home to do our weekly planning, which we held so late in the week because we were so busy. We then went over to our second dinner appointment with the Mitchells. That was also great! We had ham and "heavenly potatoes", which was awesome. It was very close to one of our family favorites, ham and scalloped potatoes! We were stuffed afterwards though. Over stuffed. They're moving, so they gave us some of their food storage too, which was nice. After that, we went over to the Christmas Devotional, which was great. From there, we went to the Harris family home for dessert. We had a good time there. Needless to say, we really over ate on Sunday. The Young Women from the Ward also made us a huge basket filled with treats for Christmas, which was nice. We also got to teach Priests Quorum about how to teach lessons to investigators. It was a good day.

Monday was pretty good too. We had a great District Meeting. Elder Gates is a great missionary, and has exceptional District Meetings. After that, we went on exchanges with Prestbury. I had Elder Dearinger with me in Naper 4. We went home for lunch and planning. We went to Maple Terrace so he could have an experience. We got to teach Brad and Sue, so he got it. After that, we went to visit David. We then went to teach Krista and Jessica. They're doing well, and are progressing. Jessica was really ill, so we gave her a blessing. I annointed, then Elder Dearinger gave his first one in the mission field. He did great. After that, we went to dinner with the Housers. They took us out for Indian food. It was pretty good. After that, we went to visit Brandon. He's doing well. We taught him about teaching the Gospel, and had him practice teaching a couple of principles. He did really well.

Tuesday was an alright day. We did some tracting in the morning after studies. We found a referral for the Spanish Elders... Just like always! We then went to the Hesed House. They had us decorating. It was pretty fun, because we got to climb all over stuff to hang some lights. We exchanged back there. After that, we went to Maple Terrace for a while. We read some scriptures with Mike, and talked to a few people. After that, we went to the Gaffneys' home and taught a friend of theirs there. That went quite well, and we've got another appointment with Dean. At this point, it was really nasty out. It was snowing pretty hard. We went and got Mike, then all went to Nancy's home for dinner. Now that I think of it, this was actually our first time having at a members home the whole transfer! We had tacos. We then taught about temples to Mike and Nancy. Mike's about to get his endowments, and Nancy is working towards her temple reccomend too.

Today should be pretty good. We had some good studies this morning. I read the Allegory of the Olive Tree pretty in depth. Mark Pope thinks it is the most boring part of the Book of Mormon, but I really enjoy it. We're going to read the Book of Mormon for the rest of the day too, so it should be a good Preparation Day. We're also going to Jeremy Hwang's home for dinner! That will be awesome.

Well, I'm doing well. Thanks for your prayers and support! I love you so much. I hope you have a great week. Let me know how it's going for inviting someone over to be taught by the missionaries. I haven't heard anything about that...

Taylor and Caitlin, please write me a letter! I'll write you one very soon. Sorry I don't. I do love ha though. [He did mean to put "love ha" instead of "love ya". Family joke :-)]

Love,

Elder Bradley E McMullin