Mission Update 5/12/10

Whoo hoo, we had a wonderful phone call with Elder M. on Mother's Day! He is doing very well and still enjoying his mission and working hard. It was so good to talk to him. In the conversation we learned that the mission is getting 2 new greenie missionaries (finally!) We were thinking to ourselves afterward that it would be so fun if he got one of them. And he did! Transfers are this week. Elder T is going home and Elder M will get one of the greenies. There will also be a couple of missionaries coming down from the north mission this transfer to help out a bit with the numbers and a new missionary coming in from Bulgaria (I'm guessing someone who had to come home to the US because of health problems??). They are having to close a lot of areas because of attrition in the south mission. Several missioanries went home last transfer and a bunch are going home this transfer. Elder M thought they would be combining his area and the sister's area, but because of the new influx from the north and this missionary from Bulgaria, they won't have to (at least this transfer.) Here's his email with the details:


Hello family,

It was great talking with you on Sunday. I love you all a lot, and am grateful for all you do.

So, here's transfer news. I will be training this transfer, and will be serving in Evergreen Park, which was the Sisters' area. There will be 2 other Elders covering Beverly. The areas will be combined next transfer. On Tuesday they got news that another missionary was coming into the mission, and felt that they should keep 2 sets of missionaries in the Morgan Park Ward. It was decided that it would be easier for me to help the 2 new missionaries in Beverly and work in Evergreen than it would be for them to walk in completely blind. I'm pretty excited to get this new missionary, and am determined to help him have the best beginning of his mission possible.

I'll be brief, but here's a little bit of what's happened this week:

Wednesday was Zone Activity. It was really fun actually. We played frisbee, soccer, and basketball. We have SO MANY people in our Zone... It's awesome. After that, we went to dinner at the Vines' home. They are awesome, and it was a great meal.

Thursday was good. We had a couple of appointments cancel, but we had some great ones still. We had lunch at Brother Moore's, which was good. We taught some of the Ervins a little bit later. We went to teach Collette, which went well. We also went to visit a less active member named Edmund. He is from Poland, and told us he is a Socialist, and really wants the Church to fight to unionize the Chicago caretakers. It was a pretty interesting appointment, but he's a good guy who will be visited again.

I just realized, I told you everything here on Sunday... I'll be really brief!

Friday was good. We taught Charles Williams and his wife, we went by Brother Butlers and had dinner at Sister Tomoko's home.

Saturday was a pretty lame day actually. Elder T was ill. We had basketball, which was pretty fun. Because Elder T was ill, we arranged for splits for our appointments... which all fell through. The sisters had a baptism... which fell through. I got to read a lot, which was nice, but it would have been nicer to work.

Sunday was GREAT!!! I got to talk to my MOM, my DAD, my SISTERS, and my GRANDPARENTS! It was really a treat to talk with you for the last time until I come home (WOW!). After that, we met with the Sisters to get an update on all of the people I will begin to work with. We then had MCM. Church went well. Elder T did a musical number in Sacrament Meeting, which was great. After church, we went to do Sacrament for a couple of people. We took Brother Butler out with us. It took a long time, and when we were done with that, Elder T called his family.

Monday was alright. We had an appointment with Tonika, and went through a lot of Church History. It was pretty fun making a lesson plan for that. We left her with a sheet with a ton of facts and dates. We had our last District Meeting of the transfer, then had some appointments fall through. We worked on cleaning out and emptying out our apartment. We filled up one dumpster, and started filling up another one down the road. We had one appointment in the evening with the Hills, which went pretty well. I'll still keep in phone contact with Caraline Hill when I'm in Evergreen and hopefully will be able to see her get baptized soon!

Tuesday was awesome. We went to the Temple. [Chicago South missionaries get to go to the temple once each transfer that there is a General Conferenc, so 4 times on their mission.] We got picked up by Brother McMarrow and taken up there. There was so much traffic, so it took forever. We had a really great session. The Sisters were there too, and it was a good day. I'm looking forward to being able to go to the Temple a lot more when I get home. After our session, Brother McMarrow took us to Wildfire, which is a pretty nice restaurant (it is not a REST - RANT) [family joke] and I got some salmon, which was tasty (I want some of yours though, Dad). After that, we went to some appointments and went by for Elder T to say goodbye! We also got the news about transfers, which was pretty neat. We talked with President and decided it would be best for me to serve in Evergreen for this transfer then to be combine the areas next transfer. He got the news another missionary was coming in from Bulgaria only an hour before calling us, so it was all pretty crazy. We also found out that we should stop throwing stuff away... Which is a problem, because we threw a lot away... So the APs are going to have to bring some things to the Beverly Elders! Hahaha... Ooops!

Today should be good. We've just been doing packing, and are going to play basketball for a while, then finish getting ready.

I love you all so much! I'm looking forward to finishing off my mission working harder than ever.

LOVE,

Elder Bradley E McMullin