Carolyn was baptized on July 24, 2010. So exciting!! Elder M baptized her and Elder Gonzalez confirmed her.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Carolyn's Baptism!
Carolyn was baptized on July 24, 2010. So exciting!! Elder M baptized her and Elder Gonzalez confirmed her.
Mission Update 7/28/10
Elder M. left 2 years ago! He left on the 30th, but it was on a Wednesday and today is the Wednesday closest to 2 years ago, so close enough!! Wow! Here's his email. Only 3 more after this and he'll be home!
HELLO FAMILY,
I hope you are doing well. It sounds like you are. Good job at your swim meet Taylor! It's pretty funny... Elder Gonzalez has a little sister who sounds a lot like you... And she was just at a big swim meet at the same time as you were!
Things are going so well here! Everyone we're working with is now giving us referrals like crazy! We've found so many new investigators even though we've only had time to eat once and tract for a few seconds. We've really been blessed, and I'm grateful for it. Here's some of what's been going on this week:
Friday was an interesting Preparation Day. We emailed after our morning schedule, which was great. We then went to Pep Boys to get our car fixed. While we were waiting, we walked almost a mile to a hair cut place. After I got my hair cut, we walked back to the auto shop. We had quite a few appointments scheduled before they told us P Day was switched, so we changed the one we could, then went to the afternoon and evening ones. We taught Louis first, which went well. We then went over to eat at Tomoko's. That was great. We then went over to teach Tony Burton. After that, we went over to the Hills to have the last lesson before Carolyn's baptism! She was so excited! (she always says, "I'm
SO excited" or "I'm SO happy!" )
Saturday was great. We came to the church early to set up for the baptism. We had the basketball people still come, and taught them as we filled up the font. We kicked them out before everyone showed up. President and Sister Doll tried to make it to the baptism, but the freeway was flooded, so they couldn't make it! To answer Grandma's question - no the roads didn't flood around us, except for one place. A ridiculous amount of peoples homes have been flooding pretty regularly throughout the summer though. The baptism went really well. She felt great about it, and is so excited for the Gospel. Her goal is to get her whole family in the Church now. After the baptism, we went down to Cal City to teach Collette. It's pretty tough doing this, but we had to tell her that we're going to drop her if she doesn't progress soon. They say it can take more faith to let someone go than it does to find someone. After that, we went to Baracco's Pizza for Elder Gonzalez's early birthday dinner. It was pretty good, but we decided it was inferior to Edwardo's. The only place we have to test now to see if it's the best is Gino's East. We found out there is one really close to our house in the area next door too! Pretty neat. After that, we went to the church for a multi-church choir. They were really good. Sister Beer directed it all, and it was pretty neat. We then went over to Charles' home. Then we went over to visit Errol and make sure he called a member for a ride. We then went over to the Motts' home and had an FHE with them. After that, we went over to Melbria's home and had a lesson. She's doing really well. She is such a strong member! After that, we went over to Sister Tomasello's home to teach one of her friends, but the friend left, so we read some scriptures before leaving. That was it for the day!
Sunday was really neat. We got a referral for some people that live in Markham... which is this strange little finger in the southwest corner of our area (it's fairly close to Frankfort!). It's a lot like Mokena (I'd say it's more sub-rural than sub-urban... ditches instead of sidewalks, tons of trees, etc) down there, which is awesome! We got to teach Helen, who is an awesome old lady that baked us a cake, Susan, who is her grown daughter, and got to meet Uncle Jim, who lives there with them. One of Helen's daughters is a member in Canada, and absolutely loves the Church. We gave Susan a blessing, and have our next appointment tonight! After that, we went to MCM, which was our last one with Brother Beer. We then had a great day at church. Elder Gonzalez confirmed Carolyn, and it went perfect. We also stood in the circle for Errol's ordination to the Priesthood! After church, we took him down to Sister Flowers' home and did the Sacrament. We then went over to the Jenkins' home for dinner. They are so great. We had an awesome meal and sang Happy Birthday to Elder Gonzalez. We then went to Sister Howorth's home and gave her a blessing. After that, we went to the Motts' home. We sang again to Elder Gonzalez, and it was pretty fun. We also had a lesson, then went home. We had a great week... Probably our most productive one ever actually. It was pretty sweet.
Monday was a good day. We taught Alfrieda (we've been misspelling her name! Oops) in the morning. She's doing well. She's been reading all of her baptismal calendar scriptures and writes her interpretations of them on paper. After that, we had District Meeting, which was great. We then went to visit LeBron and watched part of the Special Witnesses DVD. We then went over and taught the Ervins. After that, we went over to visit Charles. He's doing better, which makes us happy. We brought him some gum and some grapefruit juice to help him stop smoking. After that, we went over to the Flores home and taught about the Plan of Salvation. We then took Lorenzo with us to teach Marge again. The lesson went really well. She had some concerns that we talked about for the whole lesson, and Lorenzo did great. It was very positive and she should progress well. We then went over to the Hills and met a relative named Casimir. He stayed in and we taught him the Restoration. He had a ton of great Plan of Salvation questions, and wants to take more lessons! We have another appointment with him on Saturday. Carolyn did great at helping us teach! She's going to help us teach Vera at our next appointment there, which we are so happy about.
Tuesday was another good day. We had an appointment in the morning fall through, so went out to do stop bys. We met our mailman friend Torey Moore again, who gave us a referral for his brother. They are a family of ministers, and are really into selling some strange miracle coffee made with mushrooms from Korea. They just want to get us involved with their marketing system! After that, we went over to Charles' home and taught him. We then went and taught Kathy. She's doing well. We then gave Sister Mitchell a blessing. After that, we went over to our appointment with Joe Thompson and he had a friend over that we're now going to teach! We then went to Vera's home. She is preparing for baptism now, and is doing so well. The Spirit was there really strongly. She expressed her concerns - when she joins will she get a calling, will we still visit her, and has there really been a prophet in the last 20 - 30 years because of the wickedness of the world. To her last question, we ran outside and got our Special Witnesses movie and played Gordon B Hinckley's testimony of the Restoration and the Savior, then asked her to be the judge. Without hesitation she exclaimed that he was and is in fact a prophet! They watched his testimony with rapt attention and jaws dropped. It was awesome! We then went over to the Hodges and had a lesson over there. They also fed us some pizza. They were going to have a friend over for us to teach, but he couldn't make it so we'll teach him next time hopefully. He is going to come to church too. After that, we felt kind of strange and prayed about what we should do. We were led to visit someone who was in trouble. They weren't home, but we were led to find them on a street after taking some strange turns in a maze of houses. It was pretty cool to be led by God just like a GPS. We came home after that, and had a great night.
Today should be good. We may go up to the Science and Industry museum, or may just relax. I suppose we better decide soon.
The Gospel is true! The Lord's work is going so well here. I am loving my mission so much! We're really happy for all of the people we're working with that are progressing. Elder Gonzalez is doing great too! He's an awesome companion.
Take care and have a great week!
Love,
Elder Bradley E McMullin
HELLO FAMILY,
I hope you are doing well. It sounds like you are. Good job at your swim meet Taylor! It's pretty funny... Elder Gonzalez has a little sister who sounds a lot like you... And she was just at a big swim meet at the same time as you were!
Things are going so well here! Everyone we're working with is now giving us referrals like crazy! We've found so many new investigators even though we've only had time to eat once and tract for a few seconds. We've really been blessed, and I'm grateful for it. Here's some of what's been going on this week:
Friday was an interesting Preparation Day. We emailed after our morning schedule, which was great. We then went to Pep Boys to get our car fixed. While we were waiting, we walked almost a mile to a hair cut place. After I got my hair cut, we walked back to the auto shop. We had quite a few appointments scheduled before they told us P Day was switched, so we changed the one we could, then went to the afternoon and evening ones. We taught Louis first, which went well. We then went over to eat at Tomoko's. That was great. We then went over to teach Tony Burton. After that, we went over to the Hills to have the last lesson before Carolyn's baptism! She was so excited! (she always says, "I'm
SO excited" or "I'm SO happy!" )
Saturday was great. We came to the church early to set up for the baptism. We had the basketball people still come, and taught them as we filled up the font. We kicked them out before everyone showed up. President and Sister Doll tried to make it to the baptism, but the freeway was flooded, so they couldn't make it! To answer Grandma's question - no the roads didn't flood around us, except for one place. A ridiculous amount of peoples homes have been flooding pretty regularly throughout the summer though. The baptism went really well. She felt great about it, and is so excited for the Gospel. Her goal is to get her whole family in the Church now. After the baptism, we went down to Cal City to teach Collette. It's pretty tough doing this, but we had to tell her that we're going to drop her if she doesn't progress soon. They say it can take more faith to let someone go than it does to find someone. After that, we went to Baracco's Pizza for Elder Gonzalez's early birthday dinner. It was pretty good, but we decided it was inferior to Edwardo's. The only place we have to test now to see if it's the best is Gino's East. We found out there is one really close to our house in the area next door too! Pretty neat. After that, we went to the church for a multi-church choir. They were really good. Sister Beer directed it all, and it was pretty neat. We then went over to Charles' home. Then we went over to visit Errol and make sure he called a member for a ride. We then went over to the Motts' home and had an FHE with them. After that, we went over to Melbria's home and had a lesson. She's doing really well. She is such a strong member! After that, we went over to Sister Tomasello's home to teach one of her friends, but the friend left, so we read some scriptures before leaving. That was it for the day!
Sunday was really neat. We got a referral for some people that live in Markham... which is this strange little finger in the southwest corner of our area (it's fairly close to Frankfort!). It's a lot like Mokena (I'd say it's more sub-rural than sub-urban... ditches instead of sidewalks, tons of trees, etc) down there, which is awesome! We got to teach Helen, who is an awesome old lady that baked us a cake, Susan, who is her grown daughter, and got to meet Uncle Jim, who lives there with them. One of Helen's daughters is a member in Canada, and absolutely loves the Church. We gave Susan a blessing, and have our next appointment tonight! After that, we went to MCM, which was our last one with Brother Beer. We then had a great day at church. Elder Gonzalez confirmed Carolyn, and it went perfect. We also stood in the circle for Errol's ordination to the Priesthood! After church, we took him down to Sister Flowers' home and did the Sacrament. We then went over to the Jenkins' home for dinner. They are so great. We had an awesome meal and sang Happy Birthday to Elder Gonzalez. We then went to Sister Howorth's home and gave her a blessing. After that, we went to the Motts' home. We sang again to Elder Gonzalez, and it was pretty fun. We also had a lesson, then went home. We had a great week... Probably our most productive one ever actually. It was pretty sweet.
Monday was a good day. We taught Alfrieda (we've been misspelling her name! Oops) in the morning. She's doing well. She's been reading all of her baptismal calendar scriptures and writes her interpretations of them on paper. After that, we had District Meeting, which was great. We then went to visit LeBron and watched part of the Special Witnesses DVD. We then went over and taught the Ervins. After that, we went over to visit Charles. He's doing better, which makes us happy. We brought him some gum and some grapefruit juice to help him stop smoking. After that, we went over to the Flores home and taught about the Plan of Salvation. We then took Lorenzo with us to teach Marge again. The lesson went really well. She had some concerns that we talked about for the whole lesson, and Lorenzo did great. It was very positive and she should progress well. We then went over to the Hills and met a relative named Casimir. He stayed in and we taught him the Restoration. He had a ton of great Plan of Salvation questions, and wants to take more lessons! We have another appointment with him on Saturday. Carolyn did great at helping us teach! She's going to help us teach Vera at our next appointment there, which we are so happy about.
Tuesday was another good day. We had an appointment in the morning fall through, so went out to do stop bys. We met our mailman friend Torey Moore again, who gave us a referral for his brother. They are a family of ministers, and are really into selling some strange miracle coffee made with mushrooms from Korea. They just want to get us involved with their marketing system! After that, we went over to Charles' home and taught him. We then went and taught Kathy. She's doing well. We then gave Sister Mitchell a blessing. After that, we went over to our appointment with Joe Thompson and he had a friend over that we're now going to teach! We then went to Vera's home. She is preparing for baptism now, and is doing so well. The Spirit was there really strongly. She expressed her concerns - when she joins will she get a calling, will we still visit her, and has there really been a prophet in the last 20 - 30 years because of the wickedness of the world. To her last question, we ran outside and got our Special Witnesses movie and played Gordon B Hinckley's testimony of the Restoration and the Savior, then asked her to be the judge. Without hesitation she exclaimed that he was and is in fact a prophet! They watched his testimony with rapt attention and jaws dropped. It was awesome! We then went over to the Hodges and had a lesson over there. They also fed us some pizza. They were going to have a friend over for us to teach, but he couldn't make it so we'll teach him next time hopefully. He is going to come to church too. After that, we felt kind of strange and prayed about what we should do. We were led to visit someone who was in trouble. They weren't home, but we were led to find them on a street after taking some strange turns in a maze of houses. It was pretty cool to be led by God just like a GPS. We came home after that, and had a great night.
Today should be good. We may go up to the Science and Industry museum, or may just relax. I suppose we better decide soon.
The Gospel is true! The Lord's work is going so well here. I am loving my mission so much! We're really happy for all of the people we're working with that are progressing. Elder Gonzalez is doing great too! He's an awesome companion.
Take care and have a great week!
Love,
Elder Bradley E McMullin
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Elder M. in Brother Flores' Fireman's Suit
Well, I have no idea how to rotate this, so I guess we'll just have to turn our heads.
Mission Update 7/23/10
We got our email on Friday and here it is. Sounds like he is working HARD and finishing up strong. Way to go Elder M!!
Hello Family,
It is good to hear from you! Things are going better than ever! Carolyn Hill is ready for her baptism tomorrow! Alfreda accepted a baptismal date (August 21st). We've been very busy. Our days consist of us going from one appointment to the next from about 10:15 AM to 9:30 PM. The Lord is blessing us and we're continuing to find people as we travel from one appointment to the next! How? I really don't know, but we do, and it's nice!
So, how is everything at home? It sounds like it's going very well. Thanks for all you do for me. I've enjoyed everything you sent me for my birthday! I never knew that our McGhie ancestors joined the Church and came to America! That's pretty neat.
Mom and Dad, thank you for the new suits... I say suits because of the deal they had going. You told me to expect a buy one get one half off deal... They ended up having a buy one get two free deal!
So here's some things that have been going on:
Wednesday we went downtown. We took the L up the whole way to the north end of the Loop. We then walked all over. We went up Michigan avenue, and had fun. We were looking for a Jos A Bank, but just couldn't find one (I forgot to get the address before going), but eventually found a Garmin GPS store! We used one of the GPS units there, and found the closest Jos A Bank... Which was right next to the train stop we had gotten off of! I'll be able to pick up my suit on August 4th (conveniently it's Preparation Day). After that, we came back to the ward house and played board games with the District. We then went to the Hills and had a lesson over there. Carolyn has been getting really excited!
Thursday was great. We had our weekly planning in the morning after studies. We then went over to Brother Moore's home for lunch. We had asked for chili and stew, so he mixed them both together. After that, we went out to teach Charles. He is doing well. The family is great. Their house is pretty warm though. After that, we went and taught Vera. She is doing well. She was out of town for a while, but is still progressing! We're excited about her progress. We then went by the Moore twins' home. They're doing well. We then went to the Flores' home for dinner. They're an awesome family, and help us out a lot. We then went over to Melbria's home - right next to Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church.
Friday was another good day. We went by the Carlson family home in the morning. We love talking about the Gospel with Sister Carlson. We also practiced teaching. We then went to visit Charles. We are working toward baptism with him. He has a baptismal calendar and the target date of August 21st, but that may not go through. We then went over to Sister Mitchell's home and read the scriptures there. We then went and saw Kathy, who called a while ago when we had left a pass a long card on her door while tracting. We had taught them a couple of times, but they went out of town. She's going to come to the baptism tomorrow. We then had our appointment with Louis. That went well. We then went to the Leal home for dinner. We then went over to the Motts and taught them. We usually go to the Hills on Fridays, but Carolyn was feeling ill. It was good to get to the Motts though.
Saturday was great. We had basketball and taught all of the kids there. We also had some other people come who we taught at the church too. We went over to teach Errol and Mercedes after basketball. We then went by the Prewitts. Sister Prewitt is doing great. She is good for coming to church now, and is becoming a central figure in fellowshipping Sister Hill. After that, we went over to dinner at Sister Tomasello's home. She had a friend over for dinner who we were able to teach. We then drove down to Cal City and taught the Childress family. Sister Childress came to church the week before, which was awesome! You probably can't tell at all from these names, but we drive a lot. I'll give you all the addresses for one day on one of our busier days.
Sunday went well. We had MCM and church. All went well. Todd Romac came to church for the first time, which was awesome! We went to do stop bys after church, then had dinner with the Jenkins. We then went down to Cal City and did the sacrament for Sister Flowers, then went to visit Collette. It was a good Sunday.
Monday was great. We got Elder Robinson to be with us for a few days. His companion went to Naperville for a few days for meetings. We picked him up at 7:30 AM, then came home for studies. We left to teach Alfreda after our studies. The appointment went pretty well. We then went next door and taught her neighbor who we had talked with after another appointment with Alfreda. We had a good lesson there, and Fannie wants to continue investigating. We then went by the Ervins. We taught them and had a great appointment. After that, we stopped by Barbara's home. We then went to teach LeBron. He's doing well. We then had a spare 1 hour, so we stopped by one Spanish place, but they weren't home. We stopped by Joe Thompson's home (a less active), and he let us in. He is going to come to church on Sunday! We then rushed over to the Hills for our appointment there. We called ahead and ordered a pizza on the way from LeBron and Joe Thompson, then ate it in the car. Thanks for the Pizza Hut card!
Tuesday was quite busy. We went by the Flores family home (109 and St Louis) and taught them at 10:15. We then took their son Lorenzo with us to teach one of Sister Tomasello's friends (98 and Campbell). We then went over to the Rhodes family home (79 and Indiana) and had a lesson there. We then went to teach Charles (100 and Cottage Grove). After that, we went to teach Errol (108 and Wentworth) and get him excited about coming out with us too. After that, we grabbed a Rainbow cone (Pistachio, chocolate, strawberry, orange and vanilla w/ cherries... It sounds weird, but is far superior to any ice cream cone I have ever tasted... It's a Chicago thing!) from the Original Rainbow Cone on 92nd and Western and dropped Lorenzo off. We then drove over to our appointment at the Prewitt home (85th and Wallace). We had about 10 minutes to spare, and felt inspired to stop by a former named Babatunde. We knocked on the door and found out he had been waiting for missionaries to contact him again! He believes the Restoration, and is very excited to be taught! We're really happy about the Lord leading us there. We then went to Prewitts for dinner. That went well. We then went over to the Hodges home (123 and Sangamon) and taught them. Brother Thomas came with us over there to help out. We then went over to the Motts and Melbria's home (both on 91 and Harvard), where we were going to go on splits, but Melbria couldn't meet. We had a great meeting with the Motts. We then drove home (97 and Pulaski). Plug those addresses in on a GPS or Google.
Wednesday was a great day. We taught Alfreda in the morning. We (Elder Gonzalez!!!) extended a baptismal invitation to her with a date and she accepted it. She had a change come upon her in the meeting, and is getting excited! We are too! We know it is going to bless her life so much. We then had a couple of stop bys before going to teach Errol. One of the stop bys turned out well and we got a potential. We got lucky and had an ice cream truck pull up as we got out of the car at Errol's. We otherwise wouldn't have had time to eat that day. I got a strawberry and vanilla cone... Yum! As we taught about teaching, Joe came up. Joe's our bud. He is the one white person that lives anywhere in that area. He is a vet, and is pretty funny. He would be great friends with Grandpa. He tells us how miserable he is, and how he eats dog food. He doesn't like the hard kind though, because it hurts his teeth. There is a homeless guy named Macaroni that lives on the block. He is an old drunk that walks around with two canes (Joe only has one). They really detest each other. It's a pretty funny rivalry. Anyways, Joe is very rude. One thing he said about me was "You were found... Not born!" We asked him what he meant and he asked, "Have you ever looked in a mirror?" He then asked "What (as opposed to who) are you going to get married to?" We always try to get Joe to come to church, but he never will come. We tried to teach him with Errol, which was pretty fun. It didn't really work ( After that practice, we took Errol out with us to teach Vera. It went really well. Errol bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and taught on faith, then went and toured Marquis' room. We talked with Vera, and she said she finally felt something as she read the Book of Mormon. We explained that it was the Spirit and the beginning of her answer. She's happy about that, and wants to keep pressing forwards. We're very happy about that. The Lord just continues to bless us and those we're serving! We then went down to Calumet City (155 and Torrence area... Look that one up!) to visit the Childress family. We then went over to Collette's home and taught her (same area in Cal City). That went well. After that, we drove up to 79th and Cottage to teach Carolyn Hill. She got ready for her baptismal interview, which was on Thursday!
Thursday was a great day. We made a baptismal calendar for Alfreda, which took a while. It turned out really well though. I'll send a picture of it. We then went to Brother Moore's home again. The Lord's work just cannot be stopped... As we drove down an obscure residential street, we ran over a glass bottle that was in the bag on the way over there, and it popped our tire. Within a minute or so of us pulling over, a AAA emergency rescue car drove by. He asked us if we needed help and we said no (people try to get money around here). He just got out of his car and changed the tire then drove off... It was pretty nice! The whole ordeal took about 5 minutes, and we just kept going! We had some good food there. We then took him with us to teach Charles. That went really well. Brother Moore drove with Charles to church one Sunday and Charles almost got in an accident, so Brother Moore is always telling us we better not make him go with Charles... Charles on the other hand always asks Brother Moore to ride with him (honestly without any suggestion from us). Charles got Brother Moore to say yes this time! Hahaha. After we taught Charles, we all went over to visit Alfreda. That went great. She's pretty excited and is moving forwards. We then dropped Brother Moore off and went down to visit Joe Thompson (lives near the lake on 109). We had a good visit there. He should come to church on Sunday. We then went to eat at the Flores family home. Elder John was dropped off there. We then all went over to the Hills for Carolyn's teaching appointment and interview. It all went well. They are all very excited! After that, we came home. We got back at our typical 9:30 and just didn't feel like stopping. It's been hard to go to bed the past several days. We just want to keep working.
Our missionary work has been going so well lately. We were talking last night and we're saying how we wish we could just keep going. This is the busiest I have ever been, and I don't think we could physically be any busier. We are grateful for all the Lord is doing for us. I am so happy to be on a mission. I am determined to continue doing my best and improving until I get home. I know the Gospel is true. It has blessed my life, and I have seen it improve so many others. Happiness truly is a fruit of righteousness. I know the Restoration is true by the power of the Holy Ghost and know that everyone that prays about it with a sincere heart, real intent, and faith in Christ will know also. Please live it, love it, and share it!
I love you all so much! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Bradley E McMullin
Hello Family,
It is good to hear from you! Things are going better than ever! Carolyn Hill is ready for her baptism tomorrow! Alfreda accepted a baptismal date (August 21st). We've been very busy. Our days consist of us going from one appointment to the next from about 10:15 AM to 9:30 PM. The Lord is blessing us and we're continuing to find people as we travel from one appointment to the next! How? I really don't know, but we do, and it's nice!
So, how is everything at home? It sounds like it's going very well. Thanks for all you do for me. I've enjoyed everything you sent me for my birthday! I never knew that our McGhie ancestors joined the Church and came to America! That's pretty neat.
Mom and Dad, thank you for the new suits... I say suits because of the deal they had going. You told me to expect a buy one get one half off deal... They ended up having a buy one get two free deal!
So here's some things that have been going on:
Wednesday we went downtown. We took the L up the whole way to the north end of the Loop. We then walked all over. We went up Michigan avenue, and had fun. We were looking for a Jos A Bank, but just couldn't find one (I forgot to get the address before going), but eventually found a Garmin GPS store! We used one of the GPS units there, and found the closest Jos A Bank... Which was right next to the train stop we had gotten off of! I'll be able to pick up my suit on August 4th (conveniently it's Preparation Day). After that, we came back to the ward house and played board games with the District. We then went to the Hills and had a lesson over there. Carolyn has been getting really excited!
Thursday was great. We had our weekly planning in the morning after studies. We then went over to Brother Moore's home for lunch. We had asked for chili and stew, so he mixed them both together. After that, we went out to teach Charles. He is doing well. The family is great. Their house is pretty warm though. After that, we went and taught Vera. She is doing well. She was out of town for a while, but is still progressing! We're excited about her progress. We then went by the Moore twins' home. They're doing well. We then went to the Flores' home for dinner. They're an awesome family, and help us out a lot. We then went over to Melbria's home - right next to Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church.
Friday was another good day. We went by the Carlson family home in the morning. We love talking about the Gospel with Sister Carlson. We also practiced teaching. We then went to visit Charles. We are working toward baptism with him. He has a baptismal calendar and the target date of August 21st, but that may not go through. We then went over to Sister Mitchell's home and read the scriptures there. We then went and saw Kathy, who called a while ago when we had left a pass a long card on her door while tracting. We had taught them a couple of times, but they went out of town. She's going to come to the baptism tomorrow. We then had our appointment with Louis. That went well. We then went to the Leal home for dinner. We then went over to the Motts and taught them. We usually go to the Hills on Fridays, but Carolyn was feeling ill. It was good to get to the Motts though.
Saturday was great. We had basketball and taught all of the kids there. We also had some other people come who we taught at the church too. We went over to teach Errol and Mercedes after basketball. We then went by the Prewitts. Sister Prewitt is doing great. She is good for coming to church now, and is becoming a central figure in fellowshipping Sister Hill. After that, we went over to dinner at Sister Tomasello's home. She had a friend over for dinner who we were able to teach. We then drove down to Cal City and taught the Childress family. Sister Childress came to church the week before, which was awesome! You probably can't tell at all from these names, but we drive a lot. I'll give you all the addresses for one day on one of our busier days.
Sunday went well. We had MCM and church. All went well. Todd Romac came to church for the first time, which was awesome! We went to do stop bys after church, then had dinner with the Jenkins. We then went down to Cal City and did the sacrament for Sister Flowers, then went to visit Collette. It was a good Sunday.
Monday was great. We got Elder Robinson to be with us for a few days. His companion went to Naperville for a few days for meetings. We picked him up at 7:30 AM, then came home for studies. We left to teach Alfreda after our studies. The appointment went pretty well. We then went next door and taught her neighbor who we had talked with after another appointment with Alfreda. We had a good lesson there, and Fannie wants to continue investigating. We then went by the Ervins. We taught them and had a great appointment. After that, we stopped by Barbara's home. We then went to teach LeBron. He's doing well. We then had a spare 1 hour, so we stopped by one Spanish place, but they weren't home. We stopped by Joe Thompson's home (a less active), and he let us in. He is going to come to church on Sunday! We then rushed over to the Hills for our appointment there. We called ahead and ordered a pizza on the way from LeBron and Joe Thompson, then ate it in the car. Thanks for the Pizza Hut card!
Tuesday was quite busy. We went by the Flores family home (109 and St Louis) and taught them at 10:15. We then took their son Lorenzo with us to teach one of Sister Tomasello's friends (98 and Campbell). We then went over to the Rhodes family home (79 and Indiana) and had a lesson there. We then went to teach Charles (100 and Cottage Grove). After that, we went to teach Errol (108 and Wentworth) and get him excited about coming out with us too. After that, we grabbed a Rainbow cone (Pistachio, chocolate, strawberry, orange and vanilla w/ cherries... It sounds weird, but is far superior to any ice cream cone I have ever tasted... It's a Chicago thing!) from the Original Rainbow Cone on 92nd and Western and dropped Lorenzo off. We then drove over to our appointment at the Prewitt home (85th and Wallace). We had about 10 minutes to spare, and felt inspired to stop by a former named Babatunde. We knocked on the door and found out he had been waiting for missionaries to contact him again! He believes the Restoration, and is very excited to be taught! We're really happy about the Lord leading us there. We then went to Prewitts for dinner. That went well. We then went over to the Hodges home (123 and Sangamon) and taught them. Brother Thomas came with us over there to help out. We then went over to the Motts and Melbria's home (both on 91 and Harvard), where we were going to go on splits, but Melbria couldn't meet. We had a great meeting with the Motts. We then drove home (97 and Pulaski). Plug those addresses in on a GPS or Google.
Wednesday was a great day. We taught Alfreda in the morning. We (Elder Gonzalez!!!) extended a baptismal invitation to her with a date and she accepted it. She had a change come upon her in the meeting, and is getting excited! We are too! We know it is going to bless her life so much. We then had a couple of stop bys before going to teach Errol. One of the stop bys turned out well and we got a potential. We got lucky and had an ice cream truck pull up as we got out of the car at Errol's. We otherwise wouldn't have had time to eat that day. I got a strawberry and vanilla cone... Yum! As we taught about teaching, Joe came up. Joe's our bud. He is the one white person that lives anywhere in that area. He is a vet, and is pretty funny. He would be great friends with Grandpa. He tells us how miserable he is, and how he eats dog food. He doesn't like the hard kind though, because it hurts his teeth. There is a homeless guy named Macaroni that lives on the block. He is an old drunk that walks around with two canes (Joe only has one). They really detest each other. It's a pretty funny rivalry. Anyways, Joe is very rude. One thing he said about me was "You were found... Not born!" We asked him what he meant and he asked, "Have you ever looked in a mirror?" He then asked "What (as opposed to who) are you going to get married to?" We always try to get Joe to come to church, but he never will come. We tried to teach him with Errol, which was pretty fun. It didn't really work ( After that practice, we took Errol out with us to teach Vera. It went really well. Errol bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and taught on faith, then went and toured Marquis' room. We talked with Vera, and she said she finally felt something as she read the Book of Mormon. We explained that it was the Spirit and the beginning of her answer. She's happy about that, and wants to keep pressing forwards. We're very happy about that. The Lord just continues to bless us and those we're serving! We then went down to Calumet City (155 and Torrence area... Look that one up!) to visit the Childress family. We then went over to Collette's home and taught her (same area in Cal City). That went well. After that, we drove up to 79th and Cottage to teach Carolyn Hill. She got ready for her baptismal interview, which was on Thursday!
Thursday was a great day. We made a baptismal calendar for Alfreda, which took a while. It turned out really well though. I'll send a picture of it. We then went to Brother Moore's home again. The Lord's work just cannot be stopped... As we drove down an obscure residential street, we ran over a glass bottle that was in the bag on the way over there, and it popped our tire. Within a minute or so of us pulling over, a AAA emergency rescue car drove by. He asked us if we needed help and we said no (people try to get money around here). He just got out of his car and changed the tire then drove off... It was pretty nice! The whole ordeal took about 5 minutes, and we just kept going! We had some good food there. We then took him with us to teach Charles. That went really well. Brother Moore drove with Charles to church one Sunday and Charles almost got in an accident, so Brother Moore is always telling us we better not make him go with Charles... Charles on the other hand always asks Brother Moore to ride with him (honestly without any suggestion from us). Charles got Brother Moore to say yes this time! Hahaha. After we taught Charles, we all went over to visit Alfreda. That went great. She's pretty excited and is moving forwards. We then dropped Brother Moore off and went down to visit Joe Thompson (lives near the lake on 109). We had a good visit there. He should come to church on Sunday. We then went to eat at the Flores family home. Elder John was dropped off there. We then all went over to the Hills for Carolyn's teaching appointment and interview. It all went well. They are all very excited! After that, we came home. We got back at our typical 9:30 and just didn't feel like stopping. It's been hard to go to bed the past several days. We just want to keep working.
Our missionary work has been going so well lately. We were talking last night and we're saying how we wish we could just keep going. This is the busiest I have ever been, and I don't think we could physically be any busier. We are grateful for all the Lord is doing for us. I am so happy to be on a mission. I am determined to continue doing my best and improving until I get home. I know the Gospel is true. It has blessed my life, and I have seen it improve so many others. Happiness truly is a fruit of righteousness. I know the Restoration is true by the power of the Holy Ghost and know that everyone that prays about it with a sincere heart, real intent, and faith in Christ will know also. Please live it, love it, and share it!
I love you all so much! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Bradley E McMullin
Thursday, July 22, 2010
P-Day Changed
I sat around the computer all morning on Wednesday waiting for my email. Around 11:30ish I got one finally -- from the mission office telling us that P-day was changed to Friday because of training. Oh well... So, update to come on Friday.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Mission Update -- 7/14/10
5 more weeks!! Here's today's email:
Hello Family,
Things are going well. This last week has been great! Thanks for all you've done for me! I loved getting the Birthday cards & gifts.
We're going up to the suit shop soon [Ed suggested that Elder M purchase a new suit while he is in Chicago since he won't have much time while he is home to do it], so I'll be brief:
Wednesday was good. We went out to Naperville, then came back and napped. It was really nice. We then went out with Brother Beer to teach Carolyn Hill. While driving over the top of a hill, we got rear ended. That was a mess. We had to spend a while in the police station figuring that out. The appointment went well though. [No one was hurt -- I read this email and quickly sent him one back to ask, and he said everyone was fine.]
Thursday was great. We did our planning, then went over to Brother Moore's home for lunch. We had a good time there, then went over to visit Charles. He is doing well, and wants to get baptized on the 21st of August. We then went to visit the Ervins, who are doing alright. We gave Towanda a blessing. We then went to a hospital and gave a blessing there as well. We then went to the Flores family home for dinner. They're awesome! After that, we went by the Motts' home and had family home evening. We played a pretty fun game called concentration, where you have about a second to name a book in the Bible no one else has mentioned. If you can't name another, you lose. After that, we went home. We've been busy, and it is nice!
Friday was my Birthday! We went to the Carlsons after our morning schedule, which was nice. Then we got Brother Moore to come out with us to teach Alfreda, who is doing very well (came to church, and is coming again)! We then went by and taught Henry Webster, who is going to be in Tucson for the next couple weeks. After that, we had a couple lessons not go through, so we went to get steak (we otherwise wouldn't have had an opportunity to). We went to an interesting steak house.[Elder M's traditional birthday dinner is steak, so we sent him a gift card so he and Elder G. could go out for steak for his birthday.] The second you stepped into the place you felt the happiness sucked right out of you. They were shocked I ordered a steak medium rare, and even more shocked when I turned down A1. The medium rare steak turned out to be a seared piece of raw beef, so I had to give it back to get cooked a little more. It came back pretty rare, but still was much better. After that, we went and taught Louis. We then had dinner at Tomoko's home. We then went by the Hodges, who are doing well. We then went to teach Carolyn Hill. She is really looking forward to her baptism. Overall, it was a good Birthday. We didn't really do much besides run from one appointment to another, but I'd definitely take that over anything else.
Saturday was fun. We had basketball in the morning and got a couple of new people to our class there. We had a great time playing ball too. After that, we went down to Calumet City and did some work there. The Childress family fed us some carnitas. We went by Victoria's home and had a lesson there. They now have an organ in their home, which is pretty fun. We went by Sister Prewitts home as well (she came back to church this Sunday!), which was nice. After that, we actually had some time to tract! We then had a fall through and went by the Howorths home to help bring a couch into the home... Which turned out to be crazy. We lifted this couch up over the balcony on the 2nd floor apartment because it wouldn't fit up the stairs. It was epic.
Sunday was pretty neat. We had some good people come to church. It was really nice having Alfreda come for the first time! She was taken aback because it is SO unlike Baptist church services around here. She said she needed to talk with Brother Moore about it, which got us a little nervous. We scheduled the appointment for Monday morning. After church, we talked with the Bishopric for a while. We're going to have a new Ward Mission Leader soon because Brother Beer is moving to Utah. We went by the Motts after that, and did some other stop bys. It was a great day overall.
Monday started early with an appointment at Alfreda's home. We had to cut our studies short to get Brother Moore and bring him there, but it went really well. They had a great talk, and she is going to continue attending. We're really excited about that. We then had our District Meeting. We have 2 north side sisters in our district, which are pretty cool. After that, we went out and did stop bys for medias and the like, We then had an appointment with Charles. He is doing well. We then went by and visited Lebron. After that, we met with Todd Romac! We gave him a blessing and got to talk for a while. He hasn't been to church in years, and is going through some really hard times. He should come Sunday, and really make some big changes. He's one that we stopped by and was so amazed at the timing. After that, we had dinner over at the Hills. They made us some catfish and spaghetti. It was good, and filled us up beyond belief. She asked Elder Gonzalez to do the confirmation and me to do the baptism. Sister Carlson and Sister Piecuch are going to give the talks at the service. It should be great.
Tuesday started off in the auto body shop getting an estimate for the repairs on our car. After that, we did our studies and headed out to visit Sister Prewitt. She is different now. It's incredible how much happier she is even from a few days ago. She's going to be solid now for church, and is going to be Carolyn's permanent ride. We're excited about that! We then did some stop bys and finding, which was nice. We also met a man that was convinced we were FBI agents even after we told him we're really representatives of Jesus Christ. He told us all about how we could get into military bases, and fly to Puerto Rico. He sees us young FBI agents cracking down on crime pretty often, which is nice. After that, we went by the Mitchell's home. We then had another appointment with Todd, and also met his sister in law, who isn't a member. That went really well. We then went over to the Ervins' home. They fed us some dinner. I ought to take a picture of some South side food sometime... After that, we went by the Hodges' home again. We got to meet some more relatives and friends over there, which was nice. We then went over to Melbria's. We also got a new air conditioner from the APs because ours broke! We became like most people we teach... Air conditioner-less.
Today is going to be awesome! We're going to take a train up to Chicago! Our plan was to go to Union Station, but I just realized the train from where we are now (Hyde Park) doesn't go there. After spending some time downtown, we'll come back here and play some volleyball. President Doll is awesome... We called him to get permission to go to the suit place in the Loop today and for when I pick my suits up, and he told us to go all around, including Navy Pier!!! When we go to pick up the suits, we'll go to Navy Pier. Today we'll probably look at the bean and some other cool stuff, then come back down.
Well, all is well. I'm loving my mission. I love you a lot! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Bradley E McMullin
Hello Family,
Things are going well. This last week has been great! Thanks for all you've done for me! I loved getting the Birthday cards & gifts.
We're going up to the suit shop soon [Ed suggested that Elder M purchase a new suit while he is in Chicago since he won't have much time while he is home to do it], so I'll be brief:
Wednesday was good. We went out to Naperville, then came back and napped. It was really nice. We then went out with Brother Beer to teach Carolyn Hill. While driving over the top of a hill, we got rear ended. That was a mess. We had to spend a while in the police station figuring that out. The appointment went well though. [No one was hurt -- I read this email and quickly sent him one back to ask, and he said everyone was fine.]
Thursday was great. We did our planning, then went over to Brother Moore's home for lunch. We had a good time there, then went over to visit Charles. He is doing well, and wants to get baptized on the 21st of August. We then went to visit the Ervins, who are doing alright. We gave Towanda a blessing. We then went to a hospital and gave a blessing there as well. We then went to the Flores family home for dinner. They're awesome! After that, we went by the Motts' home and had family home evening. We played a pretty fun game called concentration, where you have about a second to name a book in the Bible no one else has mentioned. If you can't name another, you lose. After that, we went home. We've been busy, and it is nice!
Friday was my Birthday! We went to the Carlsons after our morning schedule, which was nice. Then we got Brother Moore to come out with us to teach Alfreda, who is doing very well (came to church, and is coming again)! We then went by and taught Henry Webster, who is going to be in Tucson for the next couple weeks. After that, we had a couple lessons not go through, so we went to get steak (we otherwise wouldn't have had an opportunity to). We went to an interesting steak house.[Elder M's traditional birthday dinner is steak, so we sent him a gift card so he and Elder G. could go out for steak for his birthday.] The second you stepped into the place you felt the happiness sucked right out of you. They were shocked I ordered a steak medium rare, and even more shocked when I turned down A1. The medium rare steak turned out to be a seared piece of raw beef, so I had to give it back to get cooked a little more. It came back pretty rare, but still was much better. After that, we went and taught Louis. We then had dinner at Tomoko's home. We then went by the Hodges, who are doing well. We then went to teach Carolyn Hill. She is really looking forward to her baptism. Overall, it was a good Birthday. We didn't really do much besides run from one appointment to another, but I'd definitely take that over anything else.
Saturday was fun. We had basketball in the morning and got a couple of new people to our class there. We had a great time playing ball too. After that, we went down to Calumet City and did some work there. The Childress family fed us some carnitas. We went by Victoria's home and had a lesson there. They now have an organ in their home, which is pretty fun. We went by Sister Prewitts home as well (she came back to church this Sunday!), which was nice. After that, we actually had some time to tract! We then had a fall through and went by the Howorths home to help bring a couch into the home... Which turned out to be crazy. We lifted this couch up over the balcony on the 2nd floor apartment because it wouldn't fit up the stairs. It was epic.
Sunday was pretty neat. We had some good people come to church. It was really nice having Alfreda come for the first time! She was taken aback because it is SO unlike Baptist church services around here. She said she needed to talk with Brother Moore about it, which got us a little nervous. We scheduled the appointment for Monday morning. After church, we talked with the Bishopric for a while. We're going to have a new Ward Mission Leader soon because Brother Beer is moving to Utah. We went by the Motts after that, and did some other stop bys. It was a great day overall.
Monday started early with an appointment at Alfreda's home. We had to cut our studies short to get Brother Moore and bring him there, but it went really well. They had a great talk, and she is going to continue attending. We're really excited about that. We then had our District Meeting. We have 2 north side sisters in our district, which are pretty cool. After that, we went out and did stop bys for medias and the like, We then had an appointment with Charles. He is doing well. We then went by and visited Lebron. After that, we met with Todd Romac! We gave him a blessing and got to talk for a while. He hasn't been to church in years, and is going through some really hard times. He should come Sunday, and really make some big changes. He's one that we stopped by and was so amazed at the timing. After that, we had dinner over at the Hills. They made us some catfish and spaghetti. It was good, and filled us up beyond belief. She asked Elder Gonzalez to do the confirmation and me to do the baptism. Sister Carlson and Sister Piecuch are going to give the talks at the service. It should be great.
Tuesday started off in the auto body shop getting an estimate for the repairs on our car. After that, we did our studies and headed out to visit Sister Prewitt. She is different now. It's incredible how much happier she is even from a few days ago. She's going to be solid now for church, and is going to be Carolyn's permanent ride. We're excited about that! We then did some stop bys and finding, which was nice. We also met a man that was convinced we were FBI agents even after we told him we're really representatives of Jesus Christ. He told us all about how we could get into military bases, and fly to Puerto Rico. He sees us young FBI agents cracking down on crime pretty often, which is nice. After that, we went by the Mitchell's home. We then had another appointment with Todd, and also met his sister in law, who isn't a member. That went really well. We then went over to the Ervins' home. They fed us some dinner. I ought to take a picture of some South side food sometime... After that, we went by the Hodges' home again. We got to meet some more relatives and friends over there, which was nice. We then went over to Melbria's. We also got a new air conditioner from the APs because ours broke! We became like most people we teach... Air conditioner-less.
Today is going to be awesome! We're going to take a train up to Chicago! Our plan was to go to Union Station, but I just realized the train from where we are now (Hyde Park) doesn't go there. After spending some time downtown, we'll come back here and play some volleyball. President Doll is awesome... We called him to get permission to go to the suit place in the Loop today and for when I pick my suits up, and he told us to go all around, including Navy Pier!!! When we go to pick up the suits, we'll go to Navy Pier. Today we'll probably look at the bean and some other cool stuff, then come back down.
Well, all is well. I'm loving my mission. I love you a lot! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Bradley E McMullin
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
The 3 Missionary Companionship
Here are Elders Rothlisberger, Gonzalez and McMullin, wearing their mission t-shirts. Elder R. joined Elders G and M as a companion for a 2 week transfer (the last transfer of the Chicago South Mission.)
Mission Update -- 7/7/10
Well, the North and South missions officially combined last week and transfers were held this week. Under President Roach, the missionaries found out where they were going on Tuesday and then transfers were on Thursday. With President Doll (at least this time), they found out on Tuesday morning instead of Tuesday night, and transfers were today. This is Elder M's LAST TRANSFER! Hard to believe. Here's his email:
Hello Family,
Things are going well here. I'm glad to hear good things from home! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAITLIN![Her birthday is 7/8]. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA! [Her birthday is 7/12]. And Happy Birthday Elder McMullin! [His birthday is 7/9]. Thanks for the packages, I really appreciate them. I already opened them, which you of course know I'm very good at doing. Elder Gonzalez and I will be going to the steak house that is across the street from our apartment for lunch most likely on my Birthday!
So, we had transfers today actually... Elder Gonzalez and I are staying together and Elder Rothlisberger left for home. Elder Boyers and Ahlman are going to the Northside. We're getting some north side sisters in the district coming into Blue Island. Hey, awesome news... Jorge Quintana from Naper 4 has got a baptismal date now! He's getting baptized in August, and his family is flying in from New York for it! That is so awesome!
Here it is... The beginning of the end. My last transfer has begun... Which I have to say I am not excited about. I love you all a lot, but wish I had a little while longer. Now I suppose I can only make the most of what time I do have.
Here's some of what's happened this last week:
Wednesday was the Taste of Chicago P day. It was pretty fun. [Now that their mission covers all of Chicago, they don't have the dividing line down the middle of the city!] We drove up there and parked near Edwardo's Pizza. We walked up Michigan to Monroe, then went over. The place was packed. It was really hot too... Especially in Pros (pronounced pross... what missionaries call proselyting clothes). Elder Gonzalez tried some goat. I was looking everywhere for Gino's East pizza, but did not find it. I settled on trying some other pizza that people say is so good. We got a couple of other things too. After that, we went to a haircut place for Elder Gonzalez. Elder Rothlisberger split to go with Brother Jenkins to a couple of appointments, and Elder Gonzalez and I drove 20 miles to an appointment that tubed us. We had another one though, and it ended up being a really good preparation day.
Thursday was awesome. We took Brother Moore with us to visit Barbara. She is awesome, and we really think she'll progress. She told us she was in fact praying for help, and we were an answer to her prayers. We're pretty excited about that. The lesson went well. We taught the Restoration, and the conversation with her and Brother Moore progressed as far to how sad it would be when missionaries got transferred in the future (and how many she would meet through years in the Church). We also had lunch with Brother Moore. He used to be a gang banger (long) before he was a member, and the #1 in his (near 2,000 man) gang passed away recently. Brother Moore was next in line to take control, but he's a member so he of course will not take over. For our lesson we discussed King Benjamin's address before giving away "#1" to Mosiah. We then went to visit Charles Williams and watched the Family Answers DVD with him, which is, by the way, one of the most unique Church DVDs I have ever seen. We then went by the Moore twins' home and had a lesson with them. The family is nice. We went over to the Flores family's home for dinner. It was excellent. They are such an awesome family (less active), and should be coming back to church immediately! We then went by the Motts' home, and had a great lesson there. I love that family so much. We played some catch with their neighbors too.
Friday was the new Mission President meeting. It went really well. President and Sister Doll are awesome. They are very different from President and Sister Roach, but I like them a lot. They just had everyone introduce themselves. It was pretty casual actually. After that, we drove down to Calumet City to visit Collette. That went well. We then went over to visit with Louis. What a drive to and from Cal City. Louis went well. We tried to go by the Rhodes, and were up there for a while. We then went to the Leals for dinner. That was great. We then went by the Hills. While driving, we saw several churches outside on the streets singing and dancing about the Savior. It was pretty sweet. We recorded one group, and I should send that soon. I have really enjoyed my cameramen companions!
Saturday was great. We had a good time at basketball. Brother Mott came out, which was fun. My team won quite a few, but we also lost some close ones. We did our Weekly Planning after that. We then went by Victoria's home. That went well. We had dinner later with Sister Tomoko, which was good. We also got to visit Charles Williams and LeBron. I believe we also stopped by Alfreda's and Sister Prewitts. It was a pretty crazy day of driving around.
Sunday was an awesome 4th of July! We went by Charles' home in the morning, then had a great day at Church. We had taught 26 lessons for the week, and wanted to finish up with 30, which is an amount of lessons that transcends the level of ridiculousness. We said that if we could get 30 we would get I-57 (on a later day). It was down to the wire. 4 lessons between 4:30 and curfew. Everyone was at BBQs and no one wanted to meet. We got an appointment set up with Sister Flowers to teach her and bring her the sacrament. 5:10 - 1 down, 3 to go. We went to do stop bys, but no one was home. 5:30 - 1 down, 3 to go. We got a call and someone gave us frozen food, so we hurried and drive to our apartment to drop it off before dinner. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw red and blue lights flashing. We were worried, but the cops saw our name tags and let us go. 6:00 - 1 down, 3 to go. Dinner was awesome! Sister Jenkins is one of the best cooks I know. She cooked us so many rolls (our favorite), chicken, potatoes, home made desert, etc. It was good, but we were there a while. 7:40 - 2 down, 2 to go. Frantic calls were made, and we drove all the way over there as fast as we could within the speed limit. We contacted the Prewitts, and it turns out they were at home doing nothing. We went by and had a lesson. They had to go soon, so it was quick. 8:30 - 3 down, 1 to go. We would only have 15 minutes or so at anywhere we went so we could get home on time... We had to roll the dice and pick someone. If they weren't home, we couldn't have any I - 57! We went by the Motts. They were home, and it turned out really well. We got 30! We get I - 57! We got to watch their neighbors do fireworks too, which was fun. Now I'm done with this silly paragraph too...
Monday was a great day! We taught Alfreda in the morning before District Meeting. It went really well. We had a good District Meeting afterward. We learned about inviting people to make baptismal commitments. We decided we would do so that day. We went down to visit Collette, but she wasn't home. We took our first lunch break in a long time and ate Quizno's. It was terrible. After that, we finished our planning. We have been all over the place working, so it's been tough to finish all that. We had an awesome lesson with Charles. He ended up setting a baptismal date! Awesome. He had already given us his ashtrays, and started working on quitting smoking. He's set for August 21st. Crazy. We then went by Brother Moore's and got him for some appointments. He came with us to visit Alfreda again. This appointment went even better. She should really start progressing faster now. I'm pretty happy about that. We then went by Sister Hill's. She is doing great! I'm really excited about her baptism.
Tuesday was a good day too. We got transfer calls in the morning. We had a couple of appointments fall through, so we did things to help Elder Rothlisberger prepare to go to Bulgaria. We did get to teach the Hodges, who came to church on Sunday for the first time in years, and also the Ervins and some relatives. We said goodbye to a couple of people for Elder Rothlisberger, and did stop bys. It was a pretty good day.
Today was great. We drove out to Naperville for transfer meeting. We all met up there. It was fun to see people, even though we mostly saw people we didn't know. That was fun though. We also stopped by the mission office on the way back. Not sure what we'll do for the rest of the day until our evening, when we've got an appointment with Sister Hill.
Well, you all take care. I love you a lot. I'm grateful for my opportunity to serve here. Have a great day. Keep the people of Chicago in your prayers please.
Love,
Elder Bradley E McMullin
Hello Family,
Things are going well here. I'm glad to hear good things from home! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAITLIN![Her birthday is 7/8]. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA! [Her birthday is 7/12]. And Happy Birthday Elder McMullin! [His birthday is 7/9]. Thanks for the packages, I really appreciate them. I already opened them, which you of course know I'm very good at doing. Elder Gonzalez and I will be going to the steak house that is across the street from our apartment for lunch most likely on my Birthday!
So, we had transfers today actually... Elder Gonzalez and I are staying together and Elder Rothlisberger left for home. Elder Boyers and Ahlman are going to the Northside. We're getting some north side sisters in the district coming into Blue Island. Hey, awesome news... Jorge Quintana from Naper 4 has got a baptismal date now! He's getting baptized in August, and his family is flying in from New York for it! That is so awesome!
Here it is... The beginning of the end. My last transfer has begun... Which I have to say I am not excited about. I love you all a lot, but wish I had a little while longer. Now I suppose I can only make the most of what time I do have.
Here's some of what's happened this last week:
Wednesday was the Taste of Chicago P day. It was pretty fun. [Now that their mission covers all of Chicago, they don't have the dividing line down the middle of the city!] We drove up there and parked near Edwardo's Pizza. We walked up Michigan to Monroe, then went over. The place was packed. It was really hot too... Especially in Pros (pronounced pross... what missionaries call proselyting clothes). Elder Gonzalez tried some goat. I was looking everywhere for Gino's East pizza, but did not find it. I settled on trying some other pizza that people say is so good. We got a couple of other things too. After that, we went to a haircut place for Elder Gonzalez. Elder Rothlisberger split to go with Brother Jenkins to a couple of appointments, and Elder Gonzalez and I drove 20 miles to an appointment that tubed us. We had another one though, and it ended up being a really good preparation day.
Thursday was awesome. We took Brother Moore with us to visit Barbara. She is awesome, and we really think she'll progress. She told us she was in fact praying for help, and we were an answer to her prayers. We're pretty excited about that. The lesson went well. We taught the Restoration, and the conversation with her and Brother Moore progressed as far to how sad it would be when missionaries got transferred in the future (and how many she would meet through years in the Church). We also had lunch with Brother Moore. He used to be a gang banger (long) before he was a member, and the #1 in his (near 2,000 man) gang passed away recently. Brother Moore was next in line to take control, but he's a member so he of course will not take over. For our lesson we discussed King Benjamin's address before giving away "#1" to Mosiah. We then went to visit Charles Williams and watched the Family Answers DVD with him, which is, by the way, one of the most unique Church DVDs I have ever seen. We then went by the Moore twins' home and had a lesson with them. The family is nice. We went over to the Flores family's home for dinner. It was excellent. They are such an awesome family (less active), and should be coming back to church immediately! We then went by the Motts' home, and had a great lesson there. I love that family so much. We played some catch with their neighbors too.
Friday was the new Mission President meeting. It went really well. President and Sister Doll are awesome. They are very different from President and Sister Roach, but I like them a lot. They just had everyone introduce themselves. It was pretty casual actually. After that, we drove down to Calumet City to visit Collette. That went well. We then went over to visit with Louis. What a drive to and from Cal City. Louis went well. We tried to go by the Rhodes, and were up there for a while. We then went to the Leals for dinner. That was great. We then went by the Hills. While driving, we saw several churches outside on the streets singing and dancing about the Savior. It was pretty sweet. We recorded one group, and I should send that soon. I have really enjoyed my cameramen companions!
Saturday was great. We had a good time at basketball. Brother Mott came out, which was fun. My team won quite a few, but we also lost some close ones. We did our Weekly Planning after that. We then went by Victoria's home. That went well. We had dinner later with Sister Tomoko, which was good. We also got to visit Charles Williams and LeBron. I believe we also stopped by Alfreda's and Sister Prewitts. It was a pretty crazy day of driving around.
Sunday was an awesome 4th of July! We went by Charles' home in the morning, then had a great day at Church. We had taught 26 lessons for the week, and wanted to finish up with 30, which is an amount of lessons that transcends the level of ridiculousness. We said that if we could get 30 we would get I-57 (on a later day). It was down to the wire. 4 lessons between 4:30 and curfew. Everyone was at BBQs and no one wanted to meet. We got an appointment set up with Sister Flowers to teach her and bring her the sacrament. 5:10 - 1 down, 3 to go. We went to do stop bys, but no one was home. 5:30 - 1 down, 3 to go. We got a call and someone gave us frozen food, so we hurried and drive to our apartment to drop it off before dinner. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw red and blue lights flashing. We were worried, but the cops saw our name tags and let us go. 6:00 - 1 down, 3 to go. Dinner was awesome! Sister Jenkins is one of the best cooks I know. She cooked us so many rolls (our favorite), chicken, potatoes, home made desert, etc. It was good, but we were there a while. 7:40 - 2 down, 2 to go. Frantic calls were made, and we drove all the way over there as fast as we could within the speed limit. We contacted the Prewitts, and it turns out they were at home doing nothing. We went by and had a lesson. They had to go soon, so it was quick. 8:30 - 3 down, 1 to go. We would only have 15 minutes or so at anywhere we went so we could get home on time... We had to roll the dice and pick someone. If they weren't home, we couldn't have any I - 57! We went by the Motts. They were home, and it turned out really well. We got 30! We get I - 57! We got to watch their neighbors do fireworks too, which was fun. Now I'm done with this silly paragraph too...
Monday was a great day! We taught Alfreda in the morning before District Meeting. It went really well. We had a good District Meeting afterward. We learned about inviting people to make baptismal commitments. We decided we would do so that day. We went down to visit Collette, but she wasn't home. We took our first lunch break in a long time and ate Quizno's. It was terrible. After that, we finished our planning. We have been all over the place working, so it's been tough to finish all that. We had an awesome lesson with Charles. He ended up setting a baptismal date! Awesome. He had already given us his ashtrays, and started working on quitting smoking. He's set for August 21st. Crazy. We then went by Brother Moore's and got him for some appointments. He came with us to visit Alfreda again. This appointment went even better. She should really start progressing faster now. I'm pretty happy about that. We then went by Sister Hill's. She is doing great! I'm really excited about her baptism.
Tuesday was a good day too. We got transfer calls in the morning. We had a couple of appointments fall through, so we did things to help Elder Rothlisberger prepare to go to Bulgaria. We did get to teach the Hodges, who came to church on Sunday for the first time in years, and also the Ervins and some relatives. We said goodbye to a couple of people for Elder Rothlisberger, and did stop bys. It was a pretty good day.
Today was great. We drove out to Naperville for transfer meeting. We all met up there. It was fun to see people, even though we mostly saw people we didn't know. That was fun though. We also stopped by the mission office on the way back. Not sure what we'll do for the rest of the day until our evening, when we've got an appointment with Sister Hill.
Well, you all take care. I love you a lot. I'm grateful for my opportunity to serve here. Have a great day. Keep the people of Chicago in your prayers please.
Love,
Elder Bradley E McMullin
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Missionaries with Elder Denter
Edler Denter (one of Elder M's former companions) left for home last transfer (June 24). Here he is with Elder M. and some of the other missionaries in the Chicago South Mission. Elder Denter left just before the missions combined to form the Illinois Chicago Mission.
Basketball
The Elders played basketball with these kids one evening after teaching an investigator. As they played, other people came out to join in. Fun!"Street Contacting" in Chicago
Elder M. says this is a common sight in his neighborhood, unfortunately. However, the missionaries on at least one occasion were able to chat with the police officers (see his email of a few weeks ago.)
Mission Update -- 6/30/10
I've been in San Diego, so am posting a little late. Pictures and video this time (if I can ever figure out how to post the video!) Here's the email:
Hello Family,
President and Sister Roach are now gone. They served well. We now have President and Sister Doll. President Doll called the other night. He will be great. We got permission from him to go to the Taste of Chicago today. That should be fun. Caraline is now preparing for baptism! She wants to get baptized on the 24th of July! Awesome! Things are good with us 3 missionaries, and also covering the whole Ward. We're pretty busy now, which is nice.
Here's some of what's gone on:
Wednesday was fun. We had our last Nerf war. We also helped clean out the Beverly apartment. It stormed like crazy, which it has been a lot lately. We had planned on meeting with Melbria again, but she doesn't like us driving when we've got these crazy storms.
Thursday was a good day. We had our transfer meeting, which was the last time to see President Roach. A lot of missionaries went home too. It was pretty sad. After that, we came back and got some of Elder Rothlisbergers stuff to bring to our apartment. We had a couple appointments too right then. Our first one fell through though. We then went out with Brother Jenkins to find out that Todd Romac (I always think Tony Roma's when I say his name) moved out! We had an appointment with the Prewitts after that though. We had another appointment fall through, so we went to visit Errol and Mercedes. That was pretty fun. It had been a while since going over there. We also had a lesson with the Motts, which went well. Also one with Melbria, who is a really strong member! Our house was so filled with stuff because of having 3 people and the supplies of 2 apartments!
Friday was pretty good. We did organizing for exercise in the morning. We went to the Carlsons' home after studies for a practice lesson. We then got to meet these 2 eleven year old twins that had moved in from Las Vegas for the summer. They were baptized there, and are pretty neat. We also met some man that was staying at their house that was a mystic and told us all about ourselves. It was pretty eerie. After that, we went with Tony Burton to teach his dad. That went well. We stopped at McDonald's for lunch and were approached by a couple from Utah that bought us lunch! It was nice, but kind of strange they were in that neighborhood. We had our dinner appointment with Sister Tomoko, who fed us sushi. After that, we went by the Rhodes and had a lesson there. Brother Rhodes (non member) sat in, which was nice. After that, we went by the Hills. It is so good to be back over there. Caraline is doing really well. I'm very excited for her to progress towards baptism.
Saturday was a great day. We had class at basketball again. It went really well. After basketball our appointments fell through for a while. We helped the Assistants clean out the Beverly apartment and close it down. That took quite some time. We then went to Sister Tomasello's for dinner and to teach Lucy, one of our investigators. We then went by Melbria's.
Sunday was awesome! After MCM, I went on a split with Brother Beer to pick up investigators. We first picked up Vera and Marquis! They were so ready for church. It was awesome to have them come for the first time. It's been about 6 weeks since we tracted into them, and Vera told Bishop she very well may join the church! Marquis was in a ridiculously nice suit. We also picked up Caraline Hill, who is very excited about the 24th of July! She's one worth keeping in prayers. They all enjoyed church. Melbria is doing well too, as is Tonika. It's fun to have them participate so much in class. We also had a family come to church for the first time that we are going to meet tonight! Their sister was baptized in Springfield, and was up here visiting. After church, we went by Victoria's home. They're doing well. We then went to the Jenkins' home for dinner. They are so awesome! We love going over there every Sunday for dinner. After that, we went over to visit the Motts and Melbria.
Monday was a good day. Before District Meeting, we went to a local hospital where Bulgarians work. Elder Rothlisberger is going to go back to Bulgaria soon, and got to have some good practice meeting them. We had a Brother who is a former Chicago missionary in the area. He had married a girl from here, and needed some help loading up stuff for them to move to Texas. We helped out there after our District Meeting. We then went by the Rhodes, who are doing well. Elder Denter called them when we were over. We then went to the family we had tracted into where we felt particularly led by God. The lesson went great! The family is awesome, and we're very excited for them to progress. We will meet them again tomorrow morning. After that, we went by the Prewitts, who gave us some Polish sausages. We then went by the Hills to help Caraline get ready for baptism.
Tuesday proselyting started off at Tonika's home. We had a lesson there. She is doing well. We then went by Charles' home. He's doing alright. We hope to help him accelerate his progression. We then went down to Cal city and met with Esau and the Forrests. The Forrests gave us a ton of food. Probably literally a ton. We filled up our freezer. We then went on a split. I went with Brother Jenkins to visit a semi active family and Elders G and R went to the Ervins. After that, we went by the Florez' home. They had gone less active, but are awesome. They're going to feed us tomorrow, and should be coming back to church!
Thats pretty much it now. Things are great! The Gospel is true, and I love you! Have a great time at the beach. I hope things are well in Snowflake.
Love,
Elder Bradley E McMullin
Hello Family,
President and Sister Roach are now gone. They served well. We now have President and Sister Doll. President Doll called the other night. He will be great. We got permission from him to go to the Taste of Chicago today. That should be fun. Caraline is now preparing for baptism! She wants to get baptized on the 24th of July! Awesome! Things are good with us 3 missionaries, and also covering the whole Ward. We're pretty busy now, which is nice.
Here's some of what's gone on:
Wednesday was fun. We had our last Nerf war. We also helped clean out the Beverly apartment. It stormed like crazy, which it has been a lot lately. We had planned on meeting with Melbria again, but she doesn't like us driving when we've got these crazy storms.
Thursday was a good day. We had our transfer meeting, which was the last time to see President Roach. A lot of missionaries went home too. It was pretty sad. After that, we came back and got some of Elder Rothlisbergers stuff to bring to our apartment. We had a couple appointments too right then. Our first one fell through though. We then went out with Brother Jenkins to find out that Todd Romac (I always think Tony Roma's when I say his name) moved out! We had an appointment with the Prewitts after that though. We had another appointment fall through, so we went to visit Errol and Mercedes. That was pretty fun. It had been a while since going over there. We also had a lesson with the Motts, which went well. Also one with Melbria, who is a really strong member! Our house was so filled with stuff because of having 3 people and the supplies of 2 apartments!
Friday was pretty good. We did organizing for exercise in the morning. We went to the Carlsons' home after studies for a practice lesson. We then got to meet these 2 eleven year old twins that had moved in from Las Vegas for the summer. They were baptized there, and are pretty neat. We also met some man that was staying at their house that was a mystic and told us all about ourselves. It was pretty eerie. After that, we went with Tony Burton to teach his dad. That went well. We stopped at McDonald's for lunch and were approached by a couple from Utah that bought us lunch! It was nice, but kind of strange they were in that neighborhood. We had our dinner appointment with Sister Tomoko, who fed us sushi. After that, we went by the Rhodes and had a lesson there. Brother Rhodes (non member) sat in, which was nice. After that, we went by the Hills. It is so good to be back over there. Caraline is doing really well. I'm very excited for her to progress towards baptism.
Saturday was a great day. We had class at basketball again. It went really well. After basketball our appointments fell through for a while. We helped the Assistants clean out the Beverly apartment and close it down. That took quite some time. We then went to Sister Tomasello's for dinner and to teach Lucy, one of our investigators. We then went by Melbria's.
Sunday was awesome! After MCM, I went on a split with Brother Beer to pick up investigators. We first picked up Vera and Marquis! They were so ready for church. It was awesome to have them come for the first time. It's been about 6 weeks since we tracted into them, and Vera told Bishop she very well may join the church! Marquis was in a ridiculously nice suit. We also picked up Caraline Hill, who is very excited about the 24th of July! She's one worth keeping in prayers. They all enjoyed church. Melbria is doing well too, as is Tonika. It's fun to have them participate so much in class. We also had a family come to church for the first time that we are going to meet tonight! Their sister was baptized in Springfield, and was up here visiting. After church, we went by Victoria's home. They're doing well. We then went to the Jenkins' home for dinner. They are so awesome! We love going over there every Sunday for dinner. After that, we went over to visit the Motts and Melbria.
Monday was a good day. Before District Meeting, we went to a local hospital where Bulgarians work. Elder Rothlisberger is going to go back to Bulgaria soon, and got to have some good practice meeting them. We had a Brother who is a former Chicago missionary in the area. He had married a girl from here, and needed some help loading up stuff for them to move to Texas. We helped out there after our District Meeting. We then went by the Rhodes, who are doing well. Elder Denter called them when we were over. We then went to the family we had tracted into where we felt particularly led by God. The lesson went great! The family is awesome, and we're very excited for them to progress. We will meet them again tomorrow morning. After that, we went by the Prewitts, who gave us some Polish sausages. We then went by the Hills to help Caraline get ready for baptism.
Tuesday proselyting started off at Tonika's home. We had a lesson there. She is doing well. We then went by Charles' home. He's doing alright. We hope to help him accelerate his progression. We then went down to Cal city and met with Esau and the Forrests. The Forrests gave us a ton of food. Probably literally a ton. We filled up our freezer. We then went on a split. I went with Brother Jenkins to visit a semi active family and Elders G and R went to the Ervins. After that, we went by the Florez' home. They had gone less active, but are awesome. They're going to feed us tomorrow, and should be coming back to church!
Thats pretty much it now. Things are great! The Gospel is true, and I love you! Have a great time at the beach. I hope things are well in Snowflake.
Love,
Elder Bradley E McMullin
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