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