Week 74 - February 16, 2015

Dear Mom, 

Thank you for all the DL(down low) on State Swimming. It is really cool to hear everything, I am just sad that I missed it. It sounds like Calvin did pretty well!! I guess that is a bit disappointing about the 100 free, but he still has 2 more years so... That is crazy that he dropped 2 seconds on his 100 breast! That is a lot of time to drop! That is sweet that he medaled in that event. It sounds like the relays did great, especially the 400 free. That is great they beat CV. I know that they have some good swimmers in that relay. That is great that Colby did so good as well! He has been such a hard worker, and he deserves to win. I am sure that is exciting for his Senior year. That is also cool to see Abby on there for swimming in the 200 and 500! That is cool that their sweetheart dates drove up to watch them! I hope they had fun at the dance. Shea told me that they came over to her house after the dance. 

 Well it has been a pretty good week here in Randburg. As you said I have not been here for six weeks. Our transfers are tomorrow, and we are not having any changes here. I will be staying here with elder Peterson. I am pretty happy about that! It is a great area, and me and elder Peterson actually work pretty well together. I guess that is the big news of this week. 

We have still been doing great with teaching. We are still teaching our great investigators. 

Jackie is doing great! She is still struggling with smoking, but we are working with that. She is just such a great lady, and very ready. She just loves the gospel. Here and Nathan are so fun to be with. We just joke around. I love being sarcastic with people!!

Willamina and Ester are doing well still. We met them 2 times this last week. They are still learning and progressing, but it goes slow with them because they have a lot of questions. They are still great though, and they are coming to church! 

We are also still teaching Thoko. She is going well, but she has been getting distracted lately. She hasn't come to church for 2 weeks either.

We met this new girl that lives with Thoko and a member. Her name is Muntu. She is a sweet investigator. She read the whole pamphlet, which never happens. She also really understood and comprehended the restoration! It was a sweet lesson we had with her. We then met her again, and introduced the Book of Mormon. She was really ready to read it as well. The only thing - she said I don't think I can join another church yet. But that is no worry, we can change that pretty easy!! 

I guess that is most of our cool investigators. WE have other random people like Nurse, a guy named Marshall(he's black), and Precilla. We are really blessed to get a lot of referrals from our ward members! It is awesome to get referrals! It makes missionary work so much easier. 

I met a guy in church yesterday that is from Cedar. His name is Steve Allen, and he is a patient of dad's. I don't know why he is here, but It was cool to meet him. He is coming back to Cedar on Wednesday. 

I also had dinner with the Crankshaws last night. They have a daughter that just got home from her mission from New Zealand. It was cool to talk to him about his brother in Cedar, and when he visited Cedar. The world is so small in Mormon ville. It is fun to find people that know about Cedar and Utah! 

On Valentines day elder Peterson and I tried to find somewhere nice to eat, and then even tried to go to the Hagen Daz Ice Cream place, but neither worked. All the restaurants around Mandela Square were packed, and booked out for the night. It was a bit disappointing, so we found a little Chinese place and I got sushi! 

On Wednesday Elder Peterson made me a nice breakfast, I guess I helped a bit. We had blueberry pancakes, American bacon, and eggs. It was pretty nice! I normally just have a protein shake for breakfast, so it was a nice mix up! 

I guess today we are going with Sister Masters to Monte Casino to play the slots!!!! haha just kidding we are going to a bird show there! I guess it is some really cool birth show. Sister masters is a lot of fun! She is just a super sarcastic old lady, and so her and I just are cheeky to each other, and we are so sarcastic! I guess that has been the week! 

 I am feeling pretty good! I have been pretty healthy, and I think that is from eating healthy, and exercising! I am feeling at peace with the things I am doing. I am really enjoying mission, and the work I am doing. Like I said I love seeing the gospel change people, and the effect it has on there lives. I get to see that everyday. I guess I have also seen the importance of agency. We really can't force anyone to follow. The savior always says come, so all we can do is invite. sometimes it is sad when people won't follow, and you want to force them because you know the happiness the gospel will bring. We are staying pretty busy for the most part. We do have a few slow days a week, but that is super normal, and I am used to it. 

Thank you for the pictures, they were fun to see. I have made a goal to take a picture a day. The Crankshaws told me how much the pictures mean to get, so I am going to try and do better with it. I hope you have an amazing week. I love you. 

Love

Your son