Email excerpts 7/13 - 7/27

Dear Friends and family,

My last email to you was dated 7/12 so I thought I should send out another update on Adrian's mission.

Tidbits from letters ...

Letter of 7/13/09
Thanks to Uncle Lee for the Yellowstone postcard - unfortunately, Adrian did not have your return address to write back to you. As noted in the last email, Adrian and his companion finally moved from their overcrowded apartment into one that Adrian said was spacious enough for two companionships... well you knew they wouldn't have it to themselves very long. They were 5 and then 6 in their apartment. Another companionship (English speaking) is staying with them temporarily because the member they usually live with has family visiting now. And their mission participates in a "two week mission" program. They had a 17-year-old join up with their companionship as a learning experience. Their missionary in training was a Hispanic native. Then they got another single (Spanish) missionary who was without a companion for a while.

"As Alma 27:27 says, the Lord worketh in many ways to bring to pass the salvation of his people. The Lamanite prisoners rebellion truly is a strange thing that ended up helping the Nephites. The Lord has many miracles in store, and has been working them from the beginning.

... The Spanish missionaries sometimes have to fight off envy of the English wards. We're working with our wards to try and help them get organized but the English missionaries seem to get so much more help from their wards with finding and teaching. We did just get a new ward mission leader and some ward missionaries so hopefully things are getting started up again in that department. The English elders got 6 of their investigators to church this week. for some reason getting people to church is almost impossible for us. In the very beginning of my mission, there were two coming, then they got baptized. The closest thing we've had to an investigator at church since then is when one of the recent converts brought two of his kids with him. We're doing a lot of good work with a bunch of different people, and finding new ones, too, but I'm looking forward to seeing people at that step again.

I think I've started to hit a little bit of a mail drop from people (other than my parents). -- hint from his Mom

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Letter of 7/20/09

I'm finally getting somewhat tired of all this heat.

We did a lot of finding this week considering we had 4 elders and could split up in twos. It was pretty good. I encountered one of my weirdest "finds" yet. We met a very science-driven guy who didn't like faith but apparently ran a Bible-study somewhere. ...In my scripture reading, I read the whole part about how Amalickiah schemed his way to become King of the Lamanites, but when it had finished talking about Amalickiah it jumped back to talking about how Moroni had not ceased to fortify his cities and build new defenses and prepare. So i wrote in my study journal "evil never rests. Neither did Moroni."

Also, I received the last two ward mission newsletters - very cool! - thanks go to Brother Hale!

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letter of 7/27/09

July's just about over, and transfer calls are this coming Saturday. We're also planning to add two missionaries to the ward, so that would make eight missionaries in one ward. The mission doesn't have more cars available, so they're going to take part of our area, and part of another companionship's area, and create a spanish bike area.
Hm...we didn't have any investigators at church today, but we did get what could eventually be a baptismal date with Jesus, our "formerly atheist" investigator. Elder Strang's pushing on it. It's just sort of a goal to be by then decided, (and hopefully baptized). A motivation, I guess, to be working & reading and going to church, since he hasn't been or seen what it's like yet.

By next week's letter I might know where I'm going to be fore the next six weeks. My companion's the one that's likely to be moving, though. Here's the scripture thought for this week: Helaman 10:4-5, blessings come from working unwearyingly in your calling, or place in life that you're in right now.

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Hope you enjoyed the Adrian tidbits. We appreciate your support.

Kristi