I'm glad you had an awesome Thanksgiving. Sounds like you got to see a lot of people! I also had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. That oyster stuffing was pretty good, actually. We had a good time with the Almeta G family. It was definitely different - I'm guessing that it was maybe about 70 degrees outside. But it was a good experience.

Here are some of the experiences we had this week: "Things are going great here on the Island. This week was kind of a difficult week. Elder Robertson was sick for a couple days and I wasn't feeling too hot myself. There are still a lot of good things going on, though. Mike was baptized on Saturday night by his father-in-law, Garlon. It was awesome. A lot of the members are surprised and happy. He is definitely set on going to the temple and getting sealed to his family.

Alex is scheduled to be baptized on Thursday night. Our visits have helped out her family. Her dad Jamie, who is a less-active member, says he knows he needs to get back to church and wants to quit smoking. There are some other part-member families that we are excited to hopefully start teaching soon - namely Allen N and Chuck W. And, Crystal, Hunter, Evan, and their sister Nana were all at church on Sunday. It's really good to see that whole family there. We have seen Tiffaney once since last week. She was planning on getting baptized in January, we are going to see if we can't get her to bump that up a few days to sometime in this transfer. That would be awesome!"

I think that my time here is dwindling down. This past week we had our interviews with the President, up in New Bern. I must say, I am awed by how closely President Cotterell lives by the Spirit. If I can learn to be half as spiritual as he is, I will be well off! Anyways, we had a good interview. I can't really go into detail about it, but I do enjoy having the opportunity to talk with President Cotterell one-on-one every six weeks. Happy birthday to you on Friday, Meg. And happy half birthday to me! 19 years and 6 months. Crazy.

Oh, I forgot to mention New Moon in my letter last week. People have gone CRAZY over it, it's ridiculous! It makes me laugh. I heard they have another one coming out in June. It's amazing how stuff like this just comes out of nowhere, catches fire, then dies back down. For sure that is what will happen with the Twilight saga.

I'm glad the whole family is enjoying Michael's football season. I hope they can finally pull through. Who are they playing? You'll have to let me know what happens. Michael you are a knothead! Ha ha ha. Thanks for the account of the game. I'm guessing that Michael was the one spoke that description.

I am going to ask the New Bern missionaries if they know anything about Judy K. I'll see if I can't get her address or phone number or something for Brother E.

This morning I was studying a talk by a former mission president who's now in the first quorum of the Seventy, Lawrence E. Corbridge. It explains the difference between being a missionary who conforms (i.e. obedience and sacrifice) and a missionary who changes his nature. Elder Stewart gave me that talk when I first came out, and it has taught me a lot. In order to be changed by our service, we need to have charity. We need to desire to do good in our hearts, and not just show it in our actions. It is so true. I was impressed with how important it is to think about the doctrines of the gospel as we go throughout our days and to use that as the criteria for our choices. I know that as we do that, we are happy. And this morning I felt the impression that I didn't need any more pictures than I've already got. Thanks for watching out for me!

Well, I hope all is well with all of you. I feel very privileged to be able to serve here in the best mission in the world. I love you all!

Love,
Elder Casper