Rainy in NC

Hello everyone,
Well, it looks as though I'm in Harker's Island for another six weeks. I'm glad. It feels like Elder Robertson and I have some unfinished business here, and six weeks left to finish it. I am looking forward to finishing this transfer here. Here is what I wrote this week to Pres. Cotterell:

"Well, this week has been really good for us. We loved being able to go to the temple. We have a baptism scheduled in two weeks, Mike. Mike is an awesome guy. He's very low key, kind of shy, and really loves his family. Elder Stewart and I gave the talk about the gift of the Holy Ghost at his daughter Kathryn's baptism. Then a few days later I had the impression that we needed to call them and start teaching Mike, even though we had never met him (he wasn't coming to church at the time). So I called Susie and asked if we could teach him. I reminded her of the blessings that come from having a priesthood holder in the home and told her that I thought that it might be time for him to accept the gospel. So we went over there that night and invited Mike to hear the lessons. He said that when he had been taught before he had believed everything the missionaries said, he just hadn't been ready, but he felt like he was closer to being ready. So we have been teaching him and his baptism is scheduled for the 28th of November. He has definitely changed as we've taught him, he even prayed yesterday in front of us and his family (which is a big step for him). We are super excited. We've got a lot of other good things going on too. Life is good!"

I have a little funny connection back to Eastern Washington that I just found this past week. There is a woman in our ward named Ashley (her maiden name is B) who served in the Spokane Washington mission about 5 or so years ago. She didn't serve in the areas that are closest to us (i.e. Othello, Royal, Moses Lake), so we couldn't find a connection. Last Friday we had dinner with her and her husband, and somehow we got on the topic of how I haven't met very many black people. Part of the Harker's Island culture is that everyone who lives there is white, supposedly there used to be a sign warning black people to be off before sundown. I also made reference to the fact that there aren't many black people in those small towns in Eastern Washington, Sis. S agreed with me there. She said the only black family she remembers was where the dad was white and the mom was black, and that was in Cheney. We talked about it some more and yes, the family was the Bryce S family. I thought that was pretty sweet.

Well, things are going pretty well out here on the coast. I'm looking forward to enjoying this holiday season. We need to get a tree and decorate it. Christmas here is definitely going to be different. You wouldn't believe how warm it is. There's a cold day here and there, but overall it's pretty nice weather. It's really weird, I'm pretty sure we aren't going to be having a white Christmas!

I'm jealous that I wasn't there for that stake conference. It sounds like it was a truly incredible experience. I did have the opportunity of hearing Elder Holland both at BYU and at the MTC, so I guess I should be thankful for that.

Michael, congrats on the 26. That's only slightly below the average at BYU, I would be surprised if you don't get in with that. Good job! And try not to kill yourself, you still gotta serve a mission!

Mom, thanks for getting that album together. I'm sure that I will really enjoy looking at it. And I guess that the library will take softcovers too. I'm fairly sure that they would be willing to put anything that I give them into the library, they do have a copy of the Book of Mormon in there already. Of course hardcovers will last longer, but we'll take what we can get. And you can send whatever you think would be good for someone who went in there to gain another perspective on what Mormons believe.

Well, thanks for everything. One last thing, thanks for finding out Bro. E's areas for me. New Bern is in my district, I've been there 3 or 4 times. It's the birthplace of Pepsi! Elder O (that baseball player) is actually one of the missionaries serving there right now. He and Elder S are two amazing missionaries. Let me know if there's anyone he'd like to have them look up for him. Elder R actually served in both Zebulon and Jacksonville. Jacksonville is the highest baptizing area in the mission! If I'm lucky I'll get to serve in one or two of the same areas as Bro. Edmonds, that would be really cool to be able to know some of the same people he did and be able to connect with the people he knew and taught.

Well, thanks for everything. I hope you all have a good week! I really do love the Gospel and all of you. Until next time!

Love,
Elder Casper