A lot going on

Hey everyone,

Hope things are going well for you. This past week was very good. We have a lot going on and taught a lot. Our investigators aren't progressing as well as we would like, but missionary work has been very enjoyable.

"Unfortunately we were not able to meet with a few of our investigators. Sis. M got sick last Sunday, and that's why they weren't at church last Sunday. We weren't able to meet with them this week because she was still sick. But we have an appointment for this week, so it should be good. He didn't come to church yesterday, I guess they got home really late from somewhere the night before. C never returned our phone calls, he's been pretty busy. We stopped by his house and spoke with his grandma, and were able to set an appointment for this week (finally). He wasn't at church either. We haven't been able to get up with B yet, and he wasn't at church either. We had an appointment to see C, but someone had had some vehicle trouble or something and he wasn't able to make it. We'll set another one with him though. L and C haven't returned our calls. We'll try getting up with them again this week, and if we can't then we're going to drop them.
S is doing very well. He's been making changes in his life. He's trying to quit smoking again. He told his girlfriend that he's not going to marry outside of his new faith, so if she wants to think about marrying him she's going to have to become a member too. He had some things going on, but he went to the Goldsboro 1st ward sacrament meeting. He's progressing well, I think he will be ready for his baptismal date on Sept. 4th.
Z is in a tough situation. We went over there and he told us about how he prayed and received an answer that the Book of Mormon is true. He likes church and would go every week, but his family holds him back. In addition, his mother doesn't want to set a baptismal date because she doesn't think he's prepared. He wasn't at church again. He really is a smart kid, but he's just held back by others. It's hard to watch.
We had a good visit with E this week. We taught him about the Spirit World and the Resurrection. We also explained how to recognize an answer from the Holy Ghost. He told us that he was going to be out of town this weekend and wouldn't be at church. He's progressing pretty well, we have an appointment with him tonight where we'll try to feel out what his needs are a little better.
We had a really good lesson with Sis. M on Friday. We taught her about God as our loving Heavenly Father and about prayer. She committed to pray daily. She's not used to it at all, she grew up Orthodox and the only prayers she ever gave were recited. They were supposed to be at church but weren't! It was disappointing.
We also went and taught Sis. A. We mainly focused on how the gospel can bless families. She is pretty open and wants to be united on religion. She wasn't at church this week, but hopefully she will commit to come next week with her husband.
We also started teaching I, the brother of Bro. W. He is a very good man. He has come to recognize the vanity in churches and said that he would be baptized if he came to know that it was true. He wasn't at church either."

Holy smokes Dad, you will not believe what just happened. A member from Charlotte is visiting one of the members in our ward and he stopped in here at the Family History Library where I'm e-mailing. I had a very nice conversation with him. His name is Terry Cook, and he's Sherry Salisbury's cousin. He recognized me as your son, and said that I look just like you. He told me he sold you your first life insurance policy and that you should buy from him again. He asked me if you were still running the tire store. He is Corey Cook's uncle. He talked about how good of a kid Corey was, how he loved Washington, and how he had a drinking problem that held him back. He told me about how Corey loved the people - Spencer, Wes, Coach Riner, Bro. Edmonds, and others. He said that Corey had told them about me and how I was on Jeopardy. He was staying in a place called Clarkton when he died. He said that the missionaries had been to see his twin sister and his mother. He gave me their address and phone number. Maybe if I'm fortunate I can have the opportunity to see them sometime. He seemed like a really good guy, I'm glad I got to talk to him. Do we have any pictures with Corey in them? If there are any on the computer, that would be great if you could send me some.

Bro. Eppich broke his leg? Holy cow, that's pretty crazy. I hope he recovers quickly.

Say hi to Tyler. I hope he has a great senior year. I can't believe he's that old!

I can't believe Michael's going to be an elder and at school in a couple of weeks! Holy smokes, that's crazy.

Sis. Cotterell told us this week that a newspaper in Raleigh reported that this has been the hottest summer we've had in 67 years. Go figure. I haven't minded it too much actually. I guess I'm just weird. Last fall didn't do much for me, seemed like it was just a bunch of evergreen trees on the coast. Maybe I'll get to see more fall colors this autumn.

Well, that's about all I've got. I love you all very much and look forward to hearing from you again next week.

Love,
Elder Casper