*
Hey everyone,
It was great to get your e-mail. I hope you all are doing well. Let me tell you about my week.
"Unfortunately, we won't be teaching B anymore. He's just not willing to read or progress. He's not willing to live the Word of Wisdom. We're going to keep inviting him to church, but no more teaching visits. He knows what he needs to do, he's committed to do it in the past but just won't. I hope that things will change for him.
We haven't been able to get up with W at all this week. He's just fallen off the map and is difficult to get ahold of. But we still feel like he has a lot of potential, so we're going to keep trying.
I was able to meet a less-active/part-member family this week for the first time that missionaries have been working with in the past. J and T seem like they have the potential to become active and reform their lives. We have a return appointment set with them for Thursday.
We got in to teach M and J, some people that we tracted out. M was kind of rude to us, and we won't be teaching them again. M thought that we couldn't teach her anything that she didn't know. We talked about the Restoration and a prophet. We asked her about what she would do if Moses was on the earth today. "Would you go to the church that Moses was at?" "I would if it was close to me." Ah well, at least we tried. We bore testimony about the Book of Mormon, invited her to read it, and left it at that.
Bro. Wilkins told us that he's been talking to M (who we taught once) more about the church at work. She asked her Baptist preacher about the church, and he told her that we believe that Joseph Smith is Jesus Christ and that we "drink and party and have a good ol' time in that church!" Bro. Wilkins was able to set that straight, and pointed out to her that her preacher had just told her two bold-faced lies. She's reading the Book of Mormon and forming her opinion on it right now. We'll be going back over there soon to follow up with her."
On Thursday, we helped out at the fire station, helping serve Thanksgiving Dinner to the homeless. It was good. We're supposed to do some kind of service like that every week. After that we had Thanksgiving Dinner with the Chavis family. It was really good, I enjoyed it very much. They're an awesome family. We did some weekly planning, and tried to stop by a few people. So it was good. I can't believe that a year ago, I was having Thanksgiving Dinner in Harker's Island with Elder Robertson. That's just nuts.
Our mission tour meetings were great! It was a little different from last year. Elder Packer talked a lot about the importance of the guidance of the Spirit. I definitely felt it there. It was wonderful.
I think this ward has always been fired up about missionary work. They're just not afraid to share the gospel. Even the less-active members.
So, as it turns out, Elder Lopez is being transferred after spending 6 months in his first area. I will be getting a brand spankin' new missionary. I'll be sure to let you know the details next week. I'm a little nervous to train, but I'm sure it will be good. Pembroke is a good area to train in.
You saw Susanna at Walgreens? Cool beans. I do like her, she was a funny girl. It was a pity that she had to move away. And she's dating a member? That's awesome!
Holy smokes, I can't believe Wes is home. Tell him hi for me. I did write him a letter a couple of weeks ago that he should have hopefully got.
Sorry I haven't been sending you any pictures lately. I really haven't been taking too many. But I will definitely have some to send you next week! Which of my pictures made the Christmas newsletter this year? I can't wait to get it.
Guess what? I get to make the 3rd call of my mission in 4 weeks! Is that crazy or what? I can't believe 2010 - the full calendar year spent as a full-time missionary - is almost over. I'm getting old.
I'm still working on getting the stuff to Corey's family. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.
Well, that's about all I've got. Thank you so much for the e-mails, they really lift me up and help me out. Take care, and have a good week.
Love,
Elder Casper
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
A Tough Week
Hey everyone,
So nice to hear from y'all. Here's how my week has been.
"This week has been kind of a tough week. Pretty much all of the investigators that were here when I came into the area either got baptized the week before, have dropped us, or just aren't progressing. So we're going back to the drawing board and finding new people to teach! I'm excited for this area though, it has a lot of potential. Especially with the great member support we have.
B isn't progressing...He's a good guy, but the whole time we've been teaching him I've kept getting this feeling that he isn't going to be ready to be baptized on Nov 20th. That day is certainly out of the question now, we'll see if he has any chance of progressing and keep teaching if he does.
J was our other investigator who had a baptismal date. She was at church on Sunday, and told us about how she was excited for her baptism. We talked to her fellowshipper on Sunday, and she just up an moved to Fayetteville this week. No forwarding address. We're disappointed but hope that things will go well for her.
In our finding efforts we were able to get one new investigator. We were out biking and trying to track down a former investigator. There was a girl out hanging clothes on a clothesline. Some little dogs came out and started barking at us. I stopped, but Elder Lopez (who is deathly afraid of dogs) took off biking, and they chased him a good distance down the road. We talked to the girl. Her name was K. We sat down with her on her porch and taught her. She's only 21, but she wants to get things right in her life. She never actually finished high school. We taught her the doctrine of Christ and invited her to be baptized. She accepted the invitation. We invited her to church, she said she couldn't guarantee she would make it but she would be more likely to make it next Sunday. We invited her to pray, and she did. We have a return appointment with her on Tuesday. And as it turned out, her parents were the former investigators. So we'll see what happens with her.
Other than that, we're just going to be finding. I honestly couldn't make heads nor tails of the map book that was here. We have a pretty nice wall map, and we've worked with our ward mission leader to find out which members are active and less-active. We posted a lot of really old former investigators on our map, and we'll be trying to visit a lot of them. We'll also try to do some contacting on the college campus. We didn't do any this past week but we feel like it would be worth the time to contact over there a couple of times a week."
You asked about the ward. The ward here is very involved with missionary work. Our ward mission leader, Bro. Lucas, is amazing. We talk to him every day and keep him posted on how the work is going. Robeson County has a lot of challenges - there are a lot of evil influences here. I think it's helped to strengthen the members. We have someone to take us on exchange pretty much every night, and people talk to their friends about the gospel. It's a good ward.
Mom, thank you so much for taking the time to round up those pictures and articles [about Corey Cook]. Make sure to thank everyone who's been involved for me. I didn't get the e-mail with Julie's pictures in it. So try sending it again, I guess. Lumberton [where Corey's mother lives] is only 10 miles from here, but it's in a different stake. Not only are they not in our district, they're not even in our zone! So I'm going to need to get special permission from President in order to go on exchange there. So, I probably will only have the opportunity to go out there once. But maybe not. Who knows? Anyways, I will just keep waiting on whatever else you've got coming my way. Just let me know when you've sent all that you can, that will be my cue.
You asked me about Santa Claus. Keep looking for that CD and see if it's come out yet! I read an article in Mormon Times about it, and that's how I became aware of it. Just keep looking under Jason Deere. Do I have any other music requests? I might, but I'm going to have to think about it. [How about some]long johns?... I think I'm pretty much still the same size. I wouldn't mind getting a nice black sweater. I've liked pretty much everything that you've sent me so far. If you could find the time to e-mail me back some more of the photos I e-mailed home, that would be great too. Ha ha, I don't want to be greedy! I can't believe you're asking me about what I want for my second Christmas in the field. That's crazy! Oh, you could send me the Josh Groban Christmas CD! But preferably some time before Christmas, it would be kind of pointless to open that up on Christmas Day, if you know what I mean! Just don't spend a lot of money on me.
So, the weather here has been really cold! I think it hit the freezing point this morning. I fear it's going to be another bitterly cold winter. Apparently, I'm cold-blooded. This past summer was the hottest in many years here in NC, yet it didn't really bother me at all. Then it gets down to just the freezing point (it hits that all the time back home), and I'm getting hypothermia. Weird.
This week will be zone conference. I'm looking forward to reporting the spiritual insights and whatnot that I gain from it to you.
It was great to hear about the Hauni and Derek families! Ha, what happened to everyone else?
Well, everyone, I love you all. I know that the gospel is true. I look forward to hearing from y'all next week. Bye!
Love,
Elder Casper
So nice to hear from y'all. Here's how my week has been.
"This week has been kind of a tough week. Pretty much all of the investigators that were here when I came into the area either got baptized the week before, have dropped us, or just aren't progressing. So we're going back to the drawing board and finding new people to teach! I'm excited for this area though, it has a lot of potential. Especially with the great member support we have.
B isn't progressing...He's a good guy, but the whole time we've been teaching him I've kept getting this feeling that he isn't going to be ready to be baptized on Nov 20th. That day is certainly out of the question now, we'll see if he has any chance of progressing and keep teaching if he does.
J was our other investigator who had a baptismal date. She was at church on Sunday, and told us about how she was excited for her baptism. We talked to her fellowshipper on Sunday, and she just up an moved to Fayetteville this week. No forwarding address. We're disappointed but hope that things will go well for her.
In our finding efforts we were able to get one new investigator. We were out biking and trying to track down a former investigator. There was a girl out hanging clothes on a clothesline. Some little dogs came out and started barking at us. I stopped, but Elder Lopez (who is deathly afraid of dogs) took off biking, and they chased him a good distance down the road. We talked to the girl. Her name was K. We sat down with her on her porch and taught her. She's only 21, but she wants to get things right in her life. She never actually finished high school. We taught her the doctrine of Christ and invited her to be baptized. She accepted the invitation. We invited her to church, she said she couldn't guarantee she would make it but she would be more likely to make it next Sunday. We invited her to pray, and she did. We have a return appointment with her on Tuesday. And as it turned out, her parents were the former investigators. So we'll see what happens with her.
Other than that, we're just going to be finding. I honestly couldn't make heads nor tails of the map book that was here. We have a pretty nice wall map, and we've worked with our ward mission leader to find out which members are active and less-active. We posted a lot of really old former investigators on our map, and we'll be trying to visit a lot of them. We'll also try to do some contacting on the college campus. We didn't do any this past week but we feel like it would be worth the time to contact over there a couple of times a week."
You asked about the ward. The ward here is very involved with missionary work. Our ward mission leader, Bro. Lucas, is amazing. We talk to him every day and keep him posted on how the work is going. Robeson County has a lot of challenges - there are a lot of evil influences here. I think it's helped to strengthen the members. We have someone to take us on exchange pretty much every night, and people talk to their friends about the gospel. It's a good ward.
Mom, thank you so much for taking the time to round up those pictures and articles [about Corey Cook]. Make sure to thank everyone who's been involved for me. I didn't get the e-mail with Julie's pictures in it. So try sending it again, I guess. Lumberton [where Corey's mother lives] is only 10 miles from here, but it's in a different stake. Not only are they not in our district, they're not even in our zone! So I'm going to need to get special permission from President in order to go on exchange there. So, I probably will only have the opportunity to go out there once. But maybe not. Who knows? Anyways, I will just keep waiting on whatever else you've got coming my way. Just let me know when you've sent all that you can, that will be my cue.
You asked me about Santa Claus. Keep looking for that CD and see if it's come out yet! I read an article in Mormon Times about it, and that's how I became aware of it. Just keep looking under Jason Deere. Do I have any other music requests? I might, but I'm going to have to think about it. [How about some]long johns?... I think I'm pretty much still the same size. I wouldn't mind getting a nice black sweater. I've liked pretty much everything that you've sent me so far. If you could find the time to e-mail me back some more of the photos I e-mailed home, that would be great too. Ha ha, I don't want to be greedy! I can't believe you're asking me about what I want for my second Christmas in the field. That's crazy! Oh, you could send me the Josh Groban Christmas CD! But preferably some time before Christmas, it would be kind of pointless to open that up on Christmas Day, if you know what I mean! Just don't spend a lot of money on me.
So, the weather here has been really cold! I think it hit the freezing point this morning. I fear it's going to be another bitterly cold winter. Apparently, I'm cold-blooded. This past summer was the hottest in many years here in NC, yet it didn't really bother me at all. Then it gets down to just the freezing point (it hits that all the time back home), and I'm getting hypothermia. Weird.
This week will be zone conference. I'm looking forward to reporting the spiritual insights and whatnot that I gain from it to you.
It was great to hear about the Hauni and Derek families! Ha, what happened to everyone else?
Well, everyone, I love you all. I know that the gospel is true. I look forward to hearing from y'all next week. Bye!
Love,
Elder Casper
Monday, October 25, 2010
Great New Location
It's been an interesting week.
"I'm pretty well settled here in Pembroke now. I'm still adjusting to the change. Elder Lopez is a good missionary, and the ward here is really awesome. So I'm looking forward to working some more here.
We had one investigator come to church, Bobby. Bobby's a really good man. He's been to church 5 times now, and he has a baptismal date. His main concern at the moment is the Word of Wisdom. At the moment, he doesn't have a strong desire to quit. But our Gospel Principles class was really good, about eternal families. Maybe that will help him gain a stronger desire.
We have another investigator with a baptismal date named Joann, but I haven't actually met her yet. She's a member referral, and she sounds solid. We'll do what we can to get up with her this week.
We have a lot of other investigators right now that aren't too solid. Ronald dropped us because he became involved in another church, and we're going to drop Hubert because he's more interested in talking with us than actually considering whether he would like to become a part of it or not.
I look forward to doing more member-missionary work in this area. I think there's a lot of potential for it here."
So yes, I have been transferred to Pembroke. I'm sure Wikipedia can tell you all about it. It's populated with a bunch of Lumbee Indians, which aren't a real tribe. But I'll let you read up on it. There's a pretty decent college here, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. It's a pretty unique area. It only has about 100 or so active members (definitely the least on my mission so far), but they make up for it in awesomeness. The ward is very involved here. So I'm excited for my stay here.
My companion is Elder Lopez. He's from the Los Angeles area, and he's of Filipino descent. He's only been out for 3 transfer cycles. It's possible we'll only be together for six weeks, but who knows?
So, do you remember how I told you about running into Terry Cook? He gave me the address for Corey's mom and sister. It's in Clarkton, which is in Lumberton's area (Lumberton is only 10 miles away). So I have a big request for you. I was wondering if you could ask around and get some of the locals to round up any pictures and write down stories about Corey and send them to me (it might be easiest to do it via e-mail). I'm pretty sure he's in one of my prom photos. You might be able to have some success by asking Bro. Edmonds, Coach Riner, Taylors, Jenks, etc. I just have a vision of being able to bring that to his mother in person and bring her some comfort, and possibly open up a door to share the gospel. So do what you can, and let me know if that sounds feasible or not. That would be great!
Well, that's about all I've got. Dad, thanks for writing me again. I really do appreciate the time you take to do that. I love you all and look forward to e-mailing you again next week!
"I'm pretty well settled here in Pembroke now. I'm still adjusting to the change. Elder Lopez is a good missionary, and the ward here is really awesome. So I'm looking forward to working some more here.
We had one investigator come to church, Bobby. Bobby's a really good man. He's been to church 5 times now, and he has a baptismal date. His main concern at the moment is the Word of Wisdom. At the moment, he doesn't have a strong desire to quit. But our Gospel Principles class was really good, about eternal families. Maybe that will help him gain a stronger desire.
We have another investigator with a baptismal date named Joann, but I haven't actually met her yet. She's a member referral, and she sounds solid. We'll do what we can to get up with her this week.
We have a lot of other investigators right now that aren't too solid. Ronald dropped us because he became involved in another church, and we're going to drop Hubert because he's more interested in talking with us than actually considering whether he would like to become a part of it or not.
I look forward to doing more member-missionary work in this area. I think there's a lot of potential for it here."
So yes, I have been transferred to Pembroke. I'm sure Wikipedia can tell you all about it. It's populated with a bunch of Lumbee Indians, which aren't a real tribe. But I'll let you read up on it. There's a pretty decent college here, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. It's a pretty unique area. It only has about 100 or so active members (definitely the least on my mission so far), but they make up for it in awesomeness. The ward is very involved here. So I'm excited for my stay here.
My companion is Elder Lopez. He's from the Los Angeles area, and he's of Filipino descent. He's only been out for 3 transfer cycles. It's possible we'll only be together for six weeks, but who knows?
So, do you remember how I told you about running into Terry Cook? He gave me the address for Corey's mom and sister. It's in Clarkton, which is in Lumberton's area (Lumberton is only 10 miles away). So I have a big request for you. I was wondering if you could ask around and get some of the locals to round up any pictures and write down stories about Corey and send them to me (it might be easiest to do it via e-mail). I'm pretty sure he's in one of my prom photos. You might be able to have some success by asking Bro. Edmonds, Coach Riner, Taylors, Jenks, etc. I just have a vision of being able to bring that to his mother in person and bring her some comfort, and possibly open up a door to share the gospel. So do what you can, and let me know if that sounds feasible or not. That would be great!
Well, that's about all I've got. Dad, thanks for writing me again. I really do appreciate the time you take to do that. I love you all and look forward to e-mailing you again next week!
A Very Special Baptism
October 18, 2010
Hey everyone,
It's good to have yet another opportunity to e-mail you and let you know how things are going. Here's from my LTP:
"Thank you so much for sending me to this area and for having me be companions with Elder Tibbitts. There's no doubt in my mind that it was an inspired decision. I hope that the small amount of success we've had here will be a stepping stone to greater success and more member involvement in this area.
The highlight of this week was the baptism and confirmation of Bro. Madison. Bro. Madison is of course restricted to a wheelchair due to arthritis. Elder Butler, Elder Tibbitts, and I carried him on a chair down into the baptismal font and baptized him on the chair. I held his legs down, and Elder Tibbitts performed the ordinance. It took us 4 tries to get him all the way under the water! I felt a very good spirit there, and the next day, as I confirmed him in Sacrament meeting.
We have continued to work with Sis. N, a less-active member, and Sis. S, an excommunicated person. They are both progressing very well, and we've been excited to see their progress.
None of our current investigators are keeping commitments right now, but we do have some good potential investigators that we're excited to go see. Elder Tibbitts will do great as the new district leader."
On Saturday, I got the call from President. I'm being transferred, and going back to being a normal missionary. Elder Tibbitts is taking my spot as the district leader. The only hint President gave me was that it's one of the "neat" areas in the mission and that he has been there "several times". I'm curious as to what "neat" means, I guess I'll be finding out tomorrow at transfer meeting. It's been a good experience to be a district leader for these past ten months, and I'm excited to go back to normality.
My time here in Goldsboro has just flown by. I can't believe it. It's been somewhat of a difficult area, but it's still been wonderful. I'm really going to miss the elders in my district, I wish I could just take them with me! I hope I will be able to serve around some of them again.
It was good to read the round robin letter. That's a genius idea, and I hope it keeps up! I really wish I could be there to see Max, Easton, Everett, Emma, and Jett. I haven't heard anything about Chris' new business. Or Aaron interviewing for a job. "Come on guys, I'm the boss, I need the info!"
Thanks for getting the ballot for me. You could just send it to the mission address, and then they'll forward it to me in my new area.
Song suggestions for the Cantata - one comes to mind. I think it's called "I Need Thee Lord", it was on Jessica's BYU-ID CD that she sent me. I really liked it.
Holy smokes, I can't believe Andrew gave his homecoming talk yesterday. I hope he's able to make the adjustment well. He really sounds like he was an outstanding missionary.
Well, I think that's about all I've got for now. I'm sure I'll have lots of exciting things to tell you next week! I love you all, see you next week.
Love,
Elder Casper
Hey everyone,
It's good to have yet another opportunity to e-mail you and let you know how things are going. Here's from my LTP:
"Thank you so much for sending me to this area and for having me be companions with Elder Tibbitts. There's no doubt in my mind that it was an inspired decision. I hope that the small amount of success we've had here will be a stepping stone to greater success and more member involvement in this area.
The highlight of this week was the baptism and confirmation of Bro. Madison. Bro. Madison is of course restricted to a wheelchair due to arthritis. Elder Butler, Elder Tibbitts, and I carried him on a chair down into the baptismal font and baptized him on the chair. I held his legs down, and Elder Tibbitts performed the ordinance. It took us 4 tries to get him all the way under the water! I felt a very good spirit there, and the next day, as I confirmed him in Sacrament meeting.
We have continued to work with Sis. N, a less-active member, and Sis. S, an excommunicated person. They are both progressing very well, and we've been excited to see their progress.
None of our current investigators are keeping commitments right now, but we do have some good potential investigators that we're excited to go see. Elder Tibbitts will do great as the new district leader."
On Saturday, I got the call from President. I'm being transferred, and going back to being a normal missionary. Elder Tibbitts is taking my spot as the district leader. The only hint President gave me was that it's one of the "neat" areas in the mission and that he has been there "several times". I'm curious as to what "neat" means, I guess I'll be finding out tomorrow at transfer meeting. It's been a good experience to be a district leader for these past ten months, and I'm excited to go back to normality.
My time here in Goldsboro has just flown by. I can't believe it. It's been somewhat of a difficult area, but it's still been wonderful. I'm really going to miss the elders in my district, I wish I could just take them with me! I hope I will be able to serve around some of them again.
It was good to read the round robin letter. That's a genius idea, and I hope it keeps up! I really wish I could be there to see Max, Easton, Everett, Emma, and Jett. I haven't heard anything about Chris' new business. Or Aaron interviewing for a job. "Come on guys, I'm the boss, I need the info!"
Thanks for getting the ballot for me. You could just send it to the mission address, and then they'll forward it to me in my new area.
Song suggestions for the Cantata - one comes to mind. I think it's called "I Need Thee Lord", it was on Jessica's BYU-ID CD that she sent me. I really liked it.
Holy smokes, I can't believe Andrew gave his homecoming talk yesterday. I hope he's able to make the adjustment well. He really sounds like he was an outstanding missionary.
Well, I think that's about all I've got for now. I'm sure I'll have lots of exciting things to tell you next week! I love you all, see you next week.
Love,
Elder Casper
Monday, October 11, 2010
One Door
It's good to be able to e-mail you again. From my LTP:
"We were able to have a couple of good lessons with Bro. M this past week. We thought we were going to have to reschedule his baptismal date from the 16th to the 30th, but fortunately we won't. He's ready to be baptized. That'll be happening next Saturday. We're working to figure out how we'll baptize him (he's wheelchair-bound), but I'm sure it will work out. He knows that he needs to get prepared to meet God, and that's why he wants to be baptized. We're excited for him.
The other people that we have been teaching haven't been able to meet up with us and aren't progressing. I has been going through some health struggles with his shoulder. The A's have also been going through some health struggles. Z and C haven't been progressing. C put us off last week but we do have an appointment with him tomorrow.
We've spent a lot of time finding. We've got 3 or 4 appointments for this week with potential investigators, so hopefully we'll be able to add someone new to our teaching pool.
We met with Sis. S a couple of nights ago. She's an excommunicated person. We called and talked with you about teaching her. Anyways, she seems genuinely excited to become part of the church again."
So yeah, things are going ok here in Goldsboro. The past couple of weeks have just been exhausting for some reason. We aren't teaching as many people as we'd like, but we're trying to find more people and fulfill our purpose. And I guess it's not the results of your missionary work that make you happy, it's the missionary work. So we will press forward.
Next week is transfers. Don't know for sure what's happening, but I'll know by next e-mail. I've been here for 4 transfers now, which seems to be the average length of stay in an area in this mission. So if I don't defy the odds, then I'll probably be getting transferred next week. We'll see what happens though.
We had an interesting night this past week. We had an exchange scheduled with one of our members. He didn't have a cell phone and got lost. He never picked us up! We had to call and cancel our appointments because they were both with single sisters, and we aren't allowed to go over unless there's another man present. So when it became apparent that he wasn't going to show up, we went out in the car and tried to stop by some people. Then it was getting late (probably about 8:30ish) and we didn't have anything to do. I personally don't like to tract that late because people tend to be a little grouchier, but we felt like we should do something and not waste time. We decided to knock *one* door. We chose a door, and bam, he was a less-active, part-member who was not on the church rolls. He's going TDY to Las Vegas with the Air Force, but we're going to try to keep after him and try to teach him and his wife. It was a neat experience.
This week on Thursday we're going to have a full day of leadership training. The last ones we had were really good, I'm excited to go to it again.
It makes me a little nervous to think that in a week I'm going to have a new companion. Elder Tibbitts and I have been together for so long and had such a good time together. I love him to death. We're just so used to each other and everything, it's going to be weird to be companions with someone else!
So what is everyone from back home up to these days?...What are Blake, Flynn, Tyler, Landon, Mark, Jeff, Julie, Candice, Emily, Camie, etc. up to? Let me know if you can.
Well, I love you all. I know that this work is God's work. I look forward to e-mailing you all again next week.
Love,
Elder Casper
"We were able to have a couple of good lessons with Bro. M this past week. We thought we were going to have to reschedule his baptismal date from the 16th to the 30th, but fortunately we won't. He's ready to be baptized. That'll be happening next Saturday. We're working to figure out how we'll baptize him (he's wheelchair-bound), but I'm sure it will work out. He knows that he needs to get prepared to meet God, and that's why he wants to be baptized. We're excited for him.
The other people that we have been teaching haven't been able to meet up with us and aren't progressing. I has been going through some health struggles with his shoulder. The A's have also been going through some health struggles. Z and C haven't been progressing. C put us off last week but we do have an appointment with him tomorrow.
We've spent a lot of time finding. We've got 3 or 4 appointments for this week with potential investigators, so hopefully we'll be able to add someone new to our teaching pool.
We met with Sis. S a couple of nights ago. She's an excommunicated person. We called and talked with you about teaching her. Anyways, she seems genuinely excited to become part of the church again."
So yeah, things are going ok here in Goldsboro. The past couple of weeks have just been exhausting for some reason. We aren't teaching as many people as we'd like, but we're trying to find more people and fulfill our purpose. And I guess it's not the results of your missionary work that make you happy, it's the missionary work. So we will press forward.
Next week is transfers. Don't know for sure what's happening, but I'll know by next e-mail. I've been here for 4 transfers now, which seems to be the average length of stay in an area in this mission. So if I don't defy the odds, then I'll probably be getting transferred next week. We'll see what happens though.
We had an interesting night this past week. We had an exchange scheduled with one of our members. He didn't have a cell phone and got lost. He never picked us up! We had to call and cancel our appointments because they were both with single sisters, and we aren't allowed to go over unless there's another man present. So when it became apparent that he wasn't going to show up, we went out in the car and tried to stop by some people. Then it was getting late (probably about 8:30ish) and we didn't have anything to do. I personally don't like to tract that late because people tend to be a little grouchier, but we felt like we should do something and not waste time. We decided to knock *one* door. We chose a door, and bam, he was a less-active, part-member who was not on the church rolls. He's going TDY to Las Vegas with the Air Force, but we're going to try to keep after him and try to teach him and his wife. It was a neat experience.
This week on Thursday we're going to have a full day of leadership training. The last ones we had were really good, I'm excited to go to it again.
It makes me a little nervous to think that in a week I'm going to have a new companion. Elder Tibbitts and I have been together for so long and had such a good time together. I love him to death. We're just so used to each other and everything, it's going to be weird to be companions with someone else!
So what is everyone from back home up to these days?...What are Blake, Flynn, Tyler, Landon, Mark, Jeff, Julie, Candice, Emily, Camie, etc. up to? Let me know if you can.
Well, I love you all. I know that this work is God's work. I look forward to e-mailing you all again next week.
Love,
Elder Casper
Sunday, October 10, 2010
A Trip to the Temple
Sent 10/8/10
Hey everyone,
Today's been a crazy day, and I won't get to write as much in this e-mail. But I'll write what I can.
"This week we've been doing some finding, and as much teaching as we can. None of our investigators are progressing right now. Bro. M should be getting baptized soon, but it might not be on October 16th. Work has been eating up a lot of his time recently. Other than that, we're just trying to find new people to teach and continue to work with the ward."
Today we got to go to the temple for the first time in about six months. It was very peaceful and soothing. I always feel renewed after going through the temple. I'm so glad that we have a temple in this mission.
Last weekend was General Conference, of course. It was amazing. Truly amazing. I think even more amazing than the other ones I've had thus far on my mission. I can't wait for the conference issue to come out so I can start studying it. I really felt the Spirit as it went on. Pres. Monson has quite a big responsibility, and he seemed to be feeling it a little bit. I really liked Elder Christofferson and Pres. Uchtdorf's talks. They were both powerful.
We unfortunately haven't found out why K dropped us. S {their convert from a few weeks ago} is doing well, he's been super busy and his mother hurt himself in a car accident, but he is being assimilated into one of the wards up in Raleigh. He's living up there full-time now.
Thanks so much for the package! It was wonderful. I really enjoyed the family history stories. Do you have any more you could send me? I would love to make an effort to regularly work on family history work after my mission.
Is David Gledhill getting my e-mails? If he's not, could you forward them to him too? That would be great!
Thanks for getting into contact with Sam F. I love that guy, he is the man. I got a short e-mail from him, and I'll be writing him a letter on Monday. It's the weirdest thing - I'll go for weeks without getting a letter, then in one week I get 3 letters and a package. I certainly don't get as much mail as I would like, but it's not too bad. Thanks for the Round Robin letter! That's a genius idea.
Well, we're actually running short on time, so I'm going to have to wrap this up. I love you all, and will be sending a longer e-mail on Monday. I promise. Take care!
Love,
Elder Casper
Hey everyone,
Today's been a crazy day, and I won't get to write as much in this e-mail. But I'll write what I can.
"This week we've been doing some finding, and as much teaching as we can. None of our investigators are progressing right now. Bro. M should be getting baptized soon, but it might not be on October 16th. Work has been eating up a lot of his time recently. Other than that, we're just trying to find new people to teach and continue to work with the ward."
Today we got to go to the temple for the first time in about six months. It was very peaceful and soothing. I always feel renewed after going through the temple. I'm so glad that we have a temple in this mission.
Last weekend was General Conference, of course. It was amazing. Truly amazing. I think even more amazing than the other ones I've had thus far on my mission. I can't wait for the conference issue to come out so I can start studying it. I really felt the Spirit as it went on. Pres. Monson has quite a big responsibility, and he seemed to be feeling it a little bit. I really liked Elder Christofferson and Pres. Uchtdorf's talks. They were both powerful.
We unfortunately haven't found out why K dropped us. S {their convert from a few weeks ago} is doing well, he's been super busy and his mother hurt himself in a car accident, but he is being assimilated into one of the wards up in Raleigh. He's living up there full-time now.
Thanks so much for the package! It was wonderful. I really enjoyed the family history stories. Do you have any more you could send me? I would love to make an effort to regularly work on family history work after my mission.
Is David Gledhill getting my e-mails? If he's not, could you forward them to him too? That would be great!
Thanks for getting into contact with Sam F. I love that guy, he is the man. I got a short e-mail from him, and I'll be writing him a letter on Monday. It's the weirdest thing - I'll go for weeks without getting a letter, then in one week I get 3 letters and a package. I certainly don't get as much mail as I would like, but it's not too bad. Thanks for the Round Robin letter! That's a genius idea.
Well, we're actually running short on time, so I'm going to have to wrap this up. I love you all, and will be sending a longer e-mail on Monday. I promise. Take care!
Love,
Elder Casper
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)