Mary schedules baptism on Saturday

July 25, 2006
Dear Family,

Actually, we did celebrate pioneer day; we had a ward activity. The Ward Band came, and I was able to pull out my harmonica and show them just how much I've lost my groove in the last year. I've got a video on my camera of it.

It sounds like you guys had a fun week. I'm glad to hear that.

Yeah, it was 108 here the other day. It was the hottest day IN A DECADE. In some places around here, it was the hottest day IN RECORDED HISTORY. I hope you guys can find some sort of air conditioner.

I'm glad you're still able to ride your bike up in Seattle. Was the weather as hot as that hottest day you told me about? Or is it more temperate when you ride? This week, every day has been at least 95 until night time, when it drops down to about 80. It's pretty nasty.

We were able to get Kyle and Mary to attend a baptism. Mary is being baptized this Saturday. Her brother Everett passed away yesterday, but she still wants to be baptized while family is in town for the funeral. Mary is so amazing; when she's just chit-chatting she's very senile, but when we pray for the Holy Ghost to open her mind and enlighten her, and then get down to teaching, she gives US the lessons, and all the stuff she's studied recently begins to make sense to her. It's really a cool experience; the Holy Ghost is real. She's been coming to church also, and she's ready for baptism. It's too bad that Everett died, but when I blessed him, the Spirit didn't tell me to heal him. I blessed him that he'd be comforted, that he'd know of Heavenly Fathers' love for him, and told him that whether it was God's will that he stay or go, we exhorted him to accept the gospel. We're going to teach Mary about baptisms for the dead, which I think will be a great comfort for her. The plan of salvation already made her remark, "Everybody should know this, because people don't need to be so sad when people die." Then she tried to think up ideas to share the message with everyone; I think she concluded that we should put the plan of salvation on dollar bills and scatter them on the beach. He he.

Thanks for the pass-along cards, mom. I'll be sure to use them.

We've been doing more street contacting ever since zone conference on Monday. A tactic that works pretty well is cards for a "3 simple ways to a happier family" book. Most people are pretty nice and open about it. Of course there are still jerks: "I have a happy family, and I already studied all the stuff in that book in college." "Uh... this isn't even religious. It's just a book on improving families cause we think that's important and we're trying to serve people." "I'll take your book if you read the New Testament." "I read the New Testament. Will you take the card?" "No!" Yeah, that was a real conversation we had yesterday.

We're going to the Newport Beach temple today. It should be good.

We ran into a couple other people that have good potential, but I'll tell you about them later cause I'm running out of time

Alex is doing great. He is still reading and praying lots. His mom is really open to letting him come to church and choose this as his religion, if he wants to. That's exciting.

The recent converts are still doing well. Everything's going pretty fine. I hope you're all doing well too. Have a super week. I love you all.

Love,
Elder Myers

The Car Fast

Dear Family,

How are you all doing? I hope you're doing well. We have been doing okay; a lot of appointments fell through this week, but we did get Mary to church again this week. We found Patricia again, and we're teaching her tomorrow. On Sunday night, we did a tract out for a ward in the stake. They have no investigators and were discouraged, so we had about 10 missionaries on exchanges who all went tracting for 2 1/2 hours. They were able to find a lot of good contacts. I was with George Saadeh, and we got in a door, taught a lesson, and she said we could come back. Elder Nielson also got in a door. So it was good to be able to help them.

We helped set up for and serve a wedding "rehearsal dinner" for some people on Thursday. That was pretty fun. We even built and painted a picnic table for it.

Yesterday we went to zone conference and had a good time. We also gave a blessing and visited Alex. He finished all three books we gave him, so we found some more childrens books about the gospel to give him. He's a smart kid.

On Saturday, we helped a lady clean up a house of a less active member of our ward who died. He lived alone, separated from his wife; they never got a divorce though. So, she had to clean up his apartment and get it ready to sell. She has also been inactive for 10 years, but told us she'd be coming back to church now; we didn't even ask her about it. It's funny how just our presence makes people realize the changes they need to make in their lives. Saturday was a good day to do it, since it was a mission-wide mandatory car fast. Apparently, there were 11 car accidents in the past month in the mission, so the car fast was supposed to help us "appreciate" the car more. I'm not a really big fan in that, but I hope it helped some people. It just happened to be the hottest day of the year. Some missionaries got heat stroke. We coped all right, though; we tried to spend a lot of time inside. We checked back on a few referrals and got in a few doors.

Everything else is going fine. It still feels like we're on the verge of an upswing. We're teaching Kyle again tomorrow, and he's the most promising investigator. We're going to try to challenge him to a baptismal goal, and Mary too.

Well, that's about all that's happened lately. Sorry if the letter's brief but not much really happened. I hope you guys have a super week. Love you all.

Love,
Elder Myers

Teaching about the Godhead

Dear Family,

Well, it's been an interesting week. Our investigators are doing all right. Mary cancelled our appointment and didn't come to church; I think her brother's condition (which hasn't changed yet) is taking a big toll on her. We're supposed to be meeting with her NEXT Wednesday. *sigh*

Chris has been in London, so I haven't talked with him recently.

Kyle came to the investigator fireside. I gave him a list of scriptures in the Bible last week about the nature of God and asked him to study, ponder, and pray about whether the trinity was a true doctrine. He told me at the fireside that as he read the spirit testified to him that the spirit testified that what I had said was true. That's awesome. Plus, there were 3 recent convert testimonies at the investigator fireside that really brought the spirit, and no bashers! We taught Kyle a LOT yesterday, and he's still got a lot to study and think about. I gave him the article by President Hinckley "In These Three I Believe" in the Ensign this month. It's an excellent article. We also went through scriptures in the Book of Mormon that teach that only through Jesus Christ are we saved and also the 17 points of the true church. We'll try to commit him to a baptismal date next time.

Elder King and Elder Bird, the other two elders in our district, have a baptism coming up, which we're all excited about. It'll be on the 22nd. He's a really great guy named Todd; he asked some questions at the fireside.

We spent a lot of this week introducing members to Elder Nielson and soliciting referrals. A lot of our lessons this week got cancelled, which was a bummer. But, despite the lapse in numbers, we're still optimistic. We're trying to contact all our potential investigators and get a "sink or swim" status on all of them.

We helped with a move on Saturday, and there were around 20 elders and high priests. It was a pretty marvelous sight to behold. I was one of the three tetris players inside the truck.

We started teaching a lady named Gloria and her daughter Virginia. They are both inactive members who want to find their faith again. So we are helping with that.

The ward is still doing well. It's definitely getting stronger since we started here. We're happy about the work and how it's going.

Anyway... that's about all. Not much has happened exciting in terms of news.

Mom, I really like that pass-along card you made. Could you make some for me? That would be awesome.

I'm glad it's nice and cool in Seattle. Yes, it is a lot cooler close to the ocean... but we're not close to the ocean :(.

Hah, mom, I've always wanted to go to the Experience Music Project. So, I'll have to take the kids there when I get home.

Well, that's really everything. I'm sorry I don't have a ton to say. I love you all and I hope you have a great week.

Love,
Elder Myers

One Year Hump Day Package

July 5, 2006

Dear Family,

Thanks for writing! Sorry I wasn't able to write yesterday; the library was closed and we couldn't find any other computers to use.

Transfer news:

Yesterday, Elder Holt got transferred down to Laguna Hills. That's too bad.

I've got a new companion, Elder Nielson. He's been out for 9 months. All I can say about him is that he'll be great at helping me to learn patience... if you know what I mean. He's from Salt Lake.

I'm now the district leader in this area.

Ha, I got a letter from Saddleback church, eh? I didn't think they'd send anything, and that it wouldn't matter since I put my old address. They actually called one of the elders here and sent him a free bible.

We had Chinese food for lunch today. I'm glad you were able to have some for my one year birthday.

That's really cool that you have discount cards for Seattle attractions. You'll have to keep track of which ones are the best.

I'm sorry you lost the missionaries in your ward. WAY TO GIVE REFERRALS, Michelle. We visited a couple referrals and actually taught a couple lessons from it this week. It was really cool.

I sent you guys a slim package today. It has pictures, pass-alongs, and a few other things. I hope you enjoy.

Thanks for the one year package, too! I was in desperate need of socks AND pens. I'm not sure where the water bombs will come in handy, but I'll be sure to use them some time. The Take 5, Rice Krispies, Goldfish, and Snickers will be perfect for helping me regain the weight I've lost on my mission.... oh wait. The toothbrush is a good practical gift too. I really like those pens as well; you got just what I like - fine point Rollerball with a cap. Excellent! Thanks so much for the stuff.

Next package you decide to send, I could use more socks and stamps. That's about it. And no hurry. If you can get the same kind of socks, that would be great, so I don't have to worry about matching them. I accidentally bleached almost all my black socks, so.... uh... my sock situation was perilous until I got those from you. In fact I am wearing them right now, and they look fantastic.

On Monday, we spent nearly the whole day for Elder Holt to go around to the members and say goodbye. Some people cried when he left. He made a really good impression on the ward, and they won't forget about him soon. We also taught two lessons- one to Kyle that went very well, and one to Jeff Evans.

We gave a blessing to Mary's brother on Sunday morning, and got held up in traffic on the way back from the hospital, but we were able to get to church on time. Mary came to church, but she wants to move the baptism back because she had to miss an appointment and she's worried about her brother. So we'll see what happens. She is doing well, though. She is learning AND retaining. That's what the spirit can do. She wants us to try to tell everybody about the Plan of Salvation. We told her we're doing the best we can. ;)

On Saturday, we went to a baptism for 4 kids in the stake, and the entire chapel and part of the overflow was full. Wow.

This week was very hot, over 90 degrees every day. Sometimes we have to change shirts during the day because they're soaked with sweat. I'm glad I'm not in Ramona or Escondido, though. They're even hotter. The areas near the ocean are at a cool 75 degrees.

Well, that's all for this week. Have a fantastic week and write back soon. I love you all.

Love,
Elder Myers