We have to ride bikes 3 days a week

March 20, 2007
Dear Family,

Michelle got accepted, huh? That's really good news! I hope she comes to BYU Provo.

Brother Goates is a really good ward mission leader. Actually, he used to be bishop, so we call him Bishop Goates. We cover two wards, the Encinitas 1st and Cardiff wards. In the Encinitas ward, Bishop Goates is the ward mission leader, and the bishop is Bishop Sessions, who is about to retire from the Navy. Other prominent members in the Encinitas ward boundaries are the LAUS from the Chinese branch. They are trying to arrange a dinner this Friday at their home with the Huang family who we found just before I was transferred, and they invited us to go. I hope it works out. In Cardiff, the ward mission leader, Bro Ek, is the father of our bishop, Bishop Ek. We reside in Cardiff ward. We're the only elders that live there.

We have to ride bikes 3 days a week, and we have exchanges go out 5 nights a week. It's a pretty hilly area, actually, and it's pretty hard being out of shape with a little bit of asthma, but I felt an improvement. We rode about 15 miles a day this week.

On Wednesday, our dinner appointment wasn't there. It was in this apartment complex and suddenly I had a major deja vu, like I had been there before. I realized that a year ago, we had contacted a referral in that area named Frank Xie, who had a family. For some reason it didn't work out. It was a long drive, so we weren't able to go back and try again. Well, here I was, my first full day in the new area, wondering why I got transferred, and I'm one building away from a known, open Chinese family. That was pretty interesting. So, we're still trying to contact them. I found another Chinese person in the area book that I am trying to contact. Yesterday we had an appointment with an investigator lady named Nicole that is just moving into the area and she lives in a motel room right now. Well, when we approached the motel, a lady with the keys came up to us and asked us if she could help us get a room. We said no, we were here to visit a friend, but she looked Asian. I asked her name before she walked away and she said her name was "June." I asked her where she was from. China. So, I talked to her in Chinese and eventually got her to take a pamphlet in Chinese. I told her that I'd come talk to her again. The appointment with Nicole went well, and we arranged to teach her twice a week. She has really been prepared for the gospel. Her husband is probably going to join us as well. This will be good.

We have another investigator couple, the Twiggs. They hit rock bottom this week, going into a really bad alcohol binge. About 5 days of straight drinking. By the end, they wanted nothing more than two things: 1) to stop drinking and repent and 2) find more alcohol and keep drinking. They weren't doing very well. Finally they got some professional help. Yesterday they were sober and doing much better. They are making plans to stay away from alcohol entirely in the future. They also set up a regular schedule for us to come over twice a week.

Our other investigator, Diana Whitney, is kind of elderly. She speaks some Chinese, too. She lives in a retirement community. She didn't have any belief in God before, but has been coming to church and attended a baptism. We shared with her about faith as taught in Alma 32 and encouraged her to act upon her desires and little bit of faith in experimenting upon the word. She said she would. She's very intelligent.

So, that's our investigators right now. 4 of them. We have some really hot potential investigators too. We're working hard and exercising our faith through much bike riding. Thanks for all your prayers. I love you all.

Elder Myers