Week 10

Monday, August 27, 2012 10:06 AM

Alright family...let's get down to the nitty gritty,

Life in general is going.  Yep, it's always going, but thankfully, it's going pretty good.  To start, the book in the bible that I mentioned last week was supposed to be Romans if I accidentally put Ephesians; I can't remember which one I put :)  Next, I received #2 from Dad, # 10 from mom, one from Grams, one from DJ, and A PACKAGE!!!!! :)  Good stuff.  Thanks a bajillion bunches for the delicious Cashews!!!!!! Yummy :) :) :) and the fruit snacks :) :)  Good stuff, again.  

Okay, now to answer some inquiries...one, the reason why I said I will probably be here till December is because usually missionaries are in an area anywhere between 4 1/2 and 6 months.  It can be shorter and it can be longer, but that's generally speaking.  We'll see though.  Yes, tourist season is a lot less in the winter. We definitely won't have as many visitors in church.  But no, it hasn't really slowed down yet.  I see other missionaries about 1 a week, when we have some sort of meeting on Wednesdays, usually district meetings.  This Wednesday, we have interviews so that should be good :)  I like President Bernhisel.  Oh, and yes, the family we live with is great.  They are super nice. They basically feed us every Sunday afternoon for lunch, which is way kind.  He used to be a bishop, and right now, he's going through a lot of health issues.  He has to go back in to have neck surgery again and I think back surgery too.  

Dad, question.  How many people live in Grand Junction and Grand Junction with surrounding area? Also, what is the percentage of LDS?  Thanks a bunch.

Here's a random thought that I had the other day.  People here with stake callings have to devote a lot more of their time than people back home because they have to travel such a greater distance to get to the other buildings.  I had never thought of that before because I was so used to you all just going to a different part of town or even to just a different time for things like ward conferences, but here, they have to put in hours of driving as well.  Crazy stuff.  

But in terms of how things are going here, they're going pretty well.  It's hard to believe how fast time flies.  Our ward mission leader has recently become a stud and is growing and progressing like no other.  Never doubt the power of being set apart for your calling.  It all started once he was set apart.  Our missionary coordination meeting went really well yesterday, so that's exciting. :)  

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to give a less active sister a blessing as well as her mother before she goes into surgery.  I was given the opportunity of giving the less active sister the blessing, and I felt calm, and I know the spirit worked through me.  This sister is a really nice lady, and really receptive to visits. Her mom was in town to help her in recovery and her mom came to church and is super active.  Backing up a few steps, Elder Jensen and I made a trip down to Emerald Isle which is about a half hour away and visited some people that we don't normally get to visit because we had the car this week.  I happened to pick out her name when we were looking at who we could visit, and we just happened to catch her the day before she went into surgery.  She told us her mom was coming into town and would be at church.  Thus, that was a miracle within itself!  It's amazing how the Lord works through us, His instruments.  I'm definitely learning a lot of things that I had better keep with me when I return home to my own wards throughout life.  But I'm glad we were able to visit her with the Elders Quorum President, so now he knows her and he's the kind of guy who will really work at keeping people from slipping through the cracks

gotta go

bye,

Elder Patty

ps.  Have fun at school Chris.  Make tons of dough. :)