First, Mom, I will answer your question of the day. The reason that you keep getting short emails from me is because I have nearly no email time. We had a busy pday last week, but other than that, our pdays are usually pretty slow and empty. But, I only get 30 minutes on the computer, and about 10 minutes of that is spent reading. Compound that with my companion asking me when we are going to leave, and it equates to short emails. That is also the reason why I haven't emailed you any pictures, too. They take too long to upload onto the computer. One of these days I will get a bunch printed out and mailed to you, but I don't know when I'll get around to that.
The highlight of the week for me was interviews on Friday and seeing Elder Raymond. We had no clue that Elder Raymond was going home two weeks before transfers, so we were really happy that he happened to be in the mission home when we came for interviews. It was nice to see him once last time and say goodbye to him.
We have an investigator that is on track to get baptized this Sunday, so we have been meeting with him a lot. This past week his desire to get baptized really increased, and it has been inspiring to see him keeping all of the commandments. When we taught him one of the commandments, he said that he didn't think that he could do it. So we testified of the blessings that come from keeping the commandments and getting baptized, and then asked him if he would keep the commandment. He said "I will do it. I want to get baptized!" That answer sort of surprised us because, up to that point, he had only expressed a half-hearted desire to get baptized. So we asked him why he wanted to get baptized and he said that he wanted to know what it feels like after being baptized.
So I am pretty excited for him. His testimony of Joseph Smith is still pretty weak, but I have faith that it will grow as he reads the Book of Mormon and prays daily. If he does get baptized this Sunday, then I will have seen a baptism in 4 out of 5 transfers. I have been really blessed to have seen so many baptisms. But our mission, as a whole, is really improving right now and we are seeing a lot more success.
Last night at a YSA activity I got to talk to a member that recently returned home from the Fukuoka mission. It turns out that he was serving in Okinawa at the same time that Elder Cole Chandler was, so they know each other pretty well. So that was cool.
Ok, since you got a question of the week, here is my question of the week: is this Saturday or next Saturday the opening game for BYU football? (against Oklahoma, right?) And is McKay Jacobson redshirting this year? Tyler or McKay will probably be the ones to answer those questions. I am hoping that you will keep me updated every week.
Well, I love you all and I am grateful to be a missionary. Each week has its ups and downs, but when I take a step back and look at everything in perspective, I am really grateful for all of the experiences that I am having. I am also so grateful for all of your support. Have a great week.
