How Brisk Must a Brisk Wind Be to Be Brisk

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

It snowed, yet again, so thus a late email. 

When I read about Carly (Seth's Boxer dog) escaping, my heart nearly stopped. I am quite grateful that she is still home. Thank you. Funny, how smart she is about escaping. Perhaps her plan for jumping on the fence is to slowly knock it down. I am telling you the dog is smart.  I was wondering about my dog and that new dog as well. Glad to know how she is doing. How does Coda handle the new dog? Isn't Coda, like, old?

It has been a week. And I mean that in the sense of, this has been a week where everything goes haywire. While yes, there are good things that do happen, there is a lot that has been going on. My bike is yet again in need of fixing. I am debating at this point to go to a bike shop or have the member take care of it, except this time refer to the videos (the site where his bike was purchase "Dynamic Bicycles" has two videos, one on the removal of the rear wheel and another on adjusting the gears. Someone removed the rear wheel when he was transfered last and messed up his bike.), seeing as I know of them. I called the mission office, who called the company, who said that I should try fixing it on my own first with the videos. 

There was a lot of wind one day. Our weather report said it was a brisk breeze. Yes, I can totally see how brisk the breeze was. Gutters falling down, signs and mailboxes blown over, and I have an inability to bike down hill. Yeah, totally brisk. 

My companion was not too happy with me as well, but that has been taken care of. Nothing that I did to him. Another investigator dropped us, in the excuse of needing to investigate their own church. At this point, I had a choice. Break down, which I honestly have done before, or be bold. So, at that point of the day, we went out after making our final plea via phone to the investigator. I was not too happy, but, hey, I worked. It taught me that I needed to be bold, to be upfront. I have realized that I want to share my testimony. And that day we went tracting, I bore my testimony of Jesus Christ once somebody opened the door. Did it work? Well, we got in and all we got was water. But, it was still a lesson that I learned. While, yes, there is a time for being nice and such, there is time to be bold. I am learning to balance the two. (I was saying that, "We are witnessing that Jesus is the Christ." My companion told me that I made us sound like Jehovah's Witnesses. I really do not see it.)

My companion has also been given a lot of responsibility lately, which I am working with him. It is no problem.  This week I also took a member tracting. Such an awkward experience, because I have never done it before. I hope I do not have to do it again, but who knows, the member was totally willing. One less active that we have been working with is planning to go to the temple for his own endowments on the 27th. That allows my companion and I to go to the temple. And we have permission to go, but that also means I have to sacrifice a preparation day. And there is no guarantee I will be able to go. For that week is transfers, so theoretically I could go. I would not expect an email next week, but do. (Which totally is awful, because you will not know where I will be or whether or not, I got transferred.) The date is not set in stone and the member has to be interviewed by the stake president. So close.

We had stake conference this past weekend. There is a big push for the hastening of the work. The adult session was focused on that, but it was not too good. It hopefully helped the members. The missionaries were asked to sing as a choir for that session. We sang Called to Serve and the EFY Medley. The first musical number, we did not do that well, because we did not know when to begin. The last number was a lot better. The Sunday morning session was a broadcast, much like our multi-stake conferences back at home (when we had them). There was a lot about hard times ahead and having self-discipline. I do not think our future is too sunny. With this upcoming General Conference, I think there is going to be a great mention of "hastening of the work" and "enduring to the end."

I do not have much else to add. I have been reading Jesus the Christ and also the New Testament. (I gain historical background from Jesus the Christ. And it is a great book.) I am glad that I am reading it now, because I am gaining a better understanding of Jesus. Already, I see so much. There are certain points that I feel as I though I missed out on. On my off hours, I started reading the Book of Mormon and breaking it down where I can understand much more. I feel as though I know a lot about the Old Testament, have a firm ground on the New Testament, have a soft ground on the Book of Mormon, and I do not know too much on the Doctrine and Covenants. I am working on it, so it makes me excited to continue to read and study. I am glad to have 16 months left (not 14). 

Oh! I had a fun experience with shopping at Wal-Mart. So, a member usually takes us and we got a member who is really hilarious. We get to Wal-Mart and there is a flock of seagulls near this car. My companion says, "Scatter them!" What does the member then do? Speeds up to scatter the seagulls and slows down as he drives to the entrance. As he and another missionary looks back, there are people in the car. The member, quickly exclaims, "Oh my goodness! There were people in the car, feeding the seagulls! Oh man, they probably crapped their pants, thinking I was going to hit them! Oh man, a seagull might have flown into their car. When you guys get out, do not let them see you!" It was hilarious. On the way back, we were talking about it and wondered what if there was a child in the car.

 It was such a hilarious moment in life.

All is well.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

Look Out Below, Here Comes a Couch!

Monday, February 24, 2014

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

Yes, I went back to that place without gloves and without a mask (see previous posts). Luckily, that house is definitely closed and it is in the hands of the bank as far as I know and care. 

I have yet to receive any letters (snail mail), so I guess I can expect some letters some time soon. That really does sound great. It sounds like missionary work is going well back in Lemoore. I am glad to hear that the missionaries are having fun with Dad. I am sure that brings up a lot of the old days back with Scouting. And oh yeah, there is a Facebook page for the Virginia Richmond Mission. I got an email about that a while back on a Friday and it totally spaced my mind. Elder Medsker is the housing coordinator here. He does an excellent job and is hilarious.

So, the way things went last week is that I emailed on Tuesday. Not much happened on Tuesday that is of note. We tracted some more and found a 14 year old kid. He had a great understanding and had an excellent prayer. We stopped by later on in the week and his family is moving. His family is okay with him meeting the missionaries as well. They are open. My companion was not too happy about the news of them moving, but we are so happy for those missionaries who will get to teach him.

On Wednesday, more tracting in the early morning, but then we helped somebody move. I did not to get to know the member that well for the six weeks I have been here. He is a really nice person. We had trouble with a couch, because of how they built the townhouse that he lived in. So, what ended up happening is that we got the couch outside onto the balcony, hung the couch over the balcony, and had the other two missionaries catch the couch to set it down. Miraculously, it worked. Also, that night, we ended up going early to an investigator's house, the chemo investigator. Good thing, because he likes to talk. He tries to apply it to himself and make it understandable. I followed what he was saying and it was good to see how much he does understand. But, it took us an hour and a half to discuss the Holy Ghost. Next step, prayer. Then, after him, we saw another investigator who we found through snow shoveling. It was great, mostly, because we quickly went over the Restoration. The bad part was that we could not discuss the Book of Mormon, prayer, and the Holy Ghost. Plus, due to a lack of time, we could not invite. We had a return missionary, who we are glad that came out with us, but we could not control. Luckily, we have another appointment to help straighten it all out and the people seemed interested in it all.

Thursday, we did some more tracting. We saw a less active who has been returning to church on his own. He has made several goals to return to church and go to the temple. Well, he has been returning to church and he went to the temple for baptisms. He plans on going for his endowment hopefully in March, but he has to take the temple preparation course. There is some help for him and we are helping him along the way. We saw another less active that day, but I do not remember much about it. Friday, we planned and had our correlation meeting. 

Saturday, we dropped by some less active members, especially one that we had been hoping to be working with some more. That one, she has been extremely busy and extremely tired. So we did more tracting and found another investigator. He seemed somewhat interested and we again briefly went over the Restoration (the last three main parts). And we invited. My companion made sure of it. Then, we had another investigator to go see. Well, I failed to mention last week that we technically got a new investigator, because we met with him twice before and then finally he set a return appointment. This time it did not work out, because he did not answer the door. His wife, who is a bit slower in mental capacity, asked us to come back next Saturday, so she could go to Wal-Mart. Rather than push the issue, I felt we should go try a less active. We did, we got food out of it, plus she said that she was coming back to church tomorrow. I was so happy, because we had no idea what to do for her. However, she did not attend yesterday. Back to square one. Later on that night, my companion popped his tire and we were far from home. Luckily, the Russian family took us home and we came home to realize that his tube had two big holes and lots of tiny holes. I am glad that it was not my bike since he hates to have to walk when my bike has had to be repaired.

Speaking of bikes, my bike is doing okay. It works and I am fine. Although, we tried to see some potentials and I missed my turn. So, I decided to do a U-Turn as I had done many times, even on sand and even on downward sloping hills. Not that day. Nope. Bike was not having it at all. It slipped right from under me and I think I slid, maybe a centimeter. Knee was a bit scraped. Nothing new. You think pants would survive such a careless slip. No. I have a small hole that is beyond my expertise to fix. I saw that.  I was like, "Oh no, it would have a hole!" And speaking of clothes, the new shirt fits. That is fine. I figure I should mention it so that you do not have to worry about whether it was the right size.

Sunday, not much happened besides church and eating and oh, meetings. While I and one of the other elders were in the meeting for ward council, the other biked in our area and tracted. My companion used one of their bikes and managed to get a flat tire. Luckily, that elder had a spare tube. We tracted from 7:45 at night to 8:45. Not too many people were happy with us, and his dad will suggest some other things to do instead) but at least we stayed productive. We really did not have anything else to do.

Doing some more work in other areas of life. Hate to be a bother, but I was wondering if it be possible if you could please find some back stretches for me. My back muscles have been tight, which murders my back. Other than that, I am totally healthy and happy and need not worry. I just need to stretch it out and it will be fine. I am really not in much pain. Happy and healthy. Not just saying cause 10 to 1, you will call the mission office, but it is true. 

Well, I am doing well. Sounds like life is good.

All is well.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

I Was Once Lost, But Now I am Found: Missionaries on Bikes

Runabout 8

Monday, January 13, 2014

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom

Well, this officially concludes an upside down week. It was good and great, but there are small things that I am like what in the world?. But, overall it was good. My car seems to be target practice for people. When I read that I was like, "Oh no. What's going on?!" I am laughing about it, because that car cannot get a break. If anything, that car will last me a good while. (Parents wrote: . . . All of a sudden the car in front suddenly stopped. Dad applied his brakes but they don't grab like his little car. He wasn't going fast because as he talked he kept slowing down. He was going less than 50 mph on highway 41. When he realized he couldn't stop in time, he did try to swerve to miss the car in front but clipped the guys right side rear bumper. It will have to be replaced. Your car could still drive but the left front headlights will need replacing about 100 dollars plus shipping. Plus there are some major dents and buckles to fix. With everything that has happened to that car you could say it came from Afghanistan and you got it dirt cheap. A terrorist attacked my car! . . . Sorry! )

The other two missionaries we live with have higher chances of locking the door while my companion refuses. His words, "Jesus will scare them off." (We have a picture of Jesus on the door.) And I am like, "It is safe to lock the door." So, I lock it, especially when I am the last one out. (Also, the serial killer you are referring to is the D.C. Sniper.) (Seth has talked about the lack on the part of his companions to lock the house door when they leave. His brother was in the same mission when the D.C. sniper traveled as far south as Richmond, VA)

I think Carter (just returned from serving in Perth, Australia) had a good mission. He must have learned a lot. Thanks for sharing that.

(Here is what was shared: Carter gave his talk in church today. He only baptized two people. There was one family he helped reactivate. He said it was hard in Australia because the people didn't care and were often mean and rude. He told of how he was a year into his mission when he started to question why he was even there so far away from home and family. One sleepless night, he got up to his study table and read Alma 38:5 which reads:

And now my son, Shiblon {here he inserted his own name, Carter}, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

He also told about how he and his companion were prompted to go down a certain road. They met an aborigine bearded man who had lost two grandchildren when a man stole their car with them in it and ran a red light causing an accident that killed the children. The man wanted to know why bad things happen to good people. Carter remembered reading and studying about that topic and was able to satisfy the man's question where the answer was not one he had heard before. 

Well, I can officially say, "I once was lost, but now I'm found." Why? Well, I am on a bike and my bike is honestly efficient for itself. That is until hills and then I am using every leg muscle I have to climb the hill. I can be fast until hills plus I do not know the area that well, so my companion has to lead. Well, one day, we were coming home and he went up and down a hill a lot faster than I. Needless to say, I lost him, went down a wrong turn, and got lost. I understand that principle of stay where you are, but I was not too sure on how to get back to the street I was on. I kept on biking and I prayed to Heavenly Father to lead me and guide me. I went down many streets, hearing, "Keep on going forward." When I was going to the wrong direction, I heard, "Turn around. Go back." So, I kept on getting turned around until I ended in familiar area. Finally, I felt prompted to talk to someone who was walking their dog. He got his phone and typed in the street. Lo and behold, it was just right around the corner. I felt pretty good and that everything would be alright. I ended up home and my companion, panicked, had sent out a search team to find me. So, I was able to get a hold of him through another member who is working on the basement of the house. Needless to say, the bishop (pastor) made sure the priesthood brethren knew what had happened. My companion is more embarrassed about it than I, it seems. Also, ever since he has been on a bike, he lost his companions, each time getting progressively worse.
We found some new people, even a former "Wicken." She is so awesome and she did not know why she opened the door for us. Her boyfriend is not too happy about us, but we are working on that. There are some great miracles that go on here. I am working hard knocking on doors.
And even more great news, more for me, but it is great news nonetheless. I am able to go to the temple now. I am so excited. I cannot wait to go the D.C. Temple after all this time. Pure excitement.

I am getting to know the area a lot better, especially after getting lost, and I am getting to know the members. There is one member who is studying forensic psychology, or at least wants to get into it, as well. I am so happy about that. There are many great members here and I am excited even more to work here. I am really enjoying myself. Things are, thankfully, turning around through the Lord.
I am happy about how things are going. I am getting close to finishing one portion of my topical guide study about law, order, justice and mercy. Law is one that is almost complete. What I have been doing with this is noting characteristics that I can apply to myself. In this way, I do feel as though I am learning who Heavenly Father wants me to be. It is really exciting.

I can guess you can say, "Thus begins Chapter 2," or whatever. Honestly, the past six months have been great and I have been steadily improving. Amidst all of it, I also hit my lowest point. But do not fret, for as a good show says, "When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change." With everything that is going, I have realized the worst. Now I am starting to see the best. As it says in 1 Peter, "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." I am learning a lot here and I am starting to see a lot more. I think the secret to life is to always improve.

All is well. Excited for the temple. (To learn more about temples go to Mormon.org or www.facebook.com/eldersethtodd )
Love,
Elder S. Todd

Transferred to Woodbridge, Greeted with Snow, A New Future

January, 7, 2014 

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

Happy New Year! So, I have gone north indeed. I am in Woodbridge in the Prince William Ward (congregation). In other words, I moved one stake up (a stake is a group of congregations in a geographical area that serve together, an analogy would be the stakes of a tent). There are many good things that I see here. The members are willing to help us out, especially on giving us rides. There are kind members here. Plus, what is really ironic to me is the fact that some names here are some of the names I dealt with back in Fredericksburg. My new address is 5486 Rector Drive, Woodbridge, VA 22193. (Have some fun and use the satellite google map).

Well, the last week wasn't so good. Things were not going right in the end, but I did feel as though I finished my work in the White Oak Ward. I was able to say goodbye to people. I am glad that I was able to serve there and now I am glad I can serve here. There were special goodbye moments. I got to have a family home evening with a family and that was not on purpose. We had dropped by and they welcomes us in. It was great to be there. 

Transfers were hectic, but I now know where I am at. When I got here in Woodbridge, it snowed and things began to freeze. So, I was not able to bike for a while in part for that reason. I went walking and nearly a dozen times I almost fell and slipped. Only one time I did, but my bag cushioned the fall. We are having a lot more dinners here. We had dinner with a Ukrainian family, which to me was exciting. The husband was once Jewish, but he is now Mormon. So, I learned some Hebrew (I learned how to say river of water), though I have to work on pronouncing it. I am excited. Plus, for the new year, Sister Wilson (the mission president's wife) is putting forth what she is calling, "Fit for the Kingdom." In other words, she is putting on a mission-wide program to help us be fit. So, we earn points for working out, which goes to the zone and the zone that has the most points earns an extra Zone P-day. That, of course, does not mean I get an extra P-day. We got weighed. Now, I know I weighed 148 pounds before I left and while I was in Fredericksburg. The last time I weighed myself was probably in August of 2013. So, I have lost eight pounds if my memory serves me right. So, now I am at 140 pounds. It does not make sense to me, but it has happened.

When we were packing the trailer for the luggage and bikes. They took off my tire and for whatever reason, they unhooked the front brake. That took a while to fix.

With this new program and with the new year, I decided to wake up even earlier to do two things: (a) work out physically and (b) spiritually and mentally work out. I decided to do that to (a) be fit, (b) know scriptures, and (c) improve memory. Plus, I looked at the Word of Wisdom (the health revelation which mirrors a lot of what we know we should be eating and avoiding) again and made notes of a few things. Eat more vegetables, eat more fruit, eat grains, etc. What this means for me is that I am going to improve my health even more. It does not mean that I am going to be a vegetarian. I will still eat meat. I am limiting sweets and snacks, which means the time I will have dessert of any kind or anything like it will be at a member's house. That will be until the end of my mission when I go extremely cold turkey. I am keeping my health up.

My companion is Elder Frank from Colorado Springs, Colarado. We have been getting along fairly well. I am happy that to have another companion that likes Avatar. Just saying. . . So, he is a nice elder. He has only been here in the ward for one transfer, or six weeks. The weather went from snowing to the 60s, back down to a bizarre 16 degrees. In other words, it is cold. This entire zone is on bike, except the sisters and the zone leaders. I am living in a house with another set of missionaries. I make sure that the doors are locked, but it seems as though I am the only one that has studied serial killers and criminals and knows about safety. Just saying once again In a very sarcastic manner it's what I know can happen in this day and age. Next weekly planning session with Elder Frank I am going to mention our safety.

I am slowly adjusting to a bike. I think I will be here a while. I am excited to be here, even though there are hills that I have to bike. Next step in learning begins here.

Also, I want to wish you Merry Christmas! Today is Russian Christmas and I am happy to wish you a Merry Russian Christmas. The reason why it is Christmas is the fact that there, due to the split in the Catholic Church with the Eastern Orthodox, when the new Gregorian calendar came out, it took a while for the Eastern Orthodox to accept it. Something like that. So, they are two weeks behind.

All is well.

Love, 

Elder S. Todd

December 31, 2013

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

The verdict is in. I am leaving White Oak, which is highly sad. There are a lot of good members here and it is hard to let them go. Plus, my first convert is here as well. It has been hard. I just knew on Sunday that I was going, despite how much I was hoping to stay. These last few days here will be saying good bye. Sunday, I said good bye to some people, especially the people that I was with when I got the phone call. Monday, was in part a nightmare. To be perfectly honest, we tried to repair my bike. We got the tire repair kit and repaired the tire, but putting it back together was a bit challenging. It ended up where something was off, which turned to be a washer in the wrong spot. 

I am really trying hard to say good bye to certain members, because I cannot say good bye to all. I am still working as well, so it is trying to balance it all. I had two good lessons yesterday as well. (Plus, I got a hair cut.) I joined someone's family home evening (this is a night where a family gathers together to have a spiritual lesson and some family fun), which was nice. Tonight, I get to say good bye to more people and the Lord's convert. Man, this is what I get for having a companion who is cursed. His companions stay with him for only one or two transfers. Oh well. 18 more months await.

Also, with yesterday, my bike lock fell on my foot and I thought I had broken it. Nope. At least, it just was bruised. And all I know about transfers is that I am going to a biking area. So, I know, I know, lock up my bike, know the serial number, be cautious, be safe. I know. Sorry to hear about Dad's finger (his dad was holding a dog biscuit bone and letting his dog take small bites until there was a small piece and one of the dog's canine teeth split his finger nail and caused him to bleed). My dog just wanted that piece plus protein. I was so happy that I was able to see her and that she still remembers me.(While using Skype on the internet we had his dog with us and when he would call her name she'd look at those speakers wondering what was going on.)  Day completed.

Christmas was great. I had a nice talk with the Hairs. I should tell you. When my trainer was being moved, they got us Subway as dinner. Brother Hair was surprised that I liked spicy food and was the one that got the spicy sandwich to which I said I am half Mexican. That took them by surprised. So, when we had another dinner with them (this time with Elder Longman), we had some Mexican food. Sister Hair told me, "I hope you like them. I know they won't be authentic." They tease me about it in good fun. 

But, Christmas. It was nice to talk to my sister. The connection was off, so she had a very deeper voice that slowly turned to the familiar Bria voice. And it was nice to talk to Grandma and Grandpa. Then, we went to the next person's house. We had technical difficulties with my companion's Skyping session, so we stayed a bit long. I got to spend time with their son, who is a senior in high school. He showed me his new pellet gun with which we had some fun. They have a pool, to which squirrels like to die in and they come back up frozen. One time, their son took such squirrel and hung up on a tree to see what would happen. On Christmas, we decided to go check up on it and it was gone. 

Then, we went to another family's house for dinner. It was fun; good to talk to them. Then, we went to the landlord and stopped by for a short time before we went back to the second home of the day. At that time, when we went back to the second house, the sisters were there, taking their turn. One of them was very loud and she was in the basement talking. They closed the door to give her more privacy, but she was still heard.

I had a unbeknownst last meal with a family on Thursday; it would be my last meal with the family. The wife is an awesome woman and can cook wonderful meals. I had some good conversations and scripture reading at that house. It was great to unknowningly have a last meal with them. I am happy that I will be able to say good bye. The past week we have been making cookie deliveries, which has been fun. We ended up staying longer than we had planned, which was great and awesome. Oh, the sister missionaries here got a brand new car, which my companion is so jealous about it while I could care less (yeah, 'cause he's leaving to a biking area). Well, on Sunday, we got a call from them, as my companion is the district leader, saying that they will be going home late for their car was stuck in the mud and they had to be towed out. My companion and I had went to help... to no avail. So, tow truck gets there and pulls them out. Then, the tow truck started to get stuck. It was hilarious, but it worked out. The tow truck was able to get out and the sisters were able to get home, finally.

And the third hour on Sunday went well. It was the last thing I could do for the entire ward . The last hurrah. It was about the Elder Sitati mission conference that we had a month and a half ago. People were excited for mission work... and I am being transferred. So be it.

All is well.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

December 23, 2013

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

Happy non-P-day! Our P-day is on Tuesday, but we are allowed to email.

Please do ask the mission president if at all possible for me to call Bria and Grandma.

Well, I wanted to wish you a happy spring here in Virginia. Why? The weather is whack! It turned to 70 degrees this past weekend and oh, it decided to rain. Earlier, as I had previously told you, we had an ice storm. I am not so sure about this weather. I was quite honestly expecting cold. And I was dreaming of a white Christmas. Not so sure now.

So, you are also doing fifth Sunday. Same here with the same topic (Member Missionary Work), although a different thing. I told you of the Elder Sitati mission conference we had. We are condensing that mission conference and what we did to 45 minutes. It will not be anything spectacular, but it will definitely be something to help the members. It will be exciting. 

I am starting to realize that I am OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) with time, or at least I am obsessive about time and am really sensitive to it.. In several cases, this past week when we went over time, I could tell and I start to get tied up. My companion is relaxed with time, albeit he is a good companion. But, we, well, ended up an hour late to a dinner appointment, which the person was totally fine with us being late. It was good thing we were late, because we found a new investigator and put her on a baptismal date. At the same time, we were extremely late and I was trying to tell my companion. Of course, I will give him the benefit, although I did tell him what time we had our dinner appointment.. 


Also, I am annoyed with last minute drops. For mission conference, we had an issue with our ride. One member called us and asked if we needed a ride, to which I confidently said, "Oh, we have a ride from this member." To which the member who called us told me, "The person who was going to give you a ride cannot and that is why I am calling." And that was the night before the conference.  We were able to find a ride, thankfully. Then, we were needed for service in unloading the bishop's storehouse (this is a building where food and other supplies are kept for the needy, it is not a Thrift Store) and where we were unloading was outside of our ward boundaries. We got a call at 10:20 before the day that we were supposed to help out and were told that we could not unless it was an emergency made by the bishop. Now, I respect my leaders and do enjoy their counsel, but I do like warning. We were able to help out, much to the relief of the Relief Society President (Relief Society is an charitable organization for women in each congregation) in our ward. But, yeah, I am starting to notice that I have issues.

The last paragraph really summed up most of my week. The only thing really left is the mission conference that we had for Christmas. There were a lot, a lot of musical numbers, but many spiritual thoughts. It was good to see some of the old district members of the MTC. I also ran into my trainer, Elder Meibos, and he asked me many, many questions about the area. It was quite enjoyable.

So, this week is going to be an interesting one. It is the time of the holidays. I will think positively and hopefully, people and members will let us in. Hey, at least Christmas and Christmas Eve are busy.

Cannot wait to talk (using Skype for a video phone call on Christmas). All is well!

Love,

Elder S. Todd