Stuffed with turkey, as expected

Casey and the fall colors of Georgia.

It's all good, I know y'all are pretty busy; good to hear from you, though. I had a pretty cool Thanksgiving; three of them, actually! On Wednesday we were invited over to an early family Thanksgiving dinner with someone in the ward; on Thanksgiving itself, we ate at the Bishop's father's home; on Saturday, we were invited on the spot to a less-active members late Thanksgiving! My pants are bursting at the seams lol! I've never eaten so well, nor have I ever had three thanksgivings in a row! That's not all; we were given all the left-overs; we have been feasting like kings for the past few days!

Things are still well here with my new companion and I; we are doing a lot of driving around to find less-actives and formers; we gotta learn how to keep better track of our miles so we don't use them all.

Go, Nebraska! Go Cougars! Sounds great, can't wait to hear how they do!
Yes, I remember Daniel! I guess it's too late now, but say hi to the Hillams for me and wish them a happy Thanksgiving!

Not too much is going on in our area yet; it's been a lot of less-active work, and working with the members to get referrals; since there are no neighborhoods, tracting has been difficult. Still, with an eye single to the glory of God, and a perfect brightness of hope, we diligently press on in the work of the Lord!

The members we have met so far are pretty awesome! They always offer to feed us and try to find us referrals, which is pretty cool!

I don't have a lot of time to write, so I'll leave you with a late Happy Thanksgiving, and and early Happy Holidays! Keep up the good work!

 

Love,

Elder Dickson

P..S. I sent everyone a written letter, so keep an eye out for it! I'm mailing yours today, so yours will be a few days.

Yes, I can fly ... look out below!

You will believe an Elder can fly!

!Hola Familia!

This are good here in the land of dirt roads that don't exist in your GPS lol! Really, it has been good here, just trying to learn our area has been tricky, since it is ALL country; there are nearly no neighborhoods to be found! Mainly, we have been trying to locate members and less-actives, and hunt down former investigators, which will be tricky, since they haven't had any missionaires in this area for a few months. My new companion is a cool guy; he loves basketball and BYU, so we get along pretty well lol.

The members here are pretty cool; they have given us a few referrals, so we'll see how those go.

There is this one member who is locally known as "The Great One" (self-proclaimed title, of course). He is a retired pilot and schoolteacher, and has some fantastic stories about his flying days! He pretends to be all swagger and arrogant, but he really is a good guy, and humble deep down. He dotes on his new wife, and is a fantastic teacher of the gospel! He and his wife have been having some health problems, so we have been over there, helping them out however we can. It's an excellent opportunity to learn at the feet of "The Great One" lol!

Anyway, that's all I have for now. That, and I'm running out of time! An hour isn't long enough to think of anything good! Oh well. I hope y'all are well and hope to see y'alls faces around Christmastime!

Love,

Elder Casey Guy Dickson

Handsome ... and the scenery isn't bad, either.

Short but sweet from Casey in Georgia

If I only had a brain ... (That's a "Miss Congeniality" reference)

Hey, what's up, everyone!
Things are pretty great here in my new area. . . Dahlonega! It's way country out here, and there are pretty much no blacks here, which is really different from my last area. I'm in the Sugar Hill Zone, which is closer to the top of Georgia and near the top of our mission boundaries. I've been here since Wednesday, and have spent most of the time driving around, visiting members, less-actives, and former investigators in the area. Not a ton of luck so far, but we are working on it! We met this guy, who is a recent convert, and his parents the day we got here. His parents were vaguely interested, but they ended up coming to church with their son yesterday! There may be something there!
Elder Harper is a good guy; he enjoys BYU football like I do, so we are getting along pretty well so far. He just got back from knee surgery, but is fit enough to do missionary work; he just can't ride a bike or lift anything heavy yet. It's pretty nice to have a car, because things are pretty spread out here! We are near the mountains here (which are more like hills when you compare them to ours lol) so it is pretty hilly.
Did BYU win? I haven't heard anything about them. I did hear about the TCU Boise State game. Holy Cow! Good job, Nebraska; looks like they are keeping you in a job lol. 

I hope you get enough girls to come out and play ball, Mom and Shelby; Dad told me you guys may not have enough to play. It would be a bummer not to have a team. Go T-wolves! 

Good job in making the Sophmore team assistant! It's great to be involved in something with friends. You're a stud, Double D!  

I miss y'all, but I know I'm here for a reason, and that reason is good. Things will be different here than my last area, but it is where the Lord needs me to be. 

My e-mails will be a little shorter; the library I am e-mailing at has a timer of 45 minutes, so I'm typing really fast! Let me just say that I love y'all and miss y'all, and I hope things are going well for y'all! 

Hope work goes good, Mom. Feed the missionaries! 

Love, 

Elder Casey Guy Dickson

"I'm not prejudice, I hate everyone." (Casey did NOT say this)

Fun with bike helmet pads.

Hey, Family!
Things are all fine and dandy in the land of Conyers... guess what? Transfer calls were today, and I'm getting transferred to Dawsonville, Sugar Hill Zone! It's about an hour north of Atlanta. My new companion is Elder Harper, who had to go home because of an injury but is now back and ready to roll! I haven't met him yet, but everyone says that he's a good guy. He'll be the senior companion (thank goodness!); he was out about a year before he got hurt. Oh, and it's a car area too! Yay! Apparently Dawsonville is a richer and whiter area than Conyers, which will be interesting.
My trainer, Elder Nielsen, is training again, and is going District Leader. Good for him; he's a good guy as well.
It has been a good experience in Conyers; there are some very different, but still very good people here. The members are awesome, especially the youth; they are all about missionary work! I haven't had any baptisms here, but that's okay; success is not measured by baptisms. There are some awesome people we are teaching, and they will be in good hands with Elder Nielsen and his new Greenie. I'm way excited for this new opportunity to learn and grow.
Good job, T-wolves! I'm glad that you guys did so well; I don't know much about Salem Hills, but I'm happy that you are happy, Shelby lol. Congrats, little Missy!
I hope you guys all do well in basketball as well; being part of a team is a special thing. I know y'all will have fun! Good luck, Stinky and Missy!
The work goes as it goes; the work has finally started rolling, so now it's up to Elder Nielsen and his new companion to wrap it up! Just to hear if they get baptized will be enough for me.
That quote for the letter is from a less-active lady we go visit every once and awhile. She is probably the funniest and bluntest person I have met! She has been all around the world, and has recently recovered from Alcoholism (still working on smoking). She tells it how it is, and has no reservations about telling people her opinion. She's a tough ol' Granny who would probably beat up any thug that bothers her; she's the greatest! She really is sweet deep down, and loves it when we come visit her; she calls us "her missionaries". I'm going to miss her.
We continue to teach that one family who needs to get divorced before they get married and baptized (that is a strange sentence). They love the church and everything about it, but they can't progress until they fix up their lives some. Her 16-year-old son's girlfriend is having his baby at the hospital right now; she is having a minor heart problem, so I hope everything turns out okay. The not-yet-husband's mother is also in the hospital; we might go give both of them a blessing before I leave. My companion, Elder Dowdle (our DL on exchange with us) a member (who brought a truck) and I helped them move all their stuff into a new, better looking home they are renting. I'm not sure if they could have moved all their furniture without us; they had no truck, and the not-yet-husband is still pretty from his stroke.
The Muslim lady we are teaching is funny; she says one thing, then something completely different the other day. She says she wants to believe in Jesus Christ, and also expresses interest in Baptism, yet she still isn't sure what she wants. She'll call us and tell us not to come over anymore, and the next day she wants us to visit her. She's a little flighty, but she is funny, and has really liked a lot of things about our church; like how we were with God before this life, and those in this life who never get to hear the gospel can hear and accept it thanks to baptisms for the dead and temple work. I think she'll come around.
We met another guy and his wife while we were biking one day; he stopped us and told us he was a member, and his wife was taking lessons and was about to get baptized, but then they both lost their jobs and had to move. They have just moved back and want to come back to church. I'm excited for them! How nice it is to meet people who actually want to come to church lol!
We had a pretty neat insight when we were teaching a recent convert about the sacrament. In 3 Nephi 18, it talks about the Disciples bringing the bread and wine to the savior, the Savior breaking it, and the Disciple passing it. Sound familiar? The Disciples bringing the bread and wine before Jesus our the Teachers preparing the sacrament, Jesus is the Priests breaking and blessing it, and the Disciple are the Deacons passing it to the congregation. I never saw that before; I thought that was pretty cool. We are literally doing as Jesus and his Disciples themselves they were doing not only in the Book of Mormon, but the Bible as well.
We hit up some yard sales on Saturday, and I got some pretty sweet ties for a buck. I love yard sales; missionaries pretty much live off them lol.
We had another baptism in our zone; the zone leaders just baptized a kid who has been coming to church for years, but couldn't get baptized because his parents were so against it. Since he turned 18, we could finally do it for him! He was so excited and happy! I'll send some pictures.
It's a little tough getting transferred during the holidays, but I'm sure they members in Dawsonville are just as awesome and loving; it'll be a blast, I'm way excited!
I get more and more proof every day that this gospel is true; even when people throw anti at us, or show us stuff in the Bible and Book of Mormon I never saw before, and I spend all evening studying about it, I continually get confirmation that this gospel is true, because no other church has the answers to all of life's questions like we do. Everything in this church makes sense, and it makes sense because it is the absolute truth, and no other church has the understanding of the gospel like we do. I know for a fact that because God loves us, He has once again reached out and called a prophet to the earth, and provided him with the Book of Mormon, to complete the fullness of the gospel. I know that the authority to act in God's name that was once lost is now found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and it is by that authority that we can receive the fullness of His blessings. I know that Jesus Christ is Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Savior and Redeemer of the New Testament, and the God of the whole earth. I am eternally grateful for the sacrifice of his atonement that connects the bridge back to Heavenly Father for us, for we cannot get to Heaven by ourselves. I know that Joseph Smith was the Prophet of the Restoration, and that Thomas S. Monson is the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator of the earth in our time today. I know that those men are as much Prophets as Moses or Abraham, and they hold that same authority necessary for salvation and exaltation in the life to come. I know the Book of Mormon is the Word of God, as well as the Bible, and that it has the answer's to life's questions, like no other book in history. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I love y'all sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much and can't wait to hear from y'all near Christmas time!
Love,
Elder Casey Guy Dickson

"You wouldn't take your car to get repaired at the barber."

The beautiful Georgia sunset!

Dear Family,
How are ya? It has been an incredible week! The other Elders had an awesome baptism Saturday! We came and helped set up and my companion gave one of the talks. This girl is awesome; she asked if she could get baptized after the first session of General Conference! That's pretty legit! She has already brought several friends to church who all want to take the lessons, and her mom and sisters are working towards baptism! How cool is that?
We had an awesome Trunk R Treat party this Saturday night! What fun! There were plenty of non-members and less-actives there, so it was very effective use of our time. We got to judge the kids costumes and then participate in the spook alley; I scared the stuffing out of this member! She flipped then hit me! It's all good though; we helped her clean everything up and set up chairs for Sunday, so she forgave me. She also promised to sign up and feed us, so every thing's great!
We had an awesome Sunday! They gave a missionary report, and a return missionary gave a great talk on "waiting on the Lord". Waiting on the Lord does not mean waiting for him, sitting around doing nothing; it means to wait on him like a waiter does! We need to work and do are best to get the job done! Pretty cool.
We had a great Sunday dinner too: baked Z! It was great, and they gave us the leftovers! Awesome!
They kids in the ward are pretty great; they are studs in missionary work, and they are all pretty hilarious!
Dang, the cougars lost! Oh well. Is TCU good this year?
We also carved some awesome pumpkins with this awesome family! I made a bat, but Elder Nielsen's was better; he made a Mario! Buh duh duh duh duh Duh, duh.
We helped that family we are teaching (where the mom is still deciding) move the other day; we had a member bring a truck and it all went smoothly. We'll still see about them.
On the other hand, they other family we are teaching is doing great! They finally got a phone, so we can call them! They are moving eventually, and the husband has nearly recovered, so he'll be going to work soon! I'm happy things are looking up for them and I'm praying for them. The mom is still married to her husband, we found out. She needs the divorce papers and legal aid so she can get divorced then get married then get baptized! That's the only thing stopping them; they are way solid! They love church and everything about it! They can't always get a ride to church, but they said they'd call a cab if they had to. Talk about dedication! They rock! We had several awesome lessons with them, and took a member who remembers them from when the mom was in the ward before. How cool is that?
We are also teaching this woman who is Muslim; it has been a very interesting experience. I know little to nothing about Muslim culture, but she is kind and funny, and a little scatter-brained like me! Yay! I'm not alone after all! At first she wasn't too sure how she felt about Jesus Christ (or God for that matter), she says she wants to believe and asks us to help her with that. She came to the baptism, which was awesome because she felt the spirit. She had come to church and we expect her to come again. We have been killing with our LIMPS (Lessons with an Investigator with a Member Present) this past week; a return missionary sister has been meeting us at the Muslim woman's house, and she has been a BIG help! She served in Sydney, Australia, so she is used to teaching people without a Christian background. It's been great, and I can't wait to teach her again!
We also met this one guy who is non-denominational, and who loves to discuss religion. While this usually turns into a Bible bashing situation (to which we then politely excuse ourselves), he was sincerely interested in our religion, and really liked the first vision, and the fact the true church wasn't on the earth after Christ was crucified. He wasn't too sure about the Book of Mormon, but he was OK when we told him we read the Bible as well. He told us he has done some "research" on our church, which usually means they went to an anti-site or got anti-material from their pastor. He asked us if we believed Jesus Christ was an angel, and not the Son of God. He also asked us if Joseph Smith proclaimed he was the Holy Ghost. I have never heard that one before. Like always, we turn to the Book of Mormon in these situations; We showed him 3 Nephi 11, and he agreed that if he wants to know more about our church, he should ask someone who actually knows. You wouldn't take your broken down car to get repairs by some other person rather than a mechanic; so if anyone wants to know more about our church, ask a Mormon, come to a Sunday Worship, or go on Mormon.org (The Church's OFFICIAL WEBSITE!).
We said the same thing to a guy at McDonald's who told us he is on that preacher in Texas' side; that we are a cult. First we asked him what a cult was, and he couldn't give us a better answer than, "well... it's what you guys are!" We then invited him to Mormon.org, but he refused, saying he was told everything he was told by his pastor. He was humbled by our "would you take your broken car to your barber?" statement, so we'll see. Anyway, something that the first guy ( see beginning of  this paragraph) said (that I think is awesome!) is that after we showed him this, he says "Well, then Mormonism should really be called Christianity." That's right! Why hasn't anyone else understood that? He welcomed us to come back, so we shall.
We had interviews with the Mission President this week; he is a fantastic guy and we are lucky to have him helping us with this great and marvelous work! He didn't say, but I think that either I am staying here and training, or I'm going somewhere else and am training. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh well. It'll be a great opportunity to learn and grow even more. I have learned so much already, and I feel like I'm changing every single day! It has been so great, and I can't wait for more awesome adventures!
That's all I got for news this week. I hope that everyone is well, and I hope to hear from y'all soon! I can call/Skype for Christmas, so watch for that! Thanks again for the package Mom, it was wonderful! I sent you an e-mail; check it out! Dad told me that Shelby's team rocked, and is done now. Congrats, little Missy! I heard that soccer one, and football did well. Go T-wolves!
OK I la you Buh-Bye!
Elder Casey Guy Dickson
P.S. I'm sending a letter, look for it! And e-mail me! And check out my blog and Mormon.org page:
www.mormon.org/me/57BD
http://caseymissionadventure.blogspot.com/

Talking to yourself is only crazy if you answer ...

You want to do what?

Elder Nielsen and Elder Dickson

What a handsome lad!

!Hola, Familia! ?Como estas? Everything is just fine and dandy here in the land of biscuits and gravy! We had a fantastic Sunday this week; combined with the other elders in our ward, we had 14 investigators at church! Holy cow! There was a family of 5 that we ran into the other day; another was a single woman referred to us by a member, and the others were families that the other guys are teaching. How awesome is that? There was also some really awesome talks by some recent converts; their talks had a lot of power and spirit of experience. The young women gave a lovely musical number (Guardians of Virtue), and we sang one of my favorite songs to close: How Great thou Art! What a great song! Oh, also, we (the four missionaries) somehow got roped into singing A Child's Prayer in primary for sharing time; the spirit was definitely there to help us (we needed it!). We had some investigators come late; the mom was sick, but still got up and came, which is pretty cool. It was just a good day all around! Today has started off pretty good too; we had Cracker Barrel with the other Elders and then went to play board games with a special needs kid who the other Elders are best friends with. We played Uno Spin; it was way fun! Not as fun as Wahoo though. Oh, the other Elders have a baptism this coming Saturday! Sweet! They are baptizing this girl who came to conference with her member friends and loved it! She asked if she could get baptized as the Sunday afternoon session ended; awesome! She is way legit; her mom and sisters are leaning towards baptism as well, so wish the other elders luck! The family that came to church we met while heading to see someone else in the neighborhood. The mom asked us what church we were from; when we told her, she said, "I'm a member of your church!" Turns out she got married at our building and was attending about 5 years ago. Her husband was taking the lessons and got baptized, but she didn't, so she isn't actually a member. She is now divorced to that husband and is engaged to another man, but not married yet; she has a daughter who is 7, and her parents are giving them a place to stay while her fiance recovers from a stroke. Kind of a long, sticky situation; but it was because of their humility that she decided she wanted to come back to church, and have the lessons again so they can all get baptized. That's pretty dang cool! I'm glad the Lord put us in her path so we could help her. We have to get her married first, then we could baptize them, so we are working on that first. They loved church and everything about it, though. I'm excited for them! That other lady who was referred to us is a Muslim, but her father gave her permission to investigate if she wants. She loved church and everything about it, so we'll swing by tomorrow and see what we can do. Awesome! Our other investigators are doing OK as well; that family I keep talking about is still on hold as the mom continues to study and pray about joining the church. They still haven't been to a sacrament meeting (which is the reason we go to church in the first place), so we are trying to get her to one. We also discovered she hasn't been reading the Book of Mormon, so we got to encourage her to get a testimony of it. The kids still want to get baptized, but if the mom doesn't, there is a strong chance of inactivity happening. We want to have the whole family benefit from the blessings that come from baptism and having the Holy Ghost and such. Other than that, the work goes great! Tons of people are asking missionaries and members alike about the Mormon.org commercials, which is AWESOME! They work really well; it gets connects the word Mormon with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is all we ask. Baptisms are nice to, though.
Go Cougars! And go T-wolves! Dad has been telling me about them,
and it sounds like they are doing well. I'm pretty dang nervous about the chance that I'm training, but I know I need it. It is an opportunity to serve and have a greater responsibility. I hope I stay in this area, though; I know I'll have to leave eventually, but I have made some great friends here in the ward, and a lot of our investigators are soooooooooooooooo close; I feel like I still have work to do here, but I'll go wherever the Lord needs me. So, Devin: how is school? How is football? How is everything? Let me know what is going down with TOR. I heard from a kid in the ward their is going to be a Kung Fu Panda cartoon on Nick, so look for it and let me know if it's any good. So, Shelby: how is school and volleyball? What's up and down and sideways with ya? So, Mom: how is work and volleyball and the 9th ward doing? I heard about the Bishopric change; sounds like it'll be a good one. Say hi to Bishop Fitzgerald and Bro. Herrick and Bro. McDonald and Bro. Dowd and all the kids I taught in Primary as well. Eric wrote me; how cool is that? I just sent his letter, so I hope he gets it soon! I'm writing you a letter this week, so watch for it. I heard I have a package, but since it was sent by UPS they can't forward it to my apartment, so someone with a car will have to go get it from the mission office when they go up there sometime. If it's from you, thanks! I don't know what it could be (I hope it's candy!). The weather has been soooooooooooooo much better; it's even cool enough to wear a long sleeve all day, which is good and bad. I need to buy some one long sleeve shirts; I only have 2. I gotta buy some gloves as well; I didn't think of bringing any out. The weather has been great, the food has been great, the work goes great, and Mormon.org is the best website in the world! I am way excited for this coming week! Love y'all, Elder Casey Guy Dickson

Living the good life in Georgia

Casey's living quarters in Georgia. It has a washer and dryer!

 

Hey, everyone!

The whole e-mail thing is nice and the blog is too since I haven't been writing in my journal like I should. I've never kept one till now; I was doing great in the MTC but a couple months out here and I've been forgetting to do it! I gotta get on that!

Go Cougs! Sounds like Riley is the guy this year!

The work is going great! We had a couple surprise appearances at sacrament meeting; one of the 18-year olds brought his girlfriend, an investigator brought her mom and best friend, and a recent convert brought a friend! How exciting! Also had a surprise visit from a guy who works at Wendy's that we gave a Mormon.org card to last week. He got online, liked what he saw, and found the address to our church and showed up at sacrament meeting! Awesome! He has agreed to meet with the other elders (he lives in their area), so we're excited! Struggling a little still with the mom of our goldens, but we are working with her every chance we get!
We always jump at chances to serve! We helped the relief society set up for their activity; they were so grateful they fed us! Sounds like a good deal lol! Really though, service is great, and it's all about serving our fellow man without reward!

Doing my own laundry isn't too bad; it's nice that we have a washer and dryer in the apartment! Since it's cooling down, I'm not going through multiple shirts a day now lol!

The dumb thing about last week was that I got a nail in my tire... 3 times! In the space of a week! Give me a break! And it was the back wheel each time; spent 25 bucks on new tires and tubes; ouch! Good thing that came from it is that now I'm pro at changing tires lol.

We did an exchange this week; Elder Sarniguet (Sar-knee-get) was with me while his and my companion were at leadership meetings two days in a row. Elder Sarniguet is the new spanish elder for our spanish branch; I was the senior companion! Ahhhhhh! He was born in Chile, moved to Alabama when he was 12, and is fluent in English and Spanish, and is teaching himself Portuguese! Pretty cool guy; he looks and sorta acts like Fezz on That 70's Show lol! We had an interesting experience; we went to all his spanish appointments (so I didn't understand anything lol) and then we got in an arguement with a Jehovah's Witness lady. We didn't start it, and we didn't argue or yell or anything, but we talked and shared and invited (like we are supposed to do) and she wouldn't accept anything from us since we believe Jesus Christ is Jehovah (which he is; read John 1:1-3 and 14, then read 1st John 5:7; Jesus Christ is the Word, and the Word is God.) It makes me sad, because even when we showed her in the Bible were we get that belief from she refuses to accept it. I have nothing whatsoever against Jehovah's Witnesses, or any other religion for that matter; but even when we help people understand the Bible and share the Book of Mormon with them, there are some that just won't even try to believe or at least pray about it (which the invitation we give to everyone). Oh well. The work will go on; if we are faithful and diligent, then the Lord will lead us to the elect by the Holy Spirit.

Anyway, we had a good learning experience together and I'm grateful for it.

Oh, also, we met this one guy who was really open to any religion or any idea and such (which is a change). He was wondering why people are so against the Book of Mormon, especially when they haven't even read it yet. Wow! I have been wondering the exact same thing! We shared an awesome first lesson, and we hope to see him again!

Oh, we also found this really awesome hole-in-the-wall wings place that has the best wings I have ever had! We are definitely going back and teaching the guy who owns the joint!

It has been a good week, and I'm looking forward to the next!

Transfers are on the 9th of November; I had it hinted at me by the zone leaders that I might be sent to another zone, and I might be training! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Oh well; it has to happen sometime. I will go where he wants me to go; it will be where the Lord needs me most. If he needs me to train, so be it. It'll be a good responsibility position for me to learn and grow. We'll see.

I've sent pictures of the apartment; it's pretty nice and clean. We could probably have two more missionaries stay comfortably with us. Elder Nielsen says it's the second nicest he has been in; when you have been out as long as he has (that phrase is a joke between us missionaries), you have seen all kinds of apartments.

The food here is pretty good; last night I had 4 cheese lasagna, and it was awesome! Still have some leftovers; the Bishop's wife is a fantastic cook! I have been eating almost too well; it's a good thing I am biking. I'm not losing weight anymore; I'm maintaining. I gotta get a better exercise routine going.

 I discovered something; that is what the mission, really our life here on earth is all about; love. I continually pray for the gift of charity as I come to love and teach these people. Christ is the reason. Amen.

P.S. Hey Devin, did your package come yet?! I sent it two and a half weeks ago, so it should be there by now. How's everything? Write me, please!

P.S. Hey Shelby and Mom; how's volleyball and such. Write me!