Hey y'all

Sounds like FAther's day went pretty good (I mean well) <-that was for Ben.....Yesterday we ate  kraft mac and cheese for dinner since our dinner appointment had to cancel. And what the heck is cornbread salad? No offense, but that sounds nasty hahah. But I never tried it so I can't judge....

Dad, I'm sorry you hurt your ribs. When you said that all I could think is I haven't had a McRib in forever! (that was a Jim Gaffigan Joke). I guess I'll have to keep a lookout for Teressa's friend Lana. Probably won't though since they live out of my area. But guess what?!! I noticed while looking at one of the ward maps last week that the Gaskins who used to live next door to us at our old house live here! I haven't actually met them yet, but I looked on LDS tools and it says that Matt  is assistant ward clerk. Perhaps we should go stop by sometime, but they probably wouldn't even remember me. 

Mom,

I haven't really talked to President about my new mission call or anything. I'll try to talk to him at Zone conference tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes the next apostle. I'm really glad you are hanging out with Joe. Like you said, he really taught me to see the good in everybody and to always have a cheerful attitude about boring old life. So he's finally at the Bluegrass Festival? Good. Lucky you got to have jamba juice..I'm craving a smoothie right now. In my last area, Sister Andrews used to make us the best smoothies all the time!

So you went on a field trip through Eagle Mountain? Cedar Valley is pretty beautiful. Did you see any dust devils while you were out there? And do you know if they decided to move the prison there or not? that was a big issue while I was there. If they do put it there, the area will grow a whole lot. But there's so many hicks out there that want their land for rabbit hunting!

And  Did you mean Cedar Fort? because Cedar Hills is by Pleasant Grove--that's actually Elder Spiers prior area. I never actually got to go see that site where Johnson's Army passed through. We just played ping pong pretty much on p-days (that could be a tongue twister (: 

And you got DAD a HAMMOCK?!! No fair. Remember when I tried to make a hammock out of sleeping bags a few months ago? That failed. I can't wait to get back to the house so I can take a nap. That's one thing I miss: Sunday naps. And pretty much just naps everyday. Everyday after lunch we are all sooo tired and need a nap but we just can't. That's really cool that Jenessa got her young woman's medallion! What an achievement!! I never even got my Duty to God. Shame on me. 

Grandpa Allen and grandma Elaine,

Thank you for the picture you sent me of Grandpa's scarred-up head! That's a keeper. That's a pretty cool looking Scar, Grandpa! Have fun doing retirement stuff. Speaking of retirement, RM doesn't mean Retired Missionary. That goes for everyone! I'm sick of members who aren't missionary-minded. I'm not pointing any fingers at anyone in particular. just thought I'd throw that out there. I'm also venting frustration because there are so many people around here who just don't give a dang. 

On a more happy note....:)

This week went pretty good. I feel like I've grown a whole lot--spiritually that is.  I haven't grown an inch though since I've left unfortunately. Both of my companions are 6 foot 3 and 6 foot 4 so I am small compared to them....but the work here is good. This week we had a lot of cancellations though. Only taught 10 lessons. We are expected to teach at least 20 a week. A lot of missionaries teach over 30. It's nuts. 

This week we picked up a new investigator named Holden. His mom is anti-religion but she is allowing her son to make decisions herself. Something funny that Holden said is that he was worried that if he became a member that he would have to stop believing in ghosts. we then of course talked about the holy ghost and tied it into the restoration, committed him to baptism on July 27! We'll see how it turns out though since his family is not religious. 

Yesterday we got a door slammed in our face by a guy named Sam. We talked to him last week in his porch and he was super friendly and invited us back. But yesterday, he was a completely different person and was like "did you guys not get the message that I am baptist and not interested!!, ESPECIALLY ON MY DAY OFF! I appreciate what you guys do but its getting to the point of annoyance! "Then he slammed the door. We got our hopes up about him. 

Also yesterday we had a discussion with Majeed . He is a devout muslim from Ghana. Super super nice guy. He won't get baptized though. His wife is LDS and white and his kids go. They also had a relative from Gahna staying with them from st George for a while It was a really interesting discussion. Muslims don't  t believe Jesus Christ to be the savior, just a great prophet. He mentioned about how there is a lot of scripture in the Koran about the virgin Mary and so we talked about how christ was the literal son of God since he was born from a virgin. He said though that God (Allah) can do anything though such as turn trees and rocks into people. He also said that Adam and Eve were created out of the dust and so was Christ too but that didn't mean he was  the son of God. It really didn't make much sense. Muslims also believe Mohammed to be the last prophet. Keep in mind that they believe in prophets from Adam until Abraham, but that's where things split off. You see, They think that the real sacrifice of Abraham was Ishmael and not Isaac. As you know, the descendants of Ishmael are primarily Muslims. Since Majeed said that Mohammed was the last prophet, we asked him why there are no more prophets for Islam. This was an inspired question since he said he had wondered a lot about that before. We tried to explain the importance of prophets but he shrugged it off by rationalizing that all that is necessary is the Koran ( kind of like Protestants today who think all they need is the bible) to pull you through troubled times. We also talked a little about blacks and the priesthood. He said he didn't like the answer that it was just Gods timing. Personally if I were black, I don't know if I'd like that either. Whenever we are faced with an objection we should always turn to the scriptures so I turned to 2 nephi 26:33 " For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile." But really he needs to understand that prophets receive revelation in behalf of the church. We also let him know of course that slavery could be part of the reason, but you have to be careful with that one because Prophets don't reveal things just to "catch up with the times" 

But enough about that. We just got our hopes up about him, too.  He's such a good guy. It was very interesting to see the similarities between Muslims and Mormons, and also how we are both stereotyped a lot. 

This week has been good overall though. My companions are awesome. 

Hope y'all have a good week. Sorry I say y'all a lot now. 

Love, elder soutas