Catching up on Sam

I know, it’s been a long time since I posted any of Sam’s emails, but I’ll try to catch up.

May 21:

Howdy,
So here’s some pics from my area. South Park is this trailer park out in Yellow Creek ward. It’s got a bad reputation, but once again, it’s places like that the humble people are. I had to get a picture because of the name and really it’s not as bad as some of the members think.
Anyways, this week’s been great. There’s seven people who want to get baptized here! You know how I said Hilliard ward is all ranchs? Well, it takes a long while to get out there so the previous missionaries set it up where one day a week someone would come get us, feed us dinner and then they’d have some ideas of people to visit. It came to a point though where everyone who knows people did this multiple times with all their friends and they’re running out of ideas. The WML was considering cutting down our visits out there, but last week we went out and found someone to teach so we had to go back. This week we were all set up with their home teacher. We had dinner and after taught him. The spirit was so strong he was crying. So now [Redacted] is on date to be baptized on June 9th. We had a miracle yesterday too. The thing is we hadn’t found any new investigators all week, then yesterday we get this call from a member. She wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon for a friend. We went over to hand it over and she decided to introduce us to her friend. Her friend [Redacted]’s first question was when can we meet?

…
The Lord has been blessing us immensely. We already have lessons set up for every day this week!
By the way, it’s not a big deal, but as I’m sitting here in the library I see a book titled ‘The Alloy of Law’ by Brandon Sanderson. It also says it’s a Mistborn book. Dad’s got a copy right? It’s a good thing I’m totally not tempted.
Anyways, the library’s closed on memorial day so I might not be able to email next week.
I love y’all.

May 28:

Anyways, how’re y’all doing?

…

So, things have gotten interesting around here. We found these great people who seem very prepared and ready to be baptized, but they’re also 16 & 17 years old and living together. Normally we’d just tell ’em to either move out or get married, but they’re so young. Any advice?

The mission is starting a change soon. They want us to give y’all our apartments mailing address rather than have everything go through the mission office. So nobody in the mission is getting any mail for the next week. I’ll give y’all my address next time. I don’t have it off the top of my head.
Last Tuesday we brought one of our investigators who’s getting baptized July 1st to mutual. They were doing a activity on genealogy so I thought I’d take a look at our family tree and it didn’t go down Moms line at all. That was weird. Have you checked that out on new family search?
Well I’m rambling again. On I side note I ran into this guy, [Redacted], who is in the military working in EOD. For the rest of us, EOD stands for Explosive Ordnance Disposal. He’s getting ready to leave for his second tour. He’s been trying to switch jobs because he’s lucky to be alive, but they tell him he’s just to good at it. Since it’s Memorial Day and all you might want to remember him in your prayers. I got an email from [Redacted] today. He wants me to give him your address so he can send you a thank you note.
Ok, I love you, bye bye!

June 5:

…

We had a very busy week. At least 3 times this week we had multiple lessons at the same time. Luckily we were able to get some quick exchanges with some priest age young men.
… the reason I didn’t email yeasterday was because I was at Martins Cove. The President had this planned out for a long while, but it kept slipping my mind. So, Martins Cove is one of the places the Martin and Willie Handcart companies took shelter. They gave us handcarts and we pushed them around to diferent places where some guides told us about some of the members of the companies. Since the weather’s been so nice they even let us push some carts through the Sweetwater River. That’s the river those four boys carried everyone accross in the winter. It was difficult without the ice and snow since the bottom was so sandy as you can see from my shoes in one of the pictures. That’s a very sacred place, as one of the guides, or actually one of the senior missionaries, told us that’s a crying mission.
Well, [Redacted] is planning on getting baptized this Saturday so I’ll let you know how that goes.
Elder Pew
PS The misson has stared this new thing where all the missionaries get on mormon.org once a week and start a profile. They also have encouraged us to get our families involved with our investigators. So is it Ok if I give your emails to a few people I know over here?

June 11;

Hey, y’all
So this week has been a little slow. Wendesday we had a couple of lessons and then went out to Hilliard ward to help out with this service project at their chaple. After helping them set up their fence for a while we stopped for dinner. They had these huge hamburger patties with strips of bacon on top. Unfortunately I let them talk me into eating a double stacked berger. I was feeling pretty good about it, until they wouldn’t let it go and because I still have to work on my pride I ate another double stacked burger. It was so hard, but I finished it. I think I impressed a few of the guys out there, but I couldn’t look at another berger the rest of the night. It wasn’t over either because it was Elder Zhalkovski’s birthday and the member who drove us back to town stopped at this mexican place and got us a big plate of fried ice cream. I slept very well that night.
On Thursday one of our lessons canceled because [Redacted] is in a juvinile detention center. It’s for a dumb reson too. Talk about high school drama, this kid turned him in for giving him a pain pill, which is technically a controlled substance. The guy admitted the only reason he did it was because [Redacted] was going out with this girl he liked. It’s gonna be a while before we can see him, his Mom has given us permission, but DFS hasn’t yet. As a result his Mom has taken it kinda hard and [Redacted] has turned back to old habbits to dull the pain.
Friday, we got [Redacted] interveiwed and went back to Hilliard ward to a dinner. After their dinner they had cowboy poetry and songs. It was all completely new to Elder Z, and he made some comment about “normal” countries, but I just shook my head. They were very talented.
Saturday [Redacted] got baptized! It was so great. His grandpa came up from Hilliard to perform the baptism and read a very moving letter from [Redacted]’s Dad who couldn’t come.
So that’s my week. Don’t worry David they thought I was crazy too way back when. We all know better now. I realy like the Hamlet names Dad. I think you should name all the fish you get from old plays and stuff. Just think if you name one Siegfried it’ll be just as smart as it’s namesake. Anyway, now I got it straight: all letters should be sent directly to the missionaries appartment, but all packages to the mission office. Transfers are next Wendesday so I’ll give my address next week, just in case.
I love y’all and pray for you.

June 18:

I’m not sure where to start. First the good news that I’m not going to the west mission. I’m now serving in the Salt Lake Stake, The oldest established stake if you ask them. It’s just north of Temple Square between Memory Grove and the tracks.
I might have told y’all that Pres Winn at Martin’s Cove asked how I’d like being senior companion. Well, now I am. My companion, Elder Ahwireng, has only been out six weeks, one transfer. He’s from Ghana and his name is pronounced weird, (A wren, or something like that).
Thanks to Elder Ahwireng and his Trainer we had a baptism last Saturday.
I gotta write you a letter today because I didn’t come to email prepared. Today’s our temple day, our last for a while too because of some renovations in the temple next month.
By the way Dad I thought you said you’d never get Netflix because of the dumb advertisements. What happened to that idea?
Anyways, I love you all.

June 25:

So here in the Salt Lake Stake we cover 6 wards and the Russian branch. Things have been pretty slow recently, but that should change soon. Last week when I saw the Stake President he invited us to a meeting yesterday with all the bishops in the stake. The main message was that there was something wrong with the missionary efforts lately in the wards. We briefly spoke up to tell them what we could do to help.
By the way, did Brother Blakesly really call you guys? We had dinner with his family and he got our home numbers. He actually lives in the same apartments as Elder Perry and is his home teacher. Crazy stuff, I know that Elder Cook lives in that same ward too.
So, this year they chose the Salt Lake Stake to make a float for the pioneer day parade. The theme this year is Pioneers building on a dream, so this stake’s float is called “Flyin’ to Zion – A Pioneer Daydream.” It looks crazy. They’ve got this blimp-looking thing with a cart tied under it with this cloud in back that the blimp looks like it’s coming out of. In reality it’s got a crane back in the cloud.
Anyway, the guy we’re staying with is in charge and basically built most of it himself.
So I love y’all and would write more, but one of the missionaries is
being a jerk.

There, all caught up until tomorrow.