4 January 2010

Hey family!

It's been a good week. I hope everyone had a safe and good new year.

My new companion is Elder Bailey, from Ephraim UT. He is a sports nut like me, a Utah fan, a Jazz fan, and life-long baseball player like me. He also played saxophone for 6 years, and likes music. We get along well. He is willing to work hard and try new things, and jumps out of his comfort zone well, even though he is nervous a lot. He is learning really fast, and is a really good missionary. It makes being a "trainer" pretty easy.

It's been raining a lot here in Esco, and apparently snowing other parts of California. It's been a little chilly, but the only time I've been cold here was last night. It was about 35 degrees with rain (wet clothes contributed).

We have picked up 2 new investigators, Donna (a former investigator) and Zion, from South Carolina. Donna has been going through very deep depression lately, and has been praying for help from God. The other night, we felt impressed to visit her, although she wasn't planned in our evening. She let us in of course, told us her life story, and said she wanted to be baptized before we ever mentioned baptism. I expect she will progress really fast, and is excited to learn. Zion is a middle-aged black guy from S. Carolina. He has heard of Mormons and LDS people, but never knew that they were the same group! He is pretty interested to learn as well. He told us some things we didn't really want to know, but it was a good lesson. We will probably run by his place on Wednesday. I'll let you know how it goes.

John accepted a baptismal date for Feb 5. He went to church this week and absolutely loved it. It was testimony meeting, but it went well and the Spirit was strong--whew! Missionaries always worry about bringing investigators to a fast and testimony sacrament meeting. But it worked out. He wants to come back every week. I'm excited for him.

Still no word from the First Presidency for Jamie, and Billy has a parole hearing this Thursday. A lot is depending on that hearing, so keep him in your prayers, please.

I'm sorry this week is short, but that's all the time I have. That's really all I had to say, too. There's one story I told Mom and Camille about biking and knee pain, so if you want to know about that, ask them.

Hope all of you are doing well. I appreciate your emails, letters, and prayers. I lvoe you all very much. Have a good week!

Elder Jon La Follette