25 April 2011

Hi Family!
I hope you all had a great week. We had a good week here.
It was a long week, not a lot happened, unfortunately. A few days we spent all day trying to contact referrals and potential investigators without really any success. We did pick up one new investigator, who actually used to be taught 3 years ago-- Antonio [edit]. He is a single dad, 33 years old and has an 8-yr-old son, Eddie. He is a super-active athlete between soccer, volleyball, and softball. Strong Catholic background, but he said he is always willing to learn more about other religions. When we went over there, he said he still had his Book of Mormon from a few years ago, and it was in a very accessable place. Most people put theirs in a box or throw it away but that was good news. We've had some other new investigators but some of them are more promising than others. Antonio has some good potential.
We had a hard time getting a hold of Max recently but we finally got to teach him again. He and his wife Becca are still focused on the temple and getting him baptized. Because we hadn't met for a couple weeks we'll have to push his baptism date back, but he will be fine.
Elder Bailey was sick this week, so we had to stay in for an evening on Wednesday. We had some weird concoction of Billy's on Monday that probably started it. He gets really bad stomach pains after every meal but he's feeling better now.
We weren't able to get a hold of John all week, which was strange. He's usually home all day every day, but ever since he got his car and bucks, he's been out doing who knows what. He's been drinking pretty heavily and smoking and probably other stuff. He's taken several steps backward as far as spiritual progression goes. We hope we can get a hold of him and help him start doing the right stuff again. He's starting again to really screw up his life. He got a great blessing in permanent disability income, but he's spent all of his money so far on stupid stuff, especially vodka. Let's hope he turns around soon.
Jamie, Christine, Billy, and August all went with Bishop Marler to the temple last Tuesday to do a baptisms for the dead session. They all had extremely spiritual experiences and loved it. Their testimonies grew a lot in just a week. For example, Jamie said "The last 16 months and after I got baptized, I thought for sure this was the right thing to do for me and my children. It all seemed right. After having gone, I know. I know I know I know it is the best thing I can possibly be doing." Christine and Billy said something similar. We haven't been able to talk to August much about it, but he did mention he really enjoyed it.
One of our zone leaders, Elder Brown, is a trombone player from Brighton HS in Cottonwood Heights. We talked about band and I'm pretty sure he's going to join the Utah marching band when he gets back (goes home next week). He said that'd always been a dream, and after talking, he decided he'd audition. That would be really neat to have a buddy in the trombone section when I get back!
That's about all I have this week. I hope you all are doing well. I appreciate your support and emails and stuff. Mothers Day in a couple weeks, and it's time to talk again! Hurray!
This will probably be my last week in Escondido, which is tough. I really love it here. Transfer calls are Saturday, so I'll let you know next week.
Love you all
Elder La Follette