Finding Out and Settling In

Thank you everyone for all your letters and emails. It's so exciting to find out that I have so many connections to this area and to Sister Rowley. [Sister Rowley is the sister of the mission companion of Kate's cousin's husband! And, our family friend and relative Kathie Smith still has family in Greenville, SC, so she knew Katelyn was serving there before we did.]   It really is a small world. Grandma Terry's christmas cds got here the middle of last week, and we've really been enjoying them.

Brad's baptism went so well! It was incredible. I've gotten to know him a little better this week and he really is such a great guy and he's really embraced the gospel. Even though Satan was giving him some opposition, he was really sticking to what we've taught him. We knew we wouldn't have to worry about him. 

Our goal for this week was to help him get to know the members of the ward better, so that he could start developing some friendships with them. We had dinner with him at the Kunzler family's house, and it was really fun. Brother Kunzler was able to baptize Brad, and he was so happy about it. He's the former stake president, so he's a really great member, and exactly what Brad needs as someone to help him learn more about the gospel. As soon as the baptismal service was over, Brother Kunzler was telling us he wants us to do the new member lessons at his house, and he was talking to the bishopric about volunteering to be Brad's home teacher. 

The ward here really is so nice. We stopped by to visit an older man in the ward, Fred Smith, who has cancer, and as soon as he saw us he presented me with my very own "Fred hat", which he makes for all the missionaries that serve in the ward. It's orange and light blue, because that's what I told him my favorite colors are. I'll send y'all a picture of it soon. 

The work here is going well, we have quite a few people we're teaching. Some of them aren't progressing very quickly. There's a few that have been meeting with missionaires for months, one over a year. It takes a lot of patience to teach them, as well as faith. We have to have faith that they'll be willing to change, and that all this effort we're putting into them will be worth it in the end. 

Yes, we do have a car and I am still the driver. We're praying it never snows here, because the roads are so curvy and hilly, it would be a nightmare in snow. It really is a great town. Sister Rowley has been telling me there's some great thrift stores, which makes me very excited. We're going to be going to some today, looking for ugly Chirstmas sweaters, for our district christmas picture. We have an awesome zone here. Everyone is super close to each other and so supportive. It's really nice to know we have other missionaries we can always count on for help.