John 2/02/2011

Well I got transferred. I'm in a city called Upper Darby. It's a suburb area of Philly, I think that's what they've told me. Talk about one extreme to the other. From Susq. where there aren't very many people to philly where there a tons. Well at this library we have a time limit so I only have 34 minutes left so I have to be brief.



Tuesday- we went and saw a lady that had been investigating before and we taught her the plan of salvation. She pretty much new most of it because she was taught very recently, I taught her twice before we stopped. The reason we stopped before was because she went on vacation for a monthish and when she came back it seemed like she was dodging us but I don't know if she was. Anyway it was a decent lesson. I think the only thing that was keeping her from being baptized before was the social conversion. She didn't have very many friends there so she didn't want to go. Wednesday- We went over to an older couples house fore lunch. It was a really good visit...until the end. We ate and then we taught the restoration and it was a super good lesson and then they started fighting and (background info- they fight a lot) it was the worst one I've ever heard from them. It was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo awkward. We brought the spirit in and then right after good bye spirit. It kind of stunk. Then later that day we had interviews with President Schafermeyer. They were really good. We talked about setting goals and how setting goals helps us reach our potential. That is something that I haven't done super well on. I've never been a big goal setter and when I have they weren't very well carried through. So I'm going to try to fix that. Later that night we met a crazy born again christian. It was a funny lesson. He kind of wanted to bash but we were calm the whole time and I think it kind've weirded him out. Side note- It's funny to hear missionaries terminology when someone is talking. When they agree with what they've said they say yah, uh huh but when they don't they say ok. Anyway he talked about a lot of different things. Thursday- we we're going to have dinner with a member and have an investigator come but about an hour before the investigator cancelled. It was kind of a bummer. Friday- We did our planning then had lunch with a member then went to deposit (an hour away from where we lived) and we had a cool experience. So we went up there to see a lady that we had stopped by the week before and she asked us to come back next week so we went back and there was a sign on her door that basically said "No solicitin of any kind. Including religions. We're not interested. Coincidience? I think not! But anyway we went and knocked on another door and we both felt that we shouldn't be there, relax nothing bad happened or was going to. So we left that apartment complex and tried to find someone else to go see. So we looked in a binder we had and it had a guy on there as a potential investigator but we we're trying to find out something that felt like we should do and I didn't feel super impressed to go see him. I just thought that if we can't find anything else we could go see him so we kept looking and could'nt find anything so we went and saw him. It turned into a good visit. He took us out back and showed us his barn and talked about how he added on to it and a bunch of stuff like that. He was a really cool guy. We taught him about praying to know if what someone says is true. It was a good visit. After that visit we had a visit with a guy who had 7 kids. Crazy house, well actually trailer but that doesn't matter. So we took some members with us and the wife distracted the kids for a while. It was a decent lesson. Definitely not the best I've ever had but a good one for that house. Saturday was a hectic day, so was sunday but I'll get to that later, we didn't really sit down at all. We went to a funeral for a member who was 95 when she died. It was a good funeral. She was the only member in her family and it ended up that pres. hansen conducted the funeral, and another member talked. They both invited the people there who were her family to just learn a little bit because she would've wanted it. It was awesome! After that we went and cleaned the church and then went to an appointment that had to cancel and then after that we went to a members house for dinner. That was a lot of fun. Their name is the parsons. They are a super cool family. Sunday- we had meetings and then church. They had me bare my testimony because I was leaving. That went well. Just your average testimony. I also talked about how grateful I am I chose to come on a mission and how nothing I could've done in this 6 months could've come close to equaling it. After that we went to an appointment that wasn't there and then I packed and then before I finished that we went to a members house for dinner and after that we packed some more and then left to Scranton where we slept the night so we didn't have to drive 3-3 1/2 hours to broomall in the morning for transfers. So ya here I am in the Upper Darby library writing you. My companions name is Elder Morgan. He's from S. California.


Hooray for BYU beating San Deigo. Dang they lost to new mexico. Ryan's not coming back ever? Is he going some where else or is he done mission wise?


Dad- Those pictures were really cool. You built practically that whole thing? Wowzers that must've taken a long time. And yes my mormon.org profile has been published. I think. That's what people have told me.


Mom- I got that article last week. I pretty much had heard most of it except why they had paid 2.1 million to the owner. It was a neat article. Thanks for sending it.


Jordan- I hear you're having a blast preparing for your mission ay? I'm glad I didn't have to do an FBI thing and a visa that would've been a pain. I heard you saw Ryan. How was that? Mom told me a little but that was about it.


Austin- When is the dance? I'm proud of you for asking someone. Have you started heavy duty practices yet? Are you trying out for annie at rogers too hehe? I don't know what you'd play but I thought I'd ask.


Natasha- I've heard those jokes before but It's beena long time. I thought they were funny. What song are you singing for tryouts?


Shaylee- Have fun at the BYU-Utah game. Your birthday isn't until April did they give you money for something? When are tryouts for annie?


I love you all and I'll see you soon. Keep up the good work. The church is true.


Love,
Elder Schouten