P-DAY!!

Hello Y'all!

Leah's new job - congrats! I'm happy and excited for Leah, that sounds like a double win-win situation! I hope that it continues to be a great experience for you!

Youth conference was always one of my favorite times of the summer. It was cool seeing other peoples houses and meeting other people in the stake that you never see. it was also a very spiritual experience. I hope that everyone got something good out of it this year too.

It'll be weird to see the extended church building when I get home... I remember the times where the Young Men hung out on that back parking Lot and around the hillside area that they'll be extending... and it'll all be done right as I get home... weird.

I hear it's been Super hot in NC, I feel sorry for you guys. I know it's pretty terrible. Out here it's not so bad because it's dry and you almost always have 20 mph winds going somewhere. They do have trees growing sideways. It's pretty windy.

The package has not arrived yet, but I'll be expecting to see it soon if you guys sent it off last week. I'll be uploading pictures soon thereafter! There'll be some good ones! ;-) I hope you enjoy them.

Here's what's been going on with some of our investigators:

• Anita and Patricia- They're relatively new within the past week and a half. Anita is progressing already, and feels the difference in her life by reading the Book of Mormon. It's kind of weird when you're set on committing one investigator to baptism and then you find another new investigator on the next visit... It kind threw me for a loop. I wasn't as sure whether to go full out and commit both of them... so it was interesting on this second visit with them. I should have at least committed Anita and given a softer commitment to Patricia, but I wasn't prepared for that situation. Elder Bittner and I will be more prepared as we role-play and practice giving baptismal invitations to our investigators.
• Lucio Mendez- He's been really really hard to get a hold of. So we haven't heard from him this week. What makes it harder is that the apartment complex he lives in is completely locked up, and so unless someone opens it for you, you can't get in. And on top of that he doesn't have a voicemail box... (which is actually pretty common in the Mexican culture...)  We'll find a way to make communication easier, I know that he wants to find the truth, and we'll help him along the path to find it.

I know that this church is Christ's church that He established on the Earth. I know that He called Joseph Smith to be a prophet in these Latter-Days and that He has called Pres. Monson to lead and guide us in the way that we must go. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and can bring us the comfort and guidance that we need in all aspects of our lives. I love you all, and I hope that God will watch over you and bless you as you go about your days.

Your Missionary,
Elder Mackelprang