Tuesday, October 26, 2010

P-Day! Fall Is Upon Us

<<Editors note – In this week’s email, Richard jumps right in and starts addressing points made in the several family emails he received this week.  Regarding the play Jenna was in – Midsummer Nights Dream from Shakespeare>>

Yeah, the plays end up taking a lot of crunch time the nights before the performances, but it's worth it most of the time. It was nicer being able to drive myself and not have to drive the family crazy with the play's whacked out schedule. I've heard that Toy Story 3 is pretty awesome, I hope you enjoy it.

<<Regarding Joshua’s working on the Cooking merit badge by cooking for the family for three straight days>>

Cooking just seems to run in our family ;-) it'll be interesting to see  what Josh and I can cook up together when I get back. I didn't like Family Life merit badge at all either. I didn't mind doing the chores, but having to keep track of it all was a pain. 

I don't doubt that Joshua's voice has been deepening like crazy. how much has he grown height-wise? A lot I can imagine.

<<Regarding Hope and Leah singing at the Ward Primary Program>>

We'll be joining the English ward next week for a primary performance ourselves. I'm looking forward to it. I doubt they're as good as Bro. Watkins though. I miss all of the musical talent of our ward... *sigh* I'll miss it a LOT since I'll only have a few months there at home before I'm off again too.

<<Regarding some of the ongoing renovations going on at our house>>

:P I know that most of the damage is done on wrecking the house. It's mostly inside repair jobs, and what-not, but I'm sure it'll feel completely different when I come home.

Mom, if you want to find a poem to send me, send one about being valiant, or courageous.

<<Regarding being halfway done with his mission>>

Yep, past the year mark. Every day is my last day of being a missionary on next calendar year!  

<<Regarding writing a letter to the ward to tell everyone how things are going>>

Yeah, I'll see what I can do to get a ward letter out this week. I should have some extra time, but this week is going to be filled with more excitement than many of my weeks past. We have lots of events going on with the ward, stake, and our investigators. I'm excited to be able to spend some more social time with them. I might even get a chance to carve a pumpkin this year! 

I still haven't heard from Jenna yet, to tell me how it's been going. I hope that she's been enjoying herself.

<<Regarding an upcoming business trip I’m taking to Canada>>

I hope you enjoy your first real hockey game Dad! Not to mention your working vacation (;-) in Canada.

  1. <<Are you moving?>>  I'm positive that I'm moving, but heaven knows where.
  2. <<Any investigator news?>> Nothing much has changed with my investigators. We have a few potentials that are looking good, but other than the usual encouraging our investigators to make the changes they need to (like getting married) before getting baptized. They all have some small roadblock that they need to work through. 
  3. <<Any pictures for us?>> I just sent you some pictures in my letter this week. Mom should have it by today. With the card and the stuff I promised last week.

Well, I'm running out of time... :P Sorry that this week's a little less meatier than usual, but I'll send the ward letter home this week, and that'll have some good stuff for y'all!

I'm happy to be out here, and I hope that you all find more ways to strengthen your faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Your Missionary,

Elder Mackelprang 

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Week 55

Hey guys!

:P It's funny to me when you say that the 25 years you and Mom have been married seem so short, to me it seems like you guys have been together forever already, but time started slower for me, so I guess it all makes sense.

Going back to BYU for me should be pretty cheap especially if I nail an RA (Resident Assistant) job.  That would be a great job, and would really help pay for tuition and books. I was already planning on getting a job in one of their computer labs to assist people.  I heard they get paid about $13 an hour, which I think is pretty good. We'll see how that's changed when I actually get there. I am wanting to be an RA for an entire years worth of schooling until I can get good enough grades to get scholarships, but again we'll see how it goes.

:( It's sad that Leah wont be coming along to BYU- Provo... but I’m excited she’s getting to go to BYU – Idaho.  She’ll love it there.

Mom, I think that if you could make and send me some of your bread, it would be awesome, but I don't know how it'll survive shipping during this 6 month rainy-cloudy season, but it's worth a shot. I do miss your home cooked bread. 

I do hope to have the chance to see Jenna perform in concert chorus (and in a play). I'm glad that she enjoys it so much. I know that it will help her make good friends, and enjoy school more.

It's wild that Ben's already getting ready for his mission... :P He'll leave right as I have 6 months left for my mission. Just watch and see. Yep, same ol' Ben.

Yeah... Even though I’ll be coming home in October, I'm definitely not excited for fall raking.

Well this is the first time I've heard anything about missionary work and being on facebook... maybe that's what they'll be talking to us about at this next half-mission conference this November... (after checking out the mission blog) It seems interesting enough. That's something that I would enjoy doing as a missionary to blog my adventures, talk about my gospel questions and answer peoples questions about the Gospel. It sounds like something that my patriarchal blessing mentioned about other responsibilities beyond proselyting... but hey we'll see what happens and where it goes.  (FYI transfers are Nov 7th)

I will be sending a letter soon with a couple of pictures of me and Elder Zufelt, and the 1st talk I gave here on the mission. Which I gave yesterday, on missionary work. I enjoyed it, and it made me reflect on the last time I tried to give a talk in Spanish in the branch back home. It made me laugh inside. I hope you enjoy it.

Doing the crown molding in the living room using an air compressor must have been very noisy and irritating, but they sure do get the job done.

I did get your package, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I enjoyed Mom's little notes on everything. It was special. I thought that it was funny that she sent me out the EFY "thank you" notes that I got from my group. That was a funny little memory.

Well I hope that things are going good with the complete house reconstruction while I'm gone! ;-) It'll be weird to come back to when I come home.

Well as far as missionary work goes, Elder Z and I are doing great! Not a whole lot has changed. We're still working with Anita, and her 3 children who are steadily coming closer and closer to baptism, and also with Janet who should already be a member (she already studies from all of the standard works, and is loving Principles of the Gospel),  but has to work through to get a divorce from her first husband. We're increasing the effort we're putting into getting more members up and excited about missionary work, and I think that we helped a lot with our talks that we gave yesterday. (Mom will have fun trying to decipher it when she gets my letter) That's all for now, but we have some good looking prospects coming up on the horizon.

I know the church is true, and I know that the Book of Mormon is more of God's word for us, His children. Read It!

I love y'all!

Elder Mackelprang

10/10/10 Day

Oct2010FairfieldZoneConference_DSC_0118 Fairfield Zone

Zone Conference
Oct2010FairfieldZoneConference_DSC_0111 Lunch at Zone Conference

<<The pictures above were stolen from the Santa Rosa Mission Blog site.  This was a zone conference earlier this month in Fairfield.>>

Yesterday I was in Stake Conference, so these past 2 weeks have been jam packed and crazy schedule wise.

Things have been great, and I'm happy out here. I don't really have much to say about this week other than tat it's great to see the miraculous changes in my investigators and the tiny little miracles that I get to see everyday. Unfortunately, I have a very limited time window for emails today thanks to Columbus day, so I'll finish my letter to president, and let Elder Zufelt write. I hope you guys have a fantastic week!

I'm glad that everything is going well at home.

I know that the church is true, and I know that we have a living prophet among us, who leads and guides us in our days, if we only listen and follow his council we will find peace and happiness in our lives.

Love your son,

Elder Richard Mackelprang  

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Half-Way Home

You've said it! Time has flown by this entire month, and especially this past week! Conference was great, and I loved the things that I learned. For the most part I was at the Stake Center here in Fairfield, but on Sunday we got to stay with our member family with a waffle breakfast. That was highly enjoyable.

The weather here has been cooling off really well! I've been enjoying it, because it's just right, right on the cooler / cold side with a touch of wind. I hope the weather is good for when you guys go on your 5k run/walk! That sounds like fun! Good luck!

Oh! A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to the temple again! I also did a temple session in Spanish! I loved it! It's really cool in Spanish. Although having to remember some of the longer and more specific words they use can be difficult. It was nice for a change to be there with many of our branch members, and it was a very sweet experience. I hope to be able to do something like that again.

Thanks for the shoes and the pants, they'll come in handy, and I'll do my best to keep them in good shape, so that they last longer. I can do without some new shirts for awhile, but a few of my short sleeves are slowly dying. Good thing that it'll be mainly long sleeve season here pretty soon.

I haven't got the package you sent yet, but I'll be watching for it. Just a reminder, I'm living with a member in their home. It's a nice place. It's funny that you haven't changed the address in your book, Mom. That address was from 6 months ago (almost)! It's weird that it really has been that long. 

Have a wonderful week guys! i love you all!

Your son and brother,

Richard Mackelprang

PS Hey Leah! Way haven't you written me yet? ;-)

Note that this is a moderated blog - Elder Mackelprang neither reads or (directly) writes to this blog. This is done by his father.