First off; by "we" I mean Elder Mortimer and I. He's a really tall, cool Elder from the land of Sandy Utah. He's been in the field for about a week now, but while he's new at the work, he's got a great attitude and desire to grow and accomplish it. It's been really good to start working with him, we've seen a lot of miracles already. I'm still not sure what to think about being the senior guy in Taft, about the only thing I know is I'm sure glad I stayed! I don't know how I'd be doing this if I was in a new area.
The transfer meeting was HUGE! Whereas we usually have something like 11-12 new missionaries, we had THIRTY! Something really cool is that Elder Jenkins is training too! I'm so excited for him, because they'll both do a boss-tastic job out there in East Bakes. Also one of the cool things about Elder Mortimer, is that he's one of the group of the first 18 year olds in this mission, probably some of the first in the world! WOW! He does a really excellent job at the work too; We've seen some things that really confirm that he's supposed to be out here and now.
So time for some miracle reports; CJ CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!!!
The poor woman had some health problems a little bit ago, but she finally mustered up the willpower to come. It was so good to see her there! She didn't hear everything, but she heard enough to feel good, and she was super happy to be there. The cool thing is that since she watches the BYU television all the time; she can watch conference from her home (2/3 times coming to church
) and then she can have a good while to rest and prepare to come the third time! She'll be on track to be baptized now, with just a few blessings from heaven.
Other than that, we've been working with Jerry, who's been doing rather well. He's really starting to enjoy reading the Book of Mormon with us, and he's got a baptism date! Although, now that I think about it, he won't quite make it yet because he didn't come to church this week. I guess we'll have to push it a little back. We also taught an awesome Plan of salvation lesson to Irma. She really loved the part about "where we came from" since it answered a question she's had since childhood. She's doing pretty good, so long as she continues to study a bit she'll progress pretty well.
Another sweet miracle was when we went to drop by Josh's house. He's been having a tough time feeling motivated, so we've been trying to work it out of him. Instead, we wound up talking to the friend whose house he lives in. Ron's a really funky young baptist guy who has a hard time with the churches around here, because he 1: is freaked out by the speaking in tongues thing, and 2: doesn't want to be lead about by some guys philosophies, he just wants to find truth and build his relationship with God. 
Sounds like a plan!
Other than that, I've been doing really well. One thing that was cool to see, was that as soon as I became the senior companion(/trainer) My love for the work seemed to explode even more. I wonder why? Either way, I hope we can do a good job, and give Elder Mortimer a really good head start on his missions. We will baptize all who will. I hope everything's going good for you guys, It sounds like you've been having some fun! (dinosaur museum jealousy igniting!
) I love you all!
Love,
Elder Matthew David Clough
