Busy times.

We were correct. Elderw sent his letter today.

Busy boy:
In the letter he describes how busy and stressed he is at the beginning of each month. In addition to all the missionary work he is doing...and wants to accomplish...he has three additional activities this week — Zone Leader Council Meeting, Stake Correlation Meeting, and District Leader Council meeting. Of course there is a lot of planning and preparation for these meetings. Eldrew also got to pair up with Elder Peterson who is one of the missionaries who is an Assistant to the President for what is called an 'Exchange." This is in a different area and a different missionary than his usual area and companion. This switching up is a training opportunity for Eldrew.

Eldrew seems to be very happy and is taking the extra assignments in stride. He is very grateful for Elder Mulitalo who is working hard with Eldrew over the holiday to put in extra effort. Edrew reports that even with all the extra duties, he and Elder Mulitalo were able to reach all of their goals.

Tropical Storm Hermine:
I asked Elder Bellomy about the big storm...he reports that the mission car was damaged:

Tropical storm huh? Now that you mention it, our car was tipped over when we walked outside today...We thought it was vandals... We must have slept through the whole ordeal. ha ha jk.

(I don't think we will get a real storm report until next week.)

Passing the Sacrament:
He also had this to report on the progress of two recent converts and their progress in the Church...

This last Sunday was also a special one for me. Abraham and Steven, our recent converts, passed the Sacrament for the first time. There was some bumps along the way but they were happy with themselves after. It's helping them grow. The mission has seen me look at the Gospel in a whole new way. Before, the church as something you just do... and the doing was the end result. For example, you read to read, or pray to pray, come to church to come to church...I didn't see really why we do all those things. It's not just the doing, it's the testimony and knowledge we grow.

That 'year' thing:
I also asked him if now that he has been out on his mission a year if he needed anything...replacements...new shoes...etc. He commented on the whole year thing:

In response to the Year mark thing...That was weird. I was too busy for the fanfare. I've heard you're supposed to burn a shirt. That's a retarded thing to do, so I didn't do it. ha ha.

I date however I feel is more important than my one year anniversary of my departure is the date of September 6th--yesterday. In one year I will be stepping off a plane on the 6th of September ha ha. Weird.

Gratitude:
Besides the blessing of Eldrew serving a mission, our entire family has been blessed this year. So far, we are weathering the recession, Adam and Lindsay's wedding, Spencer graduating from grad school, Sarah turning 18, Sarah graduating from high school and going to college, our first grand child, and an empty nest! We mentioned to Eldrew all the blessings we are having and that we are praying for him and his health, safety, and success. He replied:

Well, I wanna let you all know that I love you. And I pray for ya'll as well.

The name of the game lately for me and I think for our family is gratitude. We have been blessed with so much and the Lord deserves the get the props! I love ya'll, bye!

(Did you catch the double "ya'll"? He really has down South for a year!)

It is good to see him happy, working hard, and positive. The Lord is watching over him and blessing him. More to come next week.