Letter from Elder Morrison

well, this week i'm going to start off by telling all you idahoans to quit complaining about your snow. if i remember right, you DID have a 14 stake fast for this. that's a lot of people fasting, and with that much power with that type of request, the Lord answers and delivers. count the blessing of the snow, cuz if you didnt have it now, there'd be no crops this summer.
ok, now that i got that out of the way, things are going pretty well here in Sullivan. we had our zone conference this week, and president Turley gave us the baptism goal for this year. last year we got 313. President Hinckley has asked us to double that number. (626). our goal is 800. it will take nothing short of a miracle to get that number. if each companionship gets one per month, it will STILL leave us short. well, basically to do this, our mission president wants us to do what is called the purification process. the purification process is where you fast, and in the attitude of fasting, you ask Heavenly Father what He wants you to change in your life. President asked us to pick 5 things personally, and 3 things about our companionship.
after you have these things, you change them for 40 days, and repent daily as needed. this will only last till the end of the transfer though. so as we show our faith by this process, we're showing the Lord that we want to do this, and reach that goal.
the next day we were in owensville, a town of about 2500. pretty small. we have some good work there already, with less-actives and recent converts, but we decided to tract a little bit. i just drove, and we came to the last side-street on the road we were on. i turned down it, and we felt good about it. we prayed before we got out of the car (for added portion of the Spirit, plus it was ridiculously cold outside with humidity and wind, dad, you know) and we asked that we be led to someone ready for the gospel. we started on the side of the road we didnt park on, which is a little different, but we just did. about 4 houses into it, we met a couple named Marvin and Betty. it turns out that Marvin has been writing a Methodist churh in Kansas somewhere, and they told him that 2 messengers from God would visit him. and there we were in his front room. he kept saying 'im kinda shocked right now, but i guess i shouldnt be'. we left him with the message of the restoration of the gospel, and a copy of the book of mormon. we're visiting him this thursday.
the next day, we received a media referral for a bible in St. Clair. we called her up and she said to bring it by. we shared the message of the restoration with her as well. she is a recovering drug addict of 7 years, and has become pretty spiritual. we said, at the end of the lesson, "well, we want to give you the opportunity to find out if what we've told you is true", and she said, "i already believe it". thus we're going to meet with her this friday, if not before.
there's 3 investigators, but Daylene's (the referral) could be a family.
we're way excited about that. the only question is, will i stay to see them baptized? transfers are only in 3 weeks, and i dont know that i can do another transfer with Elder Heath. he really is quite annoying, and he doesnt take jokes very well. i freaked him out by saying an appointment was for when he scheduled a dinner appt. and he freaked out on me when i told him i was kidding. this was saturday, and yesterday, the only words spoken between us before we got to the church at 9 was me saying the car milage when we got in the car. pretty awkward. plus the members and some of the investigators dont like him much. Grama Ethel is letting us back over on wed, so i'm really excited about that. hopefully Heath doesnt screw it up.
well, that's enough of that...
now to answer the mother questions...
it was really good to see Jeanne. she gave me a ninja turtle toy and a sum of money. the fruit pizza on top of that. i was really happy to see her, even if for just a short time.
got the pants, a little small. you know how it is to buy pants for me. i have to buy them to fit the legs, not the waist. i dont know how or where to send them back to... so you'll have to email me that next week.
this one's from the grandparents. i'm about an hour away from the temple in st. louis. we are allowed to go if a member drives us on p-day, but it's really out of the way to go there for most of the members here, who are mostly in humble circumstances. the last time i went was last month for christmas zone conference. but i have been several times on my mission thus far.
well, i guess that's pretty much all from me this week. love you all, miss you, and i guess i'll type to you next week!
Elder Morrison