School's out?!?!?!?

Hello friends,

I figured that Kristen was out of school. The Grigg family just got bigger here in Niceville. So did the Conger family as they all come home from school. They all went to BYU to and are done and back home for the summer. Tyson Grigg was surprised to see that I was still here in Niceville. If there is anything that is making me more and more trunkie is people getting out of school or getting close. Niceville High School's graduation is the 19th. It is getting really, really close. This wednesday will also be the start of one last transfer. Sixteen down, one more to go.

I'm am excited to call home. My last phone call home will be almost a month exactly before I come home. Cool. I hope Erik and Tim are really good at Frisbee, because I've been practicing. They play Frisbee here a lot, and they are crazy good.

We have had a wonderful week. Absolutely fantastic. To begin, we had our lesson with CK Ryan on Monday. We had it at the Hendricks home and it was perfect. We taught the Plan of Salvation and just moved right through it. CK had questions, Bro Hendricks had answers, and Elder North and I just sat there while they taught themselves. It was wonderful. Later in the week we taught CK again, but this time in the Peart's home. We asked Aaron and Chris, both deacons in the ward, to help us teach. Aaron is Sis Peart's son and Chris is their neighbor. Both did a wonderful job as we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They both brought a humble spirit knowing that 12 year old boys can teach the gospel too. It really set the stage for the lesson and we taught CK. He understands baptism, but feels like he's not ready for it yet. He wants to be sure. He said the same thing about going to church, but do you know what he said after going to church? "I should of done this a long time ago." That same comment will be made when he gets baptized.

Marshall Anthony is next on our list. We met him on Tuesday and told him we were going to teach the Plan of Salvation. Almost immediately he jumped up and said, "I got this." He went to the chalk board and drew the whole thing out right there. It made teaching it really easy. We called him later that week to set up another appointment, but we had some trouble. You see, Marshall's two best friends from home just passed away. He told us a little bit about them. Only a week ago, he got a call from them saying that they both had gone to Palmyra, NY. Neither are members, but they went to visit and had all sorts of stories to tell Marshall. They even referred themselves to the missionaries. They were telling all of this to Marshall and in his mind all he could think of was, "They're going to get baptized too." Well, a week after the phone call, both of them pass away. He went up to New York for the viewing. He said that it was really difficult and that he feels like Job. However, he is still moving forward and knows that this gospel is true. On a happy note. Marshall will be going to Utah to visit his sister. She is a member and has been helping Marshall out. I gave him your contact info, so don't be surprised if he calls you. ;)

Third and last. We met a guy named Bobby. Bobby Cook. He was a Highway Patrol man, but got in an accident. He was in the Ft Walton Hospital and met the missionaries. A week later we got a call from some members saying that he is interested in learning about the gospel. So we went the the Andersson's home and met Bobby. He was so interested that after our lesson on Thursday, we had one on Friday, another on Saturday, and he came to church with us on Sunday. He is originally from Holt, FL, which is in Crestview's area, but because he is living with the Andersson's for the time being we are teaching him. Missionary work is definitely a team effort. Ft Walton found him, we're teaching him, and Crestview will baptize him. Cool huh? Anyway's when we taught on Saturday we invited him to be baptized, he said yes. He will be baptized on May 28, just before I come home.

That is our life here in Niceville. On a cool side note, we play basketball in the mornings for exercise, softball at night for contacting, ultimate Frisbee to work with less actives, and we talk about the NBA playoffs to get into a part members home. I love serving a mission. ;)

Love Elder Call