As far as I am concerned, there is nothing good about the
month of August.[1]
The first day of the month was the hottest I've experienced yet. We heard it
was about 106 or so in our area. Across the river in Clarkston, 113 was
spotted.[2]
In order to save miles, we did a lot of walking and biking. I was absolutely
soaked when we went inside because of the sweat. And everything is hazy now. At
least there's only one month until September.
I guess the only ray of darkness (since there's plenty of light in this infernal month) is the baptism we will be having on Saturday. This girl has wanted to get baptized for six years and has just been waiting until she turned eighteen and got the approval from her parents. I feel privileged to be one of the ones to be here for this long-awaited day. I was in the right place at the right time, as I was for the last baptism we had. Yesterday she bore her testimony, as did our other investigator, whose parents have not yet given her the go-ahead.[3] It made my Sunday.
But July (which is hardly better than August) ended in sadness. In the mail we received our mission newsletters, but a special envelope was addressed to me, reminding me of the impending November 30. I am going to send in a special orange paper with information on it. I know most of the information. I know Salt Lake Int'l is the airport, you are not picking me up, Bishop Jones is the new bishop and he lives on Liberty, my home ward and stake have not changed, etc. The only thing I have to make sure of is that President Brower's address has not changed. I doubt it has, but let me know for sure.
Heeding some of the advice in said envelope, I am sending home a package of various items that are not extremely necessary for my next four months. I am sending home the digital picture frame, a binder I got in the MTC, a 1988 missionary manual I acquired,[4] some less pleasant CDs, a few special copies of the Book of Mormon, and some other odds and ends.
I would tell you about some of the persecution we've been getting, since some church is leaving these "Great Controversy" books on people's doorsteps and everyone thinks it's us,[5] and that the JWs are also in full force inviting people to a special convention, but I should start looking at the BYU stuff. The library's not busy today; I hope it's an August trend because then I may have more time for emails.
Love,
Elder Melville
I guess the only ray of darkness (since there's plenty of light in this infernal month) is the baptism we will be having on Saturday. This girl has wanted to get baptized for six years and has just been waiting until she turned eighteen and got the approval from her parents. I feel privileged to be one of the ones to be here for this long-awaited day. I was in the right place at the right time, as I was for the last baptism we had. Yesterday she bore her testimony, as did our other investigator, whose parents have not yet given her the go-ahead.[3] It made my Sunday.
But July (which is hardly better than August) ended in sadness. In the mail we received our mission newsletters, but a special envelope was addressed to me, reminding me of the impending November 30. I am going to send in a special orange paper with information on it. I know most of the information. I know Salt Lake Int'l is the airport, you are not picking me up, Bishop Jones is the new bishop and he lives on Liberty, my home ward and stake have not changed, etc. The only thing I have to make sure of is that President Brower's address has not changed. I doubt it has, but let me know for sure.
Heeding some of the advice in said envelope, I am sending home a package of various items that are not extremely necessary for my next four months. I am sending home the digital picture frame, a binder I got in the MTC, a 1988 missionary manual I acquired,[4] some less pleasant CDs, a few special copies of the Book of Mormon, and some other odds and ends.
I would tell you about some of the persecution we've been getting, since some church is leaving these "Great Controversy" books on people's doorsteps and everyone thinks it's us,[5] and that the JWs are also in full force inviting people to a special convention, but I should start looking at the BYU stuff. The library's not busy today; I hope it's an August trend because then I may have more time for emails.
Love,
Elder Melville
[1] My
opinion of August has softened; but when I think about what I like about
August, they are things that don’t apply to missionaries.
[2]
That was probably a thermometer next to asphalt.
[3]
This other investigator, Kim, started her testimony with, “I know I’m not a
member of the Church yet, but…” We later complimented her for her testimony;
she said she wished she had thanked more people, but we told her she had done
just fine (and in fact she shouldn’t do a “thanktimony”). But Kim never got
baptized, in part because of family opposition.
[4] I
got this vintage missionary manual from the family I lived with in my first
area. Just this year (2019), I recycled it while I was tidying up.
[5]
The Seventh-day Adventists were placing a book called The Great Controversy
between Christ and Satan on people’s doorsteps. When we visited
investigators or less-actives, they asked if we had put them there. Once we
were biking home, and someone followed us home and waved the book at us.
Sometimes my companion wanted to take copies from people’s doorsteps because
they were creating a Great Controversy for us.
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