July 22, 2012

Hey,

That trip sounds amazing. You stiched your leg up in the wilderness without anasthetic!? That is crazy, I'm sure that was a lot worse than my lip in Mexico. I'm glad you made it out alive and we totally have to go next year. Now, in terms of going next summer with July 15 as the target date... that is definitely possible. I have just looked at the calendar on my phone. I think that my last transfer date is July 3 next year. But in reality I think that the Sunday before is the last real day, and then on the Monday you go up to North London for a tour with all the other dying missionaries and then that night you have a farewell ceremony that parents are invited to. So that would be July 1, and then after that it's over. So that is still a really long ways away, but maybe that will help you plan something. I want to do that kind of fishing! But to be honest, I highly doubt I could ride a horse for 5 minutes let alone 6 hours. And if I did ride a horse in and had an allergy attack, it would not be good to be in that situation in the woods. So maybe if there was some other way to get there that didn't involve horses... my allergies are actually horrible. I am back to taking those pills that make me drowsy, because if I don't I can't really function. And even with the meds my nose has been blocked most days.

The Olympics are a pretty big deal here, but not like London. Actually, the Olympic torch came here for what is the first and probably the last time ever. It came on Sunday morning last week, and we both really wanted to go. So we got a member to pick us up and we went into town at like 830 thinking we had plenty of time to get to church by ten, as the torch bearers started the run at 9. So we did see it, and get photos which was sweet. The bad news was that for an island of 60,000, there were like 12,000 of them in town where we were trying to see the torch, and so getting out of there was a nightmare. We had to push through massive crowds and then there were just so many cars. We ended up a few mintues late to church... but we did see the torch.

I have still not met Pres. Millar. Or seen another missionary except Erickson for a month. But he did call and he emails me back every week so we have a bit of contact. The good news is that he is coming to the channel islands this weekend! He is going to Jersey first on Friday then coming here Saturday and Sunday. I have never worked with the mission President before and so I don't really know what to expect. But I'm excited to meet him and learn from him.

The district here is very small. Just us and the sisters on Jersey. So we never do exchanges or p-days or workovers or even district meetings because we are on different islands. On wednesday morning we have a sort of district meeting thing, we will have a meeting over the phone for an hour and just talk and try to help each other. I think they are struggling a little bit. When I started as district leader in Slough I was really excited, but over time I just got really tired of it. Mostly of all the stupid missionaries who love leadership and do anything for it and then zone leaders and others who let it go to their heads. I got really fed up with all the nonsense and told Pres. Shamo I just wanted to do real missionary work and not worry about all this other stuff. So he released me and sent me to Guernsey. But then in the transfer before he left he talked me into trying district leader again and it is pretty hard to say no so I said yes. It isn't so bad here because we are so far removed here. It mostly involves just accounting at night and doing the district meeting. But I do really miss doing exchanges.

Well the great things happening has dried up a little bit since last week. We had I think 7 people committed to come to church and none of them showed up. Really disapointing. It feels like every week we can find one or two new people who will let us in and talk but none of these people really seem like seekers and I want to find people who are prepared and not just wanting to chat or just nice people. Erickson gets really excited when people let us in but I just want to find some golden people. I'm satisfied with what we have been given/blessed with but I know there is more out there.

So hopefully this week goes well.
I'm sure this week for you will be a lot more calm than last week, and hopefully everything is good at work.

Okay, two more questions. One, who is Maria and who is Brock? Grandpa mentioned them in his letter to me and it sounded like they were boyfriend/girlfriends of Ryan and Lindsey.
Also, what did you think about my new thoughts on my future/career path?

Love Elder Steed