Another Week Down

This week was another week...not too much happened. We got to teach a couple new people which was really awesome but we had to drop a lot of people. There are people on our potentials list that we finally took off. I always feel super bad when we have to take people off our white board. Normally, by the time we actually get to taking them off the board, we have already stopped seeing them. But I feel like when we take them off, we are damning them in a way. I know its their choice to accept the gospel or not, but still they should just except it already! We always joke quietly, Elder Meldrum and I, that we can baptize them dead or alive. It's up to them.

I got to go on an exchange with Elder Mwawatadi this week. He is from the Congo so this cold is really a bummer for him. We got, ha-got to go tracting in the morning before it really warmed up so it was 0 degrees outside. I could see his nose hairs were frozen. He was a good sport but I could tell that he was super done after an hour of being outside. We had a day in the 30's this week. Wow, what a warm spell!! It was so nice we were out knocking doors and actually didn't mind it too much because we could still feel our hands and feet and we didn't hurt!

These are Polish doughnuts called paczkis. They are only
around on fat Tuesday. We ate two dozen they were so good!

This is week 5 of the transfer. I think that I'm ready to move on and I would love to be released from being a district leader. It's cool and all but I would love not to get phone calls from the zone leaders anymore and have to answer their questions and feel responsible for the elders and sisters in the district. We'll find out, not this Saturday, but next what's going to happen. So stay tuned!

I hope that you have a good week! Thanks for all that you do for me and all the stuff you do for everyone else. I miss you always.

Love,
   Cooper

Wishing for Spring

This week was good except it was so freaking cold! We had a couple of days in the negatives without the wind chill and then with the wind chill it was like negative 33! It was so cold we were only allowed outside for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. It hurt it was so cold! But other than that we had a good week. We don't know where the time went! It just drags and then the next second it's Monday again! So that's awesome!

We had a big zone conference this week and it took all day. I got to start it out with an instruction on revelation which was good. I like to do stuff like that...so long as I have some time to prepare. It went well. Afterward, me and the other elders went and got some Golden Corral which ended the day. Then we had just regular days--a lot of knocking and trying to find people. We are having a hard time getting people to keep appointments. Finding really isn't all that fun but that's all we really have to do. I'm so ready for spring to come!

We have had some really good lessons though. We found a little family. The father let us in and we taught them the restoration and they listened. His English wasn't very good but he said that we could come back! I can see them in white and together forever! I hope that God starts to work really hard on them and prepares them.  Today we had a great lesson with another little family. The dad wants his children to know about God so we taught him and his children. We have a return appointment to see them this Friday. Its been a good week all in all--a little stressful with that instruction and I taught Gospel Doctrine solo, with no help from Elder Meldrum. Not because he wouldn't help, but that is how the teacher asked it to go.

Hopefully this week is just as good and warmer!

Love,
  Cooper

Missionary Life

This week was a good and a bad week all rolled into one. The week started off really good. Elder Meldrum and I got to do the normal p-day activities...blah, blah, blah. It's all the same. It goes by too fast. Then during the week, it just was hard! We had a lot of lessons that fell through. Elder Meldrum and I have been trying to be more effective. It is a hard thing to gauge. We we can either show it with numbers, the key indicators which are on paper, or we just know what we did and whether it was good or not. Tis the struggle of missionary work! But I feel really blessed which goes along with all that is going nuts in my head!

We got a couple phone calls from the sisters in another area. They had found people that were in our area that they were turning over to us. That was awesome! The couple that we got to talk to were awesome. They were ready to hear what we had to say. One guy's name is Tony. He wants to stop drinking and is willing to hear the message we share and replace the liquor with the spirit. We have yet to meet with the other two. They sounded awesome on the phone when we talked to them.

I got a hair cut today from someone that actually knew what was going on! So I'm happy! I found my inner peace for a little while or at least a fix for the day. ha-ha. It's just another week in paradise, I guess!

I love you so much. I hope that you have a great week and I'll talk to you again next week!

Cooper

Happy 19th Birthday!

Thank you for sending me the fortune cookies and the other birthday present with the ties! It made my day! I was pretty pissy yesterday so it was hard and then that stuff came. I also got the card you guys sent. It totally brightened my day! I even got a card from Grandpa Kniffen!  Elder Meldrum got me some brownies and ice cream. We partied when we got home last night. That was good enough for me! I think it's weird that I'll have to say that I'm 19 now! Ugh, I'm getting old!  ha-ha

This week was pretty stressful. I went to transfers and got my new companion. His name is Elder Meldrum. He's from South Jordan so I kind of know where he's coming from. He's a really cool guy. This is his third transfer--he came out with Elder Oviatt. He likes Jeeps and old Army stuff and music. Hes' a little more of a cartoon guy than I am so I'm going to learn  about that stuff this transfer. I got to go on exchanges the day after transfers. I thought it was funny--I had spent more time with the zone leader than my companion! It was kind of hard actually.  Elder Whetzel is a super cool guy. I hope that I can serve with him some day soon. Other than that, our week was pretty normal. The most exciting thing that happened was that we got stopped by a cop. He told us we can't go door-to-door in Allen Park without a permit. So, no more knocking there.

Barb Thompson delivered homemade
 strawberry jam for a birthday gift.

The other crazy thing was that storm we had. It was so bad that they canceled church the night before. I was really let down but we had a good day out with one of the members doing his home teaching. I didn't get to email you yesterday. With the storm, the mission asked us to stay in until the snow was cleared off the roads. When we got to the library, they had a sign that said the internet was down. We tried another place and they were closed. So I get to write today, which is kind of cool.

Thanks for all that you do for me--the thoughts, the letters and the prayers. I miss you so much. I just put my head down and work for that hug I know I'll get at the end of my mission! I hope you have a great day!

Love,
   Cooper