I am the dwead piwate Wobewts! Der wiw be no suwvivows!

Hey fam bam!  It's been a good couple of days and I have a lot of updates for y'all!

M. got baptized this weekend!  It was a good baptism.  The Spirit was there and she even bore her testimony at the end and it was awesome!

L. is amazing -- he is already in Helaman and absolutely LOVES the Book of Mormon!  He decided on a baptism date of October 5.  We realized last night that that's conference weekend so he won't be able to be confirmed until the following Sunday, but things will work out.  All we have left to teach him is tithing!  We watched Testaments with him this past week and he loved it.  I can't wait for him to read 3 Nephi 11!

M. came to church again!  The lessons were all perfect for him.

We taught B. again this past Tuesday and it went well.  We'll be teaching him Plan of Salvation tonight.  It's going to be great!  Both of his biological parents have passed away so it's going to be big for him.

The Columbus Crew (soccer) game was Wednesday.  It was a bit slow so we went around and contacted people instead . . . members only.  We weren't allowed to proselyte at the game.  I did see a lot of people from Powell!  I even got a referral from a member, for one of his co-workers who lives here.  I was able to see many old friends -- it was great!

We heard some great news at the game.  While I was in Powell we were helping one of the youth in the ward teach his friend, D, who was later baptized.  Well, this past weekend D. baptized his mom!  How cool is that?  It's great to see the ripples spreading.

Sister S., our former mini-missionary, showed up on Saturday as a surprise and came out with us for the day.  She was able to see M. get baptized!  It was so fun to be with her again.

Sister T. and I (and the Elders) helped judge an Iron Chef competition on Thursday.  The secret ingredient was pumpkin.  There were three teams and each team made an appetizer, a main dish and a dessert.  There was some yummilicious stuff -- pumpkin dip, pumpkin soup, pumpkin tart, twice-baked potato with pumpkin, etc.  We were so full afterward!  You know the saying "Go big or go home" -- here it's just "Go home big!"

My 11-Month Mark Today!

Hello family!  I only have a few minutes today.  I will try to type quickly!  I didn't write on Monday because we have the Columbus Crew game tonight, so that made today our P-day.

Mo. is getting baptized on Saturday and we are soooo excited for her!  She has progressed so much even in the past week.  A while ago I showed her the index at the back of the Book of Mormon, and when we talked about tattoos with her this week, it turns out she'd read about "defiling bodies" in the index and figured it out by herself! She also took her tongue ring out, without us saying anything about it!  "What are you going to do with it?" I asked.  "Chuck it!" she said, and threw it in a big pile of dirt outside the house.  We clapped for her.  She is literally glowing with the Spirit. It's awesome!  Pray for her!

Mo. has been helping us teach her cousin C.  I love it when she teaches C. a principle all on her own, with no prodding from us.  She is so great.  We're glad that she's using the Atonement to better her situation and herself.  She is SO HAPPY and it makes ME happy.  I love missionary work!

L. told his parents that he's investigating the Church.  We fasted for him last week and when we met with him on Thursday, he told us it had gone so well that he was kind of surprised.  The Lord will provide a way!  He prayed about a baptismal date and decided on October 5, but that's conference so we'll have to figure out another date.  When he told us about his talk with his parents he said, "I'm so happy that they are supporting me, because I went into the conversation knowing that no matter what they said, I was going to pursue this anyway.  This feels right."  Wow.  I learn so much from all the people that we teach!  They are so much stronger and more dedicated than I am.  I need to step up!  We also taught him the Word of Wisdom on Sunday and it was wonderful.  He is ready to go!

Jo. got MARRIED last week!  And Ma. has started the process of being re-baptized.  It's going to be so cool when they are able to be sealed!

Our ward mission leader and Bishop are all pumped up about member missionary work, and priesthood session of stake conference got them even more so.  We had a wonderful correlation meeting with both of them and they came up with some great ideas!

We taught H. the Plan of Salvation and are doing a chapel tour with her this weekend.  We are sooo excited!  I love talking with her; she has so many literature-related insights.  Thanks for teaching me about that kind of stuff, Mom!  She asks great questions; this week she asked a lot about fate and predestination.

C. and L. (mother and son) are new investigators that we found through a member referral.  We're excited to see them again this Sunday!

We found Ju. while 2-2-5ing a member's home.  She first heard about the Church when a YM group went to this one restaurant after mutual, and she was so impressed with them that she asked what church they went to.  How cool is that?  She attended church for six months but then she had a stroke and can't remember when it's Sunday.  So we're going to call and remind her.  It's the least we can do, right?

G. came to our Christmas in September and we were able to give her a chapel tour!  Awesome.  She brought two friends with her, and I think one of them might actually have some potential as an investigator.

The senior missionary couple in my district is from the same home ward as the Adairs!  That was fun to discover, especially since I'd just been looking through the reunion pictures that Mom sent me.

Funny story: We were at a member's home and the mom gave her 3-year-old a bag of Raisin Bran and then left the room.  About 30 seconds later, the kid stuck his dirty little foot in the bag, moved it around a bit and then took it out again.  Then the mom came back and started chowing down on the Raisin Bran.  Sister T. and I looked at each other like . . . "Do we say anything?"  We didn't!

I'm out of time!  I love you all.  Stay safe and keep me posted what you're up to.  Thanks for your love, support and letters!

You don't even have a chin! [Phineas & Ferb]

Hello everyone!  It's been a good week out here!  Lots of great progress!  It's going to be a little short today!  I spent too long on my letter to President.  Hopefully I can get all the news out here!

M. came to the CES fireside with us on Sunday.  It was really good for him.  Elder Holland never lets you down!  Anyone who hasn't watched it needs to!  Talk about prophetic.

We watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration with L. last night.  The Spirit was so strong and he knows it's true.  I'll keep you posted!

Our newest investigator is a super cool lady named H.  She's an English teacher and reminds me a lot of Mom!! :)  We have a return appointment set up for next Sunday!  She was excited to read the Book of Mormon.

My Star Wars trivia came in handy with a contact this week, and I was very grateful to E. Bham for tutoring me over the years!

Thank you all for your letters of support.  They have been great!  I love hearing from you all!  Stay safe!

Car-less in Ohio

Hello everyone!  It has been a great week!  We didn't have a car for 4-1/2 days -- it was crazy!  We did a lot of walking and got rides from members, but wow . . .it's hard to cover two and a half counties on foot!  I'm much more tired than usual.  We are soooo spoiled to have a car!

J. (our recent convert) is doing well. We had dinner with her on Tuesday and she told us that the adversary has been trying to press doubts into her mind and heart.  I'm glad she's living with her mom and has that great support.  She was at church on Sunday, participating like she's been a member since birth.  She is amazing!

We taught Lo. the nature of God and prayer.  It went really well!  He is progressing so fast.  We taught Plan of Salvation as well, and he loved it!  The only problem I foresee is that he hasn't told his parents yet.  We're going to talk with him about that on Sunday.  He also played his trumpet for us, and showed us his LOTR mouthpiece.  So cool!  It has the inscription from the ring engraved on it!  I'm such a geek!  I also got to play a guitar that Sister K's dad made by hand.  It was cool!

We were able to teach Li. last night!  We taught Plan of Salvation and it went really well.  She's coming to church on Sunday and will have a chapel tour, too.  She also committed to read more of the Book of Mormon and pray about whether it's true, and the Plan as well.  We asked her if she would like to be baptized, and she said she would when she knows it's true.

A girl named H., who has a boyfriend in the next ward, has come to church four times now.  We finally got her number and will be visiting her this week!

The Columbus Crew game (Mormon Night) is coming up, and President gave us permission to call the people from our last area and invite them to come.  I got to talk to quite a few people and it was wonderful!  Most of them bought tickets to the game.  Hopefully I will be able to see them there!

Sister K. and I were helping a youth in Powell invite his friend (D.) to church, and the friend ended up going to scout camp and high adventure.  Sister K. told me last week that D. got baptized a few weeks ago!  How awesome!

We fasted as a stake for the Amish families who were recently baptized here.  It was a huge deal -- groundbreaking in Church history.  It wasn't widely publicized at the time because the families knew they would be shunned in their community.  Well, it was only a matter of time and now they are having some severe trials.  Please pray for them!