Letter from Monday, November 17, 2008

Well, it's already been another week here in Texas! Time is
flying bye. I did talk with President Miller about grandpa
and grandma Moulton. He remembers them. My bike did arrive,
but it's still being put back together, so, I'll have it
shortly.

My companion, Elder Sandberg, is great. We get along really
well. He's from Heather Ridge in Orem. (up by the old
Novell buildings).  Well, I'll walk you all through an
average day in the life as a missionary in the Weslaco
North area:
6:30 - Exercise for half an hour.
7-8 - Eat breakfast, shower, and get ready for the day.
8-9 - Personal Study, half of which I spend studying the
 Book of Mormon, and the other half I spend in Preach My
 Gospel.
9-10 - Companionship study, this is typically used to
 prepare our lesson outlines for the lessons we'll be
 teaching throughout the day.
10-11 -Spanish Study. Lately for Spanish study I've been
 reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish, and learning new
 vocabulary from it.
11-1 - Lessons or tracting.
1-2  - Lunch.
2-9 - Lessons, or tracting.
9-9:40 - Planning.
9:40-10:30 - Preparation for the next day, and for bed.
10:30 - Bed time.

There you have it. That's my life pretty much day in and
day out.

I have 45 minutes for emailing each week.

Texas is definitely a flat place. I miss the mountains, and
it's hard to get my bearings of which way is north, but oh
well. It's dry, hot,and humid, but that's ok. It's actually
cooled down the last few days quite a bit.

I'm excited that Monique's papers are ready to assign. I'm
looking forward to seeing where she gets called, and I'm
sorry to hear that she's been sick, my thoughts and prayers
are with her....(surprise?):)

Well, it sounds like BYU's been doing well, it sounds like
if we beat Utah this Saturday, that we still have a chance
for a BCS game. Hooray!

I can't believe Dan and Laurie's wedding is only a week and
a half away! That's so exciting! Where's my invitation?
...not that I'd be able to come or anything...

Happy birthday to Charlene this week, and happy birthday
to Abbie lastweek.

I was excited to hear that Jon and Abbie sang a duet for
the Primary Program. I just wish that I could've been
there to hear it.

One of the things I miss most here on the mission is not
being able to gather together with the family for Sunday
dinners. I've definitely missed the grandkids. Tell them
all hi from Uncle John.

Well, I'll give some updates now on some of our
investigators, and some new ones, etc.

Alejos and Esmerelda - Well, not much is new here with them.
We went to teach them on Friday, and we watched Finding
Faith in Christ with them. It went well, but afterwards,
we were talking with them and Esmerelda brought up the
fact that Alejos was drinking while we were watching
it. He got frustrated, and went and drank some more. We're
really concerned, but we'll meet with them again later
tonight. We're planning on talking to them about the
Proclamation to the World.

Nora and Edgar - Well, we're still waiting for Nora and
Olvidio to get married. Not much news here. We're still
hoping that they'll be able to get baptized this month.

Ivan - Well, we haven't been able to set up an
appointment with Ivan again yet. We found out that he's
in McAllen through this coming week, so when he gets back,
we'll set up an appointment with him.

Marta - Marta has been an investigator since about May,
but we're making alot of progress with her. We had a
lesson with her this last week,and she prayed while we
were there if the Book of Mormon was true. The Spirit was
there, and confirmed to us, and to her, that what we
brought before her was the truth. We're working towards
a December baptismal date with her.

Vanessa and Freddy - These two live right next to
Alejos and Esmerelda. The way we met them was while we
were watching Finding Faith in Christ with Alejos and
Esmerelda, their music was turned up really loud. So,
Elder Sandberg and I knocked and asked them to turn it
down. They politely obliged, and we set up a return
appointment. We came back the next day to teach them,
and found out that neither is very religious, so we
taught them how to pray. He offered the first prayer of
his lifetime while we were there. It was simple, and
somewhat difficult for him, but the spirit was there, and
they agreed to be baptized as they learn more.

Carlos - Carlos is a 71 year old man. He's a recent
convert to the church. We taught a lesson about
pornography because he had some inappropriate things in
his house. He allowed us to take them and throw them
away. I don't think he realized that it was as bad as it
was. He really is a great man, and really funny.

Well, my time is about up. I love you all, and appreciate
the letters and emails.

Elder Meservy