Thanksgiving Texas Style

Thanksgiving was a bit (just a little bit) tough on the diet we are doing. We decided to have a Biggest Looser challenge and for some reason set it up a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. Mom you'll be happy to know that in the first and second week's weigh-in, I am in the lead with a weight loss of 8.4 lbs achieved thus far in the first week alone. Thanksgiving was awesome, we planned out 4 meals to attend and pacing myself proved to be quite the struggle. I must admit that Texas food is in definite competition with the family's. We ate breakfast at the Harty's who were baptized earlier in the year. You couldn't really tell though because of how golden they are. (Kind of like when my 2nd born son in the wilderness thought Jody was a life long member). The breakfast reminded me of Aunt Kris' cooking so homesickness never existed all day. We were going to play football after, but a Texas 40 degrees is like a Utah 20 to say the least. Our next meal appointment was with a part member family who had awesome food. Our 3rd meal was with a part member family who had probably the best pie I have ever tasted. Our 4th and last meal was with an active family and that is when I had trouble getting anything down.

Anyway, now that the food journal is out of the way.

We have a young man named Ricky that we are teaching who was supposed to be baptized this past weekend but unfortunately bailed out. He keeps his commitments and we fasted for him but when it comes to agency regarding particular commandments, then we have no control. He believes the Book of Mormon to be true and Joseph Smith to be a prophet so it is only a matter of time. We look forward to meeting with him tonight and will have him set his own date within the near future.

Yesterday we had a random guy walk into Church during the 2nd hour and we are pretty sure he was homeless. Once the member who was helping him located a missionary (me) then I became his fellow shipper for a couple hours trying to meet his spiritual needs. Although it was a bit impossible probably because of certain Word of Wisdom issues. He was a bit surprised when he figured out that he was in a Mormon Church with all the Christian pictures and things all around the building...

Today we taught new guy named Robert in the 5th ward area. He received a Book of Mormon from the last companionship that was here and expressed that we could come over but that he had only read through 1st Nephi and a little of 2nd Nephi. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and around the Spirit World part of the lesson he mentioned that he thought there must be 3 different places where people would go once they were judged. We finished the lesson and set up a return appointment to meet with him again but it was a bit to his reluctance. He really wants to read the entire Book of Mormon and ask God and wait to make sure it is His word.

We met another Anti Mormon guy that we knocked into and within 40 minutes he had a Book of Mormon in his hand and committed to read it. The odd thing about this contact was that he was directly across the street from the atheist guy from last week that ultimately accepted a Book of Mormon to read. We look forward to the return appointment. We are sure that they will both have many questions. I am down with the super critical thinker though.

We got a call from a less active member who just barely showed up on the records after we knocked into them accidentally. He was baptized nearly 20 years ago which is odd because that is the average time in the Church that someone remains inactive. So now he wants back in with a calling and a fellowshipping friend.

I would report more but we are running out of time. P-day was cut short because we were asked to help set up the "Cresh". They basically go nuts setting up like 500 nativities in the stake center (ask Katie). The rest of the week we had a road trip or 2 for baptismal interviews and lots of tracting for FFT aka Finding Family time.

Love y'all
Elder Metcalf!!!

Happy Thanksgiving....Already????

This week was both eventful yet uneventful. We had many lessons that fell through but I had some pretty sweet experiences.

We met with the Allen Stake President, a couple of high councilmen, and President Grant from the mission presidency. It was, as I call it, a fun power meeting discussing the missionary work in the stake. It was only my first week here so my companion did most of the talking but it was pretty sweet. It has been an interesting ride to understand more fully how priesthood and church government work. It is an odd thing to hear others declare their opposition to organized religion but in my mind I think, you have know idea what organized is. Thank heavens for revelation.

Monday, last week was quite strange. We did our laundry, emailed, shopped, played basketball and still had time to do stuff. Why is this surprising? Because in my previous are,a we never had any Elders within 40 miles of the 4 of us and everything was too spread out to do that all at once. Hence, my golfing skills died.
We had our 5th ward Bishop offer his services in coming with us to the family we tracted out who committed to baptism but sadly there was no answer even knowing they were inside and the following day they explained "yes, I talked to my friends and they told me that the Mormon religion is not the true religion." Elder Hall and I surprisingly held our cool pretty well. It is quite interesting to see people when they express why the Church is not true (or utterly evil) because they heard or read such and such and then ask them "Well, did you pray about it and ask God?" The answer, after a long pause is always no. Of course the vast majority of people think we're false! Its because it's true.

On Tuesday we had our first district meeting in the area and it was strange not to prepare for it since I had been doing district meetings in Nac for 18 weeks. It was actually kind of a relief to tell you the truth. (then of course later that day, we had to spend a few hours preparing the stake president report.) It was an interesting experience because I was now around totally different people rather than the same Elders I had been seeing for 6 months.
We met with a lady that day who we had set an appointment up with earlier in the week. We began with our "refined Allen approach" of linking Families and the Restoration. After the prayer and the first couple of questions you could see the Holy Ghost working with her. She had many great questions. Those are the best people, the sincere seekers of truth. We placed the Book of Mormon and she was glad to have it.
That night we also met with a man named Tyson. It was the first time in a couple weeks that I had taken total control of a lesson so it was a bit rough around the edges. It is amazing how if we don't keep using are skills, how fast we can lose them.

Wednesday was fun, we did some service in the morning which was nice because our area is tiny and it's all families, so usually no one is home during the day. You know how I am, building and fixing are some of my favorite things! It wasn't long before we were both on the roof of this one ladies house trying to fix a rain gutter.
We met again with one of our newer investigators and the Spirit helped pump him up on the Book of Mormon. Inspired questions are my absolute favorite thing to accomplish in a lesson. It is a process of first waiting and pausing for the Spirit to prompt you, second asking a very short clear question ("Kevin, what wouldit be like for you to meet the Savior?") third waiting for the response as the Spirit dictates then fourth testify! ("that is why we have 3rd Nephi 11. Imagine you and your family just survived a hurricane 10 times more powerful than when you experience Rita and Katrina...")

Thursday we had a ton of planning to do. Planning for our area and the other missionaries. We went step by step through Preach My Gospel planning so we could get every last drop of revelation that we could qualify for.
We have been teaching in every dinner lesson, the Restoration. A line in PMG states that teaching the Restoration will build Faith and trust in all the members to share the Gospel. It works! The Spirit always comes in strong when we hear their testimonies of the First Vision then the timing is right to think about names they are working with.

Friday was awesome, we did a lot of random parking lot contacting. We have dedicated also an hour every night to FFT which is Finding Family time. (of course we ended up finding a YSA girl who wants to know more about the branch though.)

Saturday was sweet, we tracted into a guy who was such a critical thinker that he thought himself into Athiesm. However within 30 minutes of discussion he accepted the Book of Mormon challenge.

Sunday was stressful, no investigators came. We are struggling with our last and only baptism date who hasn't dropped us yet. We are praying for some major miracles. Of course that night is when I met the Anderson's relatives. They were pretty funny. "ya they live on Sugar Leo" "I live on Sugar Leo" "across from their bishop who owned Lins" "that's my bishop!"

Anyway my time is running short, they kick us out of here at noon.

Love y'all
Elder Metcalf

Allen 5 & 7

Back in the big city and it is a little bit of a culture shock. My new companion Elder Hall said it was pretty funny to watch me, with blank stares and looking around the apartment when I first got there. The ward boundaries are tiny. We do cover a singles branch as well, which covers a massive area. It has been pretty cool to see how the Lord is helping me with my faulty memory. Maybe I am just getting used to a transfer finally since I didn't see one for a third of my mission. But the area we cover is much like Frisco. Funny thing about Elder Hall is that I replaced him when he left Frisco. We had a few similar spiritual experiences in Frisco as well which was kind of a joy to rekindle. As far as investigators go, we are working hard to set dates like crazy. We prayed for the opportunity to set 3 baptismal dates on Thursday and the Lord answered our prayers the following night with a family that we tracted in to. The sad challenge still seems to be getting these people to Church. We will be enlisting a lot of help from the members. There is much more success when they do the knocking and inviting to make sure they come Sunday. The YSA ward starts at 3:00 which was kind of a shock getting out at 6 and finding it was dark.

One of the first things I noticed was all of the people. There are so many contacting opportunities that kind of gives me a lot of energy and little direction. There was a car parked in a driveway with its lights on and when I saw it, a thought flashed in my mind to "go towards the light." The guy got out of his car and seemed to enjoy us having us get a hold of him. He had been taught in Mexico and made references to the Joseph Smith story and seemed to really like it. We got his info then referred him to the Spanish missionaries in the area.

We had a blitz on Saturday and I was sent to a richer area with a fairly new missionary. We offered some pleas for help and a dismission of fears and started knocking. Man, I kind of forgot that there are a lot of hard hearted people in North Dallas but for the most part it was a great experience. We knocked on one door and the guy came out and started talking to us. We asked if he had ever read the Book of Mormon to which he said "Yes, I like it a lot and it complements the Bible really well." I asked if he was a member and he responded "of what?" But we got his info and made a referral to the Elders in the area. Another man we knocked into went to SFA in Nac which was pretty sweet because we talked and connected real well about the area. He accepted a missionary visit and we took off.

We have a YSA named Ricky that Elder Hall has been teaching for a couple weeks and he and his member friend are really into video editing (the advantages of being a nerd as well as a ski bum are awesome). He is pretty well committed to be baptized this month but keep him in your prayers. The YSA branch is awesome and many referrals seem to be received each week. The branch presidency is very supportive as well because we teach a lot in their homes so it seems. Ricky has been reading and he described the few short verses we left him as "when I read them, I felt like I couldn't get enough of it. I needed to read more." The faith developed through the converting power of the Gospel is something I always have needed to work on. I am always impressed to hear the results of someone's sincere reading of the Book of Mormon. The faith required to do that seems very simply but miraculous every time it happens. Faith is a manifestation of one's desire.

I definitely miss Nac a lot. It is interesting now that I have so many joyful memories to choose from those precious 8 months. It helps me get through sometimes challenging, difficult or even tempting times. I really do feel strongly about the area I am in now. There has already been a few times where I am nearly brought to tears thinking about the massive amount of families here in the area and just to think of one, just one that may join, really puts a sense of urgency into myself. It has been unique to knock just a couple doors yet talk to so many people that are somehow outside already.

We had a meeting with the Stake President and the Zone on Saturday and he is stellar. He said "there are many many many people that are ready here." It is kind of driving me nuts really. WHERE ARE YOU! Thankfully when we have asked God, we have been lead exactly where we need to go. I would never be able to do this on my own. My own intellect has been challenged and failed every time I have used it. But, when the Spirit is involved, the wise become confounded.

Pray me some luck in Allen 5 & 7.

Love, Elder Metcalf

Tough Joy

Tough joy is one of the ways to describe missionary work.

Tyler was baptized yesterday and the baptism, I don't think, could have been any better. To set it all up we (I say 'we' because I have been here long enough) got a new Bishop who is actually Brother Nicholas. It wasn't a surprise to many of us though, because he is pretty stalwart. Uniquely enough, he and his family have fed us probably double or more then any other member here. He is also Tyler's Spanish teacher at the High School. So, at the baptism, Bishop (or Mr. Nicholas) had several of his students,because they were all Tyler's friends, in attendance. He bore a strong testimony which I don't think could have been more perfect. Within a couple hours of Bishop Nicholas' setting apart, one of his students was baptized whom he had helped teach the entire time. Coincidence? Ya right... Especially considering we postponed the baptism 2 weeks for the 31st.

Tyler asked me to do the baptizing which surprised me. Quite frankly, I think I was the most nervous one in the biggest audience we have ever had. We had mostly youth take care of the baptismal program and a of couple young women sang "When I am baptized." If any of you know me well enough, then you would understand that hands down, that is my favorite hymn and scripture. I think more than any other part of the baptism, that is when I felt the Spirit the strongest. Maybe it was because my nerves were running a bit high walking into the font. Ahhh, baptism. The central invitation of all my teaching. He'll be confirmed next week, I am curious to hear of anything that may be asked in Bishop Nicholas' Spanish class today.

Saturday night was pretty intense. We had a booth at the cities "Scare on the Square" which was packed with families. Bishop Nielson came down to help and him we always have hilarious discussions. The question he asked me when we were filling pales, pumpkins, and bags with candy, pass-a-longs, and pamphlets was "What do you think President Monson would say if he saw us down here supporting a holiday like this?" Another funny thing to note is there were about 30 other church booths around us. We had the spanish Elders with us so I sent out the 2 Jr companions while the old guys manned the booths. Apparently Elder Jones went out and contacted half the church booths and in the process a lady came up to him and Elder Beihl and said "You ready to walk with me?" After a brief conversation he had met someone that knows the Book of Mormon to be true and loved to Spirit on temple square. You cant go wrong with a companion that has tons of fire which I attribute most, if not all, our success too. At scare on the square we gave out over 1000 pass-a-longs, and about 400 pamphlets, 20 copies of the Book of Mormon. The interesting thing about this is that we ran out of all our supplies. It is a unique situation to be in...

I wrote in tough joy at the top because we have been meeting the most prepared people I have taught the entire mission. The spirit in the lessons has been obvious. The investigators feel the truth and accept baptism. The odd thing about it all is, that we never hear from them again. No phone calls answered or messages returned. In some cases they send their friends out the very next day after the lesson to tell us they aren't home. It is sad when they leave the blinds open and then we wave at what I thought was the golden investigator at that point. I think there is a process which Satan goes through with each investigator that ultimately destroys Faith in the message of the Restoration. After a very powerful lesson I am sure he laughs and says "Really Elder Metcalf? is that all you got?" then goes through the normal routine of some anti from close family or friends then whispers into the ear of the golden contact "come on... seriously, no way. Baptism? that would mean you would actually have to do something..."

As of now I am pondering more battle tactics against my enemy. A stronger testimony? Yes. Better teaching skills? Yes. More Faith and boldness? Yes. The game has been set, the field is white, and the opponent is growing stronger. What can I do to better my team?

A big success this week was a man named Willy that the Spanish Elders tracted into and referred to us. He is wanting and desiring more spiritual satisfaction in his life. We went to his home and it was a bit odd because he didn't let us in and we talked on his doorstep for half an hour. He agreed to a Church tour after using some "How to begin teaching points" from Preach My Gospel. The unique thing about this is that he actually came! He loved the Church. He felt the Spirit. He came to Church on Sunday! Loved it. Felt it. i ended up teaching Gospel Principles (a calling that was extending 40 minutes before it happened) and I felt the Spirit actually working through me and Willy participated a lot. He answered many inspired questions in a way that the Spirit entered into his heart more. I look forward to the next lesson we have with him because we talked a lot on baptism!

Another joyful experience Elder Jones and I have had is that we got on our bikes to contact. Ha! Its fun. Tracting is becoming a activity that is less routine. We have had great experiences getting out there and finding where that Spirit, that we all desperately want, may be.

Love Elder Metcalf

Bitter Sweet

Saturday afternoon the air was cool and we had finding time scheduled. We took off on the bikes and went down to the border of the college area after contacting many people. We were sitting at the corner for a while talking about life and the mission when the phone rang. The ringer, which is rarely heard, but obviously very different, identified the caller as President Smith.

"Elder Metcalf, looks like your time in Nacogdoches has come to an end..."

1/3 of my mission in Nac has finally come to an end. Saying goodbyes was a bit strange. The hardest of course was at the Bennetts last night. They came home around 8:30 and so we talked for about an hour then the awkward "All right, we need to go" was said. Man, sure am going to miss that family. They were my first and last 'lesson' in Nacogdoches. The difference was awesome. Very strong friendships were developed.

Tyler was confirmed yesterday and with each confirmation, the Holy Ghost became more and more noticeable when someone receives it. Because it was fast Sunday, we challenged him to bear his testimony which was awesome because even with the opposition he did it. He described that when he woke up he didn't want to come, but did. He had a migraine and was a bit weary when coming up to be confirmed. Although when he was confirmed he said that all physical problems disappeared.

We set a baptismal date with Willie this week who is solid as a rock. He met with us the day after so we could set up a calendar with him with the events leading up to his baptism. He told is that his goal is to read 3 chapters a day. He said that he feels so good in the Church and it is like a little glow that gets brighter and brighter each time it comes inside of him (We referenced Alma 32). The missionaries coming in have many notes on his teaching record.

Elder Jones is getting transferred as well which is rough because the new missionaries wont know the area at all! I'll probably take a picture of the desk so y'all can see the million notes I've left. 8 months of knowledge is coming with me. Elder Jones will be transferred to another out east area and I am going back into the city, which I have not seen for 8 months. I am excited though because I haven't been to the temple since March. Hopefully I can go soon.

When I gave my last testimony in sacrament meeting I hit record on the digital recorder because I wanted to hear what I sounded like on the fly. It was hilarious when I did play it back because with the recorder in my front pocket you could hear my heart beating super strong and then slowly fade when I calmed down.

Well mom, you will like this story. For my last dinner we ate with a family that I really like (well, I like all of them of course) but they asked for my favorite food for a last supper. My response was "Chicken Roll-ups" (or chicken pillows) I think I had about 12. Not sure if you might be able to send that recipe.

Well it is pretty rough leaving Nac town for a while. I highly doubt I'll ever have a area as long as this but I loved it and being here as long as I was. It was super rough saying bye to the Bennetts. Most certainly the greatest joy felt was when they made the decision to be married and Jody getting baptized in the same weekend. AWESOME. (See y'all in the Temple!)

Farewell Nac-a-baptize. Nac-a-Metcalf. Nac-a-Nowhere. Nac-a-fat. Nac-town. Nac-a-contact. Nac-a-joy.
Off to the Big D.

Love Elder Metcalf

New Photos

Tough joy is one of the ways to describe missionary work.

Tyler was baptized yesterday and the baptism, I don't think, could have been any better. To set it all up we (I say 'we' because I have been here long enough) got a new Bishop who is actually Brother Nicholas. It wasn't a surprise to many of us though, because he is pretty stalwart. Uniquely enough, he and his family have fed us probably double or more than any other member here. He is also Tyler's Spanish teacher at the High School. So, at the baptism, Bishop (or Mr. Nicholas) had several of his students, because they were all Tyler's friends, in attendance. He bore a strong testimony which I don't think could have been more perfect. Within a couple hours of Bishop Nicholas' setting apart, one of his students was baptized whom he has helped teach the entire time. Coincidence? Ya right... Especially considering we postponed the baptism 2 weeks for the 31st.

Tyler asked me to do the baptizing which surprised me. Quite frankly, I think I was the most nervous one in the biggest audience we have ever had. We had mostly youth take care of the baptismal program and a couple of young women sang "When I am baptized." If any of you know me well enough, then you would understand that hands down, that is my favorite hymn and scripture. I think more than any other part of the baptism, that is when I felt the Spirit the strongest. Maybe it was because my nerves were running a bit high walking into the font. Ahhh, baptism. The central invitation of all my teaching. He'll be confirmed next week, I am curious to hear of anything that may be asked in Bishop Nicholas' Spanish class today.

Saturday night was pretty intense. We had a booth at the cities "Scare on the Square" which was packed with families. Bishop Nielson came down to help and we always have hilarious discussions. The question he asked me when we were filling pales, pumpkins, and bags with candy, pass-a-longs, and pamphlets was "What do you think President Monson would say if he saw us down here supporting a holiday like this?" Another funny thing to note is there was about 30 other church booths around us. We had the Spanish Elders with us so I sent out the 2 Jr companions while the old guys manned the booths. Apparently Elder Jones went out and contacted half the church booths and in the process, a lady came up to him and Elder Beihl and said "You ready to walk with me?" After a brief conversation he had met someone that knows the Book of Mormon to be true and loved the Spirit on temple square. You cant go wrong with a companion that has tons of fire which I attribute most, if not all, to our success. At scare on the square we gave out over 1000 pass-a-longs, and about 400 pamphlets, 20 copies of the Book of Mormon. The interesting thing about this is that we ran out of all our supplies. It is a unique situation to be in...

I wrote in tough joy at the top because we have been meeting the most prepared people I have taught the entire mission. The spirit in the lessons has been obvious. The investigators feel the truth and accept baptism. The odd thing about it all, is that we never hear from them again. No phone calls answered or messages returned. In some cases they send their friends out the very next day after the lesson to tell us they aren't home. It is sad when they leave the blinds open and then wave at what I thought was the golden investigator at that point. I think there is a process which Satan goes through with each investigator that ultimately destroys their Faith in the message of the Restoration. After a very powerful lesson I am sure he laughs and says "Really Elder Metcalf? is that all you got?" then goes through the normal routine of some anti from a close family or friends then whispers into the ear of the golden contact "come on... seriously, no way. Baptism? that would mean you would actually have to do something..."

As of now I am pondering more battle tactics against my enemy. A stronger testimony? Yes. Better teaching skills? Yes. More Faith and boldness? Yes. The game has been set, the field is white, and the opponent is growing stronger. What can I do to better my team?

A big success this week was a man named Willy that the Spanish Elders tracted into and referred to us. He is wanting and desiring more spiritual satisfaction in his life. We went to his home and it was a bit odd because he didn't let us in and we talked on his doorstep for half an hour. He agreed to a Church tour after using some "How to begin teaching points" from Preach My Gospel. The unique thing about this is that he actually came! He loved the Church. He felt the Spirit. He came to Church on Sunday! Loved it. Felt it. I ended up teaching Gospel Principles (a calling that was extended 40 minutes before it happened) and I felt the Spirit actually working through me and Willy participated a lot. He answered many inspired questions in a way that the Spirit entered into his heart more. I look forward to the next lesson we have with him because we talked a lot on baptism!

Another joyful experience Elder Jones and I have is that we get on our bikes and go out to contact. Ha! Its fun. Tracting is becoming a activity that is less routine. We have had great experiences getting out there and finding where that Spirit, that we all desperately want, may be.

Love Elder Metcalf

Yesterday was the Sunday that missionaries dream of. After Gospel principles class I went out the opposite door that I never go out of. More than likely because I was fighting a cold half the week and that door was the closest to the nearest tissue box and hand sanitizer. I noticed in the foyer a man who I didn't recognize and thought it was a bit odd because I have been in Nac long enough to know all the members that show up. More strange, was that he was around all the Spanish speakers. So I followed him as he left the building to go home. I lost sight of the man so I approached a less active member that was skipping out a little early. The man then came to me and introduced himself as Barry and that he wants to be a member of this Church.

You can imagine how many replies went through my mind.
"Hmmm, I think we can arrange that."
"Where's Ashton?"
"Very funny Elder Jones."
"Thank you Heavenly Father."
"What size are you in 'white jumpsuit'?"
"Are you sure you came to the right place?"

However after a small pause I asked him if we could meet. He said "Yes, I'll be here next week."
"How about sometime this week?" was my reply to which he said yes. "How about right now?"
So after we finally found a available room and talked to this wonderful soul - here are the details. He has read the Book of Mormon cover to cover already, has been dating an active member for a while, wants to kick the habit of smoking and coffee, wants more spiritual satisfaction, wants to be baptized. So we set up another appointment for tomorrow and he offered to take us to lunch. Needless to say I was a little floored.

The rest of this week went well but not without some challenges. We had interviews and specialized training on Thursday which was pretty sweet. President Smith remembered the Lake Powell invite that somehow he magically received from a known source... His reply was that he'll probably take y'all up on it. Thursday night was rough because my body started to give up in the fight of having a cold. I decided to give up trying to sleep around 4:30am so I took a shower, made my eggs and breakfast then started my studies. Luckily it was a planning day so I was able to relax a little before going out. I got the guts to call Sister Smith for some advice and thankfully a 'quarentine' wasn't necessary. So we went out contacting and a parking lot came to mind that we could find a lot of people to contact. The first 7 or so people were pretty 'sloshy' contacts to say the least but once the Spirit found me worthy enough to help out I actually felt healthy and could talk normal. We found a lady that was pretty excited to test out the Book of Mormon so we placed one and got a return appointment.

Tyler's lesson was pretty fun. We taught keeping the Sabbath Day Holy and really hit on Church attendance, then the Word of Wisdom and then my all time favorite, the Law of Chastity. I don't think many details will be included here but yes, his baptism is still on for this coming Sunday which will be Elder Jones' first so we are pretty stoked. He is a remarkable 16 year old (Tyler, not Elder Jones)

The happy hour with the Bennetts on Friday was pretty funny and entertaining (what's new?). We got over there and both Brother Bennett and I had voices that were about lost. We talked about the weird article about the Methodist church that didn't allow Mormon scout leaders because of the accusation we're not Christian as well as polygamy, etc etc to which Sister Bennett replied "I haven't had that lesson yet."

We had a funny experience tracting in Garrison this week. We knocked the first door and the lady nearly had a heart attack when she saw us, she was way mad. We got in the door on the third contact with a sweet lady (luckily we had a member with us) and right after we said the prayer, she got a phone call from a friend on a different street in town letting us know that the ever so dangerous Mormons were here. Apparently the neighborhood watch was on us pretty quick. It was a great lesson though. She asked us because of her husbands and sister's recent deaths if she would see them again or recognize them. The spirit helped out a lot.

Well hope y'all are havin' fun. Keep prayin' for your favorite Texas Elder.

Love Elder Metcalf

Congrats, holy cow to the 2nd grandchild of the family. What the heck, that is all pretty surreal that I am a double uncle now. Although I see that everyone had to wait for me to get on the mission before I could teach them the ways of rebellion. Eh, I buried those a while ago I think anyway. We'll see. Good luck Matt and Ashley! That is pretty sweet y'all brought in a new investigator into the world!