New Area in Gurnee

So hey everyone! Man this week has been a trip. I'm officially in Gurnee now and it's SOOO different from being in the city. On wednesday when I got here I was a little bit down about the whole change and I was kinda feeling nervous about coming into this new area. We then went that night to an investigator's house and I put her on baptismal date. Her name is Elizabeth Luna. She's a really nice lady and she was like the fourth person I met in my area. It was funny because we weren't planning on doing that at all. We were going to teach her the law of Tithing and the Word of Wisdom but while talking with her I got the impression that we should commit her to baptism. So we did and she accepted for April 9. We have since had lessons with a lot of members and made a lot of new acquaintances. I got to know the ward mission leader, Hermano Sanchez, really well. He seems to be a really great guy who is very willing to help us out when we need it. The Branch President, Presidente Roman is also really supportive. We have quite the list of investigators, but it appears that the Elder before me was very reluctant to drop investigators that weren't progressing. So I may have to be the bad guy and drop quite a few of them. We'll see if they won't progress. The thing is, we missionaries have very valuable time, and it can't be wasted. If an investigator is not willing to follow through on their commitments, we may be wasting time on them in which someone else could be receiving the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We are working with some recent converts and less-active members and they are really cool. We have a family called the Familia Reyes who got baptized recently and really like us missionaries. The husband is 25 and the wife is 30. They're young and a lot of fun to talk to. It's funny, in this area everyone expects me not to know much spanish so they kinda baby me. Then they hear how well I speak and start talking to me like an equal. I've picked up the language really well, and it has been a really great blessing to me.

What else is different.... oh this is the first time in my whole mission where I have not been around sister missionaries. It's kinda weird having a district meeting where we can't get their valuable input. I've come to realize that they can be the best missionaries in a mission and really bring a lot to the table.

I also have a car again, which is nice. I get to drive us around and it's helping me to learn the area well. And we live right in the same complex as some English Elders, Elder Hunt and Elder Anderson and they come over and talk to us and stuff at night. That's fun. We can also carpool to stuff like this and save on miles. We have to fill out a report of our mile usage each month and we're not supposed to go over our monthly alotment. We're good though because we've been smart about our usage. We still have like 350 miles left for this week.

You know, there's something about missionary work that's just amazing. I've had some of the hardest times in my life on my mission, but from those moments I've learned a lot. I've gained a lot of introspection out here and come to know myself a lot better. I also have come to know my Heavenly Father in a very real and personal way out here. In the book of 1 Nephi, Nephi has a dream in which he sees pretty much everything from the beginning of the earth to the second coming. During the course of events, the Spirit of the Lord asks him, "Knowest thou the condescension of God?" I really like that question. Do we know what God is willing to do for us? I've thought a lot about that and I like Nephi's reply, "I know that He loveth His children." We should all get to that point and do our best to get to know the condescension of Him who loves us.

I love you all and wish you the best!

Love

Elder J.