11/8/11

Hey!

Its weird to hear you are watching the 4 oldest of DeeAnna's kids,
that's all of them isn't it? For some reason I don't see Dad staying
up till 2 though, as much as he loves those kids.

I don't blame you for listening to Christmas music. Walmart was
playing it the other day. It's a nice break. I love MoTab, but I
think I can just about list the order of the songs on Elder P's
CD's without too much trouble.

As for me, it's been an interesting week. I did a lot of service.
There was a guy stalled out on the side of the road one night as we
were headed to an appointment, so we decided to stop and offer him a
push. The funny thing about Pennsylvania, its all hills, and of
course the closest gas station was up and on the opposite side of the
busiest street in New Castle. So we rolled up our sleeves and dug in
our toes. We were just about there when someone else pulled over and
offered some help. He had a gas can that someone else had given him
when he had stalled out. So the guy was able to fill it up and his
car worked. We were saved!

Also we helped some members and less actives put up a barn in their
yard. All the framing was up so we just put up the walls. Sometime
this week we will get to help put on the roof. Along with this I've
been able to help out at the Habitat for Humanity a couple times.
They keep us busy, and those houses can go up quick. It was a little
interesting though when a reverend came and read the blessing. That's
alright, because we had everybody sing "I am a Child of God" earlier
that morning.

Probably the biggest thing I've learned this week is the power of
commitments. We have been way too lenient with our investigators, and
they progress very slowly because we don't follow up well. That is
about to change. Especially because T and H are the only
investigators we are still meeting with. We are trying to get the
branch to take more responsibility. We shouldered a lot of it and it
didn't do them any good. So we are backing off, which means I might
have to actually start tracting this week. Somehow I've made it this
far and have been tracting more outside of my area on exchanges with
other missionaries than I have inside.

That's about it for me, I'm still working on finishing off your
package. I just got your letter so I will be able to read it tonight.

I love you so much, keep doing great!

Elder Tanner Newey