We are so excited to finally get our friend, Mark, back on track. Today he received the priesthood. Elder Glenn ordained him as a priest in the Aaronic Priesthood. He has made such tremendous progress over the months that we have been teaching him. It has been a slow process of two steps forward, one step back. He has been dealing with anxiety and depression but now he feels like he has real direction in his life. As we have continued to meet with him, he has remarked that he can feel the presence of the Holy Ghost. He has told us that he feels like we are second parents to him, and I told him that he feels like one of my boys. We just love him. Last week he got all set up for his BYU Pathways program and he is super motivated by it. Elder Glenn has been a real guiding force for him with that. The religion classes that go along with it are perfect to keep him moving forward. At church he is participating and has a really solid understanding of gospel principles. Today he learned about the church basketball games that our missionaries started up and he is really excited to join them for that as well. We couldn’t be more pleased with his progress.
Today after church we had a linger longer for some visiting former senior missionaries. It was a great opportunity to mingle with some of our new visiting friends. I met a woman who came to church for the first time today who is from China. She immigrated here with her family 5 years ago. One of her sons has come 3 times and the other has come twice. They are a super nice family, though I haven’t met the dad yet. I was able to answer some of her questions about our meetings as the missionaries visited with her sons. She seems to have enjoyed her time at church.
This week, besides helping at another zone conference luncheon, we also had our elders over for dinner. Elder Meyring has been here for a while. He is our district leader too. With another transfer coming up next week we are afraid we might lose him. He is such a fun guy. His companion, Elder Falke, is from Germany and we found out one day before they came for dinner that he can’t eat meat, except for fish and no sugar for him. (stomach issues) So, I made them my Tuscan Salmon and we gave him a banana and raspberries for dessert while we ate cake. He was so good about it and a really fun guy too. They are great missionaries, but I always hate to see them transfer away. That motherly instinct kicks in and I miss them when they move on. Tomorrow we are having a bowling outing with our district for the last P-day of this transfer, me, Elder Glenn and 6 young elders. This should be a lot of fun because I haven’t bowled in a long time.
We also got a picture of our institute class, though one student was missing last week. These are the YSA missionary couple that we work with, the Clarks. Again, I am so sad that they are going home in May. It has been an absolute delight to work with them in YSA and to go to zone conferences together. We also work with them in the temple on our Thursday shift. We have made so many wonderful friendships in our first 6 months. This is the best mission!
Au Revoir,
The Glenns