Dec. 5, 2009

Things here are getting kinda crazy with meetings this month. I'm really worried about how well we'll do in December just because we have so many non-proselyting meetings. The mission has organized a missionary choir that's is going to be singing in 3 different stakes this weekend and at 2 malls and in the Opry Land Hotel so with practices and the performances it takes our entire weekend!!! Then we also have zone conference this week, so we really only have 3 working days this week!!

Things are still going well we're running into the problem of trying to help the Burgesses get to church. We're unable to go on post to help wake them up and we have limited help because the unit on post is a branch so its a small group and spread out over a LOT of area. Ft Cambell has a lot of just wilderness type land all over it where they do field training and what not. So the actually residence area of the base is spread out long-ways over most of the city of Clarksville and Oak Grove spanning the Tennessee and Kentucky state line, so finding them a ride is hard. So they didn't make it to church, but we're seeing them tonight and we'll figure something out with the branch mission leader. He was called last week, he's really gung ho about the work and that helps out leaps and bounds so we're really excited to work with him.

There is a transfer on the 15th as far as me being transferred it seems probable but I have no idea. I'll find out this Saturday and will be able to tell you next week.

Cool story. Wednesday of this past week we had a choir practice and on Tuesday we had our ZLC at the mission home. So for 2 days in a row we drove down to Franklin and Brentwood and spent the majority of the day down there. On Wednesday after we got back to Clarksville we went to go see an old media refferal we got about a month ago. We had tried to contact this refferal several times and never had any success but we thought we'd try it again. We pulled up to the house and there were a bunch of cars outside like they were having a party or something. We thought about trying another time and then figured that we were already there we might as well go for it. So we did. Turns out the Romita Matsuda a local of the Marshall Islands had moved there about a month ago. Her and certain family members had been taught by the missionaries in the Marshall Islands for the entire summer and had been attending church. Romita wanted to be baptized and then her husband got home from a deployment and was posted to Ft Cambell. So now we're teaching her and she's going to be baptized on the day after Christmas! Then we went to her house again so she could follow us to the church to see where it was. When she was getting into the car she said to us in a very thick polynesian accent, "My cousin is coming too, she is also a Mormon believer!" Her cusin Marietta also wants to be baptized! So we are very excited about that. Thats two families this month who have already been taught everything about the gospel. The Burgesses had a set appointment with the missionaries in Germany every Saturday night for a YEAR! So now its really just a matter of helping them make the last few steps and doing the paper work. Its also a cool story because on Wednesday when we met Sister Matsuda and the Burgesses, we decided earlier that day to implement what we're calling the 12 dates of Christmas. We're trying to have 12 baptismal dates in the zone by the 12th of December and that night as a zone we set 5 dates!!

Thats about all thats been happening here this week.

Love Elder Carpenter