Email: May 21, 2012

Dear Family,

Thank you for the Birthday wishes!  I have to say I am very sorry to Matthew, your birthday card is going to be a little late!  I have had a very busy week and didn't get a chance to get it off.  But I will today I promise! 

This week has been a long one but it was awesome.  My new companions name is Elder Vande Merwe.  He is from Smithfield Utah.  It sounds like he is from some different country but he isn't.  He has been doing really well his first week out in the field.  We have to do training every morning from 10 to 11 and we do some role plays and watch some preach my gospel clips and then study from preach my gospel.  It is nice to go through this training program because I never did with Elder Snyder.  And the first time that I came out they didn't use this same one.  So it is all pretty new to me also.  He is a little shy and doesn't know the gospel very well but he is working very hard to get to know it better and learn to teach well.  I am excited that I get to be there and help him along this path.  He is going to be an awesome missionary.  When president was talking with me about the district leader stuff he told me to include him with everything that I will be doing with that, so I know that he trusts him already and wants him to have that for later in his mission. 

We set a date this week with Zack's mom which is awesome!  She has been reading the Book of Mormon with him and then they will go through and talk about what they read, it's very cool.  She is an awesome lady and is trying to understand as much as she can.  She has this friend who used to live here in Roseburg that is a member that she has been talking with and she has been helping her along also.  I am so excited for this family.  They are going to have the gospel in their lives forever now and it is going to be such a blessing!  I am grateful that I was here when he came to church and decided to become a member of the church. 

I have had a few people tell me over the past few weeks that they know that I was supposed to come here because I am the one person that got through to them.  It was very humbling to be told that.  I don't feel very adequate as a teacher and as a missionary but they feel that I am.  Christa, a lady that we have been teaching that is already a member, told me yesterday that every student has their teacher and that I am hers.  It is crazy to think that I really am here in roseburg oregon for a reason and that I really get to be an instrument in the lords hands to bless his children.  It's different than anything I have ever felt before. 

This week we have a bunch of new people that we are going to meet with that I am really excited about.  We are going to go and set a whole mess of baptism dates!  Our zone needs it.  It is really going down hill pretty quick after this new zone leader came in.  We went from 10 dates to 5 in a week, and we have 3 of those!   I am going to do my best this transfer to bring it back up. 

 

We are going over to Sister Littlejohns tonight for dinner so that should be pretty fun, but other than that we aren't doing anything fun.  I am kind of upset about that but it is okay.  We will probably go play some pool at a members house that is always trying to get us to come.  They didn't end up giving me a car so we are still full bike.  I don't mind that.  I really like riding a bike, it makes things more interesting ha ha.  The only frustrating thing about it is that we are at the mercy of those people who do have a car and thats why we aren't doing anything fun today.  The wicks had us over for dinner on friday and they bought me a transformers cake, it was awesome!  I love that family.  They also got me a ducks shirt that is really cool.  I am really excited for you all to meet them some day.  I am really excited that I get to stay here in Roseburg for another 3 months.  I love this area so much!   Well I love you all, thanks again for the Birthday wishes!

Love,

Elder Erickson