Elder Samuel Burge: An amazing week for us – Elder Stovall is our lucky charm

Hello family-

Thanks for sending such a great birthday gift!~ I've been listening to those CD's non-stop since I got them, and that compact pool table is freakin' sweet! After we finish our planning at night we play some pick-up games of billiards!(seriously, that was a great idea- it's really fun.) The shoulder-bag is also really nice, it's been useful!

This week has been an amazing week for us, we had so much success it was ridiculous. We were able to set some dates with two people that we've been teaching. We were teaching this lady, Kathy, about the gospel of Jesus Christ and she said that if she was ready by the end of January that she'd be baptized! What's really cool though is that her friend had joined us for the first time, and when we asked her to be baptized she turned to him and said, "I don't know- Manwell, will you be baptized in January?" and to our astonishment he said that he would once he knew it was true! You know it's a good lesson when your investigators extend the baptismal invitations for you!

We've been able to get in with a lot of people to teach this week- been my best week yet here in the Willamette area. It was sweet! We also are helping a lady we're meeting with build an extension onto her chicken coop- which is really enjoyable. We also helped this other guy dig a small ditch in his front yard and then putting up some plasterboard above a door in his house. That was cool- I got stuck raking leaves out of a dried pond though for that one..

Being in a trio is pretty sweet- Elder Stovall is a good missionary and he's pretty chill when we get back to the apartment at night! He's been our lucky charm in bringing us more work in the area- which is awesome! Knocking doors is probably my least favorite part about it- it's kind of weird with three guys standing around your door.. President Morby promised the mission that if we sang Christmas carols while contacting that we'd be able to get into more doors so we decided to try it (me rather reluctantly) at like 1 o' clock in the afternoon- it was terrible.. Nobody let us even finish a song, it was really awkward, and honestly we were not singing well together..! But, lesson learned- we're going to go caroling with members in the evening so it's less strange (and also with people that can sing decently).

Sorry to hear that Kayleigh's lesson didn't go that well. It really is so much easier and enjoyable to teach when you have an audience that is actually willing to listen and participate. Tell her not to worry too much about it, I'm sure she did a great job teaching. It's good to hear that Ben passed his math finals! While putting together part of the wall for this chicken coop we're building I had to do some long division and it was difficult- I'm definitely going to need help with math when I'm in college because I can't remember, like, any of it at all..

It's weird to think that I've been out for a year- I'm halfway through already! This whole year has gone by so quickly- it's strange how true it is when people say that this time will fly by quickly, because it really does. I've definitely experienced a lot of changes this past year- I don't think I'm quite the same person I was before I left. Still me, but my perspective has changed- and my faith has grown in the savior Jesus Christ. I did not even have a testimony really before I left, but I do now and that's pretty sweet.

Well, I love you all and hope that your week goes well. I love you and thanks again for everything.

-Elder Samuel A. Burge