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Elder Nelson - 4th of July

Dear Family,

Mission NewsOn Monday Elder Southard came to live with us for a week. He badly rolled his ankle on March 1 and it has not healed. The doctors said that if he stayed off of it for 4 to 6 weeks, it would probably heal. Last week he was with the Elder and Sister Downs.

Elder Southard

He was a perfect gentleman, never complained and was easy to have around except that he was on crutches. He has a great attitude and wonderful humble spirit.

He came with us to the office. We tried to keep him busy helping us out and we were successful half of the time. Unfortunately the pain in his ankle got worse and the doctors now recommend surgery. He flew home Saturday. Hopefully he will be back in a few months. The Church says that he has to be able to walk 6 miles with out stopping for 3 consecutive days before he can return.

We went to a District Council in Arlington. Elder Corcran is the district leader and did the training on charity. He has a wonderful enthusiasm for the work and the people. He truly loves the gospel and the gift of charity. It was one of the best district councils we have been to.

Tuesday night there was a mission presidency meeting. President Caplin likes to do the Zoom video conferencing. The meeting was supposed to start at 8:00, but President Caplin did not join until 8:40. The meeting went to 10:40. The main topic was Young Single Adult wards. When we first came to the mission, when family ward missionaries found a YSA friend, the friend was referred to the YSA missionaries. The problem with that is that many friends were dropped in the hand off. Now if missionaries find a YSA friend, they keep them and teach them. The missionaries work with the YSA lead missionaries to involve them in YSA activities and invite them to the YSA wards. Also the YSA lead missionaries are also assigned to a family ward. In one way this has worked well. YSA baptisms are up. Many get transferred to the YSA wards. However the YSA wards are feeling abandoned by the missionaries and feel they don’t participate in the teaching and fellowshipping as much as they want to. We are making some adjustments to the program to more fully keep the YSA members involved.

Last week I interview Mariama. Yesterday I had the delight to baptize her.
 
Singing the opening hymn at the baptism.
 Another brother was baptized, Ray sitting to my left. The brother that baptized him was baptized two years ago. There were 6 other friends that attended the baptism. Next week an Iranian woman will be baptized.

Fun Stuff
On the 4th we went to Bull Run in Manassas. This is where the first major battle of the civil war was fought and another major battle 2 years later. It was fascinating to see the cannons and other weapons and also see how the battles were fought and the strategies that were used. Most people on both sides of the war thought the war would last a few weeks or months. The Union recruits were recruited for only 90 days of service. Spectators showed up with picnic baskets to enjoy the spectacle. How wrong they were! This war was the deadliest of all of the wars in US History. 600,000 died.

Manassas Battlefield at Bull Run
In Virginia a “run” is a creek or small river.

Next week on Tuesday the new missionaries attend a new missionary training. The Senior Office Missionaries put on the lunch. It was decided that we wanted watermelon. I suggested we cut the watermelon the way Aunt Jane does. We tried to follow her procedure, but hers looked a lot nicer. Part of the secret is getting a bowl of the right size.

I like how the result is long “spears” with no rind.



WES NewsSaturday I worked on sales pitch to sell WES. Now I need to find some potential buyers

Family NewsOn Saturday July 13 the fun begins! Mom and I are looking forward to the pictures and videos – and the stories.

Love,
Dad

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