Hello!
So, I had so much fun last night talking to you all. It was great to hear you're all doing great. I'm so happy you all could be there on the phone call. It was a good phone call that really picked me up.
The ward said their farewells at church. It was sad. Mainly because I bet a little more involved in the ward this transfer. I said good-bye to Elder Stringham. That was really hard. Not because I'm sad I won't see him any time soon. But as I stood there, singing "God Be With You 'Till We Meet Again," I had this awful realization that all these people I was surrounded by and loved, would be leaving before I did, and I would most likely never see any of them again. The Spirit was so strong, and I was so sad, that I couldn't even sing.
My new companion is Elder Brown. I'm serving in the Olalla ward which is in the Gig (Geeg) Harbor Zone. The area is small, but insanely rural. Some houses are miles apart, which will make tracting really difficult. Here's my new address:
1335 Swofford Lane
Port Orchard, WA 98367
We're only teaching the family of five that I told you about. Which I'm fine with. We can find more and more potentials.
Well, that's crazy about the lawn mower! And I'm glad you're had a fun Mother's day. I gotta go, but I'll send you a letter on Monday of next week. Well, I love you all. Happy Mother's day and have a great week!
Elder Courtney Casselman
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Keep on keepin on
Dear Mother and Father,
Hello! So, I'm in my new, very rural area! And I'm just going to warn you now. These letters I'll send whilst in Olalla will be pretty short. Not a lot happens here.
We only have nine investigators, four of which I have not met and/or gotten a hold of. And three of those Elder Brown hasn't even met. Oh, dear. Our family of five, the Wilson's, are further from baptism than I originally anticipated. It'll be tough, and we'll have to work hard with them.
The area is very rural, making tracting useless, and everyone here works at the shipyard. That way, no one is home during the mornings and afternoons. It's tough to come up with stuff to do during those times and stay under miles.
Elder Brown is pretty disobedient. We don't tract 5-7's, he sleeps in until 9:30, so I get two hours of personal study, and well, there's a long list. But he's still a great guy and I'm working on it. This area is tough, but I'll be fine.
We taught the Wilson's the commandments, and I tried to commit the mom to quit smoking and drinking coffee. She said no. But I'll keep working on that, also. I taught Elder's Quorum. It was on missionary work. SURPRISE! But it went well, and I practically begged for referrals.
Well, sorry it's so short, I love you all. Hugs, loves and handshakes.
Elder Courtney Casselman
Hello! So, I'm in my new, very rural area! And I'm just going to warn you now. These letters I'll send whilst in Olalla will be pretty short. Not a lot happens here.
We only have nine investigators, four of which I have not met and/or gotten a hold of. And three of those Elder Brown hasn't even met. Oh, dear. Our family of five, the Wilson's, are further from baptism than I originally anticipated. It'll be tough, and we'll have to work hard with them.
The area is very rural, making tracting useless, and everyone here works at the shipyard. That way, no one is home during the mornings and afternoons. It's tough to come up with stuff to do during those times and stay under miles.
Elder Brown is pretty disobedient. We don't tract 5-7's, he sleeps in until 9:30, so I get two hours of personal study, and well, there's a long list. But he's still a great guy and I'm working on it. This area is tough, but I'll be fine.
We taught the Wilson's the commandments, and I tried to commit the mom to quit smoking and drinking coffee. She said no. But I'll keep working on that, also. I taught Elder's Quorum. It was on missionary work. SURPRISE! But it went well, and I practically begged for referrals.
Well, sorry it's so short, I love you all. Hugs, loves and handshakes.
Elder Courtney Casselman
late, late, late
(Please forgive me for my lateness in posting letters. Our modem has been on the fritz.)
Dear Mother and Father,
Okay, we had the most amazing baptism yesterday! Casey Cottey and Darlene Chappell were baptized at the same service! And the Spirit was so strong!
So, Casey brought his mom and younger sister, while Darlene brought her daughter's (Brandi)husband, Billy. I gave the missionary inspire/moment, and invited all who have not been baptized (especially those three people) to be baptized! Brandi reached over and patted Billy on the shoulder. Bill got teary eyed during the baptism, and said that he wants to see Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration!
After the baptism, I talked to Casey's mom. She said that she wishes Casey would have waited. I was a little scared until she said that he should have waited to do it...as a family! Woot! What we were thinking we would do is teach them (the mother and the daughter) and have Casey baptize them. Holy Cow! That's be amazing!
We put another UBC on date for Saturday. Woot! Matt Love is the son of a less-active, seven-year convert. The mom, Sister Fink, is coming to church and enjoying it. The ward, sadly, is not being supportive of this...:( (sad face). In fact, all but one of the Gem Heights UBC's are frowned upon. But Brother Jones says: "Do it anyway and don't take it personally!" Mwa, ha, ha.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!
Totally freakin' happy day to be a mommy! Even better...I get to call you.
Alright. I'll tell you how the baptisms turn out.
Loves and stuff!
Elder Court Casselman
Dear Mother and Father,
Okay, we had the most amazing baptism yesterday! Casey Cottey and Darlene Chappell were baptized at the same service! And the Spirit was so strong!
So, Casey brought his mom and younger sister, while Darlene brought her daughter's (Brandi)husband, Billy. I gave the missionary inspire/moment, and invited all who have not been baptized (especially those three people) to be baptized! Brandi reached over and patted Billy on the shoulder. Bill got teary eyed during the baptism, and said that he wants to see Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration!
After the baptism, I talked to Casey's mom. She said that she wishes Casey would have waited. I was a little scared until she said that he should have waited to do it...as a family! Woot! What we were thinking we would do is teach them (the mother and the daughter) and have Casey baptize them. Holy Cow! That's be amazing!
We put another UBC on date for Saturday. Woot! Matt Love is the son of a less-active, seven-year convert. The mom, Sister Fink, is coming to church and enjoying it. The ward, sadly, is not being supportive of this...:( (sad face). In fact, all but one of the Gem Heights UBC's are frowned upon. But Brother Jones says: "Do it anyway and don't take it personally!" Mwa, ha, ha.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!
Totally freakin' happy day to be a mommy! Even better...I get to call you.
Alright. I'll tell you how the baptisms turn out.
Loves and stuff!
Elder Court Casselman
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Continuing letters
Woot! It's Mother's Day in a week! Happy Mother's day! So, I get out of church at 4:30, and we'll probably be at Bro. Radamak's house by 5:00. I'll most likely call you from 5:00 to 6:00 (which is 6:00 to 7:00 your time) It depends on how long each of our calls take. There are four of us so I might actually call pretty late. But be expecting a phone call...now...what's your phone number again...hahah. That was a joke. Also, I haven't heard from Sarah in a long time, if you want to (I mean, if you want it to be a family thing, that's totally cool) invite her over. I'd love to talk to her.
We had our baptisms last night. Darlene Chappell and Casey Cottey. I'll tell you about the baptisms in the letter I'll send you. We also got another baptism (that's five for this weekend!) and so we are going to be at the church all day! And our slightly irritating ward mission leader won't let us have a baptism on mother's day, so we'll be cramming five or six all on Saturday. Which I guess is good. Then we'll have eight or nine confirmed on the following Sunday!
Okay, so, I got the package...and LOVED IT! Oh, man. I was so excited when I saw it. Funny story. Elder Wager and I were in the house the entire day, then when we go and email...the package shows up. So, I had to wait until the following day...after Zone Meeting...to get it. But it was just GREAT! I especially loved the Onion powder. That rocked. We'll be making Mac' and Cheese soon!
Oh, now you're talking about movies. We were at a members last night (the snake guy) and he was telling me about a movie he saw on TV multiple times. Then he rented it and found out how much it swore. Guess what movie it was. Yup, that's right...The Shawshank Redemption. Poops. One of my favorite movies! But I told him about the ClearPlay and he was TOTALLY down with it! I love telling members about it because they're not like Utah Mormons who get shunned if you watch an 'R' rated movie. Mormons here watch 'em already. Ha ha ha. So, when you tell them about the ClearPlay...they always get excited. "Oh, now I can watch that movie without the filth!"
I can't wait to hear about who the new Bishopric is! I'm totally pumped! Any one from our ward? What's dad going to do now? Anyways...I'll send you a letter of all that is going down with the work. It's pretty amazing with how many POTENTIALS we can put on date. That's not including all the ones we are teaching. So, I totally look forward to calling you! It'll be great to talk to you and not have to read only! See, if you're okay with it, if you can get Sarah there to. Give her a call. Tell her what's going on! Alright...Loves, hugs and handshakes to you all! By the way...Three months down, and I've already got eight baptisms! Love you all!
Elder Courtney Casselman
We had our baptisms last night. Darlene Chappell and Casey Cottey. I'll tell you about the baptisms in the letter I'll send you. We also got another baptism (that's five for this weekend!) and so we are going to be at the church all day! And our slightly irritating ward mission leader won't let us have a baptism on mother's day, so we'll be cramming five or six all on Saturday. Which I guess is good. Then we'll have eight or nine confirmed on the following Sunday!
Okay, so, I got the package...and LOVED IT! Oh, man. I was so excited when I saw it. Funny story. Elder Wager and I were in the house the entire day, then when we go and email...the package shows up. So, I had to wait until the following day...after Zone Meeting...to get it. But it was just GREAT! I especially loved the Onion powder. That rocked. We'll be making Mac' and Cheese soon!
Oh, now you're talking about movies. We were at a members last night (the snake guy) and he was telling me about a movie he saw on TV multiple times. Then he rented it and found out how much it swore. Guess what movie it was. Yup, that's right...The Shawshank Redemption. Poops. One of my favorite movies! But I told him about the ClearPlay and he was TOTALLY down with it! I love telling members about it because they're not like Utah Mormons who get shunned if you watch an 'R' rated movie. Mormons here watch 'em already. Ha ha ha. So, when you tell them about the ClearPlay...they always get excited. "Oh, now I can watch that movie without the filth!"
I can't wait to hear about who the new Bishopric is! I'm totally pumped! Any one from our ward? What's dad going to do now? Anyways...I'll send you a letter of all that is going down with the work. It's pretty amazing with how many POTENTIALS we can put on date. That's not including all the ones we are teaching. So, I totally look forward to calling you! It'll be great to talk to you and not have to read only! See, if you're okay with it, if you can get Sarah there to. Give her a call. Tell her what's going on! Alright...Loves, hugs and handshakes to you all! By the way...Three months down, and I've already got eight baptisms! Love you all!
Elder Courtney Casselman
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Baptisms
Dear Mother and Father,
So, you most likely got my email, which means I don't have a lot more to tell you about besides the awesome line-up of baptisms.
We have six...yes, count it, six people that are on date for baptism! Our first totally amazing baptism is Darlene. She is the mother to Brandi (a recent convert) and grandmother to Brandi (Brandi's daughter who is also a recent convert) and at first, she wasn't interested. BOO! But when she heard about the temple, she decided to listen in. When she asked Elder Stringham if she could go to the temple, he said, "Only if you get baptized." Her response was "...Okay!"
The second baptism, which is on the same day, is Casey Cottey. He came to youth group with a friend and afterwards, Elder Wager and the super-hot friend took him on a church tour. He totally wanted to get baptized but his mom was against it. After she talked to us, though, she changed her mind, is letting Casey be baptized and is interested herself! Woot!
The following week, we have four UBC's (un-baptized children)! Ali, whose mom is a less-active member, is super excited about baptism. Our miracle, Tito, who was adopted and is nine. A recent convert wanted all her grandchildren to be baptized, and one just turned eight. And Cordillia wants to follow in her brother's footsteps and be baptized! These are ALL miracles!!!
Well, I love you all, and I pray you're all doing great! Love, hugs and handshakes to you all.
Elder Courtney Casselman
p.s. Stringham came up with this idea: You could email me, but print off the email so I can read it before P-day!
p.p.s. It's hard to overstate my satisfaction.
So, you most likely got my email, which means I don't have a lot more to tell you about besides the awesome line-up of baptisms.
We have six...yes, count it, six people that are on date for baptism! Our first totally amazing baptism is Darlene. She is the mother to Brandi (a recent convert) and grandmother to Brandi (Brandi's daughter who is also a recent convert) and at first, she wasn't interested. BOO! But when she heard about the temple, she decided to listen in. When she asked Elder Stringham if she could go to the temple, he said, "Only if you get baptized." Her response was "...Okay!"
The second baptism, which is on the same day, is Casey Cottey. He came to youth group with a friend and afterwards, Elder Wager and the super-hot friend took him on a church tour. He totally wanted to get baptized but his mom was against it. After she talked to us, though, she changed her mind, is letting Casey be baptized and is interested herself! Woot!
The following week, we have four UBC's (un-baptized children)! Ali, whose mom is a less-active member, is super excited about baptism. Our miracle, Tito, who was adopted and is nine. A recent convert wanted all her grandchildren to be baptized, and one just turned eight. And Cordillia wants to follow in her brother's footsteps and be baptized! These are ALL miracles!!!
Well, I love you all, and I pray you're all doing great! Love, hugs and handshakes to you all.
Elder Courtney Casselman
p.s. Stringham came up with this idea: You could email me, but print off the email so I can read it before P-day!
p.p.s. It's hard to overstate my satisfaction.
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