12-9-2013

Family,

First off, I am happy you got to talk to brother Waters. He's a really cool guy and used to live right next door to us before he moved a few blocks down to a bigger house with more room. I thought he was going to attend your ward but when I told him it starts at 9 AM (I think) he was like: "You're gonna make me get up early, are ya?" I really like his southern accent. Okay on to my week.

Monday was a very warm day. It felt so good to be wearing short sleeves before the winter blast hit us later in the week. That's when I took the picture of the geico gecko. There's a less active in Cunningham that was entered in a light competition just like snoopy in Charlie Brown. I don't know if he won yet but we'll find out tonight. I also wrote to brother Chen but haven't gotten a response yet. Speaking of letters, I haven't gotten any letters from anyone other than Grandpa for like over a month. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying. My MTC teacher predicted this and boy, was he right, haha! 

From Tuesday to Saturday we stayed in Kingman. I can't really remember what happened on Tuesday but that night we contacted a referral. This guy that we talked to has huge issues with God and his reality. He never really gave us too much of a chance to speak for the whole hour or so that we were there. He said that it's easy to believe in Jesus because there are tons of paintings of Him. He said if there were paintings of God it would be a lot easier to believe in Him. He's gone through many trials throughout his life that have degraded his patience with God like being charged with a DUI when he was totally fine. We did the best we could to answer his questions and would've answered them had he given us time to speak. To be honest, I was just glad when we got out of there, haha! 

Wednesday was when it really started to get cold. We had a ton of appointments that fell through this day but we made it work. We got a new investigator right before dinner. He's pretty cool and we're looking forward to inviting him to things. The biggest problem here in Kingman (including the guy I just described) is that they can't afford to drive all the way out to Pratt to come to church. Either that or they don't even have a car to get out there. That is super frustrating sometimes but we do what we can. A member came out with us that night and took us to Houdini's pizza. After I demolished their food, we had all of our appointments fall through. We literally tried everyone and all of our plans fell through. That stinks so much because he's our only team-up for the week and that's the only time in which we can get member presents. We did get to sit down with him and talk about the branch while having McDonald's hot chocolate. That was fun. Missionary work is very important to him. He's our Elders quorum president. We also sat down and spoke with brother Waters before the end of the night. That's when he told us he was going to SD this weekend. I can't remember if he said that he was going for work or vacation. But that's cool that he talked to you! I thought for sure that he would attend your ward. Maybe next time, though. 

Thursday was a tough day because we just could not plan effectively. Walking around Kingman is nice because everyone notices us. In fact a member who lives here called us one day and said that we're the talk of the town. She works at the hospit5al and spoke with someone there that told her that we came in asking to do service and talk to people in need. So I'm glad we're being noticed. I don't remember much from Thursday just that 2 more appointments fell through. Oh, we also wrote a letter to one of our inactive members here in Kingman to try to see if they actually live at their listed address. No response yet. 

Friday was a very depressing day. At about 8 o'clock at the beginning of our studies, we got a voicemail from president Bell which said the following: "Yesterday I received a letter from Salt Lake which says the following: 'due to the increasing numbers of missionaries throughout the world, Elders will be serving 18 month missions and Sisters will be serving 12 month missions. No extensions will be given.'" So for that hour of studies I cried and couldn't believed that my mission would end at the beginning of February. I felt like Dad at the end of his mission getting sent home 6 months early. I couldn't believe it. Then finally at the beginning of companionship study we got a voicemail from the zone leaders which I thought said to continue working hard for the amount of time that we have left. He later called me and explained the situation. It was just an exercise to make us recognize that our missions are going to end eventually and we need to devote all our time and attention to serving the Lord. I was pretty upset that we were joked and so was every other missionary in the zone. Apparently it wasn't even supposed to be sent out but it was supposed to be said at zone meeting the next day. I soon got over it, though, relieved that I am still going to be here for the full 2 years. The sisters in my district were pretty distraught, however, and were super depressed. Luckily, my companion is super good at making them laugh so we brightened their day fairly easily. 

Meanwhile, during the day we had a great lesson with a lady who has a baptismal date (it won't hold though due to certain stuff). The spirit was strong as we watched the restoration video. She now knows that the church is true and that this is where she needs to be. Again it's her financial situation. She said that she will save money to pay for the gas to get out there. We then thought to get her son involved in the lessons. He is 10 and more into religion than any other 10 year old I've seen. That night we had a super awkward situation too after dinner. We tried one of our potentials but she didn't answer but they pulled up as we were walking away. We just stood there thinking about what to do as they watched us for like 3 minutes. We soon just walked up to them and talked to them. She didn't remember who we were and as soon as she grabbed what she needed inside, got back in her special someone's car and he began to pull away before we finished talking to her. She eventually remembered who we were and when we met her like the second day we got to Kingman. We asked when we could return to help her with her junk in the front yard and inside but she didn't get a definitive answer. So we just left. I was glad to get out of there. 

Saturday we had a good zone meeting in Wichita. We had a mini-district meeting there too talking about our goals and such too. It was good. That night, we had dinner in Pratt where some members fed us Hanukkah type food. It was super good. On Sunday we had branch council and then had good meetings. We gained a new investigator too. That night we went to do secret Santa ourselves. It was way fun and I almost slipped on the ice. But I was happy to be able to bring back memories of SD doing that with the family. I also watched the first presidency Christmas devotional. It was a great devotional with lots of great music. Dad, all I have to say to you is........... MACK!!!! I loved Sister Wixom's talk the best. But yeah, that's pretty much my week!

Thank you so much for all that you guys do for me. I am truly appreciative of it. I have been chatting with Mom this whole time so I think all of your questions have been answered there. But I have to get going here pretty soon. May the Lord bless you this wonderful Christmas season. No matter how low things get, look at the bright side of life. I love this gospel and am so grateful for the testimony that I have acquired over these months in Kansas/Missouri. Love,

Elder Sutherland

PS: I am proud to announce that I didn't delete everything while typing.

PPS: "There was a little girl who had a little curl frolicking around in the forest. - "

"Stop it, I beg of you!"

"I'm sorry I acted so silly."

"Oh it's quite all right."