July 6, 2011

FAMILY,
Sorry the library was closed on Monday and yesterday we had a meeting in Iowa City for zone leader council. I think you were asking what ZLC was, its zone leader council. I received your letter yesterday and no, we were not the ones that had to go to the baptismal font in the middle of the night. We received a call from the Hannibal Elders in the middle of the night and they were on their way to the church. They live in a rickety apartment so they thought it would be better it they went to Wal-mart to seek shelter, but they thought they saw a tornado and turned around the other way and their next bet was the baptismal font. We live on the bottom floor of an old brick house. We do have a basement we can jump into if we need, or if we even wake up. By the way the same Hannibal Elders were the ones who are going to ship a turtle home. After the storm, the Mayor of Quincy was thinking about calling the Governor to declare a state of emergency because of all of the costs of fixing everything, I'm not sure if it happened or not.
Some cool stuff happened this week. We saw "Our Story Goes On". It is performed by the main characters of the Nauvoo pageant. They came to Quincy and put on this sweet play about the plan of salvation. We also saw Vocal Point, it's like a BYU group that sings song and music only using their voices. They came to an old folks home, and wow the old grandmas sure loved them. And tonight we are scheduled to work at the Nauvoo Pageant. We were assigned to work there Wednesdays and Friday nights for the next month. We are the ones the walk around and ask people for referrals, probably much like the missionaries at the easter pageant, I don't really know, I'll find out tonight.
Sis G and D were baptized! It was awesome, there was a good turnout from the ward at the baptism, and then a fast and testimony meeting. One of their sons J, and their daughter B bore their testimony. The whole meeting Sis G and I were trying to get Bro G to go up and bear his. We finally talked him into it. That whole family has changed. Sis G is the glue in that family and she is so solid.
Just thought that I would mention this because it blows my mind. Yesterday we received portable DVD players for the whole zone. Every companionship is commanded, by the brethren, to have one and use it in companionship study. There is a huge push for missionary efforts coming from headquarters. The brethren said that this area is ready to explode and our baptismal goal will quadruple if we work with the members. They are going all out to ensure we are the best teachers.

I LOVE YOU ALL.....18 months today, but no one's counting...-Elder Hale