End of Another Transfer

From Elder Paul Freeman, dated March 12, 2008

Dear Family,

We're coming to a close of another transfer. While planning for this 6th week my mind was called to reflect the past 11 weeks Elder Leiato and I have been working together in the Inland Empire ward. It occurred to me that we didn't have very much to show for it as far as typical missionary work is concerned. Our ward has yet to have a baptism in 2008. So, I thought to myself if I wanted anything to show for the hard work we've been doing it would be at least one person with a baptismal date by the end of this week. The new transfer begins on Monday and we still have yet to commit someone to a baptismal date.

Tonight we are going up to Victorville and staying until Saturday. Our only hope is one family we've been teaching for several weeks now. His name is Vi (Vee), and his wife is Nina and they have 6 children. They have taken to the church more than anyone expected. Last week Vi told us he knew that the Book of Mormon is true and that he knew Joseph Smith was a prophet. I just about stood up and danced. After teaching about faith, repentance, and baptism we invited him to make the decision. He said he knew it was the right thing, but he wanted to learn more and improve some things. We told him to set a goal and pick a date where he would want to be ready by. This week we go back to follow up with that and set the date. The funny thing is, they probably will end up being baptised in a different ward. They don't speak Samoan and they've been attending the English ward for a few weeks now.

We also went into the mission office on Monday to update our report on all the Samoans we're finding in the Victorville/Hisperia areas. We've recorded about 230 people complete with names and addresses. It includes members, non-members, and less actives. About half are active, so we're not sure if Salt Lake will approve a new unit, but that's what we're hoping for. President Sanchez seemed very pleased with the work we've been doing regardless of the fact that we haven't had any baptisms.

So, we'll continue plugging away at things like we've been doing already and hope more good comes out of it than we're seeing. President also told us it would probably take a lot more time and if anything did happen it sounds like I'd be long gone. Nevertheless, I'm confident that we are doing the Lords work and, while we're far from perfect, I hope He is pleased with the effort we put forth and the things that are happening. Everything happens in His own time and we may not even see the fruits of our labor fully realized in this life.

But, thank you all for your love and support.

Love,

Elder Freeman