Dear Mom,
There seems to be a lot of confusion about our area right now. Our ward meets down here in the valley, but the boundaries extended beyond the mountains into the desert headed out to Las Vegas. The mission office is working on getting us a map of the boundaries, so we can know for sure. The area out in the desert includes Victorville and Hesperia etc, but the Samoan members out there have all their records in English wards because they can't travel every Sunday for church in their native language. As a result many have stopped coming to church, especially since they were denied an independent unit. The least that has been done for them is a Sunday School class in Samoan. First there was a class in a ward in Hesperia, now they just barely started a Samoan class in Adelanto. But, if people in other wards want to come they still have to go to sacrament and priesthood/relief society in their home wards, so they still have to travel.
In response to this situation the Bishop of our ward has proposed that we have someone set apart to preside over Sacrament and other services held in the desert as a dependant congregation to our Inland Empire ward down here in the valley. That means everyone's records up in the desert are transferred from the English wards to our Inland Empire Samoan ward, and have them meet together as a separate congregation while depending on the leadership here in the valley. The only problem is that this change involves three different stakes.
Now, our stake president down here in the valley has already called and set apart one of our good High Priests and former bishop to preside over this congregation every week and report to the bishop. This way all the members out in the desert share the privileges and responsibilities of the Inland Empire Samoan ward i.e. callings, tithing, Visiting/Home teaching, and most importantly having services in a language they can better understand and be understood.
All we are waiting on at this point is a time and a place to meet as a congregation. Once that happens we will be able to transfer records and other things like that. When that is all taken care of, we as missionaries will finally have something to stand on. Right now, we pretty much wander around up there finding people to visit, but have no where to bring them once they are found.
We've started teaching two families, one is part member. They are such good people and have great potential. We even told one of them we have the option of continuing to teach them ourselves or referring them to the English missionaries, but he said he'd rather have us do it.
There is so much to do up there the mission office has given us spare room in an apartment up in Victorville. We've been compiling a list of people we've been visiting that will serve as evidence of the needs of these people. President Sanchez is asking for a summary of each family and their situation. All the stake presidents concerned will be meeting this Sunday to review the situation and what can be done. We hope to find a way to get this list to the meeting.
There is so much to do up there the mission office has given us spare room in an apartment up in Victorville. We've been compiling a list of people we've been visiting that will serve as evidence of the needs of these people. President Sanchez is asking for a summary of each family and their situation. All the stake presidents concerned will be meeting this Sunday to review the situation and what can be done. We hope to find a way to get this list to the meeting.
So, that's about everything that's going on here. Plus a few people we're teaching down here in the valley. It feels like a heavy burden at times, but honestly I couldn't be happier. Sometimes I forget how much I enjoy hard work. But, I just want you to know things are going well and we are all being blessed more than we realize. Thank you for everything you do.
Love,
Elder Freeman
