The last letter from Elder Pelton!

 

WOW!!!

My mission has been great. I can't believe it is almost over and I will be seeing all of you so soon. I don't have much to say this week because i can just tell you all what has happened in about a week, so I will keep it kind of short.  This week has been great.   We taught a lot more than we have this transfer and it was awesome. We have met so many new people that I am excited to see this week who will one day be amazing memebers of the church.  Once we start meeting with them, things wil go well. We are teaching a bunch of families and are going to be picking up a bunch of families.  I am kind of bummed because i won't get to see the end of teaching them and all that good stuff.  But I trust the elders that will be teaching them. I am excited for the mission!  We just had a zone leader council where all the zone leaders in the mission get together and discuss how the mission is doing.  There are going to be some big changes happening in our mission because of the new mission president change and all the things that have happened in the past few months. Missionaries in the mission have started to become a little more relaxed and not as focused on serving the Lord but more looking for the fun of a mission.  Because of that, President Alba is starting to crack down on a lot of the rules.  Now we can only listen to MOTAB hymns, (that is the biggest change,) and we are not allowed to call outside of our zone at all. There are some other small things that have changed that he is using to get us all more focused. it is going to be great for the mission because of all the new missionaries coming in.

   One of the families we are teaching is doing so well.  The husband is named Nick and he has had a colorful background.  The best part about him is that he wants to change all of it and become better.  You can tell because he is doing all the things we ask him to do. We have not met his wife yet cause she works a lot but the kids are awesome - very well behaved and listen to their parents. They are awesome and will definitely get baptized one day.  I also found out that in Petaluma, one of my old areas, that Bill Walsh, one of the investigators I found and started teaching, is getting BAPTIZED!!!!!!  It is so cool because when I was there, we were teaching him and he was doing great.  He came to church every week and was reading and was right there close to getting baptized but he was unsure if that was what he wanted to do. Then he went out of town to visit his family and was gone for over a month and did not get back until after I had left. Well, I guess he started to get back into everything and met with the sister missionaries that are there right  now and is now getting baptized!!!.  It was so cool to get a phone call from President Alba about that. It was awesome. 

    Well, I've got to get going and I can't wait to SEE all of you next week and be with you again. Keep the faith. Endure to the end and keep your focus on pleasing the Lord. I love all of you and I am super excited to come home.

Love from 

Elder Pelton