Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Time to make a move...

Alex is getting transfered!! Can you believe it? After only just a few short weeks in Wamego Kansas, Alex is being transfered to Platte City, Missouri. Welcome to life as a missionary. Just when you think that all of your hard work is starting to pay off and there is no way that you could be transfered now, that is when it happens. But even though Alex won't be in Wamego to finish what he and his companion started, the work will go on. One of the downsides of getting transfered at Christmas time is that now his Christmas presents from home are going to have to catch up to him in a new city. Oh well, Alex will just have to focus on the real meaning of Christmas this week and enjoy his presents from home a little later. Even though Alex doesn't want to leave Wamego, he also knows that there is probably a good reason for this transfer and that there are more opportunities ahead.

Before Alex left Wamego, he wrote to tell us about all of the good things that were happening. They have been teaching several really good people, the youth in the ward have been very involved with the missionary work there and the Wamego High wrestling team is doing well. Alex and his companion even had the local newspaper come and interview them for a story about all of the volunteer work that they have been doing.

Last Saturday night Alex and his companion went to the Wamego branch Christmas party. They also invited several of the people that they are teaching to attend with them. Alex mentioned in his last email that he and his companion sang, I guess, during the talent portion of the party. He said that they sounded OK but they did better during practice. What do you expect from a wrestler! ;-)

Well, with Christmas coming up this week, we also have the opportunity to talk to Alex on the phone. He is planning to call us on Christmas day. That will be the best Christmas present we get this year.


Merry Christmas to you all!

Monday, December 7, 2009

In the thick of everything...

As usual, Alex is right in the thick of everything and anything that he can find. He wrote to tells us that Thanksgiving was crazy. Alex and his companion celebrated Thanksgiving over and over again as they were invited to share Thanksgiving dinner with several different families. He really didn't give us a lot of detail about how all of the dinners went, but I am sure that the food and the company were excellent. Thanksgiving dinner is always good and missionaries can always make the best of a good dinner.

Alex just keeps telling us how wonderful all of the experiences are on his mission. The only problem is that there is only so much detail that he can provide in a letter home once a week. So we will just have to be satisfied with statements like:

"Again things here are going super well, and we are working really hard. We are having so many awesome experiences!!"

For all of you who know Alex well, you know that he has the ability to take any situation and find the fun in it. The more we hear about the things that he and his companion are doing, the more that statement is true. They are working hard doing all of the things that missionaries do, but the way that Alex makes it sound, you would think that missionary work is just non-stop fun. Well, when it comes right down to it, that is exactly as it should be. Finding the fun in everything even if that thing is hard.

Alex and his companion have been doing a lot of community service around Wamego. I mentioned before that they have been volunteering at the High School and raking leaves for many of the neighbors around town. By the way, I looked up the population of Wamego and there are about 4000 people who live there. Given that, they probably won't be running out of yards to rake any time soon ;) Alex has mentioned over and over again how appreciative the neighbors have been and that some of them have even sent "Thank You" cards and baked them banana bread. I remember Alex saying before he left that he wasn't going to get fat on his mission. Well with all of the Thanksgiving dinners and banana bread, he better be on a serious exercise program. But leave it to missionaries to not let any good deed go unre-rewarded. Now they are thinking about baking cookies for all of the neighbors. The fun just never stops with them :)

As you can tell, Alex and his companion have met a lot of good people around Wamego. Some of them have been very interested in what the missionaries have to tell them and have decided to allow Alex and his companion to teach them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a wonderful thing which just makes all of the hard work worth all of the effort. They have also been getting a lot of help from some of the members of the branch in Wamego. That is always a good thing and really makes the work go a lot smoother.

Here is a fun story for some of you, especially for those who went with Alex to those early morning temple sessions over the past few years and then came back to our house for breakfast before going to school. Well Alex is still trying to keep up that tradition. He may not have the opportunity to attend the temple, but he mentioned in his last email about how some people he knows dropped their house one morning to say "Hi". Well I guess Alex just couldn't resist inviting them in for breakfast before they headed to school. Some traditions just seem to work no matter where you are.

Christmas is getting closer and Alex mentioned in his last email that it feels a little weird to be away from home on Christmas. This will be his first Christmas away from his family, so please send him a letter or a Christmas card. He loves being out on his mission but also loves hearing from people back home. Especially at Christmas. And to any of you who live in Wamego, thanks for making Alex feel welcome.