Thanksgiving in Jacksonville

It is almost Thanksgiving time!  Here in Jacksonville the military gets a longer a leave for Thanksgiving than for Christmas, which means this town is really going to die.  We are planning on having a Thanksgiving meal with the Ashes, the family we baptized back in August.

My new companion is Elder Roberts, he is Canadian and went to college there, but he grew up in Utah. He is also 5 years older than me!  Elder Roberts is great we are very similar, and we get a long very well.  He is also a lot like me, he is very interested in international affairs.  He is very knowledgeable and we talk to each other about things about the church, that even most missionaries don't know much about.  And also like me, he is very messy.  His previous areas either didn't have a good ward working with him or the branch was very small, so he hasn't been as busy as he has seen us here. 

Both sets of elders and both sets of senior missionaries live in the same apartment complex. We do things together a lot especially on preparation day.  The work is going great here.  Our investigators are doing well, they are slowly, but surely progressing towards baptism.  If our investigators keep their commitments we should have multiple baptisms in December.  We mostly find through our own efforts, but sometimes we get referrals, and when we do get referrals we are usually referred to less active members.

I really do not need anything for Christmas, bike works fine, clothes are holding up and everything else is working well.  I did receive the cookies you sent me they are very delicious, thank you! I am happy for any Christmas goodies that you will send me.

I have not had to dry clean my suits yet, but I want to do that soon. The weather has been good, for the most part it has been in the 70s.  But a big cold front hit us so it is now in the 30s for the last 2 days.  Kiley did email and it would be great to hear from Eve or Hayden. It sounds like it will be a small Thanksgiving this year, but it should still be good. 

That is a great spiritual thought from Elder Hale. (Stand Strong in Holy Places)  We either immerse ourselves in the gospel or we will become captive to the devil and there is no 3rd option. Many people try to find a 3rd option and those are the ones that are carefully led down to Hell, by the Devil.

Thanks for all that you do and I will email you again next week.

Love, Elder Lakey