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Tuesday, November 25, 2014

November 24, 2014 - Transfer week. Again.

Elder Smith and Elder Miles at the mission home
I feel like I write something about transfers every time I email home. I've already been involved in four transfers since I came to this area and they all seem so close together. Like usual, it was an extremely fun week. There were 26 brand new missionaries that arrived, which is the biggest group since I’ve been in the office. President Riggs, Sister Riggs, Elder Raban, and myself each had to drive a different vehicle (including a 12 passenger van) in order to bus them all around. We had to take the sister missionaries to a hotel for their first night because they couldn't all fit in the mission home. Seeing how much work it takes to bring in 26 missionaries makes me feel compassion for the Assistants who had to organize everything last summer. My incoming group had 37 and the transfer after mine was 42, so it must have been a ton of work for them. 

Elder Miles and missionaries from his previous district
I think we averaged around 4 hours of sleep each night from Monday through Thursday. On Wednesday night after we tuck all the new missionaries in bed and kiss them good night, we go to the office to finalize everything for transfer meeting the next day. We didn't get to bed until around 3 and then had to get up at 6. Though it was the first transfer cycle with me leading out the area, I feel it went very smoothly. This transfer will be seven weeks long, so it will end on January 8, 2015. There will be a lot of significant events including Thanksgiving, Christmas, my 18 month mark, New Years, and my birthday. I look forward to a great transfer!

Robert, our new investigator that I mentioned last week, is awesome! We had a lesson with him on Saturday morning at his house. We brought a member of our ward who got off his mission a couple of months ago. As I mentioned, Robert wants to finish the Book of Mormon and the New Testament before he gets baptized, so he reads for 2 hours every day! That is some dedication! His girlfriend is the one who introduced him to the church and many times that is the reason people join the church. His girl friend attends a family ward in Arlington that he has been going to for a couple months. He told us that even if things don't work out with his girlfriend, he still wants to join the church. Robert wants to come to our ward by himself, so that he can get integrated with the rest of the members. It is crazy how solid he is on joining the church and it is all for the right reasons.

Robert came to church with us after already attending a couple hours at his girlfriend’s ward. He participated more than most of the members. He would raise his hand in class and get really involved in the lesson. Many people came up and introduced themselves to him and he would also approach others and start talking to them. I almost don't feel like he is an investigator (haha). We are really lucky and excited to be teaching him.

We had to be President Riggs' "brute squad" this week. There had been a man who had been bothering some sister missionaries. One of their neighbors has been leaving them gifts and knocking on their door all the time. They have been feeling pretty uncomfortable about the whole situation for awhile. They asked him to stop, but he kept bothering them. President Riggs asked us to go talk with this guy and ask him to leave the sisters alone. We had a nice short talk and asked him to stop bothering them. He told us he would leave them alone and then we left. I love the random little chores we get asked to do (haha).

I really look forward to the coming week! We are having Thanksgiving dinner with a member of our ward and a non member friend of hers. It is a win-win. Dinner and a lesson! Happy Thanksgiving!

With love,
Elder Braden Miles
Washington DC South Mission

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