Shoulder Surgery To Be Part Of The Missionary Experience!

     Several weeks ago Brock aggravated a football shoulder injury which has left him in a great deal of pain, so much so that he had to walk around with his hand tucked into his belt to get some relief.  It is feeling better now, but he will undergo surgery within the next couple of weeks.  Sister MacDonald tells us the surgery will take Brock out of service for only a day.  He'll wear a sling for 4 weeks and undergo rehab for up to 12 weeks.  Despite that news, the missionary work goes on.

Elder Bird with Elder Osborn, one of his missionary buddies, at a recent zone conference.

     This morning I went to the doctor about my shoulder!  I discovered that I have two tears now, one in the front and one in the back.  All my tendons are loose in my shoulder, so he would need to repair the two tears and then tighten most of my tendons in my shoulder.  The only fix is surgery.  It is doing better because I have been lifting free weights.

Through all of this, Jannae (Brock's mom) is in Kenya on a 10 day medical mission.

     As for mom that is a really cool experience and it seems like she is enjoying it.  I just hope she is safe and I am keeping her in my prayers!
     
     My week!

     Monday we had lessons from like 6 to 10.  We taught this girl named Pauleen.  She is like mid 40's, is a recovering drug addict and has been into some serious stuff..  But she has been clean for 15 years and is really close to God.  We have been teaching her all week and the lessons have gone really well. So far she has given up smoking and accepted a date to be baptized on the 16th.  She came to the church and watched conference with us for the morning session. So it was pretty cool.  She has progressed very well and has grasped the importance of Jesus Christ and His gospel principles.

     I am way tight with this kid named Garrett who we met playing basketball.  He comes and hangs out with us a bit and were going to start teaching him this week.

     Later we went to Morgan's house and taught him again.  He is having some trouble.  He is 11 years old and hasn't been going to school. We just talked to him about the importance of education!  It went really well and we also taught his older brother who is really cool and has so many questions. He is really bright and we were able to answer all his questions and you can totally see him changing for the better!

     Wednesday we had dinner with brother Phair and a single woman in the ward.  She had a friend over who is a 7th Day Adventist. We taught her and it was a good lesson.  Her name is Melody so we'll see how that goes.


     Thursday we taught Cole for a quick lesson.  We have been teaching a ton! Most of these people I am talking about we see daily along with lots of other people.  Cole is getting married on the 20th and baptized that weekend!  So that will be really cool!


     We also taught the two Daniels this week.  Really cool kids.  The one I am tight with got his wisdom teeth out.  Super funny! We watched some conference with them.


     Saturday we watched conference and Priesthood meeting was a really good one by the way!. 


     Being a leader is a lot of work but it's cool to receive revelation for district meetings!  This week I really looked at the numbers and they have been down since '08 in my area.  So I really tried to get the elders motivated.  And it worked!  We blew out all the numbers in the area this week and the district picked up 29 new investigators!  So I was stoked about that!  I am not a number's guy but numbers are important because they help keep you motivated and keep track of your work.  I am really impressed with the zone down here.  They have really turned it around and we're getting things done! Not only that I think confrence helped a lot!  It was a good motivator along with our combined district meeting. It was sweet!


     The weather here has been super nice, mid 70's and 80's all week!  I really think the weather had a lot to do with the work too.  Everyone is just glad to be out and about!


     I love you Dad!   Tell Mom I love her! 
    Love,  your son!