Monday, January 14, 2013

20th Epistle from Elder Kaleb Erickson serving in Far Rockawy, New York


Hey Mom and Dad!      written January 14, 2013
 
This was a pretty fun week in Far Rockaway. We got the party started with a lesson with one of our investigators, his name is Scott Madden. He has a brother in the branch, who asked us to talk to his brother about the church. We started meeting with him and he's a very nice guy. He lives by himself with these two little dogs. He came to church for the first time last week and he really enjoyed it, so we decided to set a baptismal date and he agreed to be baptized on February 3! We're very excited about it and we're planning to keep meeting with him and his brother to help him fully understand the covenant that he's going to make with God. And his brother is going to baptize him, so that will be great.
 
Last Wednesday was a pretty exciting day. The AP's were going to have a film crew follow them around all day to make a short film on what a day is like in the life of a missionary. They asked us to find a service project to do that day in order to demonstrate that we do service, especially out here in the Rockaways. We set something up and had the whole district there, hoping to get on tape at some point. It was a largely lackluster event, but at least we got to help this guy out with his house. After that, we went to Subway with the film crew where they filmed us eating lunch. I can only hope that the one shot they use of me, is me scarfing down a Subway sandwhich at lunch. That would be beautiful. The AP's went their own way after that and the rest of the day was pretty calm and normal. But it was a pretty exciting adventure for a bit.
 
On Thursday we had an awesome lesson with our investigator family. Just a reminder, their names are Lisa and Terrance. Before this, we had only ever taught Lisa, but we finally got to talk with Terrance too, as we taught the Plan of Salvation. It was an awesome lesson, they seemed to really like it. We invited them to be baptized at the end of it. Lisa wants to be baptized, but Terrance is a little hesitant about it all. Which is understandable, it's a pretty big commitment. We're planning to teach him the restoration next time, in order to make sure that he fully understands the concept of priesthood authority. Hopefully through that, church attendance, and prayer, he can come to a decision about baptism. We invited them to church yesterday, but their family got pretty sick, so they weren't able to make it.
 
There isn't much else to report from the week except for transfers are tomorrow! I will be staying here, although I will have a new companion and I will be moving to a new group of members. Meaning that I will get to go visit the more Hispanic part of the branch. I'll finally get to practice my Spanish on a more regular basis and that will be really good for me. I'm sad to lose Elder Wolfe as my companion, but I know my next companion already and he's a great guy. I'm just happy that I'll be able to stay here to keep working with my investigators. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ will bless their lives greatly, I just hope that they can realize the great blessings this church has in store for them. Thanks for all your love and support!

Love,
Elder Erickson

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