I am enjoying 29 Palms quite a bit. It is a little hot, but it's bearable, especially being in a car. Elder Brooksby is a good missionary, and knows his stuff. He is a little depressed, because the area is a rather slow area, but we're getting along very well, and he's cheering up quite a bit. He's very funny and is relaxed, which is a nice change. The area is enormous since it's in the desert, and there are very few people here, so I just have to remember that when I tract, otherwise it is frustrating comparing it to my old area, but I guess you can't compare areas.
There was only one current investigator when I got here, so we will definitely be building a teaching pool. It's also hard because almost everyone out here works on the military base or doesn't work, so apparently a lot of investigators will only be interested because they need food stamps or something.
There are so few priesthood holders that we don't even have a Ward Mission Leader in either the ward or the branch. But, we are fed very well, especially in the Samoan Ward, and the members love the missionaries. Also, we have found a few new investigators that we are very hopeful for. One thing that happened while we were tracting was Elder Brooksby wanted to stop, but I said let's just do one more door, and the lady accepted a Book of Mormon and asked us when church started and a few more questions about church. She said she hopes she'll be able to come. We don't know what will happen because of it, but it was a cool experience.
Sacrament meeting with the Samoan ward was very interesting, since it was all in Samoan. I used to think staying awake in Sacrament meeting was hard, but when you can't even understand it and it's the fourth hour of church all day, it makes it quite a bit harder!
Posted by jim at March 22, 2005 01:27 PM