Lots of missionary emails

 I got just a little behind . . . 

July 20
Yeah Mubashir!

So last week I talked about teaching a guy named Mubashir, and how we hoped to set a baptismal date with him this week. Our lessons with him went even better than we had planned, and he now is super excited to get baptized next month. 
We had a lesson with him yesterday and we had committed him to read Alma 32 at the end of our previous lesson. So we started yesterday with him telling us all the things he learned. His comprehension of the things he reads and of the things we teach is crazy. He explained like 10 different insights he got from Alma 32 and understood everything perfectly. I was amazed with him. He is so awesome. 

We also had a lesson with Barbara again his week. She hadn't responded to us for a few weeks, but we finally had another lesson and it went super well. She still wants to be baptized as well and wants to work towards that with us. So we had a couple good breakthroughs this week.

 
I've also been staying in really good contact with some people I was teaching in Sanford and Rockledge. A lady named KK is working to be baptized before I come home in September so I can go to it. She had a big holdup that is getting resolved finally in August. So basically this week we talked about getting baptized with 3 different people. August could be a really good month. 

I also found out some big news this week. I'll be returning home on September 1st, 3 weeks earlier than my original return date. We decided it would be more important to return and see my brother before his mission and so I can be home with him while he attends the MTC from home. My goal is to finish strong and hopefully help these people get baptized before I return.

 
That's all for this week. I'll throw some pics in at the bottom from pickleball. It's been fun recording our games and getting some action shots.

July 27
🤪

Hey guys it's been another good week. Nothing too crazy happened. We had lessons with both Mubashir and Barbara and they're both doing well. 

We also got to do service twice at a state park here and I got some cool pics. We saw a huge alligator, a snake and some massive spiders there. For our actual service we got to clean out a house they have there that was built in the 1800s that they give people tours of. We spent a few hours sweeping and wiping down everything to make it look nice again. We're going to be doing finishing up with it this week. It was a fun time. 

Also we are now allowed to have member meals again, so one of my recent converts from Sanford took us to lunch at Red Robin and we had a blast. It was nice to see him again because we were super tight. Also I forgot how amazing red Robin is. It was the best meal I've had in months. 

August 3

2 On Date!

So a hurricane came right by us this morning, but it was small enough and far enough off the coast that we weren't affected by it. This week we helped Mubashir get ready for his baptism in two weeks. We also set a baptismal date with Barbara. 

Mubashir has been taught everything now except for a few commandments, so we just need to plan his baptism and finish teaching those and he'll be ready to go. We're super excited for him. 

Barbara finally has a baptismal date as well. She's shooting for September 26th. She has some things holding her back currently, but we set some goals and made a plan for her to overcome those obstacles. Hopefully things will go more quickly now that we have a goal we're shooting for. 

 We also had zone conference in person this week for the first time since March. It was nice to see some other people that I haven't seen in months. 

It was a really good week overall. It's crazy to think I only have four left. I'll do my best to make the most of them. 

Elder Leary

Pics:

There was a really cool sunset while we were playing pickleball. 

We went to Buffalo Wild Wings! (There just so happened to be a Jazz game on😏) 

I made the whole district matching ties and we got a sick picture. 

August 10

Final Transfer!

We had some sad news this week. Mubashir is moving away for a month which means I'll miss his baptism. Also Barbara was sick all week, so no progress there. I've had lots of time to sit and think though. 

I've been trying my best to prepare to return home, my goal this week is to try to solidify all the habits I've made on the mission so I can continue them when I return. Obviously I can't be a missionary forever, but there are many things that I learned on the mission that I want to keep doing forever. So that's what I'm trying to do. 

Today was my final beach p-day, so we made sure to get tons of cool pics and hit all the good spots by the beach. So I've got tons of good pictures.

 

We also had our first member meal since arriving in Deltona in April. It was good to get some good food for once after living off my own cooking for months. The member that we went to had a super cool room filled with all sorts of collectible movie items that we got pics with as well. 

So we had a fun week, but no real progress with any investigators. I'm doing my best to stay focused on the work and helping them, and hopefully we'll see some more progress this week.