Stay cool

Stake Athletic day

Raheel and me

hey there,

I have found it is a lot more difficult to be motivatied to email when you have nothing to reply to. Its good to hear that Preston is doing well. Cool new truck, looks like you can take Mike Jeff and Jerry out to lunch now with out having anyone double up! So things are doing really good on my end. at the beginning of the week i spent three days out of my area on various exchanges and left my poor new missionary companion to wonder around on his own. Well let me tell you how good he is when i got back to Hayes i found that those three days have been some of the most productive days for the whole transfer!! and the day i got back whe had somthing rediculous like 15 appointments schedualed! i think the area is going to do just fine when i get moved out! Saturday was a special day we had our stake athletics event. Basically it is a ward vs ward track meet with every event ( except pole vaulting:( ) so we thought it best to spend a day with the ward members at the event and we had a absolute blast!! Raheel came which was really good we had a good time together. Even though he threw up a couple of times. I lived up to the saying 'im not as good as i once was but im as good once as i ever was' and won both the shot put and discus events. then they surprised me and had me run the 100m twice! i almost died! i think my favorite part though was when we found and American football. oh good ole days. anyways to avoid feeling more trunky i will share a proper missionary success story........ if i can think of one... ummmm... ok got it!

1. earlier this week we taught this guy named Erfan he is from Iran. (by the way Iranian are the best second to chinese) He is super against organized religion because he had Islam shoved down his face since he was a kid so he is more then happy to learn but will not commit to anything. he has studyed various religions and Christianity is the one he said if he ever joined a religion it would be that one. so his lessons have been going pretty rough i felt, not really going any where and i couldnt really see him progressing. our first lesson we taught him how we recieve revelation throught the Holy Ghost then all the other lessons kept getting inturpted by his monologues about his buddist phylosopies. then last week the lesson was getting deeper and deeperand he told us that he would be Christian if anything. I asked why and he began to tell me how when he was younger he watched movies and about Jesus Christ and really felt drawn to him and would begin to cry with out knowing why. A massive smile crept onto mine and my companions faces. then he told us how he would watch American preachers on the God channel and he got the same feelings. Then he explained that he didnt know what that feeling was... before he was done speaking I busted out my little diagram of prayer and revelation and as soon as he was done I retaught him about revelation and we testified that what he felt was the Holy Ghost telling him that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. Then Raheel (who had accompanied us) bore his testimony about being Christian in and Islamic country. Even though we were in the library and it was noisy the Spirit then took its turn testifying. It was so good! One day Erfan is going to be a great preisthood holder. It might take a little longer then some but I have faith that it will happen.
2. We set a baptismal date with Junes son Barret!!!!! he finally has made the decision to be baptised on his own with out us inviting him like we have a hundred times! he even woke up early got dressed shaved and came to church. Everyone at the church loved him and it seemed at the end of the block like he was a regular member Barret is really excited also to be going on the stake young mens campout this week. (that is IF the ward can scrounge up TWO leaders to go with them). Either way he is going to be baptised on the 6th of August.. two days after transfers i hope im still here but odds are i will not be.
3. Raheel recieved the priesthood yesterday! It is super hard to describe how happy i am to see these recent converts doing so well. it is a different kind of joy then i have ever felt. Soon after he recieved the priesthood one of the bishopric pulled him aside and asked him to go as a leader to the stake youth camp how cool is that!? (to be honest they just need bodies but still!)

yea so things are going really good here. i hope that all went well with sheldons camp and that he didnt flop. so elder browers grandpa owns this glass company in utah that do all kinds of temple work and church work (ie bullet proof windows in president monsons appartment and elder oaks home...little things) but he jokeingly said half serious that if i go straight home to utah and work for his grandpa then i could get sent to Itay to work on the Rome temple! probably wont happen but it was a cool thought.

anyways stay cool

Elder Solomon

pictures = Aidins baptism (i dont think i sent that picture yet)

stake athletics me with Raheel

and me with Raheel and the other missionaries