Sep 19,2001

Everything is going good here, as for the baptisms, they haven't happened yet, they just weren't quite ready so we decided to put them off for a few weeks. They are doing really good though, we are teaching a lot of really great people.

Things here are good, transfers are tomorrow and my companion is getting transferred. I will be training a new missionary again, so I am pretty excited about that, although it is a lot of hard work.

I hit a year next week! Which is crazy. It seems unreal. I'll be home before we know it.

Well, I need to run, I love you and miss you and the family.

Love,

Elder Rider

Sept 7, 2011

Things are going really great here, I can't complain. We are teaching a lot of great people, in fact two of them should be getting baptized on the 17th of September, and two more should be getting baptized on the 24th of September, so we are really excited about all of that. If you wouldn't mind praying for them that would be great.

I'm learning to depend on the Savior, because I was literally falling apart, and if it wasn't for him I don't know if I would've gotten through some of the things I have been going through.

The gospel is real. It works. And it brings happiness.

Love,

Elder Rider

August 29, 2011

Things are going good here, we didn't get hit too much by the hurricane, just a lot of wind and rain, and the power went on and off. We had to stay inside all day on Saturday, so that was no fun. I don't know if we will get to go help out again, most of the damage is pretty far from where we are, so probably not.

This week has been alright, we didn't have any investigators come to church because of the hurricane, but we still taught quite a few lessons, so that was good.

Things have been hard here, but they are getting better, which I am grateful for. That is funny that sister Falconer called you. She said she was going to, but I didn't think she really would, haha. She is a great lady, she really liked me for some reason, haha I'm still trying to figure out why.

Well, I need to run, but I hope that everything is going well back home, hopefully next week I will have a little more time to write and tell you about the people we are teaching. I just wanted to let you know that I know this gospel is true, and I know that Christ can take care of us, even through trials we don't think we can make it through. I have felt him helping me through these past few weeks, and I am so grateful for that. I love you and miss you all.

Love,

Elder Rider

August 8, 2011

Things are going really good out here, we are teaching like 25 people. We are teaching a lot of families who are refugees from Burma, (by Thailand) who don't speak English, most of them are having their kids translate (who are 8 and 10 years old) as we teach, which is difficult but it has been working. But we met one guy named on the bus who doesn't speak hardly any English, but somehow I got his address, and he said we could come by. So we went over to teach him this week, and him and his son were there, so we started to teach both of them, and neither of them spoke English. So it wasn't working. It took me 10 minutes to help them realize I was going to say the opening prayer. So I prayed that we would find a way to communicate. After the prayer, we tried to teach them about prophets, and they just could not understand us, and we could not understand them. Finally I said "do you know anyone who speaks English and Karen" (the language they speak) and he said "my friend". I said where does he live, and he said in apartment B59, This man lives in B60, so next door. I said, is he home, and he said yes, so i said, can you get him? So he went next door and got his friend, who is named. When his friend came into the apartment, he saw us and stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at us really strangely. So I got and introduced myself, and he said "you'll be surprised at what I tell you". so I said "what are you going to tell me" and he said "I am a Mormon!". I was like wait, what? he said yeah, I'm a Mormon, I got baptized 5 months ago in Florida, and then moved here and could not find the church. So then he was able to teach them, and now he is helping us teach all of the families that we are teaching from Burma! It was an incredible miracle, I still have trouble comprehending how it all worked out. Heavenly Father was definitely looking out for us, and more importantly, for his children we are trying to teach. It was incredible.

The only bad part of the story is I'M GETTING TRANSFERRED TOMORROW! So I won't get to teach any of these people anymore :( So that is really sad. I don't want to leave, I have only been here for 3 months, I feel like I just got here. So I am sad about that. I don't want to leave, but what I want doesn't really matter, it is what Heavenly Father wants that matters.

I love you and miss you, and the family.

Love,

Elder Rider

July 25, 2011

Well I hope that everything goes good for you all at the reunion, that will be fun. :) It is really hot here, this week it got up into the 100's, and with the humidity it was like walking into an oven. St. George gets hot, but it is nothing like this. But maybe that's because I wasn't outside in a suit all day either, haha ;)

But yeah, the teaching is going good, hopefully one lady will be getting baptized on August 20th, which we are really really excited for. Although I might not be here then :O transfers are on august 9th, and I might be leaving. Hopefully not. This week we found 2 families to teach who are from Burma, One family speaks Karen, and the other speaks Mizo. They are amazing. They invited us right in, although only the little kids speak English. Their 10 year old translates for us as we teach, but it is really fun. They invited us to go to a Burmese wedding so we can meet all their family to teach them. Right now we are teaching 10 of them, but apparently we might start teaching a lot more. So that is really really exciting :)

Well, I need to go, but I miss you and I love you all, and I hope that you are all doing well back home, and that the reunion is fun for all of you.

Love,

Elder Rider

July 18, 2011

That is great that Lisa did good on her farewell talk. I can't believe that she is already leaving on her mission. But then again, in 2 months I will have been gone for a year :O That is really great that she is going though, she will change a lot. It is crazy how much the mission changes us. I feel like an entirely different person.

The reunion sounds like it will be fun. I will miss being able to do that, it was always a lot of fun to go up there. I miss camping. Mostly I think I miss being able to do nothing. haha I haven't had time to just be lazy in forever. As bad as that sounds. It will be fun to get together with everyone to. I do miss the family a lot. The mission is really great, but I do miss all of you.

Oh, so I forgot to tell this to dad, maybe I'll shoot him another e-mail before I sign off. Guess what we did today? We went over to Durham, to Duke campus, which is a school here in N.C. and we saw Duke Chapel, which is this huge Methodist cathedral, which was really cool. It is huge, like Notre Dame or something like that. But that's not the cool part. After that we went to Duke Library, and guess what they had there? That we could pick up and touch and read and everything? An original copy of the Book of Mormon. It was really really awesome. We even got to take pictures of it, and I have pictures of me holding it, which was really great. So yeah, when you and dad come and pick me up, since we'll be pretty close, we might have to go and look at that Book of Mormon, it was really neat.

We are still teaching 10 people, in fact we are actually teaching a few more than that, we found some more people to teach this week while we were out and about, which is exciting. Now we are just trying to help them all get baptized. They are mostly all coming to church and reading and praying, they just all need to give up smoking. Everyone in North Carolina smokes, and it is hard for them to overcome it all. If all of our investigators would quit smoking, we would have like 10 baptisms in a week haha. But they are trying, they are great people.

Anyway, I gotta go, but I love you and miss you, and the whole family. I hope you all have fun at the reunion!

Love,

Elder Rider

July 11, 2011

It sounds like everything is going good back home, that is great! Things are going really good here, I can't complain. We are teaching alot of people, we have 10 investigators right now, which is more than I have ever had at one point on my mission, and while I dont' think we will have a baptism in July, we should be having several in August, which we are very excited for (assuming I don't get transferred, which is possible).

I can't believe that Lisa is about to leave on her mission, that is crazy. So many things are going on back home, with Kim graduating, Perry driving, Andy and Carly being pregnant, his house, Lisa leaving, Aimee and Josh got married, things will be so different when I come home haha. At least that won't be for a while.

Love you all,
Elder Rider

July 4, 2011

Being a District Leader is good, it can be a little rough because I'm the one who is held responsible if the numbers don't look good :) haha but it's alright. Our district is doing really good, I am over 8 missionaries, and each area is improving more and more, so that is really good. Our investigators are doing well. They are reading their scriptures for an hour every day, and they've been trying to quit smoking for some weeks now, and last time we were there they gave us all their cigarettes and said, "we are done. From now on, we are non-smokers", so that was really exciting.

Anyways, what else is going on back home? Things here are good, just hot, and I am tired all of the time. But I guess that's what being a missionary is all about. By the way, I have been out for over 9 months! Where does the time go? Well, I gotta go, but I love you and miss you and the family. Tell them all hi!

Love,

Elder Rider

June 27, 2011

Things here are good, we're teaching a lady, who I think I told you about last week or so, she is doing great, she will hopefully be getting baptized in July, as far as the people who got baptized, they are all doing great, super excited, they come every week, and have callings now, so that is really good. The wards here are amazing, not that Greenville wasn't, but the wards here understand how missionary work has to go, how they have to be involved, and how to help people transition from non-member to fully active member. it is awesome, all we have to do is teach and the wards do the rest.

Anyway, not a whole lot is going on here either, transfers are tomorrow but I am staying here with Elder Pfleger, so that is good, not a whole lot of change.

Well, I love you and miss you, and will talk to you next week.

Love,

Elder Rider

June 20, 2011

I'm glad that Dad had a good Father's Day. So Andy and Carly are going to have a baby!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!??!!??!!?!??!!!?!??!?!!?!?! What in the world? That is so crazy. I can't even comprehend that. I will be an uncle? and my parents will be grandparents? WHAT!? I bet that has to be the weirdest feeling ever. That is exciting though.

Things are going good here, we're teaching 4 people right now, but only 1 of them is really progressing or doing anything, the rest are just kind of letting us come by and visit, so I don't know how long we'll keep going back, it's not doing them any good if they don't act on what we teach. The wards are great, and the members do a lot. It is getting really hot here, like 95-98 degrees, with the humidity, so that's no fun. It is hotter than Saint George with the humidity. Of course, I might be biased because I am always outside and in a suit. haha

Anyway, things are good here, I hope it's good back home. CAN YOU BELIEVE I HIT 9 MONTHS IN A WEEK AND A HALF?!?!? Where does the time go? Well, I love you and miss you all, and I hope things are good back home.

Love,

Elder Rider

June 13, 2011

North Carolina is great, and as far as the baptism's go, things are just crazy here, Heavenly Father just takes care of everything. The one this last week was J, his wife is a member, and he had been taught on and off for 19 years. (which is a lot) We'd met a couple of times but nothing to serious came of it. Then he called us out of the blue and was like, I read and prayed, I'm ready to be baptized. So we went and taught him, he'd already come to church a bunch, and got baptized! so that was awesome. :) We are also having a baptism this weekend, which is another cool story. It's a way awesome lady who actually used to live in Saint George! and she's moving back in 2 years, so that will be awesome if it happens cause I'll be able to make sure she's doing good, but anyways, she was being taught by missionaries in Durham, NC, and she moved here 3 weeks ago, and we started teaching her, she knew the Book of Mormon was true, she just had a couple little concerns, mostly family related, but she got over those and is good to go, so she is getting baptized this week which is awesome. We're also teaching a part member family that is really awesome. She's the non-member, but she loves the churches emphasis on families. He's been less active for years and years, he's originally from California. 2 weeks ago they just walked into church, he was like, I'm a member, I want to be active, and she wants to learn about the church. So we are teaching her :) She has a problem with smoking, but she really wants to quit, so we're hoping we can show her how to lean on the Savior and quit, and then she wants to be baptized once she quits, so that is incredible. The retired baptist minister has been out of town so we haven't gotten up with him recently, which is a bit of a bummer, but things are going good, as far as we know he is still reading and praying. The greenie comp. is good, he is a great missionary, super excited to be out here. He sings and dances all the time. It's kind of like being companions with a musical. but it's good I suppose ;) At district meetings I present training lessons based on what our district is struggling with. For example, right now we are finding a lot of people to teach, but the ward members aren't very involved in teaching the investigators, in all 3 areas I'm over, so this week we will probably talk about how to help the members get involved to friendship and help the investigators come to church and stay active after they're baptized. but yeah, sometimes President Cotterell gives us specific lessons, like the role of the Holy Ghost in conversion, and sometimes he lets us choose.

So yeah, that's what is going on here, Elder Rider

June 12

Things are going good here, we are still teaching the baptist minister. He said the other day "you know, it's hard for me to believe this, but it's even more of a stretch for me to believe that Joseph Smith made all of this up" so yeah, that's going pretty good :)

The threesome has been good, but it is over today! We thought it was going to be for all of june, but it ended up not happening that long, which is good. I don't hear from my previous companions often, but every once in a while, they all seem to be doing good.

Things are going good here on the mission. It is getting hot and humid, which is a bad combination, but I can't complain to much. We should be having another baptism this weekend, so I am excited about that. Heavenly Father has blessed us so much, and he continues to every day. I am so grateful for him and all that he does for us.

Love you all

June 5

Things are going good here, a lot of the same things. I am completely exhausted all of the time though. We've been in a trio for the last week and a half, plus training and being district leader, I am just run ragged.

Well, I'm glad that the weather is nice there. It is definitely summer here. 97 degrees and 100% humidity, I sweat like a fountain. And there are some serious hills here to bike up. Greenville was completely flat, but Chapel Hill means what it's called. There are tons of churches and tons of hills, and we get to bike them all :)

The threesome has been good, but it is over today! We thought it was going to be for all of June, but it ended up not happening that long, which is good.

I can't complain to much. We should be having another baptism this weekend, so I am excited about that. Heavenly Father has blessed us so much, and he continues to every day. I am so grateful for him and all that he does for us.

Well, I need to go, but I miss you and love you.

Love,

Elder Rider

May 30

Things here in the mission are going good, it has been a crazy week. Our baptism did go through, it went really great, a lot of people came and the spirit was very strong. One of the missionaries in my district had to go home for personal reasons this week, and so his companion, Elder Nielsen, is now with me and Elder Pfleger, so I'm in a trio again! This time for 4 weeks, until the next transfers. So we are now covering 3 wards and 2 areas :/ haha one of these days I'm going to get 1 area with 1 ward, and I won't know what to do with all of my free time.

We have been finding a few more people to teach, there's this one couple named the Stroupe's that we are really excited about. He is an ex-baptist minister (retired) and him and his wife went to San Diego for vacation recently, and they went and saw the temple, and they also went to the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center in San Diego, and they absolutely loved it. Brother Stroupe said he watched what the pioneers had gone through, and said, "why would people do this to others who are just trying to follow God" so he gave his information to get a copy of The Book of Mormon and to learn more about the Church. It has gone really good. When we shared the doctrine of dispensations and apostasies he really understood it, and when we shared the story of Joseph Smith and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, he said "well, it's a bit of a stretch for me to believe that, but it's even more of a stretch to believe a 14 year old boy made of this up. I am going to prayerfully read the Book of Mormon." So yeah, that is going good :)

Anyways, that's what has been going on here, we are still trying to figure out where we are going every day, Chapel Hill has a HUGE bus system that is free, so we ride the buses a lot and just talk to people. The wards here are really supportive, they are excited to share the gospel, which is really good.

May 23

Things are going good here though, I did finally get transferred. I am in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which is where the University of North Carolina, or UNC campus is, so we cover the campus, which is going to be a lot of fun. This place is where Michael Jordan played basketball in college before he went into the NBA. College basketball here is these peoples life, haha. My new companion straight from the MTC is Elder Pfleger, (pronounced Flager) and he is from Boise, Idaho. The new assignment as District Leader is good, although I do find myself having even less time than normal to do things, which I didn't know was even possible, but things are going good. We've been here since last Tuesday, so almost a week, and I am starting to figure out where I am going, we've just been riding the buses around trying to understand the roads in this crazy place.
We should be having a baptism this Saturday! A man named Isaac Lee, which we are really excited for. We are happy about that. The only bad news is, he is the only person in the area that is being taught, so other than him we have nothing to do, so we are going to have to start finding some people to teach. It will be good though. I am excited.

Well, that's what is going on here, not a whole lot else, I hope that everything continues to go well for you all back home. I love you.

Love,

Elder Rider

May 16

Well, lets see, I get transferred tomorrow! Today is my last day in Greenville. I am going to be training a new missionary from the MTC again, so I am excited for that, although that means that neither of us will know anything about the area that we are going into, we will just have to figure it all out as we go along. It will be good though, I am excited. I am also going to be a District Leader, so I'll be responsible for 8-10 missionaries, which makes me kinda nervous, but it will be really good. I'll have to run District Meetings every week and run all of the numbers for the districts areas and all of that fun stuff, but it will be good, I am excited. But yeah, that's what is going on here. I miss you and love you, and I can't wait to see everyone again in 16 months! (can you believe my mission is 1/3 over?) I love you all,

Love,

Elder Rider

May 9

The mission is going really well, I'm about to be transferred (for the first time haha) on may 17, so a little less than two weeks. I wonder where I'll end up. Anyways, the time spent with Elder Scott was amazing. Did you know he is short? I am taller than he is, which I thought was really strange. I don't know why, but I always pictured him as being really tall. It was amazing though. He came to Stake Conference here in the Kinston Stake, which Greenville is in, so we got to go to both sessions of conference with him, plus he held a special meeting that we were able to bring investigators and recent converts to, and he would talk with them, and answer their questions, and then the saturday before stake conference he had a 4 hour meeting with us missionaries, which was amazing. He talked, and Elder Cornish of the 70 who was with him talked, and then he just let us ask questions about anything. It was really spiritual. So that went well. His testimony was incredible. He said "I don't say this to be prideful, but so you will understand what I will say next. I am an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. I hold all the keys of the Kingdom of God, and I am a special witness of him. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that he lives. I know he lives, and my testimony of him isn't based on my scripture study, or on prayer, but on fact. He is a glorified, resurrected being of perfect love, and I can certify this because I know him." It was incredible to hear him bear witness of the savior, the spirit was so powerful when he did so.

So we are e-mailing on Wednesday instead of Monday because this week was temple trip! but that takes the place of our P-day, so we worked all day Monday, and we just got back from the temple today and are e-mailing before we go out to work tonight. The Raleigh temple is really quite small, in fact I think it's about the size of most stake centers. It is an amazing temple though, it is very beautiful, and the spirit was just as strong inside of it as it was in the Saint George Temple. I loved going, I have really missed being able to go to the temple all of the time. It will be another 6 months before I can go again, but it was amazing to go.

April 18, 2011

Tornado country is crazy. We had 5 tornados hit within 10 miles of our apartment, it was insane. The wind was insane and there was so much rain that we couldn't even see when we were in the car. It was probably the craziest weather I have ever seen. 7 people died in my area, in a little town called Farmville about 10 miles west of me, where 2 tornados went through, and then down the road the high school and middle school are completely demolished. pretty crazy stuff. All the missionaries are safe though, although a couple of them had the roof ripped off of their apartment, and some other missionaries had to hide in their bathtub and their house got ripped off the foundation, but it didn't collapse. thankfully all the missionaries are safe :) so that's what has been going on here, some pretty crazy weather. and the next day it was calm and sunny and 80 degrees. pretty crazy.

I had my birthday on April 15, I still can't believe that I am 21 years old. I still feel like a 16 year old kid.

Let's see, the work is going well, we are teaching quite a few people so that is good, one lady in particular is progressing very well, so we are excited about that. idk I think I'm just ready to leave Greenville now, haha I have been here for a while. I love the people here, but I've been biking the same streets every day for 6 1/2 months, I'm ready for a change. It is going good though, I have 4 weeks left here in Greenville, and then I am positive that I will be transferred.

So guess what is cool? The stake that I serve in (the Kinston stake) that Greenville is in, is having stake conference on April 30 and May 1, and Elder Richard G. Scott is coming to preside at the stake conference, and he has requested to have a conference Saturday morning with all of the missionaries! So that is pretty exciting. :) Anyways, that's what is going on here, I hope that everything is still going well back home! Love you all,

Love,

Elder Rider

Well, everything here in North Carolina is going great! It's raining a lot, but it is warmer outside, so I am super happy about that, because I hate the cold. Go figure, I grew up in Saint George. The work is going really well, we're teaching a lot of good people. There is one lady in particular, who has a 7 year old son, who is progressing really really well in the gospel. I believe she will be baptized here in the coming weeks, so that is really exciting. I thought that I was going to be transferred, but it turns out that Heavenly Father knows better than me, so I am still in Greenville for another transfer, until mid-may, which will put me here in Greenville for a total of 7 1/2 months by the time I leave which is crazy. Speaking of time, I have been out on my mission for over 6 months! Where does the time go? My mission is 1/4 of the way over. Sometimes I can't even believe it. Well, that's what is going on here, I hope that everyone is doing good back home, I love you all and miss you all.

Love,

Elder RIder

March 7, 2011

This last week has been good, Elder Brewer and I have biked a TON, which is awesome. We did a lot of stopping by potential investigators and former investigators, and this week we found 4 new investigators, which was really awesome. We also had the opportunity this week to give 3 blessings, 1 to a recent convert who was having problems swallowing, we gave 1 to a member who had been in the hospital and has diabetes, and we gave a blessing to a new born baby, who was born last Monday, so when we gave the blessing he was only 5 or so days old, and he was born with his intestines on the outside of his body. It was a really neat experience to be able to give him a blessing, the spirit was very strong. Not a whole lot of exciting things happened this week, but it was still a good week regardless. Well, I already need to go, but I love you all and will see you soon!

Love,

Elder Rider

February 28, 2011

Well, things here in the mission are going great, I've had my first full week as a trainer with my new companion Elder Brewer, which has been really awesome. He is great, and definitely well prepared to be a missionary. We had another baptism this last Friday, which went really really well. I can't even express the feelings of gratitude I have to my Heavenly Father for all of the success he has been blessing us with. This last Friday was my 7th baptism out here in North Carolina, and I am so thankful for the privilege I have had to teach and help these wonderful people. Today is my 5 month mark. :O The time is going so so fast, I can't believe that I have been out for 5 months. my mission is almost 1/4 over, it seems like I just left. But yeah, things are going really well here, it is finally starting to warm up outside, and the work is going forward better than it ever has here in Greenville, at least than it has in the past couple of decades, so we are so grateful for the blessing it is to be a part of this great work. I love you all,

Love,

Elder Rider

February 23, 2011

Well, for starters this last week has been completely crazy. First off, we had a baptism last week! Kaitlyn Robinson was baptized on Saturday, it was really awesome. She is the daughter of a Less Active member that we helped become active again. Her mom is the member, but her dad isn't a member, so hopefully now we can start teaching him as well. But that wasn't the crazy part. The craziness started this past Friday. We were going to an appointment, just like any other, when the phone started to ring. So I took it out and it said "President Cotterell". So naturally we started to sweat, haha because he never calls us. So I answered it, "hello, this is Elder Rider", and he said, "Elder Rider, how are you?", "good, you?" he said "good. Do you know why I'm calling?" I said "nope", and he laughed, and then got really serious. he said "Elder Rider, you have been called by the Lord to be a Trainer for a new missionary who will be arriving from the MTC this Monday" Then there was a long pause. I immediately started thinking what? I've only been out for 4 1/2 months, nobody trains at 4 1/2 months. You usually won't train until you've been out for at least a year. Then he said, "you probably don't feel qualified, that's because you're not." Then he told me all of the reasons that I wasn't qualified, haha. But then he said "Who the Lord calls, he qualifies." Then he gave me a bit of advice, and told me that the calling of trainer was the most important calling in the mission. If we don't train new missionaries well, the mission will fail. He also told me that I will affect this missionaries life more than anyone else besides his father, and that my influence will affect him far beyond his mission, so I need to not mess up, and that was that. So then I had all weekend to sit there and panic about training because I don't feel like I am ready to train anyone else, I'm still trying to figure things out for myself. So yeah, it has been crazy, but I now have a new companion. His name is Elder Brewer, he is from Albuquerque New Mexico, and he has been here in North Carolina on his mission for 2 full days now :) He is awesome, I'm really excited to be working with him. Well, that's what is going on here. We have another baptism coming up this Friday, which I am really excited about. I love you all, and love the lord and serving him.

Love,

Elder Rider

February 14

Well, it's Valentine's Day, which out on the mission is basically the same as any other day :) things here are going really well. I'm still in a companionship of 3 missionaries, I will be until the 22nd, when I will get a new companion, but I am actually enjoying being with 3 missionaries.

So lets see, what has been going on. Right now we're teaching a really awesome family named the Statons. Well, technically he's a Staton, her last name is Arrondell, because they aren't married and have 2 kids, but they're engaged and ready to get married. She has been to the church before and knows it's true, but he didn't really know anything about the Book of Mormon, he grew up Baptist, and wants to do what is right. The first lesson we had with him we read from the introduction of the Book of Mormon, and he said he could feel the Spirit just as strongly as when he read the bible, just from the first paragraph, and he said he already knows from that experience that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. Basically it was incredible

Oh! I have an awesome story to tell you. Do you remember Bobby Woolard? He is the old man who got baptized in December. Well when we started to teach him he had lung cancer that had spread to his brain, and they didn't think he would live much longer. a couple of weeks before he got baptized we gave him a blessing. I was the one who actually gave the blessing, so I was really really nervous, but in it the spirit told me to say that he would be healed. This last week he got his test results back from the doctors office, and he has no cancer anywhere in his body! The doctors are trying to understand what happened, because they expected him to be gone within a couple months, and that there was nothing that could be done, and now his cancer is completely gone. It was just a testimony builder to me, to show what faith and the power of the priesthood can do.

Well, that's what's going on here, I hope everyone is doing good back home. I love you all, and will see everyone soon! (19 months)

Love,

Elder Rider

Feb 1,2011

Well, I should probably call this a Month update, not a week update, I haven't had time to do one of these for a while, so sorry about that. This past month has been completely full of ups and downs. This last week was really hard, I was sick most of the week, and we had a baptism that fell through, she had been interviewed and everything was set to go, we filled up the font on Saturday, and then she called us and said she didn't want to do it anymore. Needless to say we were devestated. It is a 13 year old girl named Mary whose Mom and Brother are both members, and she believes the church is true and everything, she is just scared to get baptized, so we are working on that, hopefully we can help her to be less afraid and to go through with it. We did have a baptism earlier this month though on January 8th, a college student named Alexandria Stout, so that was really exciting and incredible. Right now we're teaching a college student named Addie Kirsch, who is a cheerleader at East Carolina University, and she has read from the Book of Mormon and prayed about it, and believes that it is true, so that was really exciting when she told us she got her answer, but now she needs to give up her coffee, so we'll see how that goes ;) We're also teaching a Marine named Jack Dolly, who is 25, and he believes that the Church is true, and in about 6 weeks he has read up to Ether in the Book of Mormon. Well I gotta go, but that's kinda the update of what is going on here. I love you all.

Love,

Elder Rider