Rolls Royce & Too Much Food!

From April 13, 200 email:

I got the pictures Joel sent of his almost-solo flight. I'm so proud of him! Just a little bit more time & then he'll be off zooming. And I'm thinking I need something Air Force-ish since there is a naval submarine base here in Groton & I need to represent the BEST branch of the military.

Soon after I sent off my email last week, Sister Mortimer and I headed over to Waterford & checked out the Crystal Mall. It's nothing like the Providence Place Mall in my last area, but it was still shopping! I've fell in love with a new store: H&M. Too bad they don't have many out west. We did a lot of window shopping, but came home with a few bargains.

Wednesday we met with the Moyes family. He is a less active member, she is not a member, but she wants to be baptized. The problem is they have a Word of Wisdom issue with cigarettes. So we'll be working with them in the coming weeks so he can be worthy to baptize her. They just moved from Saratoga Springs, NY so we got to chat with the Elders over there who had been teaching them. They said that she has great potential, but it will take a little bit of time. We have great news with Ryan...he wants to be baptized, its just a matter of when. We met with him on Friday & he said that he's been receiving answers to prayers. He looked at us with a bewildered look and said: "And I wasn't expecting them!" He doesn't feel that he is completely ready, but he definitely is. He's probably the smartest investigator I've ever taught. Plus when he joins, he'll be a stalwart member for the rest of his life. His girlfriend from BYU will be coming out this weekend so hopefully that will progress things along. We are on a time schedule since he will be graduating from the Coast Guard Academy in May. Today we are fasting with him so he can know if he should be baptized now. Sister Mortimer and I are hoping for a yes!

We had a wonderful Easter program yesterday for Sacrament Meeting. Three very talented individuals/couples/families performed some powerful musical numbers. Then we had three speakers...one of which was me! I was a bit nervous to do it because I'm still not over my fear of giving talks. But luckily it was only a brief testimony about the Savior so it all turned out good. There happened to be a huge crowd there because of the Easter holiday. After the meeting, a less-active member came up to us and asked if we could teach his 11-year-old daughter the lessons as she hasn't been baptized yet. It seems like people are just falling out of the sky to be taught! For Easter dinner, we got invited to the home of an old guy in the ward along with the Harpels (ward mission leader) and Gloria & her husband (investigator). We had a great time there! Bro. Parker just lost his wife of many, many years about a month ago. Apparently she was quite the individual. She went blind in high school, but still did a marvelous work here on earth. She could sew, cook, knit, and was even the Relief Society President twice. I wish I could have met her! I got a picture next to Bro. Parker's Rolls Royce...I'm not quite sure on the year, but it's old!

Thanks for the Easter candy! A good portion of it was gone just a day after it came. Plus Sister Mortimer's sister sent us both cute little Easter baskets that were loaded with candy. We've been eating a bit too much of it! Oh! That reminds me of Friday night. We had a dinner appointment with a member couple--the Nortons. They loaded our plates with HUGE steaks, a potato, salad, and other vegetables. Boy, was that good! But then came the dessert. A huge triple layer cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. I had a hard time getting it all down, but I finally did after much struggling. I swear I could not eat another bite. But then we went to an appointment with an investigator. She whips out some pizza and an apple dessert & tells us to eat & enjoy. Sister Mortimer & I looked at each other and just about died! Somehow we stuffed that pizza into our already overfilled stomach. I felt like the blueberry girl on the movie "Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." We basically had to roll all the way home.

I encourage you to do the 21-Day Member Missionary Prayer program. You never know what the power of prayer can do. Plus, go to the temple as often as possible. I miss it so much! That's one of the first things I want to do when I get back & I hope to see all of you there with me!