Letter from Elder Summerhays, July 1, 2008

How are you? I hope that everybody is enjoying their Summer, don't worry, it will warm up. Being here makes me appreciate the cold so much more; walking all day in church clothes, talk about hot! By the end of the day it feels like I have an extra thin layer of skin on my arms and face because of all the salt from my sweat. I've had a great week this week, we have 4 people that we have a date for baptism with. Two of which are what we call Eleitos (elect), because they are open and willing to hear our message right from the start. Also this week I have received letters from almost the entire family, that was fantastic! It was good to hear how everything is going there, busy, busy, busy! Although I think I win on the busy meter...I had to compile a list of all the members that live within the boundaries of my area, because we can't leave our area for lunch and people keep signing up but we can't go and then we don't have lunch, so I made a list. Wow, good thing this isn't an essay, that was a huge run on sentence! I just realized that Friday is the 4th of July, I have good memories of the 4th of July. It will be easy though because it's not their independence day down here, they don't celebrate it! ha!

My new companion is great, he is really patient and easy to get along with. I learn a lot from him, it is great. I can't believe how fast time is flying by, feels like yesterday was p-day, and here it is again. I will keep this kind of short because I want to respond to all of your letters!

I experienced something very interesting this week that has to do with anger. We were out one night making contacts and we talked with this woman who was of another faith. We asked if she would like to hear a message and she said no because she said our religion doesn't understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Our religion is the doctrine of Jesus Christ! She then explained a thousand things that remarkably were exactly what we believed but she still wouldn't listen. She then got sidetracked and started talking about the U.S. and Pres. Bush, etc. and the whole time I could feel myself getting angry. Finally she left and I wanted to complain about how ignorant she was but my companion just told me to calm down because we just need to do our part and if they don't listen it's their choice. We have to remain calm because they will remember how you react. We need to be an example always in order plant healthy seeds in the hearts of people. If it didn't help her perhaps a passerby will remember our patience and be willing to hear from us. We don't know, we need to always strive to be like Christ. Not everybody listened to him but he love them anyway. I love you all, keep praying and be happy!

Love, Elder Cameron Summerhays