Fort Myers North

Dear friends and family:

Transfer meeting happened on Wednesday, and I was a little surprised by it. My new area if Fort Myers North (Creole), which is about a 2.5 hour drive from the mission office. It is one of the farthest areas. In fact, the Fort Myers Stake was not a part of our mission until a few months ago, so there are many missionaries still in Fort Myers who are used to doing things the way they did it in Tampa. For example, they were allowed to take videos; they already had iPads, and they did everything on them; and their areas weren't by language, they had several companionships covering the same ward, and they taught whoever they found, rather than teaching according to the language or which part of the ward they live in.

My new companion is Elder Parker, who is one of those Tampa missionaries. He is a really hard worker, but it is still odd to see the things that Tampa missionaries do that weren't really a part of the Fort Lauderdale Mission's culture beforehand.

I've had a wonderful five days in Fort Myers, and I'm excited to keep going. The ward seems to be amazing, especially the Elder's Quorum president and the ward mission leader.

We were able to see a lot of success together. One of our top investigators is named Lilian J.; her husband is a member, but they haven't been together for a while. And she came to church for the first time yesterday. She softened a lot after coming to church this one time, and she accepted a date for the 31st of March. We made a plan and we are going to make this month #MiracleMarch!

We had two other investigators who came to church, but one is a youth and so can't be baptized until the 18th of April, and the other came too late to see the sacrament and so can't be baptized until the 11th. As well, we had one investigator who tried to come but his GPS died and he got lost, so he never made it. But we'll keep working with all of them as long as they keep progressing and putting forth that willing effort. We'll make our #MiracleMarch extend into april as well. :D

Tomorrow we have a specialized training about the church's upcoming "Because He Lives" Easter initiative. We're excited for this conference, and for the opportunity to share what we learn with the world. And we also can't wait for general conference on Easter weekend! Unfortunately, it will be the last general conference that I will spend on my mission. That snuck up fast!

Also, I forgot to mention, in my previous email - last Monday, Elder Allen, Elder Peterson, Elder Miller, and I all went and attended a Catholic mass. It was a very interesting experience. But because it was on a Monday morning, there were not very many people there. After I return, I'll have to go again, in the evening, at a time where there will be more people attending.

I don't have any more updates on colleges or things like that.

Thanks for everything,

Elder Slade