July 19, 2006--1st Transfer

So I'm in my new area and it's been great so far. My companion is Sister Olney from Farr West, Utah. She's been out 3 months, one transfer less than me.

It's a lot bigger than my last area, but it takes just as long to get from one end to the other due to the country roads and lack of stoplights. Unfortunately though, lack of lights also means lack of sidewalks, so we've spent some time dodging cars and trudging through dirt alongside the road. It's fun though, it really makes me feel like a missionary. Who else would be walking down the sides of the road.especially in this heat. It's been pretty hot and humid lately, but we've been successful at either scheduling appointments or doing stop-backs during the hottest hours.

I'm actually really impressed with how we keep busy with appointments in this area. I always thought we did pretty well in Rocky River, but I realize now we had very few set appointments. Especially last transfer. We found a lot though of people, but never got much further than that. Here, we've been lucky to have at least 2 or 3 a day. There's a lot of potential in a few of them. A few we're working with are: (this might get boring for the readers, but this parts mostly for my reference.sorry)

JoElla-75 years old. She didn't raise her kids in a church and is now feeling guilty for it. She joined the Assembly of God but thinks it's fake that they all fall down meaning they're "overcome with the spirit." She liked her baptism there, but says she felt like it was "missing something." She's recovering from pneumonia so it's been hard to teach a lot, but she's amazing.

Sheri-best friend of a recent convert Karrie. She usually takes her kids to the Methodist church but doesn't believe anything they teach. She just goes for their kids program. She's coming to church on Sunday.

Cherry-the same Karrie's mom. She loves church, but likes her old church too. She comes every other week to ours. We went that the Kirtland stake put on about the history of Kirtland which was amazing. She loved it. She just left on an Alaskan cruise so until then.

Mo--been taught for around 2 years, loves the church and has been more active than a lot of members. He says Brigham Young took 3 years to join the church.

DeLois-she was taught formerly by the Elders but was dropped for some unknown reason. She called in for a Finding Faith in Christ so we're re-starting teaching her. There's a few others that we have, but who knows what will develop.

Oh, cool story. Yesterday we were meeting with this 16 year old girl Ashley that they met tracting a few weeks ago. She is impressively proactive at calling and making appointments with us. She's called a few times and vented about how crazy her life so I was thinking she just wants people to talk to and not really interested in learning. But, we met her outside behind a club (yeah, sketch) because she doesn't like to meet at her house. It was fun though, and she had two friends there. We ended up laying out the Plan of Salvation and talking about Jesus Christ and Repentance (not really what we were planning.). None of them were in the best home situation and have done a lot of things they know they shouldn't have. which they openly shared .. Awk. One of her friends, Candy was actually really interested in it and made a few good comments. She wanted to change but was afraid. We talked about how Heavenly Father loves each of us so much and wants us to be able to be happy and overcome the mistakes we make. Candy said she wanted to come to church. We asked her if she wanted a Book of
Mormon and she said yes excitedly. When we gave it to her she kept looking at it and brushing over the words with her fingers like it was gold. It was amazing and you can tell she really wants help. I don't know what'll end up happening, but we've got her a ride to church.that's the best place to start.

Other news is, we got our apartment inspected by the mission on Sunday. There's been mold in the shower for over a year and we've sprayed it for 3 days straight and it's not getting any better. There's a couple other weird things.especially the balcony and steps up to our apartment which look heavily termite damaged. We got word today that we're supposed to look for a new place. We may move into the apartment in Kent until then since it's currently vacant and we're covering that area too. I guess we'll spend today apartment shopping. I was hoping I wouldn't have to worry about that for another year. but now I guess I can choose a really cool place.

Well, that's all I've got for now.

Oh, my new address is:

527 E. Highland Ave #1
Ravenna, OH 44266.

I'll at least check that mail no matter where we live. Thanks for all your thoughts and letters. Love you all,
Sister Ruthie Salisbury