Thanks

Dear mom and everyone else,

First off thanks for all your tips and pointers on how to deal with my comp. Things have been better this week. Yes I am with him for another transfer. This is his last transfer in the mission. I have already learned that there isn´t much you can do to change the mindset of "dying" companion. My first companion finished his mission the one change I was with him. Luckily he had the mindset to work hard and end strong, which we did. Elder Marcia seems to have the mindset of already having completed the mission and it´s coasting time. Try as I might, I can´t change that. All I can do is try my best to accept it and do my best not to copy that trait. Thanks dad for your emails of ideas. I would love to have insights from Tim that you emailed me about. What you said in your last email really helped. About picking the battles that I really wanted to fight and letting the rest of the things that are not a direct hinderence to the work roll off. Well I´ve been trying that this week and it´s been working like a charm. We still talk very little, but at least the feelings of anger have been disapating. Being the sports lover that I am and having plenty of time to think to myself I named this technique the pick 'n' roll (not origional I know). But I decided that everytime he does something little that I don´t like or that isn´t quite in harmony with the mission rules, if it is not something that I want to have a fight over, I just roll my shoulders back and tell myself to let it roll off:) That first day I rolled my shoulders a lot, but things have been getting better:)

Cool experience of the week: so we had a baptism this weekend (cool yes, but not the cool story), and to get to the church to baptize we take a bus for about 30 minutes. On the way back from the baptism, the mom of the youth we baptized, who is not a member but supports her son, sat next to me on the bus. We talked a while about the atonement and everything about forgiveness and the great gift that we have. Then I asked her if she would like a Book of Mormon. She told me that she had already read part of the copy that we gave her son. Then she tells me "The weird thing is, is the part of that book that I read...that night I dreamt it." Ok if that´s not an awesome sign that the Book of Mormon is true I don´t know what is. I wish I could have dreams of the Book of Mormon! We kept talking for a while about everything. There was a cool spirit in that little piece of the bus that day. I am confident that she felt it, now I just hope that she can have the courage to act on it.

Well, that´s about it for this week. I love you all have hope you all have the best week ever!

Love,

Elder Neiswender