Hi everyone!

I actually guessed right this time: I'm staying in the Mojave River ward with Elder B.  for another transfer. And, even better, we got to keep our house!! This last week the senior missionary over housing randomly stopped by, inspected the house, and said it'd be perfect for sisters. But thankfully our zone leaders plead our case to him. The closest apartments are outside the ward boundaries, so it would've been a lose-lose situation: we would lose our house AND have to bike a couple miles to actually get in our area. But, happily ever after, we're staying in the mansion all to ourselves :) As for the new sisters, we haven't met them yet. They don't come till Wednesday because one of them is fresh from the MTC. But I do know the trainer is Sister H.  from Alabama. I hear she has a deep southern accent too. I'm still a District Leader, and all of the missionaries are still sisters, but they're all brand-new, which means I'm starting over fresh. I really like change on the mission.

The reason why I titled this email is because, well, the B.'s backed out of their baptism...

                                     

                                                 JUST KIDDING! But we did have a    couple close-calls. All the daughters passed their interviews with flying colors, and everything was set. Elder B.  and I decided to stop by Friday night and make sure everything was good to go. When we got there, we saw Brother B.  on the bed in pain. Turns out that his heavy headboard on his bed fell on top of him and pinned him against the wall. His back was really hurt. We gave him a blessing, and immediately he said that he felt the Spirit give him a hug, and that he knew everything was gonna be ok for him to baptize his daughters. His faith was so strong. Nothing was gonna stop him from being a part of his daughters' baptism. And on Saturday morning, he was up and moving (a little sore), but able to do the baptism. A miracle!!! I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost, and confirmed one of the daughters yesterday in sacrament meeting. It was such an awesome weekend to be a part of it all. Brother Breese even called us that night and thanked us for everything. True conversion right there!! And, even better, at church the whole family stayed for all three hours!! Because they have an 8 year old autistic son, they've only stayed for sacrament meeting because the boy can't sit still for more than 30 seconds. But we finally convinced them to go to Sunday School, and Elder B.  and I volunteered to take Gavin (the 8 year old) to Primary. We tried having him sit in a class with other kids his age, but it reminded me of Ernest T. Bass in Helen Crump's class haha. So we walked around the church building instead. It was a test of patience, that's for sure. The ward council is gonna help us out and probably assign Gavin his own teacher. But the rest of the family loved their classes, and the daughters made some friends in Young Womens. The B's  daughters doubled the YW in the ward, which made them all excited for new faces. And even the YM started flirting with them already - sheesh! I guess it's pretty dry up here in the High Desert haha.

I got both of the packages this week - I LOVED them!! The Nike T-shirt is super sweet, and Elder B. has already dived into the pretzels. I got my English name tags this week, and I went crazy with those Barney Fife pictures. And I can take a hint. Sending me Sister S.'s picture to put on the back of my name tag......original......what's her email address? haha

Ninnie's package was also great! Again, my cupboards are full of snacks and sweets. I may have to start handing them out to kids at church, because I haven't even gone through all the Halloween candy yet! I love the snowballs too! Elder B.  and I immediately had a mini-comp inventory (ask the missionaries at home what that is), and we threw snowballs at each other in the kitchen. We're both very different in personalities and work ethics. But we're being more open with each other for this transfer.

Again, the H.'s  are doing better than ever. There's golden investigators, and then there's the Hicks. Haven't missed a sunday, activity, or church meeting yet - and loving every minute of it. They committed to live the Word of Wisdom no problem, and they're totally set on the 15th for their wedding/baptism day! And I just love talking with black people :)

The R.'s  haven't moved yet. They just put their house on the market, but they love inviting us over. There's about 3 families that ask us to call them if someone didn't sign up on the dinner calendar, and the R.'s are one of them. They want to have a board-game night real soon too.

There's also this returning less-active family called the B.'s  And they have a ping pong table in the center of their house. It's like the centerpiece of their house. And you'll be proud to know that I'm undefeated in this ward. The bishop recently challenged me to a match, and he's an Institute Director. They play a lot of ping pong. But don't worry. :) I hope Finals go great today - I'm praying for you all! Good luck!

I will HAVE to see the Saratov Approach movie when I come home. One of the missionaries is in a lot of church movies too. Hope we can chat for a little bit today :)

 Love you!   Love Elder Fuss

     

                          The best dinner yet!!!  Sister R's Chicken pot pie.  Just like mom's!

                                               Ninnie's awesome package!

 A