January 4, 2016

Hi everyone!

Here's an earlier email because we are running to meet up in DC to go to some Smithsonian's! 

It's great to hear from you guys!  Sounds like you all throughly enjoyed the holiday! Oddly enough it's kinda a shaking off the holidays as missionaries too since we had some time off with days declared no proselyting. But I'm glad you guys had tons of fun all together. 

I think to answer hopefully all your questions I'll just give you the normal week run down..

 On Monday after P-Day we had no plans, so we actually went to Capitol Hill with McDonald and his kid to do some public contacting. We got special permission/were told to by the Traveling Trainers that it was ok to do that since they wanted my kid to experience public contacting since our area is mostly just tracting. So that was tons of fun! Plus it was basically like being companions with Elder McDonald in the city for the night. And it was awesome!! But it made me just want to serve in the city more.

Tuesday was a normal day until we had a really weird run in. So we have these recent converts who don't come to church so we go read the BOM with them every week. And they both are honestly not all there, there's something off about both the lady and her son. Anyways so she tells us she now has a boyfriend (I almost fell off the couch when she said that.. I know I'm a terrible person haha) but he lives in Oregon and she wanted to know if that would effect anything. I told her as long as they don't move in together she should be fine. But then she says that he doesn't like Mormons.. And I'm just like soo why are we dating this guy then? So we kinda just brush it off and say we will talk to him on speaker phone next time if she wants.. Long story short we get a call from this wacko that night and he keeps calling his girl friend his wife "because I love her so I can call her what I want". Overall he was actually super nice, but yeah so he's Buddhist and told us to stop meeting with his "family". So all in all a really weird experience. But we are going over again this week to figure things out since he has no say for her and her son so yeah... I love crazy people I get to deal with!

But Tuesday night ended on a high note! We went to the visitors center and I saw Elder Jayden Dyer from the Baltimore mission, who was down at the visitors center with an Investigator for the Temple Lights. I don't think you'll recognize the name, but we played football together junior year and he was close with some of those guys I hung out with in HS! It was so cool to see him and talk to him for a little bit!

Then I guess the only other thing that happened this week was New Years. So New Years Eve was no Proselyting after 5 and New Years Day was just declared no Proselyting all day since all of DC and Maryland is recovering from the major hangovers. So we got permission to sleep over at the Capitol Hill Apartment with McDonald and his kid and we also got Elder Mellen!  I love those 2! They are my closest mission friends! I'm sad that a solid group of my friends will leave this summer, but I'm glad I have McDonald and Mellen who will be with me my entire mission and also Jenks and Torgeson who will just leave 1 transfer before me! But back to New Years.. So we ordered some pizza and just all hung out. We played some pool in their apartment lounge and tried our hardest to not watch the football game that as on in the other room. But I'm glad we didn't watch cause my Michigan State got spanked. After we went and rang in the New Year with some sparkling cider and hung out. So for New Years Day we hung out at their apartment and then went and saw some other missionaries during the day. It was lots of fun, but honesty my trunky-est days so far. I think it was just cause unlike Christmas we didn't do much so we thought lots about home (and lots about college football). Plus all the time to hang out we spent lots of time just talking about stuff of home and what not. But like always we kicked it back into gear and got to work to end the week.  

The week ended on a high note when we got to ordain Ismael a Deacon on Sunday! I'm so proud of that kid. He is awesome. And along with his ordination we got him and Lucie interviewed for temple recommends and we are going to go do baptisms with them on Saturday! So awesome!!!

Hope you guys have a great week back on the normal schedule of things! Happy New Year!! It's crazy to think I'm in my only full calendar year as a missionary, plus 5 month mark tomorrow! It is flying!! I love you all!

Love, Austin

Draper Reunion with Elder Dyer

Happy New Years from DC. This was taken at like 12:02 and if we all look exhausted its because we are. We aren't use to staying up and plus at the end of the day as a missionary you are just beat.