Dear Family,
Since Mom is at Girl Scout Camp, I'm sending the same email to both of your email accounts just in case.
This week, a lot happened. First of all, there is this family called the Van Den Dungen Billies that came from Arizona a few years back on business, pretty much exactly what our family went through in Israel. They were heavily involved in the church. The father, Ricky Van Den Dungen Billy, served as the bishop of the Beverly ward and then as President of the Hull Stake. Sister VDDB (just to abbreviate) served as a seminary teacher, and they also have 4 children (all YM/YW age) who all played prominent roles in the church over here. Just this last Saturday there was a big send-off as they headed back to America, and they flew out just yesterday morning. They knew I lived in Oregon and I was telling them that if they ever head out to Oregon, they should visit my family, and they agreed. Around Thanksgiving they are heading for a trip along the West Coast, and I think they would like to meet you. You would love them for sure. They pretty much have the same age family and everything. Anyways I gave them the home phone number and told them if they were headed up past Oregon they should drop in for a visit. I also told them I would be sure to tell my family first :) So basically, if you get a phone call from them around November sometime, it's my fault. They are a great family though, and they were an incredible help to the missionaries.
Yesterday we had 3 investigators at church, which is a huge thing for the Beverly ward. One of them was a former investigator that we contacted and invited to church. Her name is Anna and she's been to church a few times before, but she fell off the face of the earth a year or so ago, but she loved church and she was quick to come back and get to meet everyone again. Plus we had Maria, who has been going through some hard times but wants to be baptized this Saturday, and also a man named Michael who was scheduled for baptism before and has been taught all the missionary lessons but didn't feel the time was right. He is coming to church regularly, sometimes in Halifax and sometimes in Beverly, depending on where he is for the weekend. He should be here next week though, and he is being fellowshipped wonderfully by the ward members. The work seems to be taking off in Beverly continuously.
On the other hand, we've had more bike troubles so we've had to start walking everywhere, which of course takes longer but we have a chance to talk to more people, and our days are getting busier and busier. It's weird because I feel like I should be exhausted, but I've always got some extra energy somewhere in there to talk to just one more person.
I'm excited about the tree house you're making. I'm sure it will be pretty much a guest house by the time I get back. And yes, I do miss Rudy. You hardly ever see any golden retrievers in England. Just Staffies. Staffies are ugly but they are the most attention-seeking dogs I have ever known. They'll do anything just to get a little pat on the head, and if you ever start petting them, they just won't leave you alone after that. It's funny because they look like ferocious dogs, but they wouldn't hurt anyone. Almost makes me want to get one when I go home, if they weren't so incredibly ugly.
On a side note, I was wondering if I might be able to get the address of the Tigard Fred Meyers, and maybe the Cornelius one too. I promised that I would send a letter occasionaly just to keep them up to date, and I feel bad for not writing one yet, but I'm sure they would like to hear from me. Plus, it might help me keep my foot in the door for a job when I get back. Who knows?
My prediction was correct though: It's Zone P-day today, and we're going down to Hull to have some sort of barbecue at the Bishop's home. We've got to be there by one o'clock. I personally don't much want to go, but there are a couple missionaries going home in our zone, in just a couple weeks. Hard to believe it's transfers again next week. You'll know in my next email whether or not anything happens to me.
Take care, everyone.
Love,
Elder Alsop
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