May 10, 2010

Hey Everyone,
How are all of you doing? Things are going great here. We have had six
baptisms so far on the mission and our seventh is this Saturday.
Transfers are next Wednesday and I don't know whether I will stay in
this area or go somewhere else. I only have a few minutes to write. We
are going golfing with the mission president today. It was a reward
for our zone reaching 23 baptisms last month. Pretty cool. There are
some awesome people I have met since I have been out here. Who your
companion is, along with whoever is in your district and zone really
influences how much you enjoy the mission. Anyways, does anyone know
what my blog address is? I actually don't know it. I have some awesome
videos for it though. I better go. I love you guys, and I always
appreciate (extremely) your letters, e-mails and everything else you
do. Talk to you later,
Love Sterling

p.s.

Hey Everyone,
I wrote my main e-mail earlier today, then we went bowling for
preparation day, and now we are back at the family history center. I
was wondering if anyone could look for a book that taught the basics
of how to learn Arabic. If you could find one, that would be awesome.
Something that covers basic grammer, characters, simple phrases etc.
Easy difficulty, not moderate or hard, but not a book with 2 pages
that says only "Hi , bye, etc." Anyways, someone got upset for me
being on the computer. Got to go.
Love Sterling

Hey Family & Friends,
How is everyone doing? Things are going good here. We have 2 baptisms
scheduled for this weekend. The same people I mentioned last week,
Faten & Majedah Ghanem. Mission Weeks start on Monday. Baptisms: 3,
Week: 13, Difference: 10. So I am way behind :( . After this weekend
(next Monday) Baptisms: 5, Week: 14, Difference: 9. Currently, we have
4 people on date for baptism right now, and 8 people who are ready to
be baptized without a set date yet. Things are going great. Everyone
makes fun of the Salt Lake City mission. Very few people (even here)
know that it is the highest baptizing mission in the world. Actually
we fight with SLC South and Provo for first. It goes back and forth
between those three every year. The average missionary in the SLC
mission baptizes about 50 people within the 2 years they are here,
which totally kills other missions. The key word is average. The
average missionary (worldwide) baptizes 1.86 people (round up to two
to be courteous.) Hahahahaha. Just kidding. Our success comes from
referalls, which comes from members. Too bad. I was hoping it was just
my awesome teaching skills, but it isnt. Things are going good though.
Thank you all so much for your prayers, e-mails, letters and
everything else you do. It really, really helps. I am very grateful
for my family and friends. Thanks again everyone. Talk to you later,
Sterling