04.18.11 Crazy Week (posted by Trevor's Mom, Rebecca)

Hello Everyone :)

A lot has happened in the last week. There have been a lot of changes, and now I'm actually in a totally new area with a new companion. I only have a few minutes to type this out, so I'm going to have to be brief.

Basically, as of last Saturday things were going great in Sault Ste. Marie. I was starting to get used to the area. I had introduced myself to the branch on Sunday and got to know them a lot better. But Monday, everything went crazy. Elder M. had been having some health problems, so Monday morning after studying we drove down to a doctor in a nearby city to get him checked out. Eventually, it was decided that he needed to be referred to a specialist.

At the same time in a completely different area called Harrison, Elder Poulsen was training a brand new missionary named Elder P. who had just gotten here to Michigan last week. Unfortunately, Elder P. found out that he was going to be sent home, he had some things that he needed to clear up there. So after hundreds of phone calls by Elder M., President Jones, Sister Jones, and the Mission Doctor, it was determined that we would return back to our apartment, pack, say goodbye, and be down in Harrison by that night, which was several hours away. So that's what we did, and it's called an emergency transfer. All four of us spend the night there. The following morning, Elder M. ended up being sent down to Grand Rapids to get better medical care by the specialists there, and Elder P. was also picked up by President Jones to be taken to the airport to head home. So, here I am, a few days later, in Harrison for the rest of the transfer, with Elder Poulsen as my companion. So things have been pretty crazy!

Because we had to leave so soon, the Sault Ste. Marie area actually won't have full-time Elders there for the next four weeks of the transfer. The local district leaders, who live down in a place called Cheboygan (I probably spelled that wrong) will be taking over that area part time, and will mostly just be visiting less active members and making sure things are ok up in Sault Ste. Marie. Luckily, there weren't too many investigators there anyways, so they should be able to handle that.

I'm actually really excited to be here in Harrison though. There are hills! That is so different than Holland. It's actually pretty small town, and we have several other small towns in our area. It's more rural here, maybe about the size of Rigby, ID. Around the town are farms and houses on large plots of land that are spaced pretty far apart. There are also a lot of lakes in this area. It's not very open though, the whole area is surrounded by a forest. It's such a pretty place though. I really love this area. Seeing wildlife like wild deer and turkeys is pretty common, and on a warm day its really nice to walk down some of the country roads and enjoy the fresh air. This is actually Elder Poulsen's favorite area so far too. The members here are great; even just in these few days I've already met some of my favorite people here is Michigan so far. It'll be fun meeting more of the members of the Branch tomorrow. It's a bigger branch than at Sault Ste. Marie, there should be 50 or 60 people there. Harrison is a pretty quiet town, where a lot of people know each other, but it and the surrounding towns are going to be great for missionary work.

Elder Poulsen is a great guy, and I'm really looking forward to working with him.  We're getting along really well and we're already great friends. Also, he definitely wants to work hard, and I do too, so that makes a big difference as well. We just click pretty well, and he's easy to talk to and fun to work with. So this is going to be good, and I really think that this emergency transfer is a blessing in disguise for me. I'll have to tell you more about Elder Poulsen later, because I'm about out of time.

Things are going great, and thanks for all the support! I pray for you and I know that you'll be blessed by me working hard and trying my best to be a good missionary. I'll do what I can to email back everyone, but it'll be a bit tougher now that I don't have as much time on the computers. Still, I should be able to get back to you in a couple weeks. If you send me a letter, I can read that anytime, but that also might take a while to respond to because my time when I can write back is pretty limited every day. Although Saturdays I usually have more time. But have a great week everyone, and enjoy the spring wherever you are!

Love,

Elder Trevor Casper