06.15.2011 "Great Week in Rainy Allegan, MI"

Hello Everyone,

I hope that the last week has been going well. It sounds like there've been a lot of different things going on back at home, so that's good. Summer is coming on in full force it seems! It sounds like the weather has been pretty crazy there too. It's actually been about the same for us here. It's been overcast almost every day this week, except today it's completely clear. But up until now, it's been raining on and off almost every day, and they clouds have been moving quickly across the sky so the weather keeps changing every 5 minutes. We've had some hail and high winds here in Allegan too, but luckily we missed that in our part of town. We still got some pretty intense rain and winds for a few minutes though. We've even had a couple small tornados touch down near the city. Yesterday, the tornado siren even went off. It was odd, because the weather was actually pretty calm right then, just cloudy. But who knows, two miles away it could have been completely different. Rain isn't much good for missionaries, especially when we don't have a car. I dont' even mind being soaked that much, but then everything else you have gets soaked too, like your planner and pass-along cards, so it makes it almost impossible to go out if it's raining hard (unless we have an appointment). But it's been clearing up a lot, and it looks like it might be nice this next week here.

We're not going fishing today, but we might next week. I'm a little addicted now, so that should be fun and I'm looking forward to it. We also had the opportunity to do some service yesterday. Brother Subacz, the Branch Mission Leader, had some materials and equipment that he was keeping in storage in an old friend's barn. Sadly, the old friend is starting to have many mental problems, including Alzheimers, demetia, and bi-polar-ness among other things. As a result, he is very unstable right now. Brother Subacz has been worrying about him for weeks. Yesterday morning he actually ran into his old friend in the store, and was told that he needed to get all his stuff out his friends barn that day. Brother Subacz was desperate, so he called us, and we spent about 3 or 4 hours moving it all out. It was kind of fun actually. Brother Subacz was really worried that his friend might be unstable while we were there, but the whole time we were moving stuff out he was in a good mood and was very helpful. It also looked like it was going to rain the whole time, but we didn't get one drop. The Lord blessed us and everything ended up working out perfectly without any problems at all. Brother Subacz was so relieved! He and his wife took us out to dinner afterwards, and we decided to go to a 50's style diner in town. When we got there, I found out that they had a deal going on for unlimited fish and fries for only $6.50! I was so excited, haha. Those are two of my favorite foods. It was pretty good, and it felt great to have a good meal after a few hours of heavy manual labor. It was a great day, especially since that morning we had taught someone we had met and they became a new investigator. That's one of the best feelings all week long, when we get a new investigator :) .

We've found a couple new invesigators this week, which is pretty exciting. So as of now, here in Allegan we're teaching Jeff, Scott, Chiquita, Jeremy, Stephen (pronounced steffen, sorry Stephen), Maureen, Archie, Dan, and Sherry. The Lord has been pouring out blessings on us, and I know that the work is ready to progress forward. He has promised great blessings for this area, and even miracles, and we're already starting to see that. Things are happening that we didn't even think were possible before we came here. Elder Ralphs and I are both completely different people than we were 3 weeks ago. The Lord has been preparing us to do His work here in Allegan, and he's been strengthening our weaknesses. These scriptures come to mind:

2 Nephi 4:15-16, 19 (second 1/2)

Ether 12: 6, 12-13, 23, 26-29, 35

We will be the instruments that the Lord needs us to be so that His work will be brought to pass here. I love the scriptures and especially the Book of Mormon, and I ponder over the things that I have read and recieved continually. I'm learning more and more how to recognize the Spirit and understand his promptings. I know that the Lord loves me, and I'm coming to love the people here in Allegan, and my companion, more and more. I love this work, and it's a great blessing to be a missionary in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a key part of the great work of these last days and of our Heavenly Father's plan, established before the foundations of this world.

I love you all,

Elder Trevor Casper