I Have the Swine Flu!

Hi!
The subject line is a lie. That was just to get you excited about the contents of this email. Elder Weaver, my new, fresh-out-of-the-MTC companion, says he doesn't think he had swine flu, although his MTC companion, Elder Merrell, did. He does have a deep cough, though, which is apparently a symptom of the swine flu. If I sprout a curly tail, I'll know something strange is going on.

So, Elder Patrick Weaver is my new companion! He is from Gardnerville, Nevada, the last of eight children (his parents are almost as old as my grandparents), and awesome! He's sincerely excited about being a missionary and serving the Lord and the people of Michigan. It's a little intimidating to be a 'trainer', realizing that I am, so far, his only impression of "real" missionary work. I hope I do an all right job.

We had some very sad news this week - our top investigator, Gary, suffered a major heart attack Thursday night. When we visited him in the hospital Saturday night he was still non-responsive (he'd been semi-comatose since the heart attack) but we gave him a blessing and trust that things will be all right. Prayers on behalf of him and his family would be much appreciated.

We taught a new investigator this week who happened to know a lot about our church and our missionary program because he follows college football very closely. He told us all about missionaries who leave Utah football teams for two years and then come back and keep playing. He was also kind enough to pull out his college football magazine and rattle off BYU's season for me. Sounds like it should be a good one :).

When we started teaching him about the Book of Mormon, he briefly excused himself and returned the room a moment later with a stack of five Book of Mormons. He's never been taught by missionaries, but seems to have had significant contact with us or other church members over the years. It reminded me of a similar story I read in a church magazine once and of the moral of the magazine's story - we need to get the book(s) off of his shelf and into his heart.

It's a good time to be in the Michigan Lansing Mission. It's beautiful and warm (although very humid), and great things are happening this mission. We are working on stepping up to the challenge of truly becoming a "Preach My Gospel" Mission and reaping the harvest the Lord has promised us here.I know this is the Lord's work; He directs it and it must be done in His way.

Thanks for all your love and support.

Love,
Elder Cloward