Hey Mom! 

Another week already flew. As all of them do. That is an amazing story. Just reading it I can feel the spirit because I have heard of many experiences like that. Elder Bednar talks about it. He said in his experience being an Apostle that any time he goes someone it is always for that one. He said that of course they do all the big events such as a temple dedication but people never see the behind the scenes. The Lord sends his servants to find the 1 lost sheep. So I think that is a wonderful experience. Of course she will miss him because that is so hard but I am sure she does feel much better. David is definitely there with her. It is like they talk about how us as missionaries have other family members on the other side of the veil who are preparing our path and protecting us. 

Sounds like that was a really great trip! I am excited to go see everyone next summer. It will be so hard to leave here though. My mission has definitely been crazy and I have seen things in my patriarchal blessing come to pass for sure. If you have pictures please send them as well. Poor Isaac! Not fun. Well I hope everyone else is doing well there. I do not believe I have been to Destin. 

So we are what is called a Zebra companionship and that is with one English Elder and a Spanish. And we work with both. There is is actually a small group of Spanish people here. I would say 30 to 40 who meet every week so we go to church twice. One is English and the other in Spanish. So as a Zone leader we just go on exchanges with all the district leaders and if we want to with other companionships. So we are actually doing an exchange with each companionship of the Elders this transfer and we also go on exchanges with the Assistants. So he (Elder Hillstead) is actually in the Cherry Hill South zone. It would have been awesome though if I did go there! But I'm super close to him and will see him I am sure at a Zone conference. It was so good to see him though and also Elder Hopkin. He is training! Which is awesome. Lots of things have been going on and we have gotten lots of new missionaries. It is crazy! But transfers was awesome and huge. It was sad to leave Elder Morgan but Elder Riley is also awesome! Me and him were both district leaders in the Wilmington Zone and now they put us together to be zone leaders. He has been out a transfer longer than me. We are close in mission age. But he is a great missionary! He is from Pocatella, ID. I told him to tell his parents to look out for Sister Moreland(Courtney). We are learning together how to be Zone Leaders, and this is now my second double in. The ward is super awesome and so is the Stake Presidency. We had ward conference yesterday and the Stake President is kind of like a Steve Eager. He played pro football and now is on TV haha. Great guy. I was a little surprised but also excited. I loved my last district a lot so it was sad to leave everyone. But I also saw Elder Parker again at transfers because he came with his parents which was cool. This week went well though. We did some contacting and got some return appointments. Oh! Nice thing is that we have a gym here at the apartments which is so nice because now I can actually do a good workout. Oh and did you know you cannot pump your own gas here? It is illegal and you will get fined if you do. I thought that was interesting. But so far so good! Oh I will also be on an exchange in Camden this week if you have ever heard of there. It will be so cool! 

Yeah Stubbs had given me a call last Monday just to give me some pointers before I left so that was real nice. I have his email and number so I'll be in contact with him. As well as Elder Parker. Two great missionaries! 

I can't believe all the people leaving on missions from our ward. So crazy! I'm so excited for them. I know they will be great. I do not know where this month went though. Every month just gets quicker I feel like. 

 

Well they (Saryn and Kayla) better enjoy that 1 day! They will both be great missionaries. I need to email Shelley! 

We will definitely always need missionaries! 

Poor Colton. Always something! Haha I bet he enjoyed that trip. But he didn't get to go with his grandpa! Love them. I have some more that I will be sending! I finished this one early this time! Haha.  Well I love you mom and will talk to ya again real soon! 

Love, 

Elder McArthur  

 

                                         Adam with the Fletchers and Elder Morgan

                                        This is his new companion Elder Riley.  He is from Pocatello, Idaho.  

                               Adam  told him to tell his parents to look out for Sister Moreland (aka Courtney).

Hey Mom! 

So President actually called me to be a Zone leader now which I am actually super excited. Definitely a lot more responsibility now. I am very sad to be leaving but I kind of had the feeling I wouldn't be here super long either. I don't know why. I really wanted to be! I love it a lot. I'll miss the Fletchers!

Things are going great! So J actually ended up dropping us for a bit but R came to church! He is progressing very well and also we just found a new couple who are awesome as well. E and E. So it's exciting but sad I won't be here to really see what happens. Yeah Elder Morgan will be fine. I know he will. And the less actives not as much anymore. Turns out that one of them had back surgery to we are helping him out and stuff because he can't do anything really. R is our best progressing investigator. He actually read the intro to the BOM and also the Plan of Salvation pamphlet. He just had lots of questions about why he is here and where is he going. So we get a txt one day from him saying I understand now thank you so much is what he said. We will set him with a baptismal date tomorrow which is super exciting. But everything is going well here. That couple we found last night should really start progressing. They live right above some members but who are less actives. They are slowly coming back so that is good. Not a whole lot happened this week except I was so shocked about getting transferred but looks like there are other things in plan for me. Being a Zone leader will be way different and much more busy. 

Yeah I am trying to get started on it. I have just never really set goals until my mission like none. I have loved speaking Spanish. Ha yeah we had such a great lesson with that less active family. It was great. He (Elder Weisler, aka Jake) was so excited that I got called to be a Zone leader because I will see him at lots of meetings and stuff. He is a great missionary. It has been great to serve with him.

I do not think it (the temple) is actually going to be finished but I want to come back for it. So something cool! I can't remember if I told you but we are having 3 apostles through the mission within the next 3 months and President is going to try to set up a mission meeting with one of them which would be super cool. So I am excited about that. There is lots going on here in our mission. I always feel like there is. But I would love to come back and go through it for sure.

Yeah I know he (Elder Nelson) was called. It is just weird cause President Packer was President for so long I feel like. He was such a great man but I know Elder Nelson will do awesome. I feel like he will definitely be the next Prophet. I am excited to hear who they (new apostles) will be. 

I hope you enjoyed those pictures and I will have more next week for sure. I love you mom and tell everyone there as well! I will talk to ya again real soon and see where I will be Zone leader! I'm super excited for the opportunity. Elder Parker sat me down before he left and talked to me about it and I had a great chat with Stubbs about it and just my mission and how he has seen a big change in me from when I started until now. I got his email and number so I'll be in contact with him for sure. Well hope the trip will be great! Love ya again mom! 

Love, 

Elder McArthur 

 This is the former Elder Stubbs. He was Adam's zone leader when Adam first arrived in the mission. 

                                           A family from the ward.  The dad is an investigator. 

Hey Mom! 

I really can't (believe that it has been a whole year). Like technically I have less than a year now which doesn't feel real to me.  Just amazing! 

 

Thank you so much for the package! I like that a lot haha. I'm actually thinking of making myself some goals for this last year or 11 months in my mission. Spanish goals, personal weight, all that stuff. My thoughts are like all in Spanish though. I never thought I would ever be able to learn it. Ever. The Lord has truly blessed me and given me the gift of tongues. 

I heard (about Kayla's mission call)! So many of us are speaking Spanish like it's crazy! I hope I can do the best I can with it. It has come a very long way haha. That's amazing that she is going there. I bet they were just so excited. Wow! Excited for Erin (Solomon, friends from Georgia, who is going to Jakarta Indonesia). That's super cool. I can't even imagine serving over there. I can't believe we have that many out! Plenty of missionary work to do. It's just super cool to see where everyone goes. 

I'm doing well honestly. It's going alright. The less actives are like literally avoiding us. Well! Some of them. Ha we are having success with like 2 families who have been coming back. One of them just took us out to eat the other night at a super good Mexican restaurant. Definitely found some solid investigators! So we found this new guy R who is pretty golden from what we can tell right now and will already be at church next Sunday. He told us that "well I gotta go to church if I actually want to learn." Good to hear! We actually had a great lesson with J. We watched the 20 minute restoration video with him and it helped him really see more clearly our message. He said he was going to watch the hour long one tonight because we downloaded the Gospel Library for him on his iPhone. Haha so he is great. He will be at church Sunday. Satan played dirty with us on getting people to church that is for sure. Y ended up having to cancel last week. We had some really bad storms and her daughter was freaking out so she had to stay with her but we are seeing her this Friday with Stubbs thank goodness. It definitely has helped. Things honestly are starting to pick up here and we are ready for the next transfer. Hard to believe this transfer is over. It flew! I'm going to miss some of my district cause Elder Parker is finishing the mission.  But nothing too crazy this week. Just slowly working with some new people. I think of the changes I've seen in all my converts here and it's amazing. Their whole countenance changes. 

Ha Philly was so much fun. I was back in my old area and we ate at Reading terminal station which was wonderful. It was a really fun trip. Bro. Fletcher is the best for taking us down and we got to see the temple. It is really coming along well since last time I saw it. That like 32 story building is going to be huge and then there will also be a chapel right there. Such an awesome spirit is just around that site.

Yeah next year I'll be back for a trip but I'll really have to think about that one. There is a lot to see up here where I am. This is the best mission. Like honestly I could not have asked for a better mission and mission president. As well as all of the missionaries here! Such as Elder Weisler (his best friend from Georgia). We are going to go play basketball with him today and his companion Elder Issertel. 

I do not know what I'm going to do when I'm home and just passing people but not talking to them. Especially the Hispanics. It will just be a weird feeling and with all the free time. There is a guy named D here who just got off his mission from Vegas and just does not know what to do with all the free time and things like that as well. But I love sharing the gospel and it is sad when we aren't and when people just reject it. That always hurts but you move on. You can not get discouraged as a missionary. That is the downfall. 

Poor Ryan! I can't even imagine not having AC. I'd die! Especially out here with this humidity and everything. Well I hope the work is going well out there. Still same ole Ryan! 

It is funny that you talk about that song (How Great Thou Art, my dad's favorite song) cause I love it and it has been in my mind so much recently. The Gospel is the best. It clears everything up and there is not so much confusion. It is ridiculous how much confusion there is with all the other churches. The Book of Mormon is truly the keystone that holds it all together.  I just love it and want to help everyone understand that. It will be interesting seeing the new apostles. I'm very excited for that because that is huge. It's a calling for eternity. Well I love you mom and I'll honestly see what I can do about pictures. Last week was just too hectic haha but I love you very much and will talk to you again soon! 

Love, 

Elder McArthur 

I'm doing good! Just glad to have a new suit now actually. It was a kind of slow week. Some sickness and all that but it still ended up going well. We did however set a baptism date! His name is J. We have been working with him for a while and just finally set it yesterday. Now we really just got to get him to church. We are still working with that one family with the guy T who has been investigating for like 30 years. Also, we are having a lesson Thursday night with Y in a member's home actually on Thursday night. She came to church and is doing real good. The great thing was was that the family from Bolivia have a daughter here to who is married and they are the same age. Both Hispanic and speak English and Spanish. So great connection right there! We were super excited. The mom's name is J. She is super awesome. Just doing missionary work.  She went and introduced herself to Y then to her daughter since they are the same age haha. So it was a good week but next week will be so much better! We did get to stay out and see fireworks. We went with some members and it was super awesome. It was a good show. Some huuuuge ones. I was so glad we were able to. President let the mission stay out later to do so. They invited us over for dinner then to see the fireworks. So that was honestly my week! This week will be much better though. It's looking pretty full. 

I can't believe she (Kayla) is already getting her call. I remember just always talking about it but now it is coming up. I am super excited to hear where she is going. Yeah Saryn leaves on the day I came into the field last year! Weird. Time flies. 

 

We actually got to see the temple going up today and there is just a special spirit around it. Loved it. We gotta stay strong with all that is going on. 

 

Well I'm short on time! Cause we were in Philly a long time. Sounds like that will be a super fun trip. The girls are getting too old! Not good. Well I love you so much and I will talk to soon! 

Love, 

Elder McArthur  

 

 

 

 Suit shopping since he "grew out" of one of his!  Thankfully he gets a great deal!!

                                          Another dinner with the Fletchers!!

                                                    Even another dinner with the Fletchers but on a trade off!

                                          Brother Fletcher says Sister Fletcher comes in fun size!!

 

                                                             Philadelphia temple site.

                                                      More at the temple site in Philly.