OK, I'm sorry

Thank you to the loyal reader who asked me tonight if there was ever going to be another post to this blog. I'm really sorry, especially when I see that it was a month ago today the last time I posted. Linda and I have really been trying to get something up here, but as you can see, we haven't succeeded.

We've had an e-mail from Eric every week since the last post, and I could never recount everything from all of them in one post. I'll see how far I get tonight, and go from there. I'll try to get everyone caught up in the next few days.

We got an e-mail from Eric on October 15, and he was very excited. I'll let him tell you:

"Hello, things continue to go well in Sheffield. We had probably our best week last week, getting lots of new people to teach and a lot of people at church. We had an investigator bring three friends to church with her on Sunday! Brilliant!"

For some reason, I couldn't help thinking about a beer commercial when I read that. Anyway, he went on to tell us the most exciting news of all. They had an investigator named Vincent, who I think I have mentioned before. He is a Chinese student Eric and his companion met a few weeks ago, and they have been teaching the gospel to him. Vincent believed and accepted what he was taught, and decided he wanted to be baptized. His baptismal service was scheduled for the Friday after we got this e-mail, so you'll have to wait until the next post to see what happened. Eric did say that after he got done with his e-mail, they were going with Vincent to get a suit for him to wear to the baptism.

The mission president visited Eric and his companion this week, and went with them to some appointments. Apparently, he didn't say much, because all of the discussions were in Chinese. Still, Eric appreciated the opportunity to spend some time with his leader.

Eric said they have been doing a lot of street contacting, just walking up to people on the street and trying to share a message about Jesus Christ. He said it is always awkward but "you get used to it...a little bit." He said he shouldn't have much trouble asking a girl out on a date after this.

What else is going on? Well:

"There are lots of trees in Sheffield and the leaves are changing colors. It is very pretty. The fall here actually reminds me a lot of home. I often feel like I should be on my way to a real football game. But then reality usually sets in, I realize people are driving on the wrong side of the road and talk with a funny accent; and I get back to work."

I don't know if their gas prices are going down like ours are, but when he wrote he said gas was selling for about a pound per litre (that's how he spells liter, crazy brit). He thought that converted to about $9 per gallon (I think it's closer to $7 but still pretty expensive). Apparently, that's why everyone drives tiny cars in England. While we're on the subject of money, he said he spends about 10 pounds (I don't know how to make that funny symbol he uses) each week on groceries. As of today, that's less than $16. However, fast food is expensive. He got a double cheeseburger value meal at Burger King, and it cost him twice as much as here, with smaller portions.

He closed his e-mail by saying:

"It is hard to slow down and be content when there is so much work to do and so much success to be had. I don't think I've even begun to see how great of a mission I really can have. The potential is so great, I just want to do a little better each week."

Somehow, I think he will.