June 8 (sorry, delayed a week...)

Michael finished his first full week in his new area-----I’m just pasting in what he wrote pretty much----his birthday is June 12th---missionaries love cards for their birthday---here’s his new address again:

210 Sunset Dr. #516
Salisbury, NC 28147


“Well this week was good- The ward is getting to know me and I think we have already gained a lot of trust with the bishop and leaders that has been lost a little bit lately- A lot of GREAT missionaries of passed through this area of Salisbury and this ward is really great for missionary work when we get them rolling- so I feel a little like I have to prove myself in a sense but I don’t know-

The ward had 6 baptisms last year- we had a goal of 14 for this year but are only at 4 so far- Hopefully we can get things rolling-

We got 4 new investigators this week- One I’m excited about is Lewis Wallace- He was an old media- I’m guessing that he just fell through the cracks- no one ever went to see him- but he had been reading the Book or Mormon on his own for the past few months- he is loving it- One problem is that he is STUBBORN and PRIDEFUL and it is on his own time and his own way so he has a little problem with commitment- we click pretty good though with our personalities-

We had a lesson with a recent convert named Tay- she’s a black girl about 20- she is a former Crip(the gang) it was amazing that she was able to get out of it the way she did- usually the case is you get out either hospitalized or dead-

There is a less-active couple that is trying to get active after 8 years of inactivity- they are trying to get back to the temple- They are just like a couple kids arguing over dumb little stuff haha- I hope I don’t get like that haha-

I went on an exchange to Albemarle- That is the small town where my love Kellie Pickler is from- AHHH I was hoping to run into her but we didn’t haha- I heard she visits there a lot to her grandmother- There is a girl in the ward over there who was friends with her in high school so I can’t get sent there because all I’ll try to do is get the information of where she stays haha-

We had a good lesson with a new kid named Kenan Johnson- he is 13 years old- we taught him at the Messisco's house or should I say land- haha- it is so nice- like 4 or 5 families live in houses next to each other, they own 300 acres where they are- they have a private lake- it is so beautiful= brother and sister Messisco went visiting teaching riding together side by side on their harley davidson's- it was pretty awesome- they are such a cool family- they have 2 daughters' age 14 and 12- they play like every sport there is haha-

But Kenan wants to try to get baptized mid July- he lives with his mother in concord but come to Salisbury for the weekends with his grandparents- his father is also over here- his mom is not a member and his dad is but is less-active- his grandparents are both active- he waited outside the church doors for like 1/2 hour until his dad got to church a little late- he’s awesome for the circumstances that he came out of-

I’m really impressed with the youth in this ward- a lot are converts- it amazing- a lot of the members as well- its so cool so see the difference in the church out here in the south- Well I love you all

That’s it for now"