Clinton - 6 MONTHS OUT - Snowed In

Nice Family - the Mandes who feed them!! THANK YOU
Elder Aspinall and Elder Sumsion

The craziest week of my mission. So much stuff happened and a lot didn't happen. We got snowed in twice this week. So getting out and teaching was super tough. No idea why there is this much snow in Jersey but hey at least its fun and changes things up every once in a while. It has been very cold as well. We are lucky enough to have a car so we can stay warm some times. The cold actually helps us get into lessons as well. Doesn't work in the English program as well but when we knock a door and its just freezing outside they usually let us in. Last week actually we knocked a random door and the door opened and we didn't say one word and they said come in! Its freezing out there. Ha so we got to be in the warmth and teach them a lesson. Its always a win win situation for everyone involved. 

We went on an exchange this last week with the zone leaders. I got to go to Plainsboro,NJ with Elder Vellinga from Clinton, Utah. He is the man. Such a great servant and hard worker out here. He is 24 and had tons of good stories and thoughts about the mission. Always a huge help to be with somebody who has more experience than you. He taught me a lot and helped me teach a lot stronger and simpler. ...He .. taught me a lot about being persistent with people out here. Jersey people have some tough skin to get through, but once past the first approach they get a lot more friendly. Great exchange and he gave me tons of encouragement. We exchanged back in some back-roads of Jersey. Ha super suspicious. A bunch of men dressed in suits meeting on this road in the middle of nowhere in the woods. Ha 

Not much happened with investigators this week. They are all on the same page. We did get to teach El-- and Rosa---. They were asking great questions and will be baptized if they receive an answer through prayer that these things are true. Super excited to help them progress more through the Gospel. But super slow week with all the stuff going on. We are pumped for the weather to clear so we can get out and teach more.

We had interviews this past week with President as well. He was so nice and encouraging. You always leave interviews with him feeling so excited to be a missionary. He is the best. 

Yesterday was a tough day for my companion. We got a call from President Jeppson informing Elder Aspinall that his grandma passed away. They were very close. She is straight Samoan and was practically his second mom and helped raised him his whole life. She sounds like an incredible women. ........Tough day yesterday for him. We didn't even get to church. We just sat there on our couch and he was telling me stories of her and showed me a picture of her. He got to call his family and talked to them for a while. I think it helped him out a lot. He was trying hard all day to be happier. He is such a strong missionary. He is doing much better now. He recorded a song for his grandma on the Ukulele, Oh Lord my Redeemer, and is sending it home for the funeral. 

Shoutout to Brock Deluca! (His friend heading to the Houston Texas Mission on Wednesday) So happy to hear that his whole family came to support him yesterday. Wish I could have been there for the talk. I guess I will just have to come to his homecoming. Glad to hear he is pumped.

Love you all so much,

Sam, nice job on getting that Eagle Project going! ... Thank you dad for your great letter to me and working hard so I can be out here. Love you

Elder Sumsion