Russell's Email 7-23-09

This week has been a different week!
I got a new companion (my second comp in Ely) and he is Elder S. from Maine. The only thing about him is he scares me with how similar we are. Other than that, it's soooo awesome to be serving with him. He is about 18 months out, and so this is probably his last stop in the mission, but I'm leanring a ton from him.
I almost feel like we are reopening an area. When we baptized B. last week, we almost emptied our teaching pool and now we are searching from new investigators! (Calling all RM's, you should write me {contact the sister by way of comment for the address}and tell me your finding ideas for small towns. How did you do the work in your "Ely"?) When Elder Swank came in, I realized, we are teaching a ton of people who aren't do anything! So now we are trying to change how we do missionary work in the area. We shall see how it turns out.
I had a super neat experience last week. We attended Lund ward on Sunday. The first big highlight was they had homemade bread for the sacrament. I felt like a was in a Joseph Smith movie or something. AWESOME...
But no, the big highlight was this. There is a governement funded ranch outside Ely that is owned by a member. About 6 boys from the ranch come to church almost every week and they were expressing desires to learn and join the Church. The boy's ranch is basically a jouvie alternative, and it's neat to see kids want to change after seeing the life they were heading towars. We are trying to find a way to get permission to teach them right now, but it's sooo neat. I love being here in Ely!
This weekend is Lund Pioneer DayS! (yes, DAYS. This is Lund we are taking about.) They have team sorting and branding, rodeos, fireworks, parades, etc. We are going to try to do service and do some less active work down there this weekend because that's where everyone will be.
I'm having fun in Ely. The work is true and it presses forward in Sin City or in little old Ely. I love being a part of this work. I hope these things inspire you to strengthen your faith and to share this message with others.

Elder Hitchcock