Baptized!

Hey, everybody!

We had a baptism this weekend. Blake Sorrell was baptized on Saturday by his soon-to-be brother-in-law, Ian Weldele. It took 3 tries, but Blake finally went under. Elder Fry and I stood in as the witnesses of the baptism, and then on Sunday Blake asked us to stand in for the confirmation. It was a cool experience. Blake and Molly (his fiancee) have been awesome friends to us. They want to travel the world shortly after their marriage. I'm pretty jealous. The world sounds like a fantastic place!

We got snow earlier this week. It looked awesome, and brought thoughts o' me homeland. The branches of the dead trees caught white veins that floated in the air. It's melted since then. I'll be lucky if it happens 2-3 more times this winter. Apparently, an early December snow is rare. Must be my snowflake pocket watch (which is so much more legit than a wrist watch).

The members have been great, as always. We're set for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. I've made many friends here that will probably last a lifetime. Heads up, parents. We may get visitors coming to Utah some time. Of course, many families here have lived in Utah at some point anyway. Collierville is a business community. It's the world headquarters for FedEx, International Paper, and some big medical company. We're very well-taken care of here.

With one baptism on Saturday, it's time to go back out and get another one. We've got a couple of potential people in mind, so we're eager to start teaching them this week. Not too much to talk about this week, I guess. Work has been slow. We're always keeping our eyes and hearts open for those waiting to hear the Word.

To Levi and Stephen: I'm sorry I haven't written a letter yet. Levi, I hope your mission plans are going smoothly. Stephen, I hope your school plans are going well, too. You guys are awesome, and I'm happy to be your friend.

To all my UVU comrades: Hope schooling and club activities are going well for you guys, too.

To my family, I love you guys and all your support for me.

The missionaries have been good to me. The members have been good to me. God has been good to me.

--Elder Staib