Welcome Home Elder Durfee!

The Last Email before Elder Durfee Returns!!!:)

Elder Durfee and his tough companion!

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Dear Mom, Title “My Last Email”

             Well I’m glad to hear Ryan made it safely home. I only have a few day left! Yesterday we gave service on the church ranch. It is harder for us to do things because we can’t ride the horses or quads. We cleaned up around one of the farm houses. The branches on the trees had fallen down and lots of dead branches still clung to the trees. We pilled everything up inside the old 5 room chicken pen to be burned later this winter. We also fixed a windmill and rescued a baby calf and caught a lizard.

Well it is hard getting everything in order to go home. I have washed my clothes for the last time out here. We emptied the fridge of all its extra contents that needed to be thrown away since Elder Nonu left. The hardest part of it all is we have to spend time writing President Ely our “Trunky Papers”. I have spent all morning writing up a letter about my mission, my testimony, my goals for the next 6 months, the next 3 years and the next ten years and what I like about my family. If you want to make a missionary to think about home just have him write a letter about it. Wednesday we have a work day and a meeting with our ward mission leader. Thursday we have district meeting. Friday we are going down to the temple. Saturday we have our last work day. Sunday we get up go to church then drive down to the mission home. Spend the night and get interviewed by president. Monday go out for breakfast and then head to the air port. Then I will see you!

Well for work we have been trying very hard to help Prepare Derek for baptism. His girlfriend does not want to get married. We had dinner last night with them. Their children love us and they want their parents to get married. It just goes to show you that it is important to get married then have kids. It causes problems the other way around. Derek came to church with the three year old twins. I sat by him and tried to entertain them. I was really tired after church.

We cleaned basement for service. It was really dirty. There home looked almost as bad as some of the homes that grandpa had renters in. we cleaned most of it but have another appointment with them Saturday to finish the job. I am really glad you made me clean my room. Thanks for that. It is really disgusting when you put food, dog poop, shoes, clothes, books, trash, homework, movies and everything else on the floor instead of where it should go. Charlene came to church! It was stake conference and we watched a movie of it being broadcasted from Cheyenne.

We almost ran out of miles again this month. We made it to the church building and had to park the car. We only had one mile left to drive and our house was three miles away. A nice member gave us a ride home. The next day we walked to church because we could not find a ride. Having a car is really nice.

Well mom I hope you have a wonderful week and the family remembers its Mothers Day on Sunday. I will call you then. Love,

Elder Durfee

4-25-11

Dear Mom,

Ryan comes home on Friday!!! No way that’s wonderful and totally unfair... I wish I could be there to see him. I guess I’ll just be that last one off the boat. J Would you tell him hi for me and congratulations?

I hope you are well and healthy. This last week was a long haul but I made it threw. I have to say that I am thou rally exhausted. All I want to do today is sleep. The members that we live with took us to one of the old Cabalas ware houses and let us look around. It was way cool. It was three stories tall and filled with all sorts of animals. Yes they are stuffed but it was really cool. I sent some pictures

Well this last week we drove all over the place. We were planning last Saturday night and were having difficulty planning what we should be doing (this usually means we are working in the wrong area or in the wrong place). We decided to go east of town and visit everyone in each small town we visited. We were way out of a small town called Chappell and when we came across a house with no numbers but it was the only on the street. We knocked and found out the person had moved to town three years ago. We tried to find her in town with no success. The only active family in the town was able to help give us directions (it is a really small town). The members warned us that the husband was anti-Mormon but should be nice to us but to call if we get into trouble. When we found the house, they let us in and were very nice. The wife still claimed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as her religion. The husband was not anti-Mormon but really opinionated. We had a great conversation about the gospel and the apostasy, in the end they invited us to come back and see them. I am grateful that we were able to find that sister and her husband. They probably have not had the missionaries visit in several years. Just think if we had not headed the prompting of the Spirit as we planned the night before, the family would not have been found.

We met with Derek. He is very busy preparing to move his family and everything else. His Fiancé is having second thoughts about marriage and the baptism has been postponed until they get married. I don’t think I will be here for the baptism. He has been reading from the scriptures and been marking them with different colors.  He told us that he believe the Book of Mormon is true. He has not smoked nor drank coffee. I fasted for him this last Sunday.

Brother Swires was in the hospital this last week. We did not get to meet with the family but we stopped by and got a chance to “mourn with those that mourn”. We mostly just listened and let them know that we cared about them.

That's all that I have time for, thank you for your prayers Mom. I love you!

Elder Durfee