Dear Family,
I'm writing this email today from the library in Leavenworth, which means I'm still here! Transfers were this last week, and Elder Taufa and I found out we are both staying here! It was pretty exciting to be able to find that out, I really wanted to stay here. I talked to President on Tuesday and he told me that he really felt that there was still work to be done here in Leavenworth for me and Elder Taufa. One thing he did though, is took the other missionaries out of Leavenworth from the other ward, and put us over both wards. This means we are covering Lansing, McLouth, Leavenworth, Fort Leavenworth, Atchison, and I think somewhere else. So it's a pretty huge area now, but we're excited. It will be great to get to serve so many people. Yesterday for church, we were there all day because of going to two wards. It was really great to be able to have two sacrament meetings in one day though. I got to pass the sacrament for the first time on my mission, which was pretty cool. Oh, you know how I've talked about all the weight I've gained? Well, our ward mission leader, who is a really awesome guy, has been on vacation for a couple weeks. He came back yesterday, and we had a meeting yesterday morning before church were we meet with all the leaders of the ward. Afterward, he came up to me and after saying hi, the first thing he said was, "Wow, Elder Egan. It looks like you've matured a lot since the last time I saw you." I didn't know whether to take it as a compliment or not, but since then, my companion and I have been laughing because what I think what he meant was, "Wow, Elder Egan, you're sure getting fat!" It's just been funny to get different comments from people, but I just need to stop eating so much. The food is just so good, and Elder Taufa eats so much, I just follow his lead at dinner time. On Thursday we went to Independence for transfers to say goodbye to President and Sister Van Komen. It was so wonderful to see them, but we are going to miss them so much. They are some of the most incredible people. It was funny though. Even Sister Van Komen asked about my weight! ;) She told me that I look good at the weight I'm at now, but that I really shouldn't go any farther. It's just funny how people are trying to be so kind. ;) Anyway, I love my mission. I really do. Also, at transfers I was able to see Elder Murray again, as well as Elder Cisternas. Some of the missionaries in the mission did the haka for President and Sister Van Komen before they left. And it just so happened that all three of my companions knew it, so it was cool to be able to see them doing that. I can't believe that Elder Cisternas is home now. He was just my companion not too long ago, and now he's home. It's crazy!
Anyway, I really hope everyone in the family is doing great. Sounds like things are going well as always. Heather, it's alright you didn't get that email sent last week. I want to give those songs to the Lyons though if you get a sec to send them! I hope things are still going well for you though, and hopefully you're still getting excited for trek! You too, Brock. And Brock and Braydon, Sorry I haven't stayed super skinny, but hopefully I'll get back to where I should be. ;) Isaac, I hope everything is going awesome for you, and that your summer isn't getting too hot! I can't believe the weather here. It is SO hot EVERY day. Yesterday it was 100 degrees and so humid. It's pretty gross. Ashley and Brynlee, I love both of you! I also hope you are both still doing so well, and are really happy! Oh, another thing, Melinda, I was telling you a little bit about how the exchange of mission presidents would be working, well I guess I heard wrong and I asked President about it and it's actually pretty interesting how it works. This coming Wednesday, President and Sister Van Komen will be at the mission home, with all their things in the car, ready to head out. President Keyes will get there, and President will have two hours there with him, and then they will leave. President was saying that they do this so that the new President won't know anything about any of the missionaries in the mission, so everyone has a clean slate. I just thought that was interesting.
This week was amazing. Rickie Acree was baptized. It was an amazing day. She came to the church that day so excited, and it was an amazing service. Elder Cisternas was able to come back for it, to see his last baptism of his mission. Also, Sister Lyon gave an amazing talk on the Holy Ghost, which really made it amazing. She told us repeatedly how much she is grateful for this gospel, and that she had the chance to become a part of it. We were able to read some scriptures with her from the Book of Mormon. Mom, I remember last week you telling me about those verses in 2 Nephi 4. I shared some of those with her, and she loved them. I absolutely love the Book of Mormon. It is definitely the most true book we have on earth. It amazes me. I still can't believe that even Nephi, being the prophet he was, still felt like a "wretched man" because of his sins. I guess we can all relate to Nephi in that way. But as he says in verse 16, "my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord". I really think that that is the key to living a righteous life. Desire is everything. It's like in Alma 32 when it talks about just having the desire to have faith, and to try experimenting upon the words, in order to have great faith. That's how we will live righteous lives. If we can give Heavenly Father our whole heart, having all our desires to be like Him, we will make less mistakes. It's a fact. Because then even the smallest of mistakes will make us feel as Nephi did "encompassed about", and even when our "heart groaneth because of [our] sins", we will be able to be filled with the love of God. He will always be there for us. I love this gospel, and I want to be like a Nephite in these days today, and I love learning simple truths from the Book of Mormon.
We had an amazing baptism on Saturday for Stephanie Spencer as well. The same day of the baptism, she got a call that the headstones of the three little girls had been put up. She showed us a picture of it before the baptism, as well as a picture of her girls. It had just brought up a lot of emotions for her, and she was in tears. It was so hard to have to see her feeling that way, but so amazing to talk to her after the baptism. She said that she had never felt so clean, and so happy as she did when she came out of the water. It was amazing to be a part of that.
Then, yesterday, I was able to confirm Rickie, and then her and her daughters stayed for all of church. Her family is really becoming like my family. It's going to be hard to leave this area. And if nothing else, I really feel like the reason I'm serving in Leavenworth is for them. I love their family. Celeste, Cailynn, and Caralee all seem like my little sisters, and I feel bad because in sacrament meeting, Caralee, who is 7 kept wanting to sit on my lap, but missionaries can't do that! But, she drew me a nice card, and told me they want me to move in with them. They had a hard time wen Elder Cisternas left, so it's just hard because they don't really understand why missionaries have to change around like that. Anyway, the three girls are actually going to their dad's house this Friday, and will be there for a month. We'll miss them! But they should be back just before the transfer is over.
Lately we have been having a hard time finding people to accept the gospel! Much prayers would be appreciated, ;) I guess it's how missionary work goes sometimes, but we're working hard to find people! Last night though, we had another amazing lesson with Andy Bestor. He told us that he is really feeling like he wants to be baptized, and that he wants to plan for December 7. I know it's far away, but we were just so glad that he's planning on a date. We might try to work with him to make it sooner, but for now, he is definitely planning on that. He just said he's loving everything he's learning. Him and his wife are expecting a baby to be born in a few months, and he said the gospel has been helping him so much with that, and he said he really wants his kids to grow up knowing the right things. Brother Mikkelsen in our ward has been joining us on the lessons. (Dad, the one related to the Jensens) He's really awesome and helps a lot. He's great at testifying of the Book of Mormon!
Well, my family, it's been another wonderful week in Kansas, and I hope everything is great back in Utah! I love being a missionary, I really do. I love finding experiences to share the gospel every day, and I hope you all are able to do that too.
This gospel is definitely, without a doubt 100% true. I love you all so much.
Elder Egan
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