Bed Bugs And Birthdays - 10/20/15 (Glen Carbon, IL)

Family and Friends,

I am enjoying my time here in Illinois, Corn Fields are great! Haha. But we have worked hard this week, and haven't had much to show for it actually. A lot of our appointments fell through and our baptism we had set for Sunday with Eric got cancelled literally a few hours before the service. Poor kid, he's only 9 years old and wants to be baptized really bad, but several people in his family are trying to make it so he doesn't. It was disappointing, and we had everything ready to go, so when it cancelled we spent the whole morning calling everybody and telling them it wasn't going to happen. But on the bright side all the ward members gave us the cookies, brownies and other junk they were going to bring to the baptismal service. But with Eric we are going to shoot for a date in a few weeks, and just hope everything works out. 

So I have neglected to share this, but since I arrived in the Glen Carbon, our apartment has had a slight Bed Bug problem. It is unpleasant! Haha. Most nights we sleep in fear hoping that we don't get eaten! But I haven't been bitten yet, nor seen very many. Elder Abad on the other hand has been bitten a lot for the past few weeks. But the mission is paying for an exterminator to come out tomorrow and take care of the bugs. Elder Abad and I have to pretty much take a full day out of working so we can clean, move furniture, and we have to wash and dry EVERYTHING with soap and heat! Then immediately we have to put everything into sealed plastic bags, it's really a lot of work, but hopefully by tomorrow everything will be taken care of. 

Saturday was Elder Abad's Birthday, he just turned 21. We were mostly out working all day, but later that evening he wanted to go to "Steak and Shake" to celebrate! We had dinner there and the waitress was really nice and gave us our shakes for free! 

Sunday was my first day in The Glen Carbon IL Ward! Last Sunday we had Stake Conference in O'fallen, where we also got a new Stake President who is a really young guy actually. Anyways, I met a lot of great people in the ward, not sure I remember all of their names, but I will with time I guess. Afterwards we got fed a birthday dinner by a part member family, The Rose's. Sister Rose is an active member, but her husband Larry left the church a long time ago. But they both have a passion for taking care of the missionaries and especially feeding us! We had a huge dinner complete with chocolate cake and Ice Cream. 

Today is my birthday! It also just so happens to be P-Day, so we are going to go into St. Louis and see the Gateway Arch and hang out at the Delmar Loop and just hang out in the city all day. I am way excited to go, St Louis is a great place. I will be sure to report on that adventure next week and send pictures. But Thank you everybody for your support and love! Feel free to write me a letter or send me an Email, getting letters in the mail always make the day good, even if its a bad day! :)

Until next week, Love and Peace. 

Elder Chase Peterson