from May 12

It was great to see you guys. Since I mostly updated you on what I have been up to I thought I would send some interesting facts about this mission to you. Interestingly enough this mission baptizes very well. The northwest other than Utah is one of the highest baptizing places in the USA. Also our mission is one of the highest baptizing missions in the northwest. I wish I had some exact statistics but I do know that our mission baptizes around 65 people a month. You will have to ask what the mission in Iowa averages. I am not sure the reason but I suspect the reason is the high number of military people who flow in and out of the Tacoma area. That way there are always new people to teach. That is the only reason I can think of. Most missionaries leave this mission baptizing 10-15 people on average over the course of their mission. Many missionaries in the US especially in the South are lucky to be apart of 1. 

Anyways I thought I would share that. Well basketball sounds like nothing has changed. That was nice of Steve to say. He has always been a real cool guy in my book. Along with Joe of course. There are not many people in groups in our area. You have to remember we must stay inside our ward boundaries which consist mostly of neighborhoods. You should look on lds.org for the Brownsville ward boundaries. It was really nice to see you guys. Everyone looked good, especially the dogs. One more statistic for you. Our mission handed out 500 Book of Mormons last week. So you can imagine you many get handed out all over the world each week. And yes, other than the Testaments, the church does not put out many movies about the Book of Mormon which I find interesting. 

I love you lots and enjoy the advice you give each week. I try to be more confident in what I do each day.