This just in!

Quite literally. I sent the missionary a survey to take for his halfway mark and it just came today! Since it's only one day late from the year mark, I would say that we did pretty good on our timing considering we were mailing it across the country to each other.

Here is what Sammy had to say:
(it's kind of long, sorry... but I know my momma wants to read this)

1. So how has the mission been so far?
My mission so far has been marvelous. Everyday is a new adventure. You never know what you are going to get. It's amazing to be a servant of the Lord. I love it. I couldn't be doing anything better.

2. Has it been harder than you thought? Easier?
I would have to say that some things are harder than I thought and some are easier. For example, it can be super hard to go out and tract in the STINKIN hot weather when that's all you've done for the past 3 weeks. But hey, it could be worse.

3. What has been your most favorite experience? Your most spiritual?
There are 2 experiences that I would have to say are the most spiritual. The first experience was my second baptism. Throughout the entire baptismal service the spirit was super strong. I was able to perform the baptismal ordinance and as we were standing in the water the spirit was overwhelming. It was such an amazing experience to be able to be a part of that baptism. The second experience was when I got to confirm a sister who had been wanting to get baptized for 12 years. As I placed my hands on her head the spirit filled the room. It was amazing to be able to confirm her and to feel the spirit like that. Those are 2 experiences I will never forget.

4. How has the food been? Have you had to eat lots of gross veggies so far? How do you eat that gross stuff? Have you been learning to like them?
The food has been pretty good for the most part. Nothing really too crazy. When you don't like something you kinda have to just eat it. There have been a couple things that are just too gross to eat like cooked squash & zucchini and like this warm mashed spinach salad thing. But I have kinda learned to like broccoli, green beans, and other veggies.

5. What has been the funniest experience? The scariest?
One of the funniest experiences that I can think of is when we were talking to this lady who didn't want to hear what we had to say. She kept telling us about how she had already heard the message. So I was like oh so you've heard about God calling Joseph Smith to be a prophet, and Christ's church being restored and the Book of Mormon and about BIG FOOT! She kept nodding her head and saying yeah, yeah. I almost started laughing on her door step. It was rather funny. For the scariest experience we were walking back to our bikes around 9ish. About 2 doors down we hear all this yelling and cussing. Like 2 seconds later there is like a gang fight going on. Not knowing what to do we hid behind a car across the street. Two minutes into the brawl a car flies down the street and stops right in between us and the fight. Seconds later the car and gangsters start shooting at each other. Bullets are hitting the car we are behind and we are freaking out. I thought for sure I was going to get shot. But before we knew it the whole thing had ended. It was CRAZY! As we stand up there were like 20 bullet holes in the car that we were behind. None of that really happened, but it sounds pretty good.

6. What’s your favorite thing about being a missionary? Least favorite?
There are a lot of things that are sweet about being a missionary. All we really have to worry about is teaching the gospel to everyone that will listen. It's a lot of fun to know all the different members. I love how much you feel the spirit as a missionary and seeing the gospel change peoples' lives. My least favorite is probably when we go tracting FOREVER and don't have any success. That pretty much stinks.

7. When did you know that you were going to serve a mission?
I never really knew as a kid. I always kinda said who knows, we'll see. But sometime between my senior year of high school and college I started thinking about it more and more. As I prayed I knew that's what I needed to do. So here I am halfway through my mission.

8. Did you know your family misses you and loves you A TON?!
Yes I know my family loves and misses me and I also know that I have the BEST family! WOOHOO!

Well, there you have it. Straight from the boy - word for word. He really is doing well. We love getting his letters and e-mails with tons of updates and stories about preaching the gospel in Florida. He sure is working hard.
I am so proud of you Sammy!