Dear Family,

All I have to say is that it is very strange being a senior companion. Now I have responsibility over two missionaries, Elder Gasser and myself. I think that the hardest part is that now I am expected to make the harder decisions. For example, in all my previous transfers, my companion would be the one who would have to make sure we were out the door on time, that we were doing missionary work, and that we were being obedient. Now, it is my turn to do that, and it just seems weird. I just hope that I am going to be able to remember all that I have to do. I think that it will turn out all right though.

You are right about our investigators. One of the greatest challenges our investigators have in Indiana is to quit smoking. Everyone smokes here. No wonder Indiana is one of the highest sellers of tobacco in America. Both of the families we are working with will have to quit smoking before they can get baptized. Another very hard thing to get our investigators to do is to come to church. For some reason, they just can't get themselves to come. I just don't know what I can do to help them understand the importance of it. I guess that is something I will have to figure out soon. Actually, it may surprise you, but quitting drinking coffee, for some people, is harder to do than quitting smoking. That was really surprising for me.

Our investigators are doing well for the most part. We have 5 right now with a baptismal date, but some are more solid than others. The first family is made up of a father, his daughter and future son in law. The father, Steve, is doing amazingly well. When he quits smoking, he will be unstoppable. I am so happy to see that he has been making these huge improvements in his life. His daughter, Stacy, and her boyfriend, Pete, are having some troubles though. For some reason, I don't think they have been trying very hard to quit smoking. It feels really strange while we are there. I'm not quite sure what is going on with them right now. Our other investigator family is doing well too. Their names are Jeremy and Amber Krammes. They also have to quit smoking, but at least they are a married couple. That makes our job a lot easier. We are excited about them, and the decisions that they are making.

Thanks for telling Grandma about the sweater. I have found it extremely helpful in surviving through the very cold days. Elder Gasser and I are looking forward to the coming week because it is supposed to get up into the 40's. During the summer, that temperature would sound freezing, but the fact that we have been experiencing 15-20 degree weather makes 40 degrees sound almost warm. I will just be happy when it warms up a bit.

We should have a big game day when I get home. I think that would be a lot of fun to get back into the regular life feel. It will have to be after the Christmas Break next year though. I will get home about mid-January of next year.

How could Misti have already had her baby? It seems like just yesterday I was in Muncie and reading the e-mail that she was having a baby. Time went by way too fast. Of course they had a baby boy. It is the Savage tradition. We can't break tradition. It would be great to have a couple of pictures of the baby.

I agree that it is so very important to get a college education. The bad thing, though, is that I heard the government is making things bad enough that even going into medicine is going to be interesting in the coming years. I don't know what I am going to do, and I am going to need to know within the next year or so. I guess I should think a little about that on my free time.

I forgot that it was Annie’s birthday on the 11th of Jan. I would have sent her a card if I had remembered. Maybe in your next email, you could send me everyone’s birthdays. Then, it would make things a little easier on me. I still can't believe that I have been 20 for over 5 months now. I think I now understand what Mom meant about “wishing my life away”. I sometimes wish that I could go back to my childhood and relive it again. Dad, I guess half a century doesn't seem too bad now, since I am moving up towards the quarter of a century mark.

I am still feeling fine. I am planning on going to get a regular flu shot tomorrow so that all of my bases are covered. I guess I was OK with the H1N1 vaccination that I got because I didn't get any weird side effects. I don't think that I will be getting that one again next year, just the regular flu shot.

I love you guys and miss you too. Make sure that you are all taking good care of yourselves as well. I want everyone to be happy and healthy when I get home.

I also wanted to thank you for putting money into my account. I feel bad about spending as much as I have, so I have decided to do a little better at budgeting. Maybe if I have a chance, I can buy myself a little notebook to write things down in and keep better track of what I am spending. It will be good so that I can practice for when it will really count. Thanks for all the love and support you give. You don't know how much it helps.

Love,

Elder Savage

      Elder Colton Savage

     1216 N. Central Ave. #7

     Connersville, IN  47331

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