Well - so much for my promise to do better... so here is what has been going on with Dereck this past month. Transfers were at the beginning of April and he is staying in Glendale with Elder Jensen, however, they have added another elder to the mix. His name is Elder Roberts (I think.) He was in the MTC at the same time that Dereck was, and Dereck really liked him. So I guess we will see if they can live together and still get along. He never really talks about his companions much, other than to say that "he rocks". That has been his description of all of his companions to date. The mission work moves forth. He says that they are really busy. They have a lot of people that are starting to know. He is hoping to stay through at least one more transfer because he is hopeful that they will learn of the truthfulness of the gospel and he wants to see them through. I guess it is pretty funny to see the three of them standing on a porch. It is a bit awkward I suppose.
He told us about an fun "run in" he had with a 10 year old boy. I guess this kid was outside throwing a baseball around and Dereck approached him and asked him if he played. He said he did, and that he just got back from Puerto Rico playing for a US team. He threw Dereck a glove and pitched a few balls to him...I guess he had a wicked knuckle ball and could throw a 70-mph fastball. Dereck was obviously impressed. You can tell he really misses the game. He finally told us the name of the "big" family they were able to baptize -- Herrera. One of the kids from the family plays and so they try to go watch him to "support" the family. Yeah, right.