FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hola from Hagerstown Maryland!!! How are you guys? How is everything going @ home?
1st off I want to say how great it was talking to you guys in Mexico! I was on cloud 9!!!!!!
On the plane ride over I was sitting next to this VERY nice lady! I talked with her for a little bit and got to know her. But, I did not get the guts to give her an “I’m a Mormon card” until we landed 4 hours later! Here is the crazy part... she lives by a chapel in MExico and has been to Salt Lake and visited the temple! I know that God puts people in our paths for a reason!
AT the Atlanta airport I heard someone say "Lennon" and I whipped around. It was VELDAKAYE from Days Market!!! She was just getting back from a 2 month backpacking trip from Peru to Mexico! I kept my eyes open for Paul Millsap... but he was no where in sight :( And of course I got some chicken nuggets and a mcflurry :) I missed those two!
I LOVE PRESIDENT AND SISTER RICHARDS!!!!! They are angles from on high! So happy I was blessed with them as mission presidents! We spent the 1st night in a hotel. They elders dropped us off and Salvo (the check-in guy) started to talk to us. He is from Germany and is very religious. The elders gave him a card and he went to church on Sunday!
The next day we headed to the church to find out our companions and areas! At the church I saw Jordin, Brennan and Dallas from Timpview! My companion in HErmana Zindel and I love her!!!! Her Spanish is amazing so I am excited! I think she is going to help me improve a TON! MAryland in beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!! The trees here are HUGE and cover the entire state!! So, I am in Hagerstown which is like right on the edge of Maryland. We drive to WV for church, haha, that is how on the border it is! haha! The city has everything.... the countryside, cute little neighborhoods and the ghetto! It is crazy!
Our Spanish Branch is amazing!!!!!!!!! Some of the sweetest and smallest people I have every met~! Not joking! There is this one family whose mom is 4’ 11” and her daughters are 4’ 10” and 4’ 7”! The daughter who is 4’ 7” is only a few months younger than me! I feel like an ogre.
Also, Hermana Zindels companion before me was a native speaker and she was very sociable. So she was easily able to communicate and connect with the members. I feel a little lost, not only because of the language barrier, but because Hermana Zindel and her old companion already have such strong relationships with everyone! I know I will get there one day though! And I already feel so close to them all!
Lets see...
This week most of our appointments canceled on us or didn’t answer the door. So, we spent a lot of time street contacting. We were doing it in neighborhoods and I asked Hermana Zindel if we ever go into the city. She said that she hasn’t really so we gave it a try. We had a ton of success! Got quite a few #s and people wanting to go to church... Yaya!!! Hermana Zindel said it must have been a prompting because street contacting is never that successful!
Carol, we met her in a neighborhood, was so dang sweet! She belongs to another church but she told us that she watches the Christmas program from SLC every year! She also said she wants to visit the temple so we gave her the English speaking Sisters number so they could set that up. Dave has been growing his hair out since Bob Marley died! He gave us his number and wants to go to church! JULIA!!!!!! She is in a wheelchair and just goes around town. She asked if we believe these are the last days and then said... "If you ain’t right, you better get right". She is awesome!
The other day we were in the city again and we saw Julia across the street, so we booked it across so we could talk to her! It was amazing! She told us all about her life and how hard it has been. She has tried to keep the mindset of "this too shall pass" but it has been hard to stay positive. She didn’t want to go out that day but decided that she would... and then she ran into us! She said she knew that we were sent from God. WE talked and she asked us to pray with her. Then we helped her up to her apartment because she was too tired to make it up there herself. We are going to get a pic with her soon and she is gonna stick it in her bible :)
Our motto in the city is: “Follow the Spanish music!” We contact and meet all of these amazing people but then we just have to hand them over to the English missionaries. So we have been following the spanish music wherever it is blasting in the city and found 3 people that way! Pray that they will answer our call so we can get some investigators! Right now we have 1 investigator, but I haven’t met him yet. WE have been visiting all of the less actives in the ward because that is what President Richards want us to focus on. Only 30% of the members in Maryland are active!!!!
Oh ya! There are fireflies here! I had never seen one before! Hermana Zindel is trying teach me how to catch them!
I am so happy! I am high on the gospel right now! GAH! There are times where I get frustrated because no one is home and I feel like I am not doing much, but, then we run into just one person and your whole day is made! I am so grateful to be here in Hagerstown (a.k.a. Little Baltimore)! I love my companion! I know that we have the fullness of the gospel! I can already feel myself becoming more and more converted! I know that conversion is a life long process and I am so grateful that I am on my mission so that I can grow that much stronger and that much closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ!
LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lou :)
p.s. I am so tired! Like can’t even keep my eyes open tired! It feels like 2 fat sumo wrestlers are sitting on my eyelids at all times! And it is so dang hot here!!! The sun wont even be out and I feel like I am gonna topple over. Yet, somehow, I am still as happy as can be! The only way to explain that one is that I am doing the most amazing work!
PLEASE right me handwritten letters since I cant chat with you guys!
MOM! Your package made my entire week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY COW! And 5 letters!!!!!!! I looked like a rockstar and everyone was SO jealous of me!!!! haha! Here is the craziest part! The article you sent me about the MAryland Baltimore Mission that had Elder Burrup in it... HE IS IN MY AREA! I was reading the article, looked up, and he was in the car with me!!!! haha! Such a nice guy! He is going to play in the MLB when we gets home... he can throw a ball 90 miles an hour!
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