October 18th 2017~UMMMMMM, WHAT??? HUGE, EXCITING NEWS!!!!! TRANSFERED TO LOWER MANHATTAN!!! Thanks So Much For The Card!
HELLO FROM NEW YORK CITY! Thank you all so much for your amazing emails and pictures! It has been kind of a crazy week and so I hope my email makes sense! It has been so amazing! First of all, I just want to thank you for your letter that you sent! I got it last Monday and I loved reading from you all! I really appreciate the spending money so much! I've got lots of incredible and exciting news and I can wait to tell you all about my week and my new area! First of all, I'm so sorry to say but I might not have as much time to email each week because our apartment doesn't have any Wi-Fi other that one little spot in our study room. We have to open up our window and send our emails that way. It has been such a luxury to have Wi-Fi in both of my apartments so far but this one doesn't have any. I am so sorry!
Hello once again my dear and amazing family!! So I just got the biggest shock of my life! I don't even know where to start. I've got some really big, exciting, and unexpected news that I can't wait to tell you! So, as you know, transfers calls were last Saturday and Elder Howard and I were almost positive that BOTH of us were staying. We kept joking about Elder Howard getting tranfered for his last cycle but never in a million years did we even think about me getting transfered....well, I did!! We got the call at around 9:45 and Elder Wallace gave us the shocking news! I bet you are all shocked to! That makes 2 of us! Hehe!
Last P-day was so amazing! I think I told you just about everything that we did. All I can say is wow because it was so much fun! After our awesome P-Day ended, we had another dinner appointment with Pete and Cheri Sagazie! We were even more excited because Pete's Sister and her husband, who are both members, flew in from Idaho and spent the week! Pete and Cheri arent members but Pete's Sister is! We got to talk with them and they are such great people! Their last name is Taylor and they are from Rigby Idaho! We got there and they were right ready for us to have dinner so we said a prayer and dug in! We got to know the Taylors really well! I told them that Grandpa Evans is from Malad and they thought that was really cool because they love Malad! Then we got talking and they said that they had just gone to visit family in Star Valley and then I told them that Grandpa Lindberg is from Afton! They had been there spending the week since the 4th and they left early morning on the 12th. Even in New York you can make connections to Malad and Star Valley! They were really down to earth nice people! When we walked in, they said "Look! It's the Mission Mormonaries". They lived in California since the 70s and moved to Rigby almost 4 years ago. It was so cool to talk to someone who was going to be in Utah the very next day. As we were leaving, I told them to say hi to Utah for me! They passed through Logan on I-15 so they were really close to you! It just amazes me that they can be sitting at a dinner table with us in Kingston New York, and then pass right by where you all are the very next morning! We read 1 Nephi chapters 5 and 6 with them. Brother Taylor has lots of cool stories and it was great to have them there since we are trying to build the Faith of Pete and Cheri! It was really helpful to have such great fellowshippers for them! Sister Taylor is Pete's Sister and so they had a great visit with them! Then, they blew my mind when they told me that they love Lathrop and have been there many times! I told them that I have cousins that live there. Then they asked me where I was from and I said Nibley. They said: "Oh we love Nibley! It's right next to Providence right? We have friends that live in Providence!" My mouth just about dropped to the floor! So I couldn't believe that I have Nibley, Providence, Malad, Star Valley, and Lathrop in common with them! Can I just say 1 thing......SMALL WORLD!!!!! They told me that their friends' last name is Russell and they live in Providence! It was so fun and interesting to talk to them but itnwas time for us to go. So we said a closing prayer and I left with a huge smile on my face! We took a picture so now you can see the Sagazies!The Taylors are on the right and Pete and Cheri are on the left. They are really great people! We had an awesome drive home and had fun talking about the Taylors and what a small world this is! I really, REALLY, appreciated your Facebook message! I loved reading it and wished I could send a response back. Thank you so much for all of your amazing emails!
Thursday was so awesome! It was our usual weekly planning that morning and so we just planned like the wind and got everything situated for the coming week! We had another Conference Call right after our studies which is always great! President Smith talked all about asking questions and how we can be directed and guided by the spirit to know what questions that will best help the people we teach feel the spirit. It was really interesting as always! He shared lots of cool miracles that were sent in by all of the missionaries! I send in all of the cool things that happen but he hasn't shared any yet. Then we did our weekly planning. (Sorry, not too exciting but it has to be done once a week. Hehe!) We planned like the wind and worked on Mike's Baptisimal programs and called lots of people to fill the program! We even got Graciela to do a musical number which will be so great and then Bishop Wootan to conduct! Then we made flyers for our English class that is coming up the same night as Mike's Baptism! We made a really coll poster and printed one out before making copies to make sure Google translate was correct on the translation. Then we knocked on lots of doors and enjoyed the crisp, cool fall weather and loved talking to people! We don't have as much contact with people up here since were aren't on trains and busses all day so we really don't get to talk to as many people. I have always enjoyed starting conversations and so I've gotten a lot better at talking about the Gospel! So after weekly planning, we came back to the apartment for dinner. We had 3 appointments that night with Brother Young, Wayne and Sharon, and Mike but they all fell through due to things coming up short notice. So we decided to go hand out as many invitations as we could for Mike's baptism! We made lots of stops and ended up going to Richard and Lisa's house and they were home! We invited them and Richard really wanted to go but wasn't sure of his schedule for work yet. He said that his wife had to work but he was going to try his best to make it and then he would bring his young daughter, Sophia! That was a big step just for him to consider it because he hasn't stepped foot into the church in probably 20 or so years. He's only in his mid 30s and was baptized when he was 10. He is starting to go off the deep end a little bit and has gotten into smoking and alcohol. We are slowly trying to help him feel the spirit and get back to Church! Then we passed out some more flyers and drove over to invite Lisa. We had a great discussion with her and we talked about her conversion story and how she came to find the church and it was really amazing! She started to cry and we knew she was feeling the spirit because it brought back so many great memories. She has only been to Church 1 time since I've been here and she says it is just too hard to get to Church with kids. I think every parents struggles with that but they still get it done. I thought about the Smith family and lots of other big families who have to get lots of kids ready. She know it's an excuse and she tells us that but she just won't make that next step. We had a great lesson with her and then we headed back to the apartment after another awesome day of work! Brrrrrrrrrrr was it chilly! The temperature has dropped as you have probably seen on your weather app and the leaves are changing colors quick! I can't believe we are already into this time of the year! My year mark is approaching fast! It has been really chilly at nights and then cool in the morning.
Friday was awesome! We had a really great day! We drove over to lots of people's houses and put lots of invitations to Mike's baptism on doors! It was so great! I was so excited and grateful for your email and the quote! I have always loved that quote! We had some service scheduled with Brother Monterroza and so we drove over to his house. We weren't sure what he wanted us to do so we had an open mind the whole time. He said that he made a mistake and forgot to cyphen the gas out of his snowblower and so he was worried that the gas had separated. We tried to unscrew the bolts from underneath the gas tank but he didn't have the right size. We called around but just couldn't get a hold of anybody. We scheduled another time to come back and then we dropped off a lot more invitations and had a great time talking with people! Then we met Sister Wootton for lunch again and she brought Bill......I mean, Brother Smith! It was really great to have him with us! We talked about his family history and how much fun he was having with it! Then we went over to the Church to help Bill with his route that he did for the sacrament. He was really excited to be able to pass and he said that he felt honored! He still talks about your awesome letter and was so excited to get it! We taught him about temples since he was preparing his family history so he can take names to the temple and do baptisms for the dead. Then we drove over to our next appointment with Adam Iskowitz. Adam is a really great and quiet guy. He just quietly listens and agrees with everything we say in our lessons. We were going to teach the Plan of Salvation but the spirit guided us and we ended up reading in the Book of Mormon with him since he told us that he hadn't read any of it. We read the first 4 chapters with him and kept telling us how interesting it was to him! He always thought that the Book of Mormon was made to replace the Bible. A few verses in he told us that it wasn't anything like he expected and that he really liked it! We had a great discussion with him and he loves our visits! It's moments like that, that make me love being a missionary even more! It's so cool and amazing to me that we can see people grow and flourish! His whole life of thinking that the Book of Mormon was made to replace the Bible was changed in 5 minutes of reading with him. We drove back to the apartment excited and so happy with the way our lesson turned out! I really appreciated your email and the quote that you sent! It made my day! Then after dinner, we drove to Red Hook to visit Brother and Sister Pease again. They get pretty lonely and enjoy our visits very much! They love the spirit that fills their house when a quick spiritual thought is shared! We knocked on their door and they didn't answer so we drove around and knocked on the doors of people we had information for and invited them all to Mike's baptism. We were pretty far away from Kingston in a small town called Tivolli and so we enjoyed being there for about an hour. We knocked on 3 doors and they didn't want anything to do with us. We just kept pushing forward though! We had the name of someone who we didn't recognize that was a member so we decided to stop by and see if she was home. A lady answered the door and we recognized her from church but didn't know her name. She is in her mid 20s and just moved here. She served her mission in Poland a few years ago and so she has become really good friends with the Parks! Then she said that she used to live in Provo and went to Byu and then graduated from Utah State with her masters! I told her that I live in Nibley and she thought that was so cool! I've said it once and I'll say it again.....small world!!! Then we drove back to Kingston for another amazing lesson with Mike! Call it what you will but it was incredible, awesome, amazing all rolled into one! We taught him about Temples and the Priesthood and he was so excited for his baptism! His faith has grown so much especially with Graciela and Larin family right by his side! After pur lesson, it was time to drive back to the apartment for the night after an awesome day of work! "Work, work, work, there is no satisfactory substitute!"
Thursday was so awesome! It was our usual weekly planning that morning and so we just planned like the wind and got everything situated for the coming week! We had another Conference Call right after our studies which is always great! President Smith talked all about asking questions and how we can be directed and guided by the spirit to know what questions that will best help the people we teach feel the spirit. It was really interesting as always! He shared lots of cool miracles that were sent in by all of the missionaries! I send in all of the cool things that happen but he hasn't shared any yet. Then we did our weekly planning. (Sorry, not too exciting but it has to be done once a week. Hehe!) We planned like the wind and worked on Mike's Baptisimal programs and called lots of people to fill the program! We even got Graciela to do a musical number which will be so great and then Bishop Wootan to conduct! Then we made flyers for our English class that is coming up the same night as Mike's Baptism! We made a really coll poster and printed one out before making copies to make sure Google translate was correct on the translation. Then we knocked on lots of doors and enjoyed the crisp, cool fall weather and loved talking to people! We don't have as much contact with people up here since were aren't on trains and busses all day so we really don't get to talk to as many people. I have always enjoyed starting conversations and so I've gotten a lot better at talking about the Gospel! So after weekly planning, we came back to the apartment for dinner. We had 3 appointments that night with Brother Young, Wayne and Sharon, and Mike but they all fell through due to things coming up short notice. So we decided to go hand out as many invitations as we could for Mike's baptism! We made lots of stops and ended up going to Richard and Lisa's house and they were home! We invited them and Richard really wanted to go but wasn't sure of his schedule for work yet. He said that his wife had to work but he was going to try his best to make it and then he would bring his young daughter, Sophia! That was a big step just for him to consider it because he hasn't stepped foot into the church in probably 20 or so years. He's only in his mid 30s and was baptized when he was 10. He is starting to go off the deep end a little bit and has gotten into smoking and alcohol. We are slowly trying to help him feel the spirit and get back to Church! Then we passed out some more flyers and drove over to invite Lisa. We had a great discussion with her and we talked about her conversion story and how she came to find the church and it was really amazing! She started to cry and we knew she was feeling the spirit because it brought back so many great memories. She has only been to Church 1 time since I've been here and she says it is just too hard to get to Church with kids. I think every parents struggles with that but they still get it done. I thought about the Smith family and lots of other big families who have to get lots of kids ready. She know it's an excuse and she tells us that but she just won't make that next step. We had a great lesson with her and then we headed back to the apartment after another awesome day of work! Brrrrrrrrrrr was it chilly! The temperature has dropped as you have probably seen on your weather app and the leaves are changing colors quick! I can't believe we are already into this time of the year! My year mark is approaching fast! It has been really chilly at nights and then cool in the morning.
Friday was awesome! We had a really great day! We drove over to lots of people's houses and put lots of invitations to Mike's baptism on doors! It was so great! I was so excited and grateful for your email and the quote! I have always loved that quote! We had some service scheduled with Brother Monterroza and so we drove over to his house. We weren't sure what he wanted us to do so we had an open mind the whole time. He said that he made a mistake and forgot to cyphen the gas out of his snowblower and so he was worried that the gas had separated. We tried to unscrew the bolts from underneath the gas tank but he didn't have the right size. We called around but just couldn't get a hold of anybody. We scheduled another time to come back and then we dropped off a lot more invitations and had a great time talking with people! Then we met Sister Wootton for lunch again and she brought Bill......I mean, Brother Smith! It was really great to have him with us! We talked about his family history and how much fun he was having with it! Then we went over to the Church to help Bill with his route that he did for the sacrament. He was really excited to be able to pass and he said that he felt honored! He still talks about your awesome letter and was so excited to get it! We taught him about temples since he was preparing his family history so he can take names to the temple and do baptisms for the dead. Then we drove over to our next appointment with Adam Iskowitz. Adam is a really great and quiet guy. He just quietly listens and agrees with everything we say in our lessons. We were going to teach the Plan of Salvation but the spirit guided us and we ended up reading in the Book of Mormon with him since he told us that he hadn't read any of it. We read the first 4 chapters with him and kept telling us how interesting it was to him! He always thought that the Book of Mormon was made to replace the Bible. A few verses in he told us that it wasn't anything like he expected and that he really liked it! We had a great discussion with him and he loves our visits! It's moments like that, that make me love being a missionary even more! It's so cool and amazing to me that we can see people grow and flourish! His whole life of thinking that the Book of Mormon was made to replace the Bible was changed in 5 minutes of reading with him. We drove back to the apartment excited and so happy with the way our lesson turned out! I really appreciated your email and the quote that you sent! It made my day! Then after dinner, we drove to Red Hook to visit Brother and Sister Pease again. They get pretty lonely and enjoy our visits very much! They love the spirit that fills their house when a quick spiritual thought is shared! We knocked on their door and they didn't answer so we drove around and knocked on the doors of people we had information for and invited them all to Mike's baptism. We were pretty far away from Kingston in a small town called Tivolli and so we enjoyed being there for about an hour. We knocked on 3 doors and they didn't want anything to do with us. We just kept pushing forward though! We had the name of someone who we didn't recognize that was a member so we decided to stop by and see if she was home. A lady answered the door and we recognized her from church but didn't know her name. She is in her mid 20s and just moved here. She served her mission in Poland a few years ago and so she has become really good friends with the Parks! Then she said that she used to live in Provo and went to Byu and then graduated from Utah State with her masters! I told her that I live in Nibley and she thought that was so cool! I've said it once and I'll say it again.....small world!!! Then we drove back to Kingston for another amazing lesson with Mike! Call it what you will but it was incredible, awesome, amazing all rolled into one! We taught him about Temples and the Priesthood and he was so excited for his baptism! His faith has grown so much especially with Graciela and Larin family right by his side! After pur lesson, it was time to drive back to the apartment for the night after an awesome day of work! "Work, work, work, there is no satisfactory substitute!"
Saturday was incredible as well!!! I still can't believe that I got transfered. It didn't even cross my mind that I would leave the great Kingston area! I felt like I had so much more to do there but I'm stoked, thrilled, and excited to serve in Manhattan! Isn't is crazy to think that you have a son who is now living in Lower Manhattan!?! When we took P-day trips, we went right through this area and It is the coolest part of Manhattan! I'm so excited to say that I have the One World Trade Center, Battery Park, and all of Lower Manhattan! This is probably the richest area in the whole mission and if you asked me anywhere what I wanted to get transfered to, it would probably be here! I mean, this is the heart of New York City and now I'm right in the middle of it!! I hope I can explain everything well! I bet you are shocked right now!
It was transfer call night and so we were excited to hear the news! I was thinking about you guys the whole day and hoping you were having a blast at the Aggie homecoming parade and game! I really missed not being there so much and spend time with you! We started the day by having a great correlation meeting at the Church with Brother Lopez! We got everything set with Mike's baptism and Brother Lopez read over our English class flyers and gave us the go ahead to print more! Then we talked about all of our investigators and what they need to progress even more! Then we drove over to visit Josh and Adal really quick and had a good lesson with them! They are pretty rowdy and so they can be hard to teach at times but we invited them to Church and the baptism this Friday. They were doing the farmers market and so every store on the street had a stand out and they were all trying to sell their food! It is always pretty cool to see everything going on. It's a great place to talk to people but sometimes, we get some pretty rude and nasty people say stuff to us. We were outside saying goodbye to Veronica who is Josh and Adal's mom and a guy put his face really close to our nametags and very rudely said: "You don't really believe in Jesus do you? Because I've got some things to tell you." He then said some pretty mean things and Veronica just stood there and shook her head. It was pretty hard to listen to what he had to say. I just stood there and then bore my testimony about our great Church and that I knew that this is Jesus Christ's church restored back to the earth through Joseph Smith. He turned away and walked off pretty upset. It was pretty crazy but we can't let anyone get us down because we know who is going to win in the end! We are!! He was just confused and misled and someday he will accept the Gospel! We then got into our car and drove back to the apartment to do our companionship study and have lunch. Sister Wootton gave us some organic whole wheat pasta with spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese. So I made some noodles and put some sauce over them and it was really good! I'm so glad all my cooking skills that you taught me are coming in so handy! Thanks!
After lunch, we srove to Saugerties for a couple of lessons with Sister Shambo and Ann! They havent been getting along at all and we are trying so hard to bring the spirit in and help them get along. Since they don't get along, we had to do their lessons at separate times down in the big lobby that they have. We taught Ann and found out something pretty sad that lots of people get into but it just bobbled my mind to pieces. I really can't wrap my head around these scams that go on and then on top of it to have someone fall for it. So we got talking to Ann and apparently she had been going through a lot and people don't even talk to her or acknowledge her. She told us that she had been chatting online and a stranger emailed her and asked her to send money to Syria because he was stuck and couldn't get out. He needed money so he could come back with his whole family but he needed almost $5,000 to get out. Well, Ann felt really bad for this guy and so she sent $3,500 of her own money to Syria through the mail to this guy. Crazy! I know! We acted very calm but I wanted to say "What!?!?!" She kept saying: "I thought it was real but he still wants me to send more money." She told us that her parents who are still living but they are in their 90s, sent some money to her account a while ago but she cleared out all of her savings to pay this guy. I just don't understand at all why she would send money to Syria! She was kind and willing enough to tell us and trust us that we would help her. We shared a message and tried to change the subject because we are there to share a message and not get involved with people personal lives. So we shared a message about Faith and left her with a prayer but she was very upset. She thinks that her son is hacking into her phone and messing everything up. She has been going through a lot and it is really hard for her. We definitely made her feel better and we were so happy that we could bring the spirit in! Then, we drove back to Kingston to pick up Bill and then we drove over to a dinner and lesson appointment that Sister Cross invited us to! She really enjoys having us over almost every week and we love bringing the spirit in! She is such a great person and we are so grateful to have her in the ward! She invited Bill and he was thrilled to come! So since it was a lesson, we could bring Bill with us! Bill's mom sent us a package of chocolate cookies all the way from Sun City West Arizona to say thank you for teaching Bill! She is in her late 80s and is really a great lady! Then we had an amazing dinner with Sister Cross, Bill, Grace, Logan, and Stella! We enjoyed each other's company and then as we were leaving, we both started joking about this being goodbye. They transfer you so quick and so when it comes out of nowhere, we aren't prepared for it. In my last area, I pretty much knew I was getting transferred since I had been there for 4 cycles. Elder Howard has been here for 3 and so I thought I was totally safe. It really did come out of nowhere but it just goes to show you that President Smith was inspired and knew that I was needed in Union Square. So we got home after a great day! We got the call from Elder Wallace at about 9:45 and we answered. He told us all of the transfers within the whole zone. Sister Johnson, Elder Horner, and Elder Brown are all getting transferred. Those were all to be expected since they have been here for a while. Then, the most shocking news ever!!! Elder Wallace said that Elder Howard will be staying. So we were both thinking in our minds, "Wheww, we're good." But then Elder Wallace said that I will be leaving. I couldn't believe it!!! It really was like a blindside in football! It was like Dubbie or Puck tearing down the field and just blindsiding me! I was so excited though! I mean, to say that I've lived in Lower Manhattan!!! That's so cool and I'm so excited to be here but sad to leave good old Kingston and all of the lifelong friends that I have made! I wasn't prepared at all and didn't say goodbye to anybody so we knew we should stop by a few houses and share a quick message so I could say goodbye. I seriously wasn't prepared for it so I didn't even say goodbye to anyone. I'm pretty sure that we even have Wall Street in our area as well as the whole financial district. Dubbie would think that is funny because in his Lego game, you can drive in the financial district. Then Elder Wallace told us that my new companion will be Elder Brown. This is a different Elder Brown than my Zone Leader. I had remembered seeing him but I haven't ever talked with him. I knew we were going to get along just fine! M just so excited about having the One World Trade Center, World Trade Center pools and views of the Statue of Liberty in my area! Every single P-Day is going to be a Manhattan trip day! I've heard that some of the members even have access to passes to the very tip top of the One World Trade Center, Empire State Building, and The Rockefeller Center! It's all so amazing! So technically, my area is called Union Square. I'm so excited for you to look it up on Google maps because it is a really cool area! I can't wait to see what the next few transfers have in store for me because I've always loved this part of New York so much and I can't wait to serve here! I bet you are all in shock too! I wish there was some way I could have told you but they call us on Saturday and we are gone by Tuesday so I didn't have any way of telling you. It was seriously such a crazy night!
Sunday was a great day full of goodbyes! I feel like I just got here and now I have to say goodbye to everyone. I just got thinking that I won't even be here for Mike's baptism anymore. I was in the program and everything! I couldn't believe that I was saying goodbye to all of my amazing friends that I have made in just 12 weeks. We went to Church and everybody was asking Elder Howard if he got transfered and so they were all shocked to find out that I got transfered. We had such an amazing time at church but it was sad to know that it was my last time going to Church in Kingston. I woke up thinking it was all a crazy dream! I can't even describe how excited I am to serve in such an amazing and cool place! We had a really crazy day with lots of appointments and traveling. I mostly said goodbye to a lot of people and we shared lots of messages! It was non stop the whole day which was awesome! When I told everyone that I was being transfered, nobody could believe it. Everyone kept saying "No way!" We had a really great high councilor speaker in Church! He walked in pretty early and he looked so familiar as soon as he walked in. I shook his hand and he told me his name. Victor Guzman!! Then it clicked! There are a whole bunch of videos on the Gospel Library app called "I'm a Mormon". They have regular everyday people talk about their lives and what they like to do. Well, this guy was on this show and I recognized him from the video! He has lived in Brooklyn most of his life and is a very successful attorney! Here is the really exciting and cool part! In the video, he talked about how he grew up in a really rough family situation in a rundown apartment in Brooklyn. He worked really hard and got out of that situation and went to school and became an attorney. He got a job working in the World Trade Center and went into work on September 11th and was on the 85th floor when the plane crashed into the 1st tower that he was in. The plane hit into the 93rd floor to about the 97th floor. So needless to say, I was so excited to meet and talk with him. He has put that horrible event in the past and even talked about in his talk. He gave a really good talk about families and how important they are. He ran down the stairs for his life and didn't stop until he got out. You all know how much I love 9/11 history and so to talk to someone who was not only in the building, but 8 floors away from where the plane hit was an incredible and once in a lifetime experience! He is such a nice guy and I believe his parents are from Guatemala and so he has a slight accent from speaking Spanish most of his life. Really cool and amazing experience! Here is the link to the video if you want to watch it! It is really cool! "www.mormon.org/victor" I wanted to get a picture with him but we were in Church and he left right after the 2nd hour. I did take a screenshot from the video so you can see what he looks like. It was really cool to talk to someone that was there to witness it all! So right after church, we had a lunch appointment with the Lopez'! We had a great lesson and they made us grilled bologna sandwiches and then a lentil soup. They had Felix and his little sister Ashley there and so it made it even better! Then we drove straight to the Goodins' house to say goodbye and have a short lesson. Then we drove from the Goodins to the Parks house for dinner and desert.....and a picture of course! I've lot most of the families that we taught up on my drive so if you have any questions about who they are just let me know. The Goodins live pretty far away and then we went to the Thompson's who live really far away as well. It was another great visit and we talked about me leaving and they just couldn't believe it. Elder Howard will be staying here in Kingston for his very last cycle of his mission. He is getting a companion named Elder Puffer who has been out just over a year. I was so not expecting to get transferred and now I had to say all of these goodbyes and pack like the wind! After we got home, I packed as much as I could but I didn't get very far. The last transfer, I was totally prepared and so I had already started to pack a little bit. It really was an awesome day and I had lots of support! I feel like I just got here and that I had so much more left to do but I guess I'm needed somewhere else right now! How exciting though like you said to be in Manhattan for Christmas and Skype call you from Manhattan! It is going to be amazing! It was a really great day!
Monday was such an awesome day! I am so excited to say that I got your letter in the mail! I can't even thank you enough for the messages you wrote to me and the money to spend! It takes the mail so long for some reason once it gets to Scarsdale. I guess it is because of all the sorting they have to do! I really, really appreciated your awesome letter and everything that you said! I made my day!!! It is always so fun to get actual physical mail and I always love getting them! You are all the best! I also got Grandma Evans' fun Halloween card! I have the best family ever! It was my last full day in Kingston and it was full of goodbyes.
I woke up and was SO excited to see your Facebook message and email! I was so thrilled that you got to see that I was getting transferred! I loved your email so much and I'm so glad that you all had fun at the Aggie homecoming parade! I'm just really glad you got to see before it actually happened that I was getting transfered! I may be sad to leave, but I know that everything happens for a reason and I will really love Manhattan I just remembered that I forgot to tell you something. When we were driving back from Saugerties after a visit and we were on the freeway and saw a Monmouth Hawks University team bus with the football team on it! They are a lower division school like Weber State and Southern Utah but it was still really cool! So we woke up and I kept on packing and everything fit so well! Both of my suitcases were stuffed to the rafters! Then after our studies, we drove to New Platz one last time for District Meeting. I was really excited and couldn't wait to see my new area, companion, and the beautiful New York City skyline! I am still not sure exactly what my area covers but I really do hope it covers all of Lower Manhattan! So we drove to District Meeting and had a great last meeting of the cycle! Elder Howard brought some root beer since that is the only beer I can drink and then some angel food cake for a late Birthday treat and last District Meeting celebration! Then after District Meeting, we drove to the church for a lesson with Sister Wootton and the guys that play basketball. Then we went out for our last buffet lunch and I finally got a picture of Sister Wootton! She is just a good person and loves helping everyone she can! I finally got lots of pictures of most of the main people that we teach or associate with so I hope you enjoy! Then we had a crazy busy rest of our day! It was non-stop go, go, go the rest of the day! We went back to back visiting Bill, Roberta Falatyn, Sagazies, Ann, and Lisa Martin! We had some really great lessons but everyone was sad to see me go and couldn't believe that I was leaving. Bill told me that he wants to keep in touch and he will continue to send mail! He is such a great guy and I was very sad to leave him! I felt like I had so much more to do here in Kingston even after Elder Howard left. I am so grateful because I remembered that you ordered online from Wal-Mart and I'm so grateful for it! After our lunch, we drove right over to Wal-Mart and it was so easy to pick up! I really do appreciate your willingness for buying me stuff! So after that is when we started our visits and they kept going until it was time to come back to the apartment for 1 last time before transfer day! I got all packed up and ready to go after a full day of great lessons and goodbyes! I hope to see lots of these great people again! It was a really amazing day and I read your letter and email over and over again!
TRANSFER DAY!! Wow! What a crazy and busy day! It was so great! We woke up and I was very excited to see the New York City skyline and actually live in Manhattan! I couldn't wait to meet Elder Brown! We had to leave the apartment by 9:30 so we could get to Ossining by 11:00. I was nervous and anxious all at the same time! It's very different to completely change apartments especially when it comes without warning. Finished packing and we cleaned the apartment so Elder Puffer has a great, clean apartment to come to! Then it was time for me to say goodbye to Kingston, the apartment, and Elder Howard. I got to drive 1 more time for the last time in probably at least 4 months. It was such a pretty drive and I enjoyed all of the scenery so much! I said goodbye to Elder Howard and he took off to go back to Kingston with Elder Puffer. Then we loaded up into the office Elder's van and then we drove to Inwood where I met Elder Brown! What can I say other that he is such a great guy! We are getting along better than ever and I can't wait to continue working with him! There is so much I want to tell you! He is from Orem and has lived there most of his life. Our area is so cool! I just found out that we have the Empire State Building, One World Trade Center, and all of South Manhattan up to 42nd street. Our apartment is really nice and has laundry in the basement. It is just like what we had in the Bronx so I'm already used to it! Are you ready to hear what we are doing today for P-Day??? I'm so excited to say....that we are going.....TO THE TOP OF THE ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER!!! I think this is probably going to be the coolest thing that I've gotten to do so far! I can't even describe how excited I am! We are emailing and then we will go shopping and then take the train down to the World Trade Center ground zero and then go to the very tip top of the tallest building in the United States! In our apartment, we have Elder Palmer and Elder Rocha. You pronounce his name Hocha. Elder Palmer was Elder Kirkham's companion before he trained me and Elder Rocha and Elder Dick were companions in Danbury. He is from Brazil and speaks very good English! Our apartment has 2 bathrooms and so it makes for getting ready really fast! There is so much to do and see here that every P-day is like a Manhattan trip! We would normally have to cram lots of really fun things into our 1 Manhattan trip day but now we can do something really fun and see lots of cool stuff! It costs about $25 to go to the top but it will be a once in a lifetime opportunity!! I will take lots of pictures and videos for you to see! We also may go to the top of an apartment building where there are lots of amazing views of pretty much everything. There is a senior couple who let missionaries go up and take pictures! Let's just say it is going to be a great day!!!
Well my dear Family! I hope you all have an amazing day! Here is a picture I took yesterday of the Empire State Building as we were prosylyting!!! I still can't over the fact that there is so much to see and do and that I'm actually in New York City! I loved your email, pictures, and video so much and I read it over and over again! LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!
Love You Always!
~Elder Lindberg
It was transfer call night and so we were excited to hear the news! I was thinking about you guys the whole day and hoping you were having a blast at the Aggie homecoming parade and game! I really missed not being there so much and spend time with you! We started the day by having a great correlation meeting at the Church with Brother Lopez! We got everything set with Mike's baptism and Brother Lopez read over our English class flyers and gave us the go ahead to print more! Then we talked about all of our investigators and what they need to progress even more! Then we drove over to visit Josh and Adal really quick and had a good lesson with them! They are pretty rowdy and so they can be hard to teach at times but we invited them to Church and the baptism this Friday. They were doing the farmers market and so every store on the street had a stand out and they were all trying to sell their food! It is always pretty cool to see everything going on. It's a great place to talk to people but sometimes, we get some pretty rude and nasty people say stuff to us. We were outside saying goodbye to Veronica who is Josh and Adal's mom and a guy put his face really close to our nametags and very rudely said: "You don't really believe in Jesus do you? Because I've got some things to tell you." He then said some pretty mean things and Veronica just stood there and shook her head. It was pretty hard to listen to what he had to say. I just stood there and then bore my testimony about our great Church and that I knew that this is Jesus Christ's church restored back to the earth through Joseph Smith. He turned away and walked off pretty upset. It was pretty crazy but we can't let anyone get us down because we know who is going to win in the end! We are!! He was just confused and misled and someday he will accept the Gospel! We then got into our car and drove back to the apartment to do our companionship study and have lunch. Sister Wootton gave us some organic whole wheat pasta with spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese. So I made some noodles and put some sauce over them and it was really good! I'm so glad all my cooking skills that you taught me are coming in so handy! Thanks!
Sunday was a great day full of goodbyes! I feel like I just got here and now I have to say goodbye to everyone. I just got thinking that I won't even be here for Mike's baptism anymore. I was in the program and everything! I couldn't believe that I was saying goodbye to all of my amazing friends that I have made in just 12 weeks. We went to Church and everybody was asking Elder Howard if he got transfered and so they were all shocked to find out that I got transfered. We had such an amazing time at church but it was sad to know that it was my last time going to Church in Kingston. I woke up thinking it was all a crazy dream! I can't even describe how excited I am to serve in such an amazing and cool place! We had a really crazy day with lots of appointments and traveling. I mostly said goodbye to a lot of people and we shared lots of messages! It was non stop the whole day which was awesome! When I told everyone that I was being transfered, nobody could believe it. Everyone kept saying "No way!" We had a really great high councilor speaker in Church! He walked in pretty early and he looked so familiar as soon as he walked in. I shook his hand and he told me his name. Victor Guzman!! Then it clicked! There are a whole bunch of videos on the Gospel Library app called "I'm a Mormon". They have regular everyday people talk about their lives and what they like to do. Well, this guy was on this show and I recognized him from the video! He has lived in Brooklyn most of his life and is a very successful attorney! Here is the really exciting and cool part! In the video, he talked about how he grew up in a really rough family situation in a rundown apartment in Brooklyn. He worked really hard and got out of that situation and went to school and became an attorney. He got a job working in the World Trade Center and went into work on September 11th and was on the 85th floor when the plane crashed into the 1st tower that he was in. The plane hit into the 93rd floor to about the 97th floor. So needless to say, I was so excited to meet and talk with him. He has put that horrible event in the past and even talked about in his talk. He gave a really good talk about families and how important they are. He ran down the stairs for his life and didn't stop until he got out. You all know how much I love 9/11 history and so to talk to someone who was not only in the building, but 8 floors away from where the plane hit was an incredible and once in a lifetime experience! He is such a nice guy and I believe his parents are from Guatemala and so he has a slight accent from speaking Spanish most of his life. Really cool and amazing experience! Here is the link to the video if you want to watch it! It is really cool! "www.mormon.org/victor" I wanted to get a picture with him but we were in Church and he left right after the 2nd hour. I did take a screenshot from the video so you can see what he looks like. It was really cool to talk to someone that was there to witness it all! So right after church, we had a lunch appointment with the Lopez'! We had a great lesson and they made us grilled bologna sandwiches and then a lentil soup. They had Felix and his little sister Ashley there and so it made it even better! Then we drove straight to the Goodins' house to say goodbye and have a short lesson. Then we drove from the Goodins to the Parks house for dinner and desert.....and a picture of course! I've lot most of the families that we taught up on my drive so if you have any questions about who they are just let me know.
Monday was such an awesome day! I am so excited to say that I got your letter in the mail! I can't even thank you enough for the messages you wrote to me and the money to spend! It takes the mail so long for some reason once it gets to Scarsdale. I guess it is because of all the sorting they have to do! I really, really appreciated your awesome letter and everything that you said! I made my day!!! It is always so fun to get actual physical mail and I always love getting them! You are all the best! I also got Grandma Evans' fun Halloween card! I have the best family ever! It was my last full day in Kingston and it was full of goodbyes.
TRANSFER DAY!! Wow! What a crazy and busy day! It was so great! We woke up and I was very excited to see the New York City skyline and actually live in Manhattan! I couldn't wait to meet Elder Brown! We had to leave the apartment by 9:30 so we could get to Ossining by 11:00. I was nervous and anxious all at the same time! It's very different to completely change apartments especially when it comes without warning. Finished packing and we cleaned the apartment so Elder Puffer has a great, clean apartment to come to! Then it was time for me to say goodbye to Kingston, the apartment, and Elder Howard. I got to drive 1 more time for the last time in probably at least 4 months. It was such a pretty drive and I enjoyed all of the scenery so much! I said goodbye to Elder Howard and he took off to go back to Kingston with Elder Puffer. Then we loaded up into the office Elder's van and then we drove to Inwood where I met Elder Brown! What can I say other that he is such a great guy! We are getting along better than ever and I can't wait to continue working with him! There is so much I want to tell you! He is from Orem and has lived there most of his life. Our area is so cool! I just found out that we have the Empire State Building, One World Trade Center, and all of South Manhattan up to 42nd street. Our apartment is really nice and has laundry in the basement. It is just like what we had in the Bronx so I'm already used to it! Are you ready to hear what we are doing today for P-Day??? I'm so excited to say....that we are going.....TO THE TOP OF THE ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER!!! I think this is probably going to be the coolest thing that I've gotten to do so far! I can't even describe how excited I am! We are emailing and then we will go shopping and then take the train down to the World Trade Center ground zero and then go to the very tip top of the tallest building in the United States! In our apartment, we have Elder Palmer and Elder Rocha. You pronounce his name Hocha. Elder Palmer was Elder Kirkham's companion before he trained me and Elder Rocha and Elder Dick were companions in Danbury. He is from Brazil and speaks very good English! Our apartment has 2 bathrooms and so it makes for getting ready really fast! There is so much to do and see here that every P-day is like a Manhattan trip! We would normally have to cram lots of really fun things into our 1 Manhattan trip day but now we can do something really fun and see lots of cool stuff! It costs about $25 to go to the top but it will be a once in a lifetime opportunity!! I will take lots of pictures and videos for you to see! We also may go to the top of an apartment building where there are lots of amazing views of pretty much everything. There is a senior couple who let missionaries go up and take pictures! Let's just say it is going to be a great day!!!
Well my dear Family! I hope you all have an amazing day! Here is a picture I took yesterday of the Empire State Building as we were prosylyting!!! I still can't over the fact that there is so much to see and do and that I'm actually in New York City! I loved your email, pictures, and video so much and I read it over and over again! LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!
Love You Always!
~Elder Lindberg
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