November 1st 2017~Thanks So Much For The Halloween Package!!!
Hello my dear and amazing family!! First of all, I'm doing just fine and safe after the accident. We were about 3 miles away from where it happened. I am so grateful for all of your prayers and love! It was quite the crazy event and I'm so glad all of the missionaries are safe! Thank you all so much for the awesome Halloween package! I am eating the treats right now as we speak and had a lot of fun reading your letter! It was a really fun surprise and got it just in time for Halloween! Then, last night I loved reading your email and seeing your awesome pictures and videos as always! I am so glad you all had a fun Halloween and I can see it was a success just from the amount of candy you had! I loved all of your costumes and the pumpkin that you carved for me! I really do love New York just like it said! So I have something really cool and awesome that we are going to do today!!! I'm so excited, especially for you Mom and Dad because we are going to go to......wait.....for.....it.....THE FRIEND'S APARTMENT!! I know how much you would want to go so I will be sure to take lots of pictures. We can't go inside but it will be cool just to say I've been there. The fountain where they filmed the opening credits is just down the street as well. It is Elder Palmer's last free P-Day before he has his temple trip and his Broadway show day since he will be going home. So then I told him about Cookie Dough Confections just down the street and showed him the screenshots you took of it and we all want to go so bad! Then we all want to do a little souvenir shopping in China Town since everything is so cheap. I do have 1 question for everyone. Does anybody want a souvenir or little trinket from New York? Everything is so stinkin' cheap and they have a ton to choose from. I am really trying to keep how much I buy down to a minimum but it's so hard not to buy everything because it is all so cool! I will take lots of pictures today and upload them to my drive. It is going to be a really awesome day! I just turned my calender over to November and I love the picture that it has! I will keep you posted throughout the day since we have Wi-Fi now! I hope you all have an amazing day and know that I think about you all the time! I am so glad that you got my Halloween package and enjoyed the book and programs! It was fun to send! Well, here goes my week! I had been so great and a ton has happened! I feel so much more busy in the city because there is so much going on all the time! It has been so awesome to do missionary work with the Empire State Building and so much history all around us!
I had such a fun P-day last week! Elder Brown got a haircut and I got a trim from Jay and now we are looking sharp and ready to roll! Then we played lots of Gator ball, volleyball, and chair soccer and we had a great time! Then we went grocery shopping and got lots of good food! Then I finished emailing and then before I knew it, P-Day was over. I had such an awesome time emailing you and reading your emails and seeing your pictures! So after our awesome day, we actually had a dinner appointment that we totally forgot about until a few hours before. I always love getting to know members and learning about them and where they are from. So we headed over to their apartment and they opened the door and they were so friendly! The wife didn't change her last name and so her name is Sister Smock and his name is Brother Smith. They have 2 kids, Grant is 8 and Francis is 4. Sister Smock is from Connecticut and Brother Smith is from Chicago. We had a really yummy rice and chicken dinner and broccoli and had an awesome lesson! We taught them about the importance of the Restoration and how it is so unique and special to our religion. Then it was time for their kids to go to bed and so we said a prayer and off we went. It was pretty early for them to be getting to bed. It was 7:30 and a school night. It was a great lesson! Then we tried to visit a lady named Sister Cabrol but she wasn't home. We did get to meet her older son, Sammy, and he was really friendly as well. Then we knocked on lots of doors and most people when wemknock, just ask "who is it", then when we tell them, they don't say anything back. But on the last door that we knocked on for the day, was of a lady who was meeting with missionaries a long time ago. She answered and the person that we were looking for didn't live there anymore but she told us that she was interested in learning more! It was a great way to cap off the day!
Thursday was awesome! I really couldn't believe how fast time is flying. I feel like days and weeks go by so fast! We had a really busy day packed full of things to do! I always find comfort knowing that you all pray for us to find people to teach because it's working! I always feel like we find people to teach and to help build their faith. That was Dubbie's signature thing that he always prayed for and I will always remember that! Being a missionary has just made me even more grateful for those great prayers! We had a lesson right off the bat after our studies with a lady named Sharice that we were really looking forward to! Thursday is our new mail day and it's kind of crazy because we have to go to the Manhattan Temple Chapel to get out mail. So we travelled up there and then we heard that the office Elders were going to be later than they expected so we decided to do our weekly planning while we waited. But before we did that, we went over to our lesson with Sharice but she totally forgot all about it so she asked if we could reschedule. She asked if we could have it at 3:00 and we told here that would be awesome and we would be there. So we went to the Manhattan Chapel to do our weekly planning. We usually get our orders from the mission office like pamphlets or a case of Books of Mormon. So we did our 2nd weekly planning session of the cycle already and it went so well! We were able to call lots of people and then we looked at our dinner calender and we had 3! I have to tell you a funny story! So we got a referral from Salt Lake Headquarters of a guy named Godson. On mormon.org, people can go online, type in there information, and have either a Bible or Book of Mormon delivered right to their door for free. Well, we called this guy named Godson and he was FURIOUS that we had his number. I mean this guy was so mad and upset that we wanted to come to his house and give him his Bible that he ordered. I told him that we would be happy to stop by any time and give it to him. He is from Africa just based on his accent and asked us how we got all of his personal information. I then told him that he went online and ordered a free Bible and that he put in his address, phone number, name, and email address and clicked a box that said he would like a free one. It was just a pretty crazy experience all together! Then we got our mail and then headed back to the apartment to drop it off and then went over to our lesson with Sharice. Well, she forgot that her son was coming to visit and so she was busy preparing for that. We rescheduled for the very next day. Then we went back to the apartment for an early dinner because we had a lesson right at 5:00 with a lady named Janice. We called one of the priests to come with us and he said yes! So after dinner, we went to the appointment and sadly she wasn't there. We called to confirm and she told us to come by but chose not to answer her door. So we took the train with J.P and headed back toward his apartment and then we did some lookups. We had a conference call that night and so we were so anxious to find out what President Smith was going to tell us. So we did lots of lookups and then we went to the Church to call and try to set up lots of appointments as a part of weekly planning. I felt inspired to call Brother and Sister Wood to compliment them on their awesome talks that they gave last week in sacrament meeting. Then it was time for our conference call so we took the train back to the apartment after another awesome day of work! I loved the conference call! I learned so much and President Smith always motivates us and shows his love for all of us missionaries and always tries to make us better. He talked about how he just went with Sister Smith to the Sacred Grove and how amazing it was. Then he talked about referrals and how we can help them progress as soon as we get them! It was really great and he packed a lot into it in only a half and hour! It was an awesome day!
Thank you all so very much for the Halloween package!! I got it on Friday and it was so fun to get! Our roommates accidentally took it as a part of their District's mail so then they gave it to me on Friday! It was so fun to get and I love all of the treats you sent! I also loved the awesome card! It is so fun to see your handwriting and everything that you wrote! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I ate a few treats and then saved the rest for Halloween night!! It was so fun to get and I really appreciate your thoughtfulness! Friday was a really awesome day!! It was packed full and We had a lot of cool things happen! We had a full day packed full of awesome lessons! We did our studies and then we headed out for another great day! We walked out of the apartment and there was a guy wearing an Oregon Ducks jacket so as we walked past I said "Go Ducks!" He smiled ear to ear and thought it was really cool! As we were walking, I got to know Elder Brown even better! He told me that he used to work as a lifeguard and so he loves to swim. Them I told him that Dad and Dan used to swim. His Dad served in Brazil and his 3 older brothers served in Brazil, Ecuador, and Chile. He comes from a big family and he is right in the middle. I am so glad to be the oldest in our family! It has been such a blessing to try my best to be an example. We talked to lots of people and met a really cool young family on the very top floor of an old apartment building. The Mom was Hispanic and she had 2 daughter's with her and they were all sitting in the hallway when we went up to look for a man that had met with missionaries in the past. They had a little dog named Cocoa and they were all so nice! They had no idea who we were but we told them that we share a very special message that will and can bless their lives and their family. Their ears perked up and we knew that they felt the spirit. We asked if we could come by another time and they were more than happy to! We walked out of the building with a huge smile on our faces because we may have just found some really cool new investigators! President Smith always tells us that we don't always see the fruits of our labors and what comes out of these small moments and decisions that we make. We knocked on a few more doors and a man named Michael answered and he told us that he used to be interested a few years ago when missionaries knocked on his door. We tried to rekindle that desire to have us over but he just didn't want to hear our message. Then we walked back to the apartment to have lunch and do our companionship study. I have enjoyed so much working with Elder Brown! He has been out on his mission for just over 1 year and 4 months. He came out in a huge group with Elder Kirkham. He isn't sure what he wants to do for a job but he does know that he wants to go to Byu. So after lunch and our studies, we headed back out to do more finding! We have been looking through our new investigators list and trying to find those that we could meet with regularly. Elder Brown hasn't been here for very long either so we are both pretty new and trying to get used to the area. As we were walking down the street, I saw a guy wearing an Appalachian State sweatshirt. All it said was "Appalachian State". Cash money for whoever can name their mascot!! I totally surprised this guy when I said as I walked past him "Go Mountaineers!!" He stopped and did a 360 turn and we started to talk. I asked him if he remembered in 2007 when they beat #5 Michigan in football and he told me that he watched it live and is an alumni of Appalachian State. I tried to offer him a Book of Mormon afterward but he told me that he has his own religion and just "wanted to talk football." I always love surprising people with their college mascot, especially tourists!! So we had a lot of people walk right past us and not want anything to do with us so it was pretty hard to find people to teach. Then we had something really cool happen! We were about to get on a bus and they had these ticket dispensers for certain busses. And on top of one of the dispensers was a case with a Bible and a United States Passport in it. It was a really nice leather Bible that looked brand new but had tons of notes and post it notes all over it. Someone had really loved this Bible and had been studying like crazy! Luckily, there was a sticker with a name and address on it so away we went to try to find this guy! His name is Raymond Conner and he lives in one of the coolest places in the city!! He lives right down the street from the Empire State Building! So we took the subway train down to the street he lives on which is 14 East and 28th street. He lives in a pretty famous building called "The Prince George." I had never heard of it but it had a plaque that said it was on the Historical list. We walked out of the underground subway and we both looked up.......way up. We were staring down the Empire State Building from the base. I could only think of one thing and that is Elf. The song that plays when he first sees the Empire State Building was playing in my head as we walked past. There were tons of tourists but we were on a mission to find this guy! So we snagged a couple of pictures and then went down the street. The security guard called up to him but he wasn't home so we left it with them and we wrote a note and gave him our phone number. It was fun to return it knowing he really needed it! Especially his passport. Then we walked back toward the apartment to find Charles since he has been going through a rough time and Elder Brown mentioned an ice cream shop that is one of the best in New York City. It is called "Sundaes and Cones." They had some very interesting flavors of ice cream but I ended up getting strawberry cheesecake. To give you an idea of some of the flavors that they had, corn, sesame, green tea. Yes you saw that right. CORN ice cream. They let you try as many flavors as you want since they have interesting flavors and they want you to make sure you like them before you buy it. I tried the corn ice cream and let me tell you, it was GOOD! It sounds really weird but you have to try it to see how good it is. So after we got our ice cream, we ate it while we walked to find Charles and talk with him. We couldn't find him anywhere where he normally is and he didn't answer either. Then we had an appointment with a member for dinner! We weren't sure if he was going to take us out or eat at his apartment. So we met him at the Church and he is a really cool guy! He was born in California and served his mission in Brazil. He got home 9 years ago and is married. He is doing his residency to go into General medicine to become a doctor. His wife is a lawyer for divorce and so they are really smart people. Then we got to go eat at 5 Guys which was really fun since I had never been. I got a really good cheeseburger and some fries. They loaded our fries to the brim and they were piping hot. We had a great time and got to know him. Then, we had scheduled to go over and help the ward set up for the Halloween Party that was going to be the very next day. I forgot to mention t hst in my last email that the ward out together a party. So we helped decorate and we got to know some of the ward members a lot better. Elder Brown and I are still putting names to faces. So we helped set everything up and it looked really good! Then we wanted to go see if Charles was home again and so we started to head back toward the apartment. Then something really cool happened! We were standing waiting for a bus and it took it forever to come. As we were waiting, a 3 wheeled pedal bike with 2 people riding on the back pulled up. There are tons of taxis around here and I had never seen anything like it before. The couple got off and I was reading the side of the bike and it was from a company called "Bumble." We said hi to the guy riding and noticed on the side of the bike that it said "Free rides." We got talking to him and he said that if we download the app, we would get a free ride to wherever we needed to go. Well, we told him that our tablets have very few apps that we can download but he told us that he would take us anyway! It was really cool! He drove us right next to our apartment and so then we had time for 1 more visit! We thanked him and gave him a Book of Mormon. We then said a prayer with him and he really appreciated it! He told us that his company actually started up in Provo and now it is more for New York City. It is a very good idea! Then he told us that he had about 9 of those bikes out and about that night. Then we went to go visit Charles, Charlene, and Monae but when we walked up to their apartment door, they were having a big argument so we didn't want to get involved. So then we just headed back to the apartment and got their right at 9:00. It was a really great day! Then Elder Palmer and Elder Rocha got back and they had a surprise for me! When they picked up mail on Thursday, they brought back my package but them they went on a split and so Elder Rocha forgot he had it in his back so he took it with him. So then when he got back from his split, he was able to give it to me! Thank you all so much! No need for me to go trick or treating because you already had me covered!
Saturday was really great! We woke up and went out to run to the Williamburgh Bridge and along the docks by the East River and it was so pretty! I'm really glad that you got to see where I live so you can picture it! Every morning, we go outside, and I'm just so thankful for everything around us. I have been loving the cool weather and just enjoying the amazing views we have of the city! I am so grateful to be serving here and all of the many miracles we see around us! In my morning studies, I read a few paragraphs from the "Teachings of President Hinckley" book and it was really good! It was a really cool quote and it just talks about how every day is a gift. I have always tried to cherish every aspect of life because am so blessed to have the best and most loving family ever, a nice home,food, clothing, there is so much to be thankful for! I got thinking back on my whole life and just smile at everything we have been able to do as a family! Even the small and simple things mean everything to me and I'm so grateful to have them when I return home. Here is the quote: "As a missionary in England, Elder Hinckley worked hard to follow his parents’ counsel. He and his companions shook hands each morning and told each other, “Life is good.” Almost 70 years later, he suggested that a group of missionaries in the Philippines follow the same practice. “Yesterday was a great day in my life,” he told them. “Every day is a great day in my life. I hope every day is a great day in your lives—every one of you. I hope you can get ready to go in the morning and shake the hand of your companion and say, ‘Brother (Sister), life is good. Let’s go out and have a great day.’ And when you come in at night, I hope you can say to one another, ‘It’s been a good day. We’ve had a good time. We’ve helped somebody along the way. … We’ll follow up with them and pray and hope that they will come into the Church.’ Every day ought to be a good day in the mission field.” I am just so thankful for my awesome family! I really appreciate everything you do and cherish all of the memories we have made. One of my favorite quotes as you know is "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." I tried to live by that principle very single day. At home, I would take the time to enjoy every small moment and be as cheerful as I could possibly be because there is so much to be grateful for. Loving family, home, food, and so much more! Every single day back at home, I would wake up and just be so excited because I knew I would get to spend time with you and see you. I seriously cherish my family more than anything else on the Earth! All of the family get togethers, sporting events, conference weekends, holidays, and birthdays all mean so much to me! I am so grateful for that quote on our wall because it really had such a big impact on me. I was thinking back in my farewell talk how much it influenced my life for the better. Thanks so much for hanging it up on our wall! I am so excited to see what the future holds and all of the many more memories we will make! I just thought I would share this with you because it hit me really hard and made an impression on me. I guess what I'm trying to say is: I love and miss you all so much and appreciate everything that you do for me! I especially appreciate every single one of your examples. I am so grateful that we get to go to church each Sunday and your righteous examples. Because of you, I'm able to be here in New York City and share to others what has blessed our lives so much! Thanks so much for always being there for me and supporting me! So after my awesome studies, we headed out to get to work! First, we went to Lower Manhattan for an appointment but she ended up not being there. So then we tried to hop on a bus but Elder Brown's metro card didn't work so we went to go buy an unlimited month card like we always do but for some odd reason, he didn't get his MSF funds put into his card yet so he couldn't buy a Metro card. So then we had to call Elder Honeycut who is in charge of our finances and asked if he could receive his funds to Buy his card. Well, he didn't answer so we walked from Lower Manhattan all the way back up to near our apartment to pick up Monae to bring her tongue Halloween party! We were really excited for it because I got to know lots of members! As we were walking, I saw something so cool!! There was a guy riding on his bike flying down the road. It was just a pedal bike and I was so excited to see what was on his shirt! He was going pretty fast so I only had a split second to react but he had the Wyoming State flag on his shirt so I said "Go Pokes! Are you from Wyoming?" As he rode past us, he answered back by saying "Thanks! No, but my family is!" It was really cool even though I didn't get to stop and talk to him! Then we walked a little further and tried to share a message with him but he and his family were in a hurry. As we walked past him, I noticed that he had on a Texas Longhorns hat so I told him "Hook Em' Horns!" He thought that was pretty cool and said it right back to me! Then we walked back to pick up Monae and then we went to the Halloween party! What can I say other than it was so fun! I got to know so many members and we were able to help clean up for some service. It was a great party and they did a great job putting it all together! My favorite was meeting and getting to know as many members as I could. I haven't always been the best at names but I'm trying to keep them all straight. They had a chili cook off and then a costume contest and then the kids got to go trick or treating in the different rooms of the Church. I was so glad that we were invited because it was a great time to set a few appointment and get to know everyone. I got talking with a member who was born and raised right here in New York City. His name is Isaac Sordon and he is a really cool guy! We got talking about where he has worked and then he said that he worked pretty close to the World Trade Center and was there on September 11th. He said that he was out walking just a few streets down from the World Trade Center and then he heard the 1st plane hit. He walked right up to the building and then watched the 2nd plane hit. I can't even imagine what it must have been like to be there. He said that once he saw the 2nd plane coming in, he ran for his life. It has been so incredible to hear from people who around on that terrible day. The stories are amazing and love hearing about them. He said that it was the scariest thing he has ever seen. So after they announced the winner of the chili, we helped take everything down and I vacuumed the whole cultural hall. I have to tell you something interesting about these chapels in New York. They all have the same general design and layout as the buildings we are all used to but since land is so expensive, they have to build up, up, and away. Instead of having 1 floor with everything on it, these building have 3 or 4 floors. There isn't a gym in our building since there just isn't any room, so instead they have the cultural hall in the basement. It is pretty interesting. Then they have the chapel on the 4th floor and everything else on the 2 middle floors. So after we got everything cleaned up, we went to an appointment with Andy. It was great to see him but he still isn't feeling well. Andy is the member who hasn't been to Church in a while due to his Cerebral Palsy that he has. He can talk normally but just can't function very well. We taught hum about patience and letting go of the past. He has held a lot of grudges and doesn't view himself as a good person. He thinks he is a really bad person. He is a great guy but just needs some motivation. Then we went to visit John and Anthony and we taught them about Heavenly Father and how he always knows us and what we are going through. They are both the recent converts and so we are making sure they stay strong in the Gospel. After our lesson, we walked back to the apartment since Elder Brown didn't have his Metro Card. He called Elder Honeycut again and he said that he could give him the money as soon as Monday so Elder Brown just used his own money and then got a Metro Card and got it reimbursed. Everything worked out just fine in the end. So we walked back for dinner and then headed back for some more work! We were having such a great day and I didn't want it to end. We headed back out and had about an hour and a half left so we tried to find people to teach around our apartment. Then we decided to try and find Charles again and be able to talk with him. He was home but he was watching a football game and so he said that he really didn't want to have us over. I then got thinking that it could have been a game that you were watching! We shared a quick message at the doorway and then we headed over to a bench and we filled out the progress record for Ward Corrleation the very next day. Then by that time, it was time to head back to the apartment after a great day! I was thinking about you all the whole time!
Sunday was another really awesome day! We woke up to an absolute torrential downpour and it was so windy. Then by the time we headed off for church at 9:00, it had pretty much stopped. Our church starts at 10:00 and I'm always so excited to go because I love seeing all of the members and tourists that come. Anybody that is here to see the big city, this is the ward they come to. It has been so much fun to have so many members visiting! Especially the members from Utah! It helps me feel right at home! So we headed over to the Church and it went so well! This ward is so awesome and there are mostly successful, really young families with 1 or 2 little kids. The oldest people in the ward are probably in their 60s. Which isn't old at all but it looks like a YSA ward only there are little kids running around. Hehe!
Monday was a great and busy day!! A lot happened and so I hope I can remember everything! Elder Brown and I both got our money for the month so the 1st thing that we had to do was fill out an MTA report saying that he got charged on his card but didn't get his card refilled. So we went to go do that after our studies and then we returned a baptismal suit to the Church. Then it was time for more work! Then we went to go see a member who is in the hospital for a few illnesses that he has been going through. His name is Andre Cox and I hadn't ever met him before going to the hospital. So we went over to the hospital and they told us that we couldn't visit until 2:30 and so we did our companionship study and then we called a whole bunch of investigators. We have a few people pick up but not very many people knew when they could meet. Then we went back to the hospital after we both got a $1.00 slice of New York pizza and talked with Andre. He is in his mid 50s and has had some mental issues come up out of his control and so he has been in the hospital. We had a great lesson with him and he told us that he really needed it at that time because he has been so lonely and hasn't had many visitors. After our visit, we went to go check up to see if the guy who's Bible we found got it. Sure enough, they had already returned it to him! We walked outside and it was a crisp 30 degrees and the wind was blowing like crazy. One interesting thing I have noticed is all of the steam coming up from under the ground. They have these big orange pipes that stick into the ground and they constantly blow steam into the air. Then we did a few lookups and tried to contact some of the people that ordered a Bible and then we went to go see John and Anthony. John wasn't feeling well so he was in his apartment resting. While we were walking up with Anthony, I saw an older gentleman wearing a purple Northwestern sweatshirt. I complimented it and said "Go Wildcats." He stopped and looked at me and said "How did you know that?" Then he told us that he graduated from Northwestern University in 1974 and is a huge Wildcat football fan. Then we taught Brother Eades about Temples since he is preparing himself to receive his endowments here in a few weeks. We are hoping that we can go with him! There are a lot of missionaries that have moved on from this area that were a part of his teaching and baptizing. It will be an exciting time. Then I have to tell you something really funny! So we ended up having 2 dinner appointment that night but it ended up that the spacing between them was perfect so we got to go to both of them. We were pretty sure that we were going out to eat but we didn't want to change anyone's plans last minute so we just stuck with the 5:00 & 6:30 dinner appointments. So we headed down to the coolest part of Manhattan and walked right past the 9/11 memorial. I just still can't believe that I'm here and walking past the World Trade Center and 9/11 memorial on my way to a dinner appointment. Most of the members are really young and only have 1 kid and they have really nice but pretty small apartments. So we had 2 dinner appointment scheduled and we went to the 1st one right at 5:00. We were both starving and so we were looking forward to it. I have to tell you something really cool! So we were walking through the Financial District and then we walked right past the One World Trade Center and I just noticed how quiet it was. There was a lot going on but it was almost silent. It was so calm and peaceful even though there were tons of people and cars driving by. Then I noticed that there were a ton of German tourists walking around. It seemed like for a minute, I was in Germany. Then we saw a sign that said that all of the victims of 9/11 have white rose on their name when it is their birthday. We walked past and I saw a few white roses. Then we kept walking and I was just in awe at the awesome scene! Then we had something else really cool happen! We were walking to our dinner appointment and who do we run in to? Elder Kirkham's cousins and Aunt!! We walked right past each other and they recognized me! I couldn't believe how much older their youngest son looks. It made me realized how long I have been out on my mission because I came down and played soccer with them almost 7 months ago. I was really cool! So then we went to our appointment with a really awesome lady named Sister De Jesus. Her husband wasn't home so we couldn't go inside but then we went to a restraunt! She was planning on taking us to Shake Shack but since it was the day before Halloween, they closed early right at 5:00. Speaking of Halloween, they had a really huge Halloween parade! We got a text from our zone leaders telling us that President Smith wanted us in our apartments by 7:00 since it was Halloween. It gets pretty crazy around here and so they wanted to keep us safe. I just realized that I will also be here for the Macey's Thanksgiving Day Parade!! While you watch it on tv, you can probably see our apartment! Hehe! Just kidding.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!! I enjoyed your treats so much and loved reading your card! I woke up and it just hit me that it was already the end of October and almost November! I was thinking about you all the whole day and hoping you were having an awesome day and getting lots of candy! I was so very excited to get your email and pictures as well! I was looking forward to it so much! I woke up so excited because I've heard how fun Halloweens are on the mission. I was hoping we would get a couple of comments on our "Costumes." We had heard a lot about this huge parade that they have right in our area! I can't remember if I told you this but our area is from 42nd Street, all the way down. It is a huge area and almost 3 million people live in our area. Plus, there is just Elder Brown and I to teach them all and then we have a set of Sister Missionaries. I also think I forgot to give you the address of the Church if you want to see it. It is 144 West 15th Street. I am so excited to do my Skype call from their! It is kind of secluded but maybe we can see the Empire State Building from out one of the windows. Anyway, it was such an awesome day and we had a ton of fun doing missionary work on Halloween! Even though it was hard not to be at home, we still worked really hard and got a ton done! So we did our srudies and then had our District Meeting since they had an MLC meeting on our regular day for Disteict Meeting. I was so excited because we met a family from Idaho who sent you a picture of me! We had a really great meeting and I got to say the closing prayer. We called in and so the whole zone was listening in. We always have a closing prayer with the whole zone to remember all of the investigators that have a baptismal date. So we met the family as we were walking out of the Temple and they are originally from the Philippines. The lady who took our pictures has a daughter serving in Oklahoma and so she know how excited Moms get when they get a picture of their missionary. Then we got talking to her sister and she has a daughter who is just about to graduate from Utah State! This world keeps getting smaller and smaller. Then we traveled to the bottom of Manhattan for a lesson but Carlos wasn't home. So we found a few investigators that were taught a little while ago. We knocked on their door but they weren't home. We saw lots of people dressed up for Halloween and it was pretty cool! The cool part was is that we were in China Town and Little Italy in Lower Manhattan. We got off the train at Chambers Street and walked through Chinia town to find some new investigators that we already had records for. They have tons of little New York shops for incredible prices! I couldn't believe how cheap everything was! Then we were just about to leave when we heard lots of people talking about the accident on Chambers Street. It was totally crazy and we were actually just at Chambers Street about 30 minutes prior. The accident happened on the very West side and we were allnthe way over on the East Side. There were police helicopters and NYPD driving all over the place and they had police officers with German Shepherds in almost every subway stop. Then I got your email and was so happy to hear from you! I was hoping you were having the best Halloween ever! I totally forgot to thank you for the awesome video that you put on my Google drive! It was so much fun to watch and I loved hearing and seeing you! It made my day! Then we headed up to 23rd street and everything was a complete madhouse. I still didn't know exactly what had happened but all I knew is that we were safe and sound. We called the Sister Missionaries and they were both fine as well. Then we got a call from President Smith and we were the 1st ones he called since we are the only 2 Elders that covet that area. So it was pretty cool to think we were the 1st ones he called. He told us to stay safe and they he was so glad we were ok. I just thought it was all so crazy. There were people everywhere and of course everyone was all dressed up so it made it even crazier. Then we had a lesson with Brother Eades but it was hard to concetrate because the news was going on in the background in the big room that they have for their apartment. There were tons of people gathered and Brother Eades wanted to watch the news and have a lesson so we had to focus on the lesson. I am so sad that had to happen. I was really worried that you were worried and wondering if I was ok. I didn't want you to be worrying because there are so many people and Manhattan is so huge but it is crazy that it happened right in our area just down the street. The crazy thing is, is that I took a picture of the Chambers Street subway station because I thought it was interesting that it was different from all the rest. So I got a picture of it and then we heard just a little while later about the accident that happened on the complete opposite side of Chambers Street. So we were all the very East side of Manhattan over by China Town and it happened on the very West side. It was a total madhouse and there were police cars, vans, dogs, and helicopters all over the place and almost every major intersection had at least 2 or 3 police officers directing traffic. The amount of sirens was crazy! Even though it was in the other side of the island that we were on, it was still pretty loud. I'm so thankful that the Sister Missionaries and Elder Brown were no where near it. But here is probably the craziest thing about this whole accident. Most of the YSA and MSA missionaries were doing a Halloween themed activity to find more people to teach in Washington Square Park. So instead of just having the Sisters and us in the area where the accident happened, we had about 6 other companionships of missionaries come down from their own areas since Washington Square Park is so busy with lots of people. We had a dinner appointment that night with the Shumway family but they texted us earlier that morning that they were going to Brooklyn to go trick or treating with their nieces and nephews so they ordered us a huge meal from a famous restraunt called Mighty Quinn's! So after our lesson with Brother Eades, it was time for us to head back to the apartment to pick up our dinner that was going to be delivered at 5:30. Then we were going to eat from 6:00-7:00 and we had to be inside to keep us safe at 7:00. It was nice to be in so early because there were a lot of crazy people out and about. There was a ton going on around our neighborhood and I was so excited for your email! President Smith told us to make sure we kept busy until 9:00 even though we had to be inside at 7:00. So we did weekly planning from 7:00-9:00 and then we had a Oreo ice cream shake night with the roommates while we enjoyed each other's company! I really missed the yearly doughnuts and Apple cider and all of the festivities but we made it a great night in good old New York City!! I can't thank you enough for your amazing email and all of your incredible pictures! I'm so glad that you all had a great and successful week! We ended off the night with some Oreo shakes and hot dogs! Elder Palmer made some really good shakes and we enjoyed spending time with all 4 of us together safe and sound! I can't remember if I told you this but Elder Palmer is going home this cycle and then going to Utah State this next semester! He is from Farmington but he doesn't know Lonna and Shannon. Well, it has been so much fun to email you! I am looking at your pictures right now and watching your awesome videos! I hope you liked my videos that I put on there. I took a few just so you can picture where we live and some of the cool things we get to do! I hope you all have another awesome week! Can you believe that it's already November??? Because I can't! LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH!!!
Love You Always!
~Elder Lindberg
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