Aug 24, 2009

Hey there gang,

Well, the french toast turned out great, so thanks a ton for sending me the recipe. The syrup thing was also surprisingly good to not be actual maple syrup, but it was very watery, not at all thick like normal syrup. And the interviews that we had with Pres. Wade also went well, he talked to me a lot about how I’m here to turn the zone around, and how its practical experience in business because you never know, I might be like one of his friends and just be a guy companies hire to go in as CEO and turn failing but potential companies around. And I was all like what if I don’t want to do that and just want to take it easy.... haha not really, I just thought it. But yeah, I have a feeling I’ll be here for awhile, until this zone starts doing good, and it’s definitely progressing, its just kind of slow going.

All I can say about my comp is that I’m so glad that there’s only one more week left in this change, because I really hope I get a new one come next week. I like having patience and all, but I just really would rather pick my friends and not have super weirdos from completely different life styles being my shadow 24/7. But he’s a good kid, just not the kind of person I get along with all that well, mostly because, at this point in the mission, it isn’t just being with another person that bothers me, I can deal with that just fine now, but what gets to me now is if the person affects the work, and my companion just doesn’t know what he’s doing, so that's just what getting to me.

I’m glad you two were able to get away and only had to deal with 2 disasters in the house, and I’m super jealous you guys went bob sledding! I’d totally be down with that. I also want to jump out of a plane like bad! With a parachute would be nice, but that’s just optional. Free falling just has this appeal to me that I can’t explain... its the adrenaline addiction in my blood. But yeah, museums... come one, that’s like school fieldtrip stuff, and I got done with that a looooonnggg time ago. But I’m like so excited that the Avatar movie is coming along, I remember it being announced right as I was leaving, but no actors had been chosen or anything. But yeah, enough trunky stuff.

Haley is a stud for helping out in the mission work, I so wish I’d had that opportunity to help someone I knew get to know the gospel, I’m sure the missionaries are so excited there for the help that they’re getting from her, it really does make all the difference in the conversion of an investigator. I’ve seen that someone can get baptized without member support here, but their long term conversion is almost non existent if members don’t get in there and bridge the gap. I know that this work really is the most important that one can do in this life, and all the other stuff is just on the side, so don’t lose that view, and remember to always focus on the things that are important....

You have no idea how difficult that was to write in english, anything about the gospel just comes out in spanish now a days, and I totally was translating in my head and trying to remember how to talk english. You guys don’t see the bad side, only the finished copy of what I write, and wow, do I change a lot around after doing a quick read through before I send my letters. But I’m so glad you mentioned the request of items for a package, because I am in dire need of more razor blades... the 5 blade ones, and I only need like 3 or 4 cartridges to end the mission, one blade lasts me about 2 weeks on average... how long should those things last anyways? I’ve never really known. But other than that, I’m actually doing good, learning how to actually take care of myself long term style rather than just living on cereal lately. Like the other day I made tacos with steak, and today I bought some stuff to make some omelets for breakfast... so I’m branching out and enjoying these new cooking experiences that are actually surprisingly cheap to make. Actually if you want, you could include like, 1 or 2 more pairs of pants, definitely size 32 this time.... I’m getting fat... its the making food thing, not good for the scale. And I’m living with two amazing guys, Elder Shumway and Elder Larsen, but they’re both bigger guys and the eat a lot... and I’m usually included in the eating adventures. Anyways, I figure I’m way skinny, putting a little bit of meat on my bones isn’t exactly a bad thing, and I think I’m also a little bit taller than when I started the mission. So dad, watch out! Hahaha. But I bought two sweet jerseys today, the Paraguay one and a Guaraní one. Guarani is a team in the like, NHL of soccer teams down here, one of my favorites. My favorite team is Libertad, but their jerseys are hard to get a hold of. One of these days...

Anyways, yeah.

Elder Dennis