June 24
To
start off, the concert went very very well. I'm going to try and figure out a
way to send you the numbers. I was very happy about it. Unfortunately we didn't
have the turnout from the members we were expecting, but we did have more
non-members than we were expecting. So that was good. A member who I have
gotten close with told me she cried when her daughter and I sang. Her daughter
also said, "I cried when you sang. I never cry. Ever. AND I got
chills." So that made me happy. The daughter is a really awesome girl who
plays trumpet and sings.
As
for transfers, they haven't happened yet. They're on Tuesday, but we know I'm
leaving. I kind of had a feeling I would, but there was always a chance I would
stay. The next cool thing is that Elder Waidmann is now training!!! This, mind
you, is immediately after he finished getting trained. I would like to take
credit, but Elder Waidmann was pre-trained. Guess I didn't mess him up TOO bad.
Darn... :P He's worried, but I'm really excited for him. He is definitely ready
and will do great. Plus, I'm happy to be getting a grandson. :D So with that
I've made about 300 cookies (that is not an exaggeration) for all the members
that have helped me and gotten close with me. My week's been full of visiting
and saying goodbye to all my members. I was really happy this Sunday because a
Less-Active member I started working with 8 months ago finally came to church
this Sunday. It was a wonderful last Sunday for me. I found that most of the
ward was really sad I was leaving. A lot more than I thought would. It was
really nice and I was able to take a lot of pictures. I'm sad, but I'm ready...
sin the packing part, but when do I not pack the night beforehand haha.
Yes,
we got to see the broadcast, but sadly I showed up late and didn't get to hear
the actual part of the fb/tours thing. We're excited though. Also, I knew at
least one person in EVERY SINGLE VIDEO CLIP. Did you see that one of the
"missionaries" was Brandon Christiansen. Also, I knew the
missionaries in the clip about the "drought" and a few in the choir.
Crazy! I loved Elder Packer's talk. I thought it was perfect. I've found that
just giving it up to the Lord when teaching is not 2nd nature but that when I
do, it goes perfectly and the spirit really directs me in the way that is
right.
I
don't know where I'm going now, but we'll know tomorrow. I love you a lot.
Going to try and send more pictures today. [the pictures didn’t come through]
July 1
So I
ended up getting my ball that was stolen. Turns out it wasn't my ball that we
thought someone had and one of the members picked it up because we'd left it
and then they got it back to us. So woo. Haha nothing too big.
To
start things off, we'll talk about how my last day with Elder Waidmann went. After
I emailed you last Monday, I went to my Spanish "family"’s house to
say goodbye and to give them the cookies. It was a good time. Then I went and
dropped by the Sonrisa woman to give her her cookie and say goodbye. She was
surprised to say the least and cried a lot. Not sure whether it was because I
was leaving or the gratitude for visiting her or both. Either way, I was really
touched and of course there were many tears on my part. It was very nice and
was a good way to end my time in Dyker Heights.
Next
day was transfer meeting. E. Waidmann got his "kid", my
"grandson"; we got a posterity pic and sat down for the meeting. A
lot of good stuff. I got placed in the place we all were pretty sure I was going.
I am now in a place called Midwood. It is legitmately 2 miles from my last
area, so I didn't move very far. In fact, many of the members in Dyker had been
members here before boundaries got changed. So I'm really close haha. Now I'm
with Elder Adams. He's really cool. I'm his "step-pops." We actually
went to high school together. He graduated a year after me. We had never seen
each other before but knew all the same people. In fact, his mom was once my
boss. She was one of my referee coordinators. So that was pretty cool. Someone
knew him before I became his comp and said, did you know Adam's mom. I was
like, "why would I know her?" "She's a ref coordinator." I
was like, "No I...... OH MY GOSH HIS MOM IS PAM!" So that was really
funny. And then we became companions. Crazy. We get along really well. We're
different, but in a good way. We're trying to get things started in this area.
It's kind of hit a lull for a while, so we're trying to get it moving again.
That makes it sound like it's me doing it, but it's just that I'm picking up
where the last guy left off. In my
district here, I am with one of my friends who was in my MTC district so that's
really nice. I'm friends with all the people here, so that's really good. I
really like this district.
Things
have been pretty good otherwise. We do a lot of activities to try and find
people to teach because this place had been worked over at least 40x and new
things need to be done. So we did an activity called "family tree"
where we put up a paper tree and ask people to write down the things they love
about their family. It's actually pretty good. We asked a guy as he was walking
and he pointed, snapped, and said, "SMOKE MARIJUANA BOYS!" And kept
walking casually. It made our day.
Well
that's really it for now. On Thursday we're going to Coney Island for the 4th
as our Pday. we're only emailing now because the libraries won't be open on the
4th, obviously.
July
8
This
week has been pretty good. It's weird having a birthday on the mission. It
doesn't feel any different whatsoever. That's ok cuz it was a fun day. My
district did something really nice for me. They made me a cake and we had a
good time. Cake, friends, and soda, what's better than that for a birthday?
Nothing haha. That day we did service, which was a really good bday break. I
love doing service. We just helped people put up insulation and dry wall. Very
different than the destroying we had been doing just 10 months ago. So all in
all, it was a wonderful bday.
I
got your guys' package the day after my birthday actually. Someone had picked
it up from the office. It was great. I got some recordings down and I'm going
to try and send them.
I
got a very nice card from Barb. Tell her thank you so much. I really can use
the subway giftcard because they are expensive here but are the most healthy
and thing I am willing to eat on a regular basis.
[Steve:
I debated about including this sad story in J.D.’s blog, but here it is]
As
for my "grandparents", his son was a douche and threatened to cut him
off from his grandkids if he didn't move to long island with him, and the son
hated [the to-be wife] and wouldn't let him get married. [The son] is abusive.
And I literally mean abusive. So he couldn't get married and stopped letting
the missionaries come over, but he was very sad and crying about it; you can
tell it wasn't his choice. Now I'm gone and I have no idea what's happened.
We
went to Coney Island for the 4th. It was a wonderful time. I watched a man
devour 69 hotdogs in 10 min. I never
thought I'd get such enjoyment from watching a grown man shove a lot of wieners
down his throat. ;) De chiste, but it really was funny how into it you get when
you watch them and want the reigning champ to beat his record. (he did btw, by
1)
Things
are going well here. I had a really cool experience. I talked to this woman in
Portuguese. We were just talking to random people on the street and she came up
and was trying to speak English with the English missionaries so I went over to
try and help thinking she was Spanish. I said something in Spanish and she went
off speaking. I understood it all and thought it was in Spanish. She then stops
and says, "you speak Spanish." I was really confused. Then she was
like, "I'm speaking Portuguese." It was a really crazy experience and
very cool. Luckily another missionary came over who speaks Portuguese, so I left
it to him haha, but it was one for the records.
Well
that's really it for here. We're still getting things started. Nothing much is
new. Just having a grand old time. I'm happy. I think a new area really
helps.
July
22
Lots of heat. It's cooling down though which is nice. Glad Timberline was good, Dad. And yes, I do know Joseph and Isaac. I love
the Meacham family. They are so awesome. And yes, people still hang out on the
streets in the evenings here.
Life
has been pretty great. We recently started teaching a new person and it's going
great. This last Saturday I went to a wedding of a couple in my old area. I
loved it. It was awesome. Everyone had missed me and they were so happy to see
me. It was very nice to see. It reminded me that I am loved. It's what I
needed. I was able to see all the people I had affected, the fact that I had
touched hearts, I had helped people in the way I wanted. I couldn't see it when
I was there, but I could see it when I went back. That was what I needed. It
reminded me of why I'm here; my original reason. It also gave me the fire to be
my own missionary. So it was very good for me. It was good to be able to look
back and say I really did do something and was successful.
