Letter #39

This week was pretty special, because we had an apostle come and visit us.  They wouldn't tell us who it was until his plane landed, but the Weavers told us where about half of the apostles were on assignment around the world, so we knew some people that it wasn't (i.e. all the good ones).  So that morning, my companion was like, "It'll probably be that one that no one likes.  Something Nielson?" Me: "Not Russell M. Nelson... Niel L. Anderson?"  Comp: "Yeah, him."  And so, of course, it was him.  And of course, he was far more interesting than Elder Pope and I expected him to be.  He joked around about the older apostles a ton ("President Monson was ordained an apostle one month after I was ordained a deacon." && "President Packer always tells me to enjoy my youth.  He has one foot in each world, you know.").  He also had a bunch of profound advice and stuff, and he shook all of our hands.  One thing that I thought was really cool was how he referred to the Bretheren as "my Bretheren."  And he talked a lot about seeking the gift of discernment.  And other stuff too.  He was just really cool all around.

Also last week, I drove out to Silverdale for the first time all on my own.  It was about 45 minutes away, and I had to change highways and such, and so it was the biggest/most complicated drive that I have ever done, and it was pretty much the only drive that I have ever taken to a place that I have never been a passenger of before.  So that was way intense.  Also, it was sunny that day, but the sun didn't really rise over the trees until about 9:00, when zone conference started, and it was back under the tree line by 4:00, when zone conference ended.  So that was cool.  Actually, the sun is starting to get annoying.  We had 3 days this week that were completely sunny with no clouds, and direct sunlight is just way brighter than I'm used to anymore.  Also, when there is sun, that means there are no clouds at night either, so everything freezes over now, aka we have to scrape our car before we go out (#firstworldproblems).  Also, the frost in Washington is so much thicker than the frost in Idaho (#humidity).

Besides that, we haven't had anything too exciting this week.  We had our first normal week in the new building, so that was super exciting for our ward.  We have a goose with a gimp leg in our backyard whose name is Roderick, and we feed him bread sometimes.  And besides that, I can't think of anything that interesting.  So yeah, hope everything is going well over there.  Washington is great.  Love you all.

Letter #38

Well, this week was pretty busy.  With our new building opening up, our weekend was pretty packed, which was super good.  And next week, we have zone conferences, a mission fast, and then an apostle coming to visit us, so it's only going to get busier this coming week.

First of all, transfers went well.  My new companion is Elder Pope, and he has been in the mission for a little over a year now, which makes him my oldest companion that I've ever had by a little more than 4 months.  So that's a little weird.  He's from Salt Lake, and he's really cool.  Somehow we're still in that awkward phase with a new companion that is supposed to only last a day.  And we've been together for like a week now.  So that's sorta funny.  Also, I have heard so many Pope jokes since we got transfer calls that I cannot even handle them anymore.

Also, our toilet broke, and so we spent a while trying to fix that.  Ha.

The open house of our new building was super cool.  It's a little funny, because it looks exactly like so many other church buildings, but this one was different, because it is ours.  Everything smells super new still (especially the gym floor, since it isn't even done curing yet), and we had a huge turnout.  We had probably 10 or 15 less-actives/investigators that we specifically invited come and tour during the open house.  And then we had a bunch of other non-members and members there besides.  And it was really cool, because we got a bunch of questions that you've always heard about, but that people don't really ask (i.e. "Why aren't there any crosses in your chapel?", "Why are Mormons so interested in family history?", &c.), and so that was a lot better than hearing, "How many wives do you have?" again.  And then the next day, we had the dedication, which was also pretty awesome.  The stake presidency said that we were expecting about 1000-1100 people, and we had a turnout of about 1500 people.  So it was pretty packed in there.  We sat with Aaric and had a pretty good time together.  They had a super good choir that sang a bunch of awesome songs that weren't in the hymn book, so that was a special treat.  They sang some Brahms at one point, so that was really awesome.  It was kinda a weird meeting, because it wasn't like a normal sacrament meeting.  The highlight was when one of the deacons passed out a couple of rows behind me.  Also when the dedication prayer was over.  It was so long.  Haha, but really the best part was when we all sang The Spirit of God together at the end.  It felt like we were at the dedication of the Kirtland temple.  It was super cool.  That night, we had a general priesthood meeting that was really great as well in the same building, and it was all about missionary work.  So that was cool.

Anyway, that was the majority of this week.  It's going pretty great here in Washington.  We even got some sun one morning this week, so that was nice.  And yeah, things are going great here.

Letter #37

Well, transfers came up this last week, and I will be staying in Crescent Valley!  I'm pretty excited about that.  My companion will be moving on though, so that's pretty sad for him.  He's going to miss the opening of the new stake center this next week.  I'm getting my new companion later today, so that will be pretty exciting.  Our District Leader will be getting a new missionary, which is pretty cool, because I didn't think that anyone in our zone would be training this transfer.

Well, this week wasn't super eventful.  Everyone's been sick lately it seems.  I feel like that might be a normal thing year-round in Washington though.  Pretty much everything we have been doing lately has been trying to get as many people as possible out to the new stake center.  So hopefully we get a ton of people out there.  We're pretty excited.

Well, my companion got a bunch of pictures of me with some ward members that he was saying goodbye to, and he promised to send those to me soon.  So hopefully I can send those home soon too.

Well, this next transfer is only 5 weeks long, which is one week shorter than normal.  Also, this is going to be a super short, but I'll for sure write more next week.  Thanks!  You guys are the best.

Letter #36

Transfers are a week from tomorrow!  So I will find out this Saturday whether I will stay one more transfer here, or move on to a different area for a season.  Hopefully I get to stay and see the opening of our new stake center.  And if not, then I won't be too bitter.  Maybe.

Well, this week has been fairly busy.  To start out with, my companion dislocated his pinky last Monday playing basketball.  He wanted to go to the hospital for it, so we started driving him.  But we couldn't get a hold of the mission president's wife (who is also the medical coordinator) to get clearance for a doctor's visit.  So we talked to the mission president, who told Elder Zastrow to reset it (he insisted that he had done it to his own fingers, shoulders, etc. many times).  And so he did.  And we got video documentation, which was the most important part, about 5 seconds after that was done.  And then we wrapped it up and iced it all week, and we have been taking plenty of Ibuprofen, so all is well.  Except that everyone keeps telling us that it still *might* be broken.  But Sister Weaver continues to insist that we *not* seek professional assistance ("You are doing everything that they would have done anyway.  And besides, if it is broken, it will get better, and if it is not broken, it will get better.  You guys are so cute.").  So that's still splinted, and the swelling might be going down.  We aren't really sure.  Also, when we briefly unwrapped it, he was able to bend it about 10 degrees.

And then on Tuesday, we took our car into the shop to fix a scratch that Elder Wilson put on the bumper a moon and a half ago.  So we had to walk for 3 days.

On Thursday, we had a Halloween party.  Aka, we got locked in the church from 3:00-9:00.  Luckily, we got to spend it with the rest of the zone, so it was nice seeing other missionaries.  We had a zone meeting at first, and then there was a potluck dinner, and then we watched a movie called Ephraim's Rescue.  It's about the Ephraim Hanks and pioneers in the Willie and Martin handcart companies, and it's by the same people that made 17 Miracles, which I guess is supposed to be quite good (I haven't seen it).  But that was enjoyable.  After that, we just sorta hung out for the rest of the night, and then went home.

On Friday, we went on exchanges with the District Leader, and that was pretty good.  It's always pretty fun getting to go out with other missionaries.  And then we went knocking with the Spanish Elders, so we didn't even get to go tracting together.  But knocking with Spanish was way fun too.  The guy I knocked with was visa waiting, and he was way green.  So that was really fun.

And that was pretty much my week.  I'll be reporting on my assignment for next transfer next week, so send any mail to the office after the next couple of days.  Love you all!