Importance of Good Eye Contact

hey,


it was great getting to talk to you guys too. but this past week was crazy with all the things we experienced. sunday we had a good show up of 13 people at church and only the branch pres was there so my companion presided on the spanish side, i played the piano (top hand only), he conducted, i blessed both bread and water, then i taught the gospel principles class, then me and my companion taught elders quorem too because no one was prepared with a lesson. it was the most id ever done on a sunday at church.

but then this week weve had some great lessons a lot more member activity and visiting less actives so thats been great. but one less active we saw, we helped move them down the block to another apartment. then after we helped em move, we taught the wife whos a non member a lesson. but so imagine this, we're in this small apartment with stuff all over the place unpacked, her little 1 year old boy running around, and her husband(the less active member) isnt there yet. but so we're teaching her, and after about 10 minutes of teaching the baby sitting on her lap starts actin up like hes hungry, so the lady without even thinking twice, just pulls down one side of her shirt and the baby starts breast feeding right there infront of us. i was shocked and my companion turns to me and starts to laugh a little bit, but we just kept our eyes up and let me tell you that was the longest i have ever looked into someones eyes, it was bad. so we're trying to end the lesson and get out of there so we dont have to keep fighting this, but the lady keeps talking and telling us how shes catholic and all about the life of Jesus Christ. so after her feeding that kid like 3 different times and us not knowing what the heck we got ourselves into, we finally end the thing and get out of there. haha it was so crazy.

but we had a great rest of the night and had awesome lessons after that. we have become friends with a less active guy from mexico whos name is Ether and all is family members have Book of Mormon names. but Ether had a drinking problem and lost pretty much everything from it. he shakes still because he is trying to stop it. so hes come teaching with us this past week for the first time and it has been so awesome to see him change and how much happier he is from not drinking. at first he reminded me of the dad on hoosiers who is the drunk and then he finally gets his act together and coaches the team, you know dad? this ether is just like him i swear, but it has been an awesome experience working and teaching with him.

so the gospel is real you guys and God lives and loves all of us. He loves us so much here in Philly that he gave us snow today to cover up all the trash. but i hope you guys have a great new years eve and stay out of trouble. thanks for the sweater, socks and card. i havent sent the pictures yet so ill try as soon as i get time. but you guys are awesome keep it up and dont just let the wind blow by you.

love yall
norman

Day Before Christmas

hey guys,

ya i want you to call me at 4 in the morning your guys time cuz i know you'll already be up probably. no not really, 7 at night my time. but no i havent got your letter about the boys goin down to utah. i did get your christmas card and one from parkers family, the johnsons sent me a package (i dont know why, i told em not to) and ya thats an interesting card mom, very clever.
thats cool if you guys got a lot of questions because i dont even really know what to say so ya just ask all you want.

thats good you guys got snow though, hows skiing looking? the snow is still here and there are big piles on all the corners but the streets are mostly cleared, some still arent accesible and the sidewalks have ice on them. my companion has fallen a couple times but hes ok, im not being prideful but i havent yet. the snow was so deep though, i got pictures of it, and it covered the cars. i guess it was like 22 inches or something like that. it was awesome. i didnt make any snow angels though, my companion was going crazy though because hes from arizona though ya know so he was all wow and wanting to make snow angels and stuff. he had a kid throw a snowball at him just so he could say it happened to him. but luckily we have a shovel at the house and my companion doesnt know a lick about using one so i shoveled out a lot of cars in our travels this week. we had a lot of people stuck and they were either asians or mexicans so they had trouble. one family we helped for like a half hour get down their street and after about half way the father told me to drive and so i actually drove his dodge caravan out of it so that was funny.

but this week was great and we've been having some great lessons and committing people to baptism so things are moving forward. last sunday though it was kind of depressing because we only had sacrament meeting and this was right after it dumped snow here, and we only had 2 people at church and they were investigators so that was crazy.

but glad to hear you guys are having fun and i hope you get to go skiing soon. we'll talk tomorrow then i guess so have a good one and if you cant get a hold of me then ill call you guys from the calling card i have at like 710 or 715 PM alright. merry christmas and i love you guys.

oh and mom its mucho amor not mucho lovo hijo mio que paso mami, como esta la vaina y los ninos que estan en utah? tuvimos almuerzo ayer con una miembra de la iglesia y la comida estuvo bien rica. fue arroz, pollo, y mole. pues gracias por su tiempo y hablaremos manana ok?

les quiero chase

Gooey Louie's

hey guys,

what do you mean you didnt receive my new address, i sent an extra email after i sent the first one that had my address. but here it is:

2432 South Fairhill Street Philadelphia, PA 19148.

but as for the packages i got them at zone conference on tuesday, also the one from g and g wilson. but the cooler arrived the same day we had zone conference so the elders in reading couldnt bring it down. but theyre planning on gettin it to me before christmas so its cool.

as for calling you guys, its goin to have to be at after 7 my time and you need to call me at around 7 at the number 215-271-5023. and if that doesnt work then ill just call you at like 710 from the calling card i have and ya. but it shouldnt be a problem, we'll have like 40 minutes max to talk so im glad you guys are planning what you want to know. oh and dont worry about the english, i still know english, we study everything in english, mostly, except for our hour of spanish study. because the mission president and all our meetings are in english so its really not that much spanish, just with the wards, people, and between ourselves is when we use spanish.

but you guys this past week was so good. i had an awesome experience with my zone leader on exchanges and really learned an important principle, then on sunday i was shocked at church when we only had 15 people at church and the whole rest of church we talked about plans to help the ramita, little branch, grow. it was pretty depressing.

but we had a good monday, then tuesday we had zone conference and had a great training and instruction from pres murray, then after the two zones did christmas plays and that was fun, after that we had a christmas feast of famous daves, which was pretty good, we then played games. group games that you normally dont do as a missionary, but we played dodgeball too and it was a good time. but this week has been great. we began teaching some guys who work in a chocolate factory and so we get a lot of truffles and valentines day candy after our lessons from them. the members like to go there with us too. but it has been a great week and really learned a lot as to what this is all about and what i need to do.

my companion is from phoenix and hes 20, good guy, has lost 50 pounds so far on his mission, hes been out the same time as me. we get along good, except for we have troubles sometimes deciding what to teach because he thinks im too serious sometimes. but hes a good guy and is good at spanish so we do great together. also he likes dunkin donuts so we've gone there a couple times.

i had the opportunity last week to have my first real philly cheese steak and man it was awesome. ill describe it to you later but it was good. at a place called Gooey Looeys and the Pats and Genos places are about 2 blocks away but they arent as big and good.

but things are going great and we are going caroling down at center city today so that will be sweet. have a good week and read the book of mormon.

Samuel the Lamanite.

Transferred to South Philly

hey guys,

you wont believe how awesome this past week was. i have seen so many different things it is unbelievable. we had a wedding on friday, that was ok, then the baptism on sunday, which was great. a member baptized the three of em so it was really neat. i took a lot of pictures so ill work on getting em developed. but then friday i got a call from the zone leaders that i was gonna get transfered. so i packed a little saturday and then sunday as well. we had a great time going around to all the people and taking pictures and saying good bye.

then that night i get a call from president murray telling me that im going to be district leader, but i dont know where. so then we go to transfer meeting on monday, find out im goin to South Philly and am the DL too. haha it was so crazy man. so right now i am in philly at a library writing you guys and it is so crazy here. haha i wish you could see all this stuff here and how fun the people are. there are a ton of asians, no dominicans or puerto ricans, just mexicans, and a lot of thugs. but it is so cool.

we live in a two story house and from the top window you can see the skyscrapers of philly. this area is so crazy man, we have SEPTA passes to all buses and underground trains so i feel like a tourist man. the stadiums, center city, everything cool is in this area. the church is in a business building and is pretty small. we are smaller than a branch and there are a lot of in-active members here. its going to be tough and things are crazy man. haha its so cool.

but in our house the hot water went out the day before i got here so ive been taking freezing cold baths, theres not enough pressure for showers, every morning. we do have good exercise stuff though so all is well. but things are really good and sorry i dont have much time. ill try to write a letter today if wee find time. but its hard to focus because im always looking around or up so im gonna have some cool experiences coming up. no more of my people from the dominican republic.

but you guys take care and have a great week. love yall. chase

oh its not too cold here either, it was warm yesterday, but tell brother wright that his coat is awesome and i like it a lot. peace

Thanksgiving

hey you guys

sounds like yall had a good thanksgiving break and especially you brooks. thats good that its cold over there. the weather here in Reading is crazy. today is really warm with a warm breeze but yesterday it rained all day and was freezing cold. its been pretty nice though not too bad. i guess its suppose to snow/rain this weekend though so we'll see.

so as you all have probably been wanting to know, my thanksgiving? how was it? well it was pretty dang good ill tell you that. we played soccer/football games in the morning and that was pretty fun to run around and get worked in soccer by the latinos but then dominate in football. they dont really understand football all the way. but it was fun running around and in the mud. we then went home and studied, wrote, hung out, went to the mall for my companion to buy a GPS, then at four we went to our first dinner appt. with the fam. palacios who are members. we were suppose to eat there right when we got there but ended up waiting an hour and a half for the food. so we were there for 3.5 hours eating and talking. it was a good dinner though, turkey(she didnt know how to cook it so it was just cut up) , chicken, mashed potatoes(without gravy, they dont like it), cactus (was pretty good), ham, salad, pie, corn bread, other stuff. it was pretty good. but since we were there for so long and we had 4 dinner appts that night we ended up just going to two. so we went to the Fam. Lunas house after that. they had rice and beans, turkey(cooked as a whole turkey), flan (fatty cheese cake like stuff, its good), ham, mangu (mashed plantanes with cheese, like mashed potatoes but not), and other stuff. so after we left there we were really stuffed and it was an awesome night with a lot of food and good people. it was a good day.

but for the rest of the week things went well and we've been preparing for our investigators wedding tomorrow, baptism on sunday. this weekend is going to be sweet and ive been takin a lot of pictures so dont worry. but we had interviews yesterday and that was awesome. President Murray is the man and shared some cool stuff with me yesterday that has me excited. but as for me moving anywhere, ill be staying here for another transfer at least so thats got me excited.

but all is well and thanks for the email. keep up the good work brooks and blake in basketball. sarah stay out of contentious or places you know have something bad with em. norman and wendell keep smiling and read the talk by President Monson this last conference "What Have I Done For Someone Today?" well you guys take care alright and dont enjoy the snow too much, and no sarah i cant go skiing on p days what kind of question is that? maybe someday you'll be able to keep up with me on the slopes. haha no just kiddin. but all is well and life is good.

viva philly, mi amor.
Elder Nielson

Happy Thanksgiving

hey guys.

ya i remember richs mom she was a good lady, ive been to her house before and she was really cool. but thats too bad, at least we have the plan of salvation so they will see each other after this life.

but sounds like you guys are doing good and ready for thanksgiving. we have this morning as part of our p day so we went and bought some food and clothes and then later we'll work again. but tomorrow is going to be sweet cuz everyone is calling us asking what we're doing tomorrow and inviting us to come over, so im thinking we'll just go from house to house and eat a little here and there. so itll be fun.

one food i ate yesterday for the first time that was not too good was eggplant. we got some rice and beans yesterday after our lesson and they had a fried eggplant on top of the rice. it was a really weird texture and i dont think ill be eating it again. but this past week was really good and we had a great weekend. lots of lessons and good weather so tthat was nice. it started raining yesterday though and its drizzling all day today so its been fun riding our bikes.

we had a cool experience the other day though with some guys who owned the little corner store we went into. they were amazed that we could speak spanish and then we kept talking and i bought some milk and treats, then the cashier guy hooked us up with some free candy bar things and also gvae me a discount on my stuff. so it was pretty cool and maybe if you guys would learn spanish you could get discounts too.

but ya sorry for spending a lot of money last thursday, i bought you guys some stuff and also im working on the pictures, we've been taking a lot lately with the families we're teaching so ill try and get em sent in with the stuff but it might be a couple more weeks. but hope you guys have a good time with the family and dont eat too much. we only have like 1 week left of this transfer so we'll see whats gonna happen i might stay or move im not sure yet. but thanks for everything and take care.

peace.

norman

Weddings and Partying

buenos dias,

man you guys had an awesome week. congrats brooks on making the team. now you gotta work hard bro and really pay attention to coach ty and learn from him, hes a way good ball player. but bro thats sweet man, and work at gettting stronger and faster. try out those strength shoes that we have. but man im proud of you.

well you guys you have no idea how great this past week was. we kicked butt with our investigators and received two wedding invitations so we're going to be partying a lot in these next two weeks. two families we've been teaching made dates and one is the 28 of this month and the other is the 4 so im pretty excited for that.

also we had the entire mission conference with Elder Nelson. that was so sweet man. he is really a man of God. like think of the smartest person you know and then times them by 50 and you have Elder Nelson. he shared some really interesting stuff with us about repentance and greek words and scriptures galour. it was really awesome experience. then later that night we got to listen to him again in our stake conference meeting for adults, then the next morning at the big meeting. it was an awesome meeting and really learned a lot. the best thing though was we have this recent convert who is the bomb, he helps us out a lot and is a stud, but we've been trying to teach his wife and she never has kept commitments or really felt it necessary to be part of the church. but she came to the sunday meeting with Elder Nelson and he talked about families and teaching our children about the Gospel, great talk, i should send my notes to you guys, but she was crying afterwards and really liked it alot so that was really exciting for us.

then this week we've had some great lessons and really had a lot of success in finding and helping out people. the other day though we were knocking some doors before one of our appts and this one house we went to the guy walks up to the door and is looking down at his chocolate lab saying "attack! attack!" and the dog is just looking up at him and doesnt do anything, so the guy keeps saying it and then says to us to stop coming by his house or else he's going to sick his dog on us and "believe me it wont be pleasant" haha so we were all ok thanks for your time sir have a good day and left to the next door. haha but the guy was a nut and my companion was saying how he was gonna kick the dog in the throat if it came out. haha so thats my story for the week.

but thanks for the package mom i dont know if im gonna have time to eat all that because we are gonna be busy with dinners this next week but we'll see. thanks for the newspapers too, my comp really likes em. but ya things are going great and one member is trying to donate his car to us so thats pretty cool. the weather has been great, really warm and sunny. but i guess its suppose to rain the next couple days so we'll see.

we have a baptism the next two or three weeks in a row for sure so thats awesome. the spanish is great too. its so much fun when you can communicate and understand what other people are talking about when its non gospel stuff. its really helped me gain closer relationships here in reading with the members. oh ya and the other night we were with the President of the Branch's son and hes sixteen. hes got his permit so we convinced him to drive us around one night. his dad said it was fine so he drove us to two lessons and had an interesting experience trying to explain to this pastor how God is not all three. that reallly its God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost as three separate beings. it was kind of like bible bashing and the scriptures he would share with us were so stupid and his points were so broad that you could really see how confused and wrong this guy really was. but we got out of there and left with peace so that was good.

but ya things are great and thanks for your guys support and keep up the good work.

love yall. norman

oh ya brooks bro, im just warnin ya but Davis likes to run you a lot so take advantage of it and use your cross country skills to beat everyone and get quicker. but ya man have a good time with bball and even though youre probably like the most popular kid in the gym,(chesters little bro), haha no just kidding, but really if people say that to you just be like yep youre right im related to him and then ignore it cuz it dont matter who you know or what someone you know did, just what you do it what counts. so work hard and play defense and rebound and the rest will come.

theres a quote that i heard that when you stop worrying about the center and focus on the edges, the center takes care of itself. so just do the little things and smile and make jokes and theyll like ya. talk to kroup and have him help ya out on defense and other stuff.

love you guys peace out.

hasta luego

Successes from Baptisms to Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

hey como les va?

so this past week was really awesome. we had a great time teaching some people and made baptismal dates so that was exciting. we have the baptism for pedro who fell off the roof next sunday.

but tuesday we had zone conference and that was awesome. i learned a lot and really had a great time. this mission is awesome and president murray is the man. its so cool how we focus so much on ourselves and how we need to come unto Christ and experience true conversion. i have been praying out loud after my companion goes to sleep and fasting every now and then and it has really helped me to become a different "creature" than what i was 5 months ago. but zone conference was awesome and we really had a great learning and growing experience.

also on sunday us missionaries had to talk in sacrament and the spanish was great. we did good and i felt so good yesterday when we went to this investigators house and she was like man i have to compliment you on your spanish, you have grown so much since you first came here. thats basically what she said, not exactly, but it really made me feel good.

i have really tried to improve my studying this past week and i have seen the difference. it is amazing how much you get out of a study when you write down the stuff and revelation you get while reading. i have a study journal for our personal studies and i hadnt been writing in it for the past 1.5 months so i started doing that again and its really helped. so i would invite you guys to do that and write down every little impression that you get while studying, the talk in this past conference explains it better i think it was by Eyring but i dont know you can check.

but things are going great and me and my comp had the best week in the whole zone, probably mission, last week number wise so that was awesome. but sounds like you guys are doing good and if you want to try and eliminate the tension maybe you could try reading the talk by Prezidente Monson he gave last conference about going about doing good and serving others. because " what do we live for if not to make life less difficult for others?" but ya things are great, im not frozen yet, its been just a little chilly here but not bad. i keep warm but the only problem is with the bikes we sweat and then the houses we go into dont have heat so we freze in there and then go back out and ride around to get warm again. a lot of the houses dont have heat, just a little electric heater on the first floor and its funny when we teach sometimes you can see your breath because its colder inside than outside.

this saturday we get to listen to Elder Nelson and also Saturday Night and Sunday because hes coming to our stake conference. so saturday morning we'll drive to broomall PA, listen to him talk to us missionaries, then drive back to reading. at 7 then we have a meeting to go to with him for the adults in the stake and then sunday morning. so its gonna be awesome. well keep up the good work and have a good week. love yall

chester

Otro ves
a few questions i have. blake are you playing AAU or what league for basketball are you in? brooks dont worry about tryouts and dont eat wheat chex before either, i did that and threw it all up my freshman or sophmore year while running sprints in tryouts. but just smile and be a team player, also hustle everywhere (that means sprint and dont worry about scoring, play defense and be rough and they'll like you). also dad you should try reading the Teachings of Brigham Young, its pretty good. especially the part about Fasting and the Sabbath Day. also thanks a bunch for the socks i really like em and theyre warm. theyre working great. also i dont need any food or clothes or anything for thanksgiving so thanks for the idea but no its all good. but mom i do have a story fory ou that youd be proud of. last thursday i bought two bags of potatoes for 5 bucks. then on sunday i pealed em cut em and boiled em. smashed em up with milk and butter and had my self some mashed potatoes and gravy( i made some gravy too) for dinner. it was really good and a great change from pasta and rice and beans. but ya thats my little success story for you guys.

thanks hasta luego

One Quick Story

so i forgot to tell you about the story we had last night. we have a meeting with the leaders of the branch every wednesday night at 730. so we were gettting a ride from Hermano Marrero to the church. but when we got out of our lesson at 645, my companions bike tire was flat. so we tried pumping it up with the little pump i carry around, it didnt work. so we walk towards marreros house, see a gas station with a pump, stop i get some quarters inside and we fill up the tire, nope its got a hole. so we start walking, now we're only about 6 blocks away from his house and its 650. we finally get to his house at like 708 he comes out and has an old honda suv.

my companion asks if we can put the bikes in his car and then he takes us home after the meeting, he agrees and so we go through all this trouble trying to get the bikes in the back. we have to take off the front tires then put down the back seat and take out some things he had in the back. so finally they both fit and so now we jump into the front seats and me and my companion are scrunched in the passenger seat and im hanging in the middle by his arm rest and then we have little Hno Marrero driving with only head lights like a mad man. the dash lights dont work and he drives like a latino, fast and punches it at every stop sign.

so it was an exciting 10 minute drive to the church, we have to meeting and everyone is happy. then he takes us back home afterwards, end of story. it was pretty funny but we were really grateful that he did it because it wouldve been like 1030 by the time we walked our bikes back to the house after the meeting. have a good one and try looking for the little miracles each day. im trying to do that and its pretty neat.

Answers some questions...

bueno,

Have you been sick? Did you get a flu shot?
no i am not sick, just a runny nose. my companion got sick though a couple weeks back but everythings good now.

Has it been really stormy?
its been a little windy but clear the past week and we havent had any rain i dont think. but its been cold enough that we need to wear a light jacket. but we bike so much that if we wear too many layers we die of sweat so thats the only problem.

Where are most of the people from that you are teaching?
most of the people we teach are from puerto rico or the dominican republic. me and my companion are doing good. we do really good together and like doing outdoor things so we get along good. the funny story for this week is one of the guys we are teaching is a mechanic and has his own big shop. we stop by and teach him and sometimes help him with whatever he's doing. but the other day we found out why he'd been to jail a couple months back. he fights roosters. he showed us his cages and his best roosters and was tellin us all about it. it was really cool and interesting but man its crazy. he still does it back in PR. also it was pretty funny in church we had one of our really good investigators introduce himself to the priesthood and he basically pledged to stay in the church and that hes gonna get baptized so that was pretty good. but ya other funny stuff just like crazy people we see, one drug deal we saw, and cockroaches crawling down the wall right behind this lady we're teaching in the middle of the lesson. i dont know theres a bunch of stuff.

What did you do for Halloween?
Halloween was pretty good. we just had to come in a 6 and so i had a good study until bed. but ya lots of funny stuff about the yankees and phillies.

Do you get our letters every week?
yes i get the letter every week thanks a bunch i appreciate it.

Do you have any requests for Christmas?
i dont need anything for christmas, also the coat isnt needed either. i got under layers and the windbreaker that i have is awesome and i stay really warm, the only problem is that one of the other elders was using my jacket and gloves because we were on exchanges with the ZL and he lost my nice leather gloves i bought so i was a little ticked, he was just kinda like "oh oops sorry i guess i didnt see em." but oh well.

Do you listen to music?
ya we can listen to music, we only have one CD so we listen to that in the apartment and my companion likes this one song that i think ive listened to over a hundred times. but ya we can listen to church music.

just keep doing what youre doin. all is well. i really had a great week and learned a lot. i have some changing to do with some things but things are going good and we have some baptisms coming up. it makes you feel good when someone who the other spanish elders are teaching tells you that they want you to teach em. we have some good friendships. but ya things are good and thanks for everything. have a good one. read the scriptures.
peace
elder nielson

Halloween Plans

bueno,

familia i just wrote you an email and i accidentally erased it and tryed to get it back but its gone. but hey thanks for the socks. im glad you only bought me 5-6 pairs instead of 12 cuz id get mad if you did. but sounds like you guys are still livin and doin well.

for halloween we might go to a trunk or treat that the branch is going to have because we'll have investigators there but im not sure yet. we do have to be in early though that day. thanks for the pictures. you guys looked good. dad you look like youve dropped some tacos in the last few months, looked skinnier. and mom you too. but ya you guys looked good. brooks you look like a stud but the only thing i would say is work on your upper body strenght and do squats so you can get quicker and do better in basketball. sarah nice dress. and blake you look good man keep doing what youre doin.

but this past week was great. we had a baptism this past sunday and it was a really great time. he's a great guy and is really going to be the next branch pres. but also we had the end of the transfer and changes. me and elder bateman are still together but on the other side of reading we got elder munson still and his new companion elder allred. so things are looking good so far this week and we have taught a lot of lessons already.

we have been walking a lot though because it has been raining the past two days and everything is soaked. the leaves are pretty cool and i tried to take a few pictures for ya mom. but ya things are going good. the only downer this week was we learned that probably we wont have a car at all this winter because the goal was for us to get one by december but since some other missionaries totalled a car the other week, we are one less on cars so the chances arent in our favor. but its cool, the members and some investigators have been offering us their cars to drive so we've been driving those. haha not really but they've been offering.

so thats all i got for you guys. keep it up and have a good week. love you guys

norman

Staying Put For Another Transfer

hey hijos mios,

como les va? well this next week is transfer week and ill be staying here. the trees are starting to turn colors and its really pretty up on the hill sides. i got a new bike and its a trek 3700 mountain bike so its pretty good. also im not going to buy boots, theyre not worth it and the majority of missionaries dont have em. my shoes are warm anyways. the only thing i would like for you to buy are some good socks like the REI ones or warm hiking socks that are colored so i can wear them. i couldnt find any socks that would be good at the outlet place when we went.

But let me tell you about that store, they had so much stuff for cheap it was unbelievable. if you guys need(or Johnsons) any jerseys or phillies or eagles or penn state or Red Sox jerseys of anykind that are really nice and cheap instead of paying 120 they're 20-40 bucks and t shirts are really cheap too. so just a heads up for christmas.

but ya this past week was really good. it was crazy cuz we had a winter storm last thursday and it was freezing, then today its like 70 degrees outside and we're sweating. but we had a lot of success and were able to help out a lot this week. we found some really cool people and yes we're still teaching the guy who fell off the roof, he has a baptismal date.

but we had our first experience with an anti-mormon guy this week. he was a nut and was too smart for his own good. he told us we were from the fake mormon church and all this other stuff that he understood from the bible. then he asked us if we'd ever met a demon before, and we said no but i asked him if he was one, to bad he said no but he was really attacking after that. we talked for a little bit and then finally we bore our testimonies to him and left. it was a cool experience though cuz we both grew a little bit stronger from that experience and we got a taste of how weird some other churches are.

also yesterday we had interviews with President and his wife. they went really good and it was a good talk i had with President. we have some exciting stuff coming up in the future and some of our investigators are going to get married so itll be fun. but ya all is well and we are doing pretty darn good out here in PA.

the people are pretty excited about the phillies and also a lot of people are excited about the yankees too. a couple of our members have to really sacrifice to come out with us on nights when the yankees are playing. but sounds like you guys are doing good too, keep it up and remember reir-which is spanish for laugh. take care love you guys, thanks mom for the package and the candy, my companion liked the silly string and stress head.

norman

Two emails in one day!

hey guys i still got some time left. i got a story about one guy we are teaching. we found him and he was really nice, hes from DR and has a family of a wife and two daughters. we taught him the first lesson and then had plans to come back in two days. we came back after two days and had a lesson with him. but earlier that day he had fallen off the roof of his house. he was all bandaged up and had pillows behind his back and could hardly move. haha it was quite the site, but he still wanted to talk to us, so we watched the restoration video and taught about the book of mormon. he told us that he knew that God had spared him from the fall because he was suppose to listen to us. he didnt break any bones, just a really tight back and some scrapes and bruises. but anyways he's prayed and knows that this is the true church and is progressing really well. he wanted to come to church last sunday but couldnt because he couldnt move very well. but all our lessons with him have been with members so he already has friends and is really excited for this sunday. his wife and daughters are starting to listen too, at first they just said no we're catholica and then would leave, but now they are listening and his wife is really interested.

oh also we taught a lesson yesterday to this lady while tracting and haha her house was like 40 degrees, elder bateman and i were just hunched over with our arms crossed trying to keep warm, it was so cold. when we left it was warmer outside than inside her house, and it was cold yesterday.

but ya things are crazy here in reading. also we were told the other night at a members house, theyre recent converts that the first time they saw us they thought we were papichulos, or pimps. but i got to go love you guys. keep up the good work.

Finger almost bitten off by chiwawah

whats up everyone? so today is a pretty depressing day in reading PA. its been raining all day, we arent going to be able to do anything fun today like play volibol or basketball, just eat write and eat some more so we're going to have to work out hard tomorrow morning to burn this off. but other than that all is well,

earlier today at 9 we packed up our stuff for studies and also our clothes to wash and walked down to this members house. she lets us wash our clothes there and then while our clothes were being washed we study in the basement. then at 11 we went with a different member to Giant which is just like albertsons to buy food. he has a mercedes and is a really awesome guy so its fun being with him, but after we bought cookies, doughnuts, pop tarts and candy for the week he drove us back and we dropped our stuff off at our house. then he drove us down here to the library and now we're writing you guys.

but after this we're going to these outlet stores right across the street that are suppose to be really awesome and we're gonna buy scarfs, and other winter stuff. because yesterday we had a problem because it was probably a high of 50 and was pretty cold just walkin around. my stupid bike broke so we cant ride em anymore. just walk. but my back rim was bent a little bit and then from all the bumps in the roads and sidewalks and the patch we put on the tube, we think, has caused the rim spokes to loosen and some of them break. so my back tire yesterday was wobbling all over the place so it was bad. but p days are always like this in the mornings and then from like 2- 6 is up in the air to what we're going to do depending on the circumstances. but then at six we start proselyting again and have appts with people.

but the trees are starting to change colors and its pretty bonita aqui en la area. but not all of em are turning, its still pretty green, give it a week and it'll be muy bonita. but as for meals we probably average like 2 meals a week at a members house, but most of the time we cook our own stuff.

it was cool on tuesday we went with elder merrill on splits and he wanted to go to this chinese buffet that he said was really good. so we went and it was 7 bucks a person and was an awesome idea. it was the best chinese buffet id ever been to and everything was clean, there was a sushi bar with a bunch of different rolls, and then every other chinese food you could think of was there. so after stuffing ourselves we were eating some ice cream and one of the waitresses came up to us and told us that someone paid our ticket for us. so some old guy did it and we were all excited and stuff it was pretty cool.

but ya we cook everything ourselves mostly, i eat a lot of eggs, sandwiches, and pasta. we have a branch in our area thats it. so its pretty fun and its going to be a ward soon so we'll see what happens this stake conference in a week or two. for stake conference Elder Nelson is coming to it and also coming to talk to our mission so that is going to be sweet.

Sundays we have a meeting with the leaders at 1130 so we do our studys till 11 and then leave, then church starts at 1. then from 4-6 we have break or dinners sometimes. then from 6-9 we teach and find people. we have a meeting every wednesday and sunday with our ward mission leader and we teach a couple lessons with him a week so ya we work with him a lot id say. ive only had to give one talk so far and have never given my testimony or anything else in sacrament, they do make us participate in the doctrine principles class because the past few weeks they've been talking about eternal marraige and families and stuff like that so they make fun of us and tell us to pay close attention for the future.

but ya all is well, we are teaching some really awesome investigators right now and it is awesome to see the changes in their lives and the joy they feel from it. we havent had any crazy experiences but i did almost get my finger biten off by a chiwawah yesterday so that was funny. but we are doing good and the transfer is almost over so thats crazy, hopefully we'll be getting a car in a few weeks but we'll see. we have had some great learning experiences though and are doing good, it makes you feel good when someone tells you that the way you taught them helped them to clear up a lot of stuff and they can understand it now. but all is well in reading PA. the gospel is perfect, just not the members. read the book of mormon.

love you guys. norman -----

A little homesick after Conference-not gonna lie

hey, como estan?

sounds like you guys are doing good keeping busy. i dont get your letters until fridays usually and no it hasnt rained in a while, just really windy and hard bike riding weather, but a lot of pretty leaves and trees.

how awesome was conference? it was so cool man, i dont know why we dont ever watch more of saturday conference because it is awesome. all the sessions were great and the speakers and talks were great too, i felt like every talk was directed right to me. how sweet is that that brigham city is getting a temple? im stoked about that temple though, also the talk about the manti temple by Elder Perry was pretty good too. but really you all need to read those talks, i am, and take a big bite of it.

but ya this week was really good. we have found some awesome families and had some fun experiences. dont tell anyone but we saw a guy get tazered the other day cuz he wouldnt get out of a taxi cab. that was pretty funny. but you guys dont need to tell people about that. you can tell em about amulek and his talking with Zeezrom or something like that. but we had a great week and i was a little down and home sick after conference im not gonna lie. after them talking about brigham city, manti, and sevier county, and return missionaries, i was pretty unfocused on missionary work and had a hard time refocusing. but its all good now and thank you so much for the box and cookies, they were delicious, but you dont need to send anymore stuff im fine.

also brooks i have a trek 7100 bike and it had a light on the front, and a bell. and sorry for making it seem like my companion was a newbie and i was a trainer and if it seemed like i was trying to make myself look good. i probably was a little bit but sorry i was excited. but no im not training, we're learning together and have been out the exact same time, ive just been in reading longer than he has and know the area and members better.

but sarah i hope you dont have a boyfriend and that if you do you two can read conference talks together for a date, and run fast in soccer. brooks, i think i could probably beat you in a bike race right now, im up by lance armstrong level of strength in my legs so id be scared if i were you, but bro keep runnin hard youre a stud and dont let anyone who looks like a dork out run you. blake, i hear this weekend is your first playoff game and so all i have to say is be cool and dont focus on the hype of the game, dont get nervous just be relaxed and think about how good youre going to do and smile, youre a stud man you can do it. but thanks for everything and i love you guys and keep up the good work.

norman

Soaked in Rainstorm

como estan familia nielson?

como fue esta semana pasada? thats awesome you guys are doing good.

for us to write you guys we have to travel about a mile and a half on bike to the wyomissing library so it aint bad. and plus they gave me a library pass today so all is well.

but since this week is conference we are just going to all the sessions saturday and sunday at the church and then inbetween the sessions we are going to be fed by the ward because they are going to have food and activities in-between the two. but the only problem is that the sessions are two hours later than for you guys so we're going to be up late saturday night for priesthood at 8-10. but ya its going to be a good weekend and its exciting telling people about conference and how they can listen to a living prophet so we've been trying to get a lot of investigators to go this week.

but this past week was good. we had a great sunday and on saturday we had a big rainstorm that we had to ride our bikes through so that was fun. we got pretty soaked and my pants were the only things that were all that wet. but my feet are fine. the shoes are really good and keep em warm so dont worry. we have a huge outlet factory by us so we're going to go buy some socks and other winter stuff before it gets too cold. because today is a little chilly outside.

but we had our first flat tire experience yesterday. my companions bike tire got a gash in it right by the mercedes benz dealership. we took off the tire and put in the extra tube we had and then took the tire over to the shop in the dealership. one of the mechanics filled it up for us and while he was filling it up this lady who was just one of those snobby rich, heart set on the things of the world, type people, kept making fun of us and telling us how if our bikes werent mercedes benz then we couldnt get it filled. i wanted to punch her in the face but thats not missionary like is it. but after we put the tire back on and were on our way.

we also had some really cool spiritual experiences in lessons and those were cool. but all is well and the spanish is growing more and more. we are doing good and have been having a good time. we were really excited the other day when we taught this one guy who was a former investigator and had been taught basically everything but just wasnt baptized. we talked with him and had a return appt. to see him and his wife who is a member. we then find out a couple days later from my old trainer elder merrill, that he was interviewed to be baptized but president murray wouldnt let him be baptized because he had killed a guy in puerto rico. haha so that was a bummer.

but ya keep up the good work and congrats on playing varsity sarah. brooks youre a stud man keep runnin and try not to throw up too much, and blake be the peacemaker like Christ was(same for you brooks) and dont let contention start. you and brooks should read 3 nephi 11 together. but blake keep being the delta flash and tearing it up in football. next week tell me what youre guys bests are so far this season? Goals? Minutes? and Touchdowns or tackles? also remember to read the book of mormon.

love you guys and enjoy conference this weekend. thanks for everything and please dont send money, im fine, i can get a flu shot for free.

hasta luego. norman

Cultural Night

hey que tal?

thats cool you guys are doin good with sports. what position did sarah play in the game?

but this past week was pretty tough im not gonna lie. we got reinforcements from our feet and got bikes. so we've been biking everywhere and are getting good exercise everyday climbing hills and everything. id say we go about 10 miles average a day, but i could be exaggerating a bit im not sure. but the funny thing with the bikes is we have sweet helmets like your guys' and lights on the bikes too. so at night when we're cruising around and theres people outside, they sometimes yell POlice. and when we approach people theyre all oh man i thought you guys were the police, and theyre all nervous too. but thats been fun riding around, my butt muscles were sore the first two days but its all good.

we had zone conference on tuesday and it was sweet. Elder Robbins from the 70 came with his wife and talked to us. they were really smart and helped us out alot. it was really cool to meet him and shake an apostles hand.

but thanks for the package, i got the cookies and the FHE ideas that was awesome. because of the humidity over here the cookies stayed soft a lot longer than over there so that was cool.

but this past week was great and we were able to grow a lot. the spanish is great and we have no trouble communicating or understanding the language because what i dont pick up, bateman will pick up and what he doesnt get ill get so its pretty cool. we teach good together and found some cool investigators.

but the coolest thing that happened this past week was on friday the branch had a Culture Night at the church. and we brought all the investigators we could to it, it was a hassel riding around to each of their houses but we got it done. but at the church there were tables for each latino country that members were from. they made a bunch of their native food and so we just went around and ate and tried a bunch of crazy stuff. we just stuffed ourselves, talked with everyone, watched some of the members do native dances and stuff and left. it was a great time.

but thanks for everything and you dont need to send a package if you dont want to. just send a copy of my Patriachal Blessing and Raymons email address. also my address is 1100 Wyomissing Road 18B 19611 West Reading. but thanks for everything and i love you guys. take care.

norman

First Transfer- West Reading

hey guys,

so i got transferred and it was only to the other side of reading. we live in a town called wyomissing and have the west side of the area and my old companions have the east side. so my new companion is a greenie like me and so we are learning together. i wouldnt say im the senior companion but when it comes to decisions about what to do i usually have to make the final vote cuz i know the area and the people.

but its a really different area that we are in right now. we have half the inner city but then the whole rest of west reading and everything west of 5th street. but the fun part is we dont have a car and so weve been walking a ton everyday. also we have bikes so that is awesome. we didnt have them the first day so that sucked but the past two days weve been biking a lot and getting good exercise in. the first night we were riding back home from our appointment and it was so cool flying down the sidewalk and street, it was like moutain biking a little bit because the side walks are so jaggedy. but its funny cuz all the people say "oh cops" when we come cruising by cuz of our nice helmets and bikes.

our apartment is really cool. it is really nice and we have the whole set up of kitchen, living room, porch, bathroom(theyre fixing the ceiling though because it leaks), and another room for storage. its really sweet and the area is a lot nicer than before.

my companion is from bountiful ut and his name is Elder Bateman, and no hes not related to the batemans in our ward, but hes really cool guy and works hard so thats good. he likes to hunt to and play some sports too so i think its goin to be a good transfer.

but everything is goin great and the spanish is coming great. we had a really great week before this transfer so things are goin good. one funny story and then i got to go but so we have this family from puerto rico who is awesome and they are progressing really well. there are five kids a mom and a wife to one of the kids who all live in this house. but so they have had a lot of crazy stuff happen to em and weve had to help them through these but on tuesday elder merrill my old trainer calls me and is all guess what happened to brendas family? cuz me and elder bateman dont teach them cuz theyre not in our area. but so he tells me and at their appt it was just chaos the whole time. the son brian whos 18 was fighting with his wife and she ran out the door, he was freaking out and grabs a baseball bat as he goes out the door to find her, he grabbed the baseball bat because some gangsters are looking for him and want to fight him and he didnt have his pistol on him right then so he needed to grab the bat for protection. but the elders found out that the other son whos 12 and another daughter whos 15 are both on parole and the mom brenda wants to move to philly. so it was drama the whole time and they just sat back and tried to help but nothing really happened except a closing prayer. haha so that was pretty funny.

so thanks for your letter and i got the package slip but i just have to go pick it up somehow. my new address is 1100 Wyomissing Rd Apt 18B West Reading 19610. thanks for everything and keep working hard.

love you guys
norman

hola.

sounds like you guys are doin pretty good and school schedule is startin to set in. we had a great past week and things have been goin great. weve taught a lot of lessons and had some cool experiences with people on the streets.

our trainer left us alone the other day cuz he went on transfers with the other elders in our district so elder munson and i were solo for a day. we did really good and were able to teach a couple lessons but we had an experience with a guy who talked in the new york style accent and was pretty rough that we met on the street walkin back to our car. he was really cool and we started talkin to him and he kept askin us to preach to him and so we sat down and started talking about Christ. it was cool sitten on his porch with the sunset, sirens in the distance and crazy people walkin by. but we had a great conversation and talked about the restoration and gave him some pamphlets and stuff and he really liked talkin to us. he had kind of a change of heart cuz at first he was sayin the f bomb every other word and then after we talked he was totally different and you could tell he felt the spirit and could tell something was different about us. but then we said a closing prayer and he started crying, we talked a little more and then left. it was really cool and my first experience with people who have grown up with a hard life and you can see how much they need the gospel in their lives.

but ya that was cool, and also i gave my first blessing on sunday to a 10 year old girl so that was neat. i was nervous cuz i almost had to give a blessing to a guy in spanish but they chose my other companion. that guy did have an ankle brace on for probation or something so i guess that wouldve been pretty cool if i'd have done it.

thanks for everything and keep doing good. ill be moving addresses this next week but i dont know where yet so ill let you know whats goin on after we find out on monday. we are getting 6 new spanish missionaries in the mission so my trainer is going to get either one or two new ones. so either ill be moved on the other side of reading with elder munson and our trainer will have two newbies or ill be on the other side of reading with a newbie and elder munson and a newbie will be with our trainer. so im looking forward to this next week and how its all gonna be layed out.

but peace potato land and whats good in the hood.

elder Normandy

i got some extra time cuz im waiting for my companion to finish writing but we had a lesson this last week where right after we said the opening prayer and were beginnng to talk about whatever, a fleet of fire trucks came flying in and parked right outside the house where we were, and we were in the front room and the door was open. so it was crazy but we kept talkin and had the devil was working against us but the firetrucks left and everything was somewhat quiet again and the lesson continued and they are now some good investigators. so hope you guys have a good week and stay out of trouble and do your best in sports.

chase

September 3rd~ Three Months In

hey family, this past week was awesome, we had a ton of success and are looking to close this transfer on a high.

but to answer your questions the best food ive ate so far is the mexican tacos at this members house that was the bomb. we go to bed at 1030 and wake up at 630 everyday, right after we wake up we exercise for thirty minutes and then get ready for studys at 8.

mom you need to stop giving me gossip blogs about people in boise cuz i really could care less, actually only if there is some chick that told you she wants to write me.(Bad missionary mom of the month. Sorry for trying. :D( -W) im cool with that kind of stuff. but i was wondering if you guys could find a cool quote from an apostle, coach or someone that is uplifting so i can have a quote for each transfer.

we had a ton of rain this past week and it was crazy, like a downpour of water that made there be little rivers on the side of the road. it was like the city was being baptized. also i gave a talk on sunday, in spanish, it was cool and everyone said i did a good job.

funny story is we helped this family carry a whole crate of cement bags into their basement and i asked if we could share a message with them. they said yes and so i ran out saying, ok necisito sacar mi cuchillo primero, espero me. and when i said that they got all scared and worried cuz cuchillo is actually knife and i ment to say muchilo which is backpack. so that was funny, also we had to bless a house a few days ago that was possesed and that was a crazy experience.

but things are goin good and we're working a lot and having success so all is well in reading, pa. thanks for everything. love you guys and have a good week.

norman

Aug 27th Pit Bulls and Cockroaches

We asked Chase some questions about how much he exercises and is active. We got worried about him just driving around all day and all that sitting can contribute to stress and we wanted to make sure he was taking responsibililty for his mental and physical health.


Que tal familia mia? Well to answer your questions, yes we work out everyday at 6:30 when we get up to 7. There is a little gym in the basement of our building so we go there a lot. Also we go to a park two blocks down a lot and run. Also we've gotten up at 5:30 a few times to go play tennis or basketball at these really nice outdoor courts with some members we convince to come with us. But don't worry about me stressing, I'm doin fine.

But that's awesome you guys went camping and to the fair and stuff. Sounds like you're all doin great. This past week was great. We were able to do a lot and we had our first baptism on sunday. (forget this, I am not editting this anymore ~W) i had nothing to do with preparing him cuz he was already prepared before we got here, but it was cool to share the experience with him. i felt bad for him though cuz he had to be dunked three times because his hand wouldnt go under.

but other than that we've been teaching a lot and having a lot of new investigators. there are a lot of people here that are ready to receive the gospel . also we had zone conference last friday and that was really cool. it was an awesome experience and i got to meet a lot of other elders.

so reading is quite the town, white people are the minority and when you see a white person they usually look like theyre on drugs or dont have any teeth. but there are pitbulls everywhere, random people jaywalking everywhere, people practicing in parking lots for quincieneras, you can rent your block and the parks and rec will block it off and people have big parties that way, also cockroaches, crazy bugs, and a lot of different stuff. so its a different world but its awesome. i need some ideas about family home evenings though, some games and activities we could play.

but ya everything is goin good and im glad you guys are so active all the time in goin camping and doin sports. sarah, kick some butt in soccer cuz i know how you feel not makin varsity your junior year, i didnt play varsity football much my junior year but hey loook how my senior year went, so just work hard and have fun and get to know the coaches well. brooks, thats awesome that youre running, i hope you can do well at that and have success, just remember, you still need to lift weights while your in XC cuz if not youre gonna be a skinny twig come basketball season, also you wont be able to beat me up after my mission. blake, keep doing good in football man, try to run over everyone that tries to tackle you or juke em out of their socks, and dont worry, have a good time. well thanks for everything you guys have a good week.

love you guys.
norman

Address for Letters

Elder Chase Nielson
1200 N. 11th St. Apt. 107
Reading, PA 19604

August 20th -Amish siting

Que tal familia? So this week flew by. It's been going really good and our days are full of appoinments with folks. We have a baptism scheduled for this Sunday but we don't think it will happen til next weekend. But all is well and we have other investigators that are working on baptismal dates.

This past week was miserable weather-wise. It's been hot and muggy. A lot of the houses don't run their AC that much so I sweat a lot during lessons and my ties are my handkerchiefs for now. But we have a car, Mazda 3 like the Bass's. We don't really walk very much because our area is so big and we have so many appointments that we need a car.

But ya, things are going good. We are working with this family that is the team we play today and every Thursday in softball. They're an awesome family and really die-hard baseball fans. They call me Derek Jeter and they like me so that's good.

The Spanish is going good. I still have a hard time understanding what the heck the people are saying but everything is going well. Oh, we had a district meeting in Allentown on Monday and it is about an hour drive over there. But the cool part was I actually got to see the country and we drove through Amish country. It was awesome. I saw my first Amish buggy and horse cruising down the shoulder of the highway. It was crazy. So that was the highlight of my week.

But thanks for the letters, they're awesome. Hope you guys are having fun and reading in the Book of Mormon. Hope you had a good birthday Blake. I tried celebrating with my companions but they weren't feeling it. Well, have a good week. Hasta ver. Love you guys.

Norman

Man of Few Words

Looking ahead at how jam-packed Sundays are, I decided to make entries on Thursdays because that is the day we get an email from Chase. So far, he hasn't sent us any letters so that's good that he is too busy to write.

Here is his August 13th email:

Como esta? Well, I aint go much time so I'll be brief. (We had asked him some questions. I need to ask him if he walks or rides a bike). The church is about four miles away, we eat our own food and at members' houses, I sleep good, we write at the library. But ya, this last week was awesome. We had a really successful week and taught a lot of people. There are a few with baptismal dates so it's going good.

But one quick story for you. We went to Luis's house and Luis is a recent convert and his wife is a member. But Luis looks just like the guy on Men in Black who the alien at the beginning of the show disguises himself as. But anyways, we knock forever on his door and then the wife comes to the door. We walk in and Luis is down the hallway, head between his hands on the table, looking down. We walk in and start talkin to him. After all is settled, he feels a lot better and he told us all this stuff he'd done in the past and also that he was just about to leave his wife and then we walked in and we looked like angels to him. We game him a blessing and then left. But it was a really cool experience.

But things are going good. I'm pickin up on what they're sayin when they ramble on a million miles an hour so that's a good sign. My companions and I are gettin along good so everything is good. But love you guys and have a good one. Today we have a softball game that is awesome. We played last week too and it's the real city baseball game experience except that everything is in Spanish. The church is true. Love you guys.

Norman

August 9th 2009

Chase arrived in Philadelphia and we were glad to get his email on Thursday and a message from the mission office. The mission office also sent a picture of the President and his wife and 15 elders who had arrived with Chase. Fifteen seems like a large number of new missionaries to get prepared for and get settled. But I think they took good care of all the new elders because they were fed philly cheese steaks that first day. Food is a great pacifier! Especially a philly cheese steak sandwich!

Chase and another new elder went 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia to Reading. They were put with an elder from Kansas so they are a trio. This is probably temporary until an elder leaves and opens a companionship. Here are some of Chase's own words (He writes with no punctuation, capitalization, or paragraphs so I have to fix it as I go so if I lapse into really bad form, I can only blame him, his English teachers, or habits formed while texting :D)

"Wow, this is gonna be a crazy two years over here. The city life is crazy man. Sorry, I got so much to tell you guys about what's gone on in the past two days that I don't know where to start. Right now I'm in Reading, PA. Right now I am in a trio with a guy from the MTC and our trainer, Elder Merrill from Kansas. Elder Merrill is a cool guy and is really go at Spanish. He's half Tongan and is a really nice guy. Reading is about an hour north I think of Philly and is bigger than Boise. The people here are really different. They all walk around with their shirts off and hardly any clothes and the majority of people here are either black or Latino. The streets are lied with row houses and it's pretty "hood" in some spots we went to yesterday. The humidity isn't that bad but your collar is always stuck to your neck. Also the pollution and smog is bad. It's hard to see the sky. There aren't big mountains here so I can't tell where I am most of the time. It's all rainforesty lookin with small rolling hills. Our apartment is really nice though. We have a kitchen, big living room, with desks, bathroom, nice beds, AC and our own washer and drier. But the problem with it isi that all this morning during studying you hear cars go past with their boom boxes and music blasting all the time, and guys with crotch rockets everywhere that pin the throttle all the time so show off a las chicas...

...But ya, Reading is awesome and the popel are really nice and I'm excited so it's all good. I saw my first firefly here, they are really cool and actually glow. But hey, I got to go. Love y'all and I'll write back on next Thursday."

MTC Experiences

Well, Chase left for Philadelphia yesterday and we got to talk to him for an entire 3 minutes. Typical. However, that is alright because he is focused and excited to be starting the REAL mission. I'll post weekly entries if you are interested in reading about his mission experiences. Here are some of Chase's observances from the MTC:

Sister Missionaries: "Then all the sisters in our zone are big and ugly and cry all the time."

"The only bad thing is there aren't any chicas worth lookin at (I know I shouldn't be thinking that, and most of the time I don't) but I swear all the sisters here are either twice as big as me or look like they were raised by wolves.

In answer to being asked if there are sisters going to Philly with his group: "I'm glad there aren't any sisters in our group cuz they're all grand champion fat heifers that act like they're your mther and are more righteous than you."

His Companion: "Me and my companion are doing great though. by the way he's going philly spanish too and is from southern cal, went to byu hawaii uh is a total nerd and i get mad at him for being so straight with the rules. haha but we're doing great together, we teach good and have a strong spirit with us.

"I almost killed my compainion this week though, not really, but he's been driving me nuts. He's also the most unathletic human eing I've ever met too. The other day for gym we decided to play soccer and he was on defense by the goal. A kid from the other team kicked it and my companion being the weirdo that he is tries to move out of the way so he doesn't hit the ball. The ball hits him and then bounces into the goal. He socred for the other team. But even though he's a goon I love him (most of the time) and we get a long.

District Leader: "Y'all can call me DL now. I was called to be the new district leader last Sunday and I'll be it until we leave. "

"But everyone likes me as the district leader, it's cool. They all really respect me and don't get offended when I yell at em for goofin around. The first night I was district leader, I had a challenge though. A companionship that's a trio was having a companionship inventory, that's where you tell your comp how much you hate him and how little you love him, but they were all yellin at each other and one elder was about to cry and so I came in and had to step in. We settled everything and I had em all tell all the positives they like about each other and other stuff. It was all good though."

"I swear, right when they called me to be DL things started going bad, and if they were bad they got worse. So at first I had to worrry about an Elder who was really depressed and wanted to go home. So I had everyone in the district write him a letter. Also I had to talk to everyone about lot of stuff about his needs. But he finally gutted up and is stickin through it."

"We've had this situation between a teacher and an elder who is the stuobbornist, selfishest, nice sprited guy sometimes, who always butt heads. I'd talked to him twice last week about shuttin up and not arguing but he kept at it and finally some changes had to be made. Also this Elder was so rude to him somp who is the elder who was thinking about goin home. But the changes came unexpectedly and I had no ideas about it. We got a new teacher and new companions. And now I am with the rude, selfish Elder but things have settled down now."

Call Center (from the TV commercials for Bibles of Books of Mormon): "This is awesome. In the RC where we take phone calls from people and snswer questions and stuff, I called inSpanish on Friday when we went. Talk to two people and could understnad pretty much all they said, I sent the missionaries over to both of em with a Book of Mormon. It was awesome. Probably the greatest feeling I've had my whole time here. And one guy was from Bethlehem, PA, It's in my mission so that was awesome."

Family Advice: "Brooks and Blake, you guys need to read Alma 44 and be like the servant. Sarah I ain't got anything for you specifically but Mosiah 26 is really cool. Dad I'll give you some of my notes from the devotional about temples. And mom, you can take a look at Helaman 5 and Alma 57:21. Have a good one and continue to be the awesome family you guys are."