Still in Philly - New Companion

hola amigos,

so im still here in South Philly. no need to worry though i got a sweet companion. Elder Munson who was trained in Reading with me my first transfer is my companion and things are going great. we have had an awesome time these past three days and its different being with someone who actually knows how to speak spanish and teach too. my old companion Elder Glover went down to Wilmington Delaware and has a sweet companion whos from idaho also. so things are going great and we have had a lot of member involvement this past week. sunday was great and also the weather is great today.

but thats sweet you got to see mike and he came over and said hello. thats too bad about Chase's dad though. he already had testicular cancer and conquered that a couple years ago. but thats too bad mike didnt change too much. did he sound like a mexican? gain any weight? the bad news i have though is that my old companion Elder Bateman, when i was in reading, had to go home last week because of sickness. He got some crazy sickness and they dont know what it is. he was pooping a lot of blood and feeling really weak all the time. he should be coming back out in 2 weeks to 2 months so thats good.

but all is well here in south philly. we havent had anything crazy goin on. just lots of Phillies fans and signs everywhere. the other day we were getting on the train and down in the station there were tons of people decked out in their phillies gear goin to the game. they dont mess around here when it comes to phillies. they wear everything they have that is Phillies and all the buses have Go Phillies on the message boards. But all is well and today we are planning on going up to north philly to play basketball with other elders. the weathers been nice and a little chilly with a constant wind and humidity.

As to dealing with people who dont have a desire and motivation and how we can better help them, i dont know. i often ask myself that a lot and what i have come up with is that they just need to come unto Christ and find the light of wanting to do better. and it takes consistency. so i guess in your case you cant really teach your students about the gospel, but you can try and inspire them to do activities that are uplifting and worthwhile. because if they can find joy in doing good things then they will feel some light of Christ. because all that is good and uplifting comes from God and so if you can somehow help them to see the "coolness" of doing good and maybe thinking of others, then maybe they can gain more hope. but like in Alma 32 we read about how we have to experiment on the words of Christ, so just keep trying and experimenting with them. consistency and the joy of inspiring just one student would be awesome. have a great week you guys and take care. dont have to much fun playing tennis.

norman