Moved to North Philly

Hola,

what up what up. so guess what? im not in south philly anymore. can you say "ya tu sabe papi" haha im in north philly now with Elder Bunker from Camas, Washington and all the Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. Im still in the same district and still district leader but just changed areas. my new address is 1302-12 W Cumberland St Apt 2B Philadelphia, PA 19132.

man i wish you guys could see what i have seen the past few days. it has been an incredible week. Sunday was my last sunday in South philly so we went around and said good bye to everyone and had to say goodbye to everyone at church. it was a good experience though talking to people and learning that i had actually helped them in their lives.

but so then i get here in North philly on monday and things have just been good ever since. my companion is a stud and we get along great. he played soccer in high school and went to Byu Idado but is a great missionary. i actually have a companion that i dont really have to baby sit or be the decider in everything we do. it has been great to improve my spanish skills by talking with him everywhere and then letting him lead me around the area.

oh and also things are good too because we have bikes now and i have a trek 4300 mountain bike that is all black and so ive been getting good practice bunny hopping all the trash in the streets. but the bikes are awesome and its like old times in reading again of flying down the streets and racing my companion.

but the area up here is the ghetto. its pretty rough and full of trash and people who just look lost and dirty. lots of people have chicken coups in their backyards and also its the capital of the world for cars with big rims. ive never seen so many vans with 22 inch rims on em. but also its hard because the women here are very open and dont like to wear much clothing so its hard keeping your eyes from wandering into stuff you dont want to see. but also people are crazy with motorcycles, four wheelers, and anything that has a motor. they cruise around the streets on those things like its sand mountain. theyre always wheeling down the block and flying through stop signs almost hitting people. its pretty crazy.

but the people we have to teach and the members are awesome. we dont really have a teaching pool so thats kind of my job of being here is to start this area back up. the elders in the past taught people just because they were friends with em but they never kept commitments. so we've had to drop some people and are starting from about 3 people. This area and the area above us is together in the only spanish ward in the mission so this is going to be great working with members and people that actually do stuff. The members are great though and we dont have too many proactive members in our area so its rough but weve been contacting members from up north to come down with us. our area goes from Allegheny street all the way down to Market Street in Center City. so after the next six weeks im going to know philadelphia all around, north and south. i just need to try out west, but its basically outer darkness over there from what ive heard. some missionaries in west philly area got a gun pulled on em about 2 weeks ago and got their phone stolen but they're good to go now.

the heat isnt that bad though, its the sweating that kills me. after working out in the mornings, oh we run every morning down through Temple University campus every morning, i am drenched in sweat from the humidity. we are drinking a lot of water and feeling good. last night we raced home from an appointment on our bikes and i was sweating like crazy so i had to take a cold shower. then when i was changing i started sweating again just from putting my clothes on, and no thats not because im fat or its hard for me to put my pants on. but things are good and we have a baptismal date so this is going to be a crazy summer. sounds like you guys are doing good though. keep up the good work and have a good week.

con el amor de fily.

norman