Hey all. So much to say and so little time
P-day is Tuesday first of
all. You know that now. I got here last tuesday and stayed the night
with the AP's in their apartment. There were about 20 of us in one 3
bedroom apartment. I got a bed though, lucky me. On Tuesday we basically
went through orientation took pictures and ate food. There was a lot of
information thrown at us and it was hard to process it all in the short
time we had and I am still learning a ton. I don't think I will ever
know it all. I'll always be learning the technical stuff of being a
missionary.
I was told that I was going to the Selah Zone which is pretty much
just Yakima. I hear Yakima and I think farm country. But its not, its a
town, no farm land in my area. And mom, you told me you could handle it
and to tell you everything, so let me tell you about Yakima :). I get
here and Elder Boswell, my dad (trainer) tells me that it is the best
place to be born as a missionary. He is correct I love it here in
Yakima. The people are awesome and the members are helpful. The downtown
area is pretty rough. "the hole" as we call it, is the hood of Yakima
and it gets pretty rough. We just try not to walk around too late at
night and if we are close to home then it is perfectly fine. Well, at
least its safe enough. Yakima is known for its crime, violence on cherry
street, car theft, and other things. A lot of the people we teach are
white trash or hispanics and they are trying to get out of the hood. I
love it so much.
The other day we were down on 2nd street which is the middle of the
hood and we finished an appointment with Alvina Arora, as we were
walking away we OYM'ed (Open your mouth - contacting) this young african
american male. We gave him a card and complimented his outfit and as we
were parting he said "Im on the prowl for some heroine shhhhh" then he
walked away hahahaha. It was pretty hilarious. Things like that happen
every day here. It makes missionary work much more fun.
Yakima is a walking area. walking/biking. But we walk. a lot.
usually about 10 miles a day. The reason we walk in stead of bike is
first because I dont have a bike yet. But also, because its easier to
OYM people when you're on your feet rather than on a bike. Boswell and
his dad, Elder Petersen, set the standart for OYM'ing. One week they got
140 OYM's which is insane. The standard of excellence set by the
mission president is 84 and they destroyed that. So we are trying to
keep that up even though school has started and people aren't on the
streets as much.
Don't worry about my safety. Yakima is kinda rough, but I dont feel
unsafe at all. I feel more safe then ever with the lord at my side. And
really, its not as bad as a lot of people make it sound. We dont have
very many investigators right now. Thats why we are doing so much
contacting and finding. But the investigators we do have, Rebecca, Joe,
Steven and Bryar, and others, are all on the verge of really wanting to
change. Yakima isn't a great area if you want to baptize a ton as an
english missionary, but there is definitely the opportunity for some
hard work. Our OYM numbers show how hard we are working, and that will
manifest itself into some more lessons taught and new investigators. Im
excited for the work to keep moving forward.
Elder Boswell loves basketball, as Mom found out. He is 6'3" and a
red head. Ryan will love that I'm sure. He is a real hard worker and a
great dad. He has only been out 12 weeks so he is almost as green as me
and he knows how I feel in a lot of situations. He is great at giving
positive feedback and I always have to ask him for some criticism
because he doesnt want to be mean. He is way nice and we have a lot in
common. I am still learning a lot of things but I'm glad to have Elder
Boswell to facilitate a lot of that learning.
read proverbs 26:11. Just for a laugh
Sunday was stake
conference and I got to hear Jeffery R Holland speak again! it is
amazing. he is following me. He said we need to stand in holy places and
he gave three places that we should make holy and can use as
sanctuaries. Home, church houses, and the temple. Good talk. Not as good
as in the MTC, but still great to hear from the apostles.
We are staying with a member. I didnt know that that happened very
often. Elder Boswell and I live with sister Betty Williams. She is about
55 years old and she is awesome. Her and Boswell get along real well.
I'm out of time. I can tell you more about Betty next week or in some
letters
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