First E-mail From the Field

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