The Leaves Change Colors (Oct 8, 2008)

Dear Family,

So this past week has been really awesome. We had zone conference last Friday and then general conference this past week end, which all together made for quite a bit of notes on my part. It was really good and I learned a ton from everything. Conference was kinda tough because I watched it in spanish with our branch so it was a pretty big mental task. I was trying to listen to everything going on, take notes, and try to understand has much as possible. It was kinda hard because some things just don't transilate into spanish, especially the jokes, but I enjoyed it none the less.

I really like our branch and I am finding that hispanics are really more fun that white people. It is kinda weird when we come to our church building in East Brunswick and see white people here. We avoid them as much as possible, mostly because they always assume you just got transfered because they have never seen you before. Granted I did just get here but they still do it with my companion also. So we limit our contact with white people as much as possible, which is pretty easy. In New Brunswick, in the areas we work in, there are not any white people anyways; only hispanics and blacks. It is really weird if you see a white person at all.

Ok so here is the update on my eating abilities: It is going really well and I am getting to the point where I can eat a ridiculous amount of food in one sitting. On monday night we ate at a little Columbian lady's house. She made us lasagna and it was the most amazing food I have every had in my entire life. I could not get enough of it and I ate a ton. The members never let you dish out your own plate, they just put the amount done that they want you to eat and you eat it or else they really offened. So this little lady had made an entire pan of lasagna and I ate the half she put on my plate and Elder Ritchie ate the other half on the pan that she put on may plate. It was a ton of food and it was amazing. The plates were the size of the big plates we have at home if not a little bigger and the entire plate was covered in this very large piece of lasagna. She also gave us another plate with garlic bread and corn tortillas and I finished it all off with two bowls of ice cream and a pastry she made. It was all amazing food and afterwards I was stuffed so the plan to expand my stomach is going well. The members feed us all the time and lots of times we have to tell members we cannot come and eat or else we would get no work done.

Fall has come to Brunswick and it is really pretty. There are no trees in the city where we work but the drive to our building is really pretty because then we can see all of the leaves changing colors.

Things are going well and I am loving it here. We have a baptism next week and a wedding on Friday. I am really excited for all of that. I love being a missionary and I will try to get a letter off this week with a tape and send home pictures.

Love,
Elder Haslam

PS I need a little more money to buy my bike. Only $150 more and I should be done with everything. Also if you could send me out those black pair of gloves that I bought with Mom before BYU is would appreciate it. It is getting cold, but I will be fine. I just need to but a couple dress sweaters and I will be good. Thanks