Just a Quick Note

Dear Family,

So today is going to be a really busy day so this email is going to have to be a pretty quick one.

So the news this week is that we are teaching a really cool lasy named Gabriela. She is from Honduras and she had requested a video from the church and we started teaching her because of that. We taught her about the restauracion and she was really amazed that some one had seen God and that there were preophets on the earth today. This happened about a month ago but then she disappeared and we could not get in contact with her for about two and a half weeks. So this past week we were finally able to talk to her again and when we were teaching her she told us that she knew what we were teaching was true and that she wanted to get baptized. I was really shocked when I heard her say that, because we hadn't taught her about baptism at all. The only thing that we had done was marked Mosiah 18 because she asked us what is our opinion on baptism. So she ended up reading the entire chapter and then marking a scripture in 3 Nefi 11 that says we must repent and be baptized. These lessons with her have been incredible. She is very excited to learn and she is willing to do anything to be baptized and be a member of God's kingdom. She is going to get baptized at the end of this month so we are working really hard to teach her everything and to get her ready. It has been a pretty amazing experience with her, and she was definitely prepared before we came along.

Well it is definitely getting really cold here. The high during the day yesterday 49 with a low of 29. So I have devised a system with my scarf and beanie so that no skin shows and only my eyes peak out. I also got the thermals yesterday(thank you very much Mom) so I think that those will help me a bunch while I am on my bike. We are also going to go to Burlington coat factory today and I am going to buy myself another scarf, another sweater, and some really thick socks. It rained at little bit earlier this week but fortunately it has been dry for the past couple of days. It is always pretty humid though with I really like. It does make the tempature feel more extreme but I definitely prefer this to the dry cold in Utah. The cold is kinda fun though because a lot of people call us crazy for riding our bikes but then it usually turns into a conversation about why we are here so it works to our advantage.

My spanish is coming along pretty well and I will try to send a tape off to today so that everyone can judge my progress in the language. I really love learning the different words that the different countries have for things. For example most hispanics call a bus a bus but Dominicans call a bus a wawa. Also mexicans use the work cambar instead of trabajar. It is also really fun to learn all of the words people have to say 'cool.' Just to name a few: chido, chevre, que heavy and there are a bunch more. And people all talk really differently especially people from Republica Dominica, Puerto Rico, and people from Honduras. It is fun to try to copy accents from different countries but I think that I prefer the Mexican accent because it is the most clear.

Other than that life is really good. Being a missionary is the best thing that I have ever done in my entire life. It is the funnest, hardest, coolest, most spiritual and overall best thing that I have ever had the opportunity to be involved in. Nothing has ever brought me more happiness and I am so excited because I know that I still have more time to work out here in New Jersey. Tal and Dallin, if anyone ever tells you a mission is not worth it (or asks to do something that would make you unworhtly to go) tell them that they are crazy and they do not have the foggiest idea of what it means to be a son of God. I know that Jameson and Dad will agree with me; just remember who you are and things our parents have taught us.

Thank you everyone for you letters and the things you send me. For the holiday season everything has to be sent to my New Brunswick address (10 Commercial), because the mission office cannot forward anything during the holiday season.

Love,
Elder Haslam