Dear Family,
So this email will not be very long because I am going to call you tomorrow, but I am just going to give a quick run down on Camden and send you some pictures.
So I really love Camden and the east coast. This city is amazing. Granted I have never seen as many people that are drunk, homeless, on drugs, and in general shady people; but I love it. There are pretty much no white people here at all. In New Brunswick we would see a white person every once in a while but here we go all day without seeing any white people until we get back in our apartment. The truth is that I really don't know how to associate with people that are not hispanic, black, or missionaries. We went to a Christmas breakfast with the english ward here and I felt really awkward until I found a member who had served his mission spanish speaking and then I could talk to him. White people just talk about different things like the economy, football, or politics. I just think that it is easy to talk about futbol, food, immigration with hispanic people.
The weather here has been pretty cold. It hasn't gotten out of the 30's for the past couple days and is usually in the the low to mid 20's. On monday it dropped into the teens for a good portion or the day. On friday it rained all day (we rode in it for about 4 hours and got very wet), Sat all of that rain froze on the ground and by sunday there was about a half inch of ice covering everything. We rode to church sunday morning (very carefully) to find out they cancelled church because all but one bridge going into Camden had been closed because of accidents or ice. We decided to stay inside our branch building and study until it stopped raining and warmed up. Yesterday wasn't too bad and there wasn't too much ice. I did fall on my bike when I hit a patch of ice though. Nothing happened to me though because I was going pretty slow. The weather doesn't really bother me because I bundle up really well. I wear my thermals, a sweater and my two layered jacket with thick gloves, a beanie and scarf. I have gotten really good and covering every part of my body so that if you look at me you can just barely see my eyes. It is pretty fun.
As far as missionary work goes (the spiritual side at least) it is going great. We are teaching some really great people that want to know what the truth really is and what they can do to find it. We are working really hard with these people to help them realize that they do not need a huge sign to know the church is true. That is one thing in hispanic culture that is very different is that they look for signs that things are true (especially in their dreams). So we try to help the realize that in small and simple ways, great things are brought to pass. I love hispanics because they will always listen to what we have to say. Getting them to keep commitments is a little harder but it is very rare that a hispanic will ridicule us for the truth we know. Like a couple days ago an older man told us we were to young and immature to know anything for certain. We had taken refuge in a dunkin donounts ( they are every where out here) from the cold and he proceeded to tell us that we were fools for believing in "all that malarkey about Joseph Smith." I didn't really get angry at him, probably because I was soaked to the bones and too cold to be. I gave him scriptures to counter all his arguments ( James 2- faith without works is dead; Matt 10- authority to the apostles; Amos 3:7- profetas etc.) but he wasn't really listening to anything that I said. But I did go home that night confident in my own testimony and grateful to know the truth. That man just seemed very confused to me. When we were talking he did not try to explain his own beliefs to me he just tried to tare mine down. I still am not completely sure why people do that because it doesn't ever convince someone to destroy all of their beliefs; you have to give someone something new and meaningful so that the can build and grow upon it.
I really love my companion here Elder Rhoton. He is a really fun kid that really wants to work hard and get stuff done. His spanish is not very good and he is uncomfortable speaking because he says he cannot understand people very well. I just tell him to fake it and talk anyway. In one lesson I wouldn't talk, I would just give him help on the words that he didn't know, I think that will help him the most. His trainer didn't really let him talk or help at all with his spanish but he is working hard and learning fast. He is a really great kid and I love serving with him. Once he gets a couple teaching skills down he will be one of the best missionaries in the mission.
As for my spanish it is coming along. I still lack quite a bit but I am working. It is a lot more work as senior companion and district leader because I have to worry about three other people besides myself and help all of them do well also. I only have two transfers (which one of the sisters in my district likes to remind me of) so I am trying to do the best that I can. We are working hard and I rely on the Lord. If I do my part I know He will bless me.
Ok. As for calling tomorrow in Christmas. I am going to buy a phone card today and we are going to call home from our branch building. I am going to try to call around noon our time so that puts it around 9 am your time. This is the phone number there: 609-541-7539. I hope you have a great Christmas.
Love,
Elder Haslam
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