Basketball and Bike accidents

Dear Family,

So this past week has been really nice with warmer weather and lots more sun. A ton of more people are outside which makes it easy to talk to a lot of people. It is really funny to see all of the people moving around, there are tons. People riding dirt bikes and quads, playing football and basketball in the streets, and all other kinds of crazy stuff. The other day we played a game of two on two basketball with some kids. We were on their street and both of our appointments had fallen through so we stopped and played with them for about 15 min. It was fun and I am sure it was funny to see two white kids in ties playing basketball with all of the black kids on the street. We got really sweaty though and we grabbed some slurpies before our next appointment.

Things are going well and it is really nice to be able to ride bikes without jackets. There are a lot more people out now though so we have to be more careful. I actually went over the front of my handle bars on monday. I tried to get my front tire over a gap in the sidewalk and I didn't quite make it and the tire hit the edge of the gap and sent me over the front. I wasn't going fast so I was able to catch myself before my face went into the ground but my left thigh hit pretty hard into the edge of the gap. So now I have a bruise about the size of a grapefruit on my leg. Nothing bad though, and it was pretty funny. Elder Rhoton was laughing pretty hard but he did manage to pull the bike off of my back. But I brushed myself off and we kept going.

As far as missionary work goes it is awesome. Since elder Christenson came our branch president has been really pumped up about missionary work. We are going to be having a meeting with him this sunday to see what we can to give the work in the branch a boost. Our branch president was actually bale to come out and teach with us this past week. It went really well. We went and taught a family from Puerto Rico about prayer. Prez Ortiz was really helpful and he was able to help us teach about why we need to pray, how we should pray, and in what way we receive answers. He was able to share with them how pray was a crucial part of him being baptized and it was a really good lesson. We are going back to that family on friday and I am very excited for that lesson. The parents are really nice and they have five kids. The oldest is 15 then it goes, 13, 8, and they have two year old twins. The twins are crazy and we try to switch off distracting them while the other one teaches. It works well we just have to make sure that they do not get anything to hit each other with. Last time one of them grabbed my bike pumped and tried to use it has a hammer on his brother's head. The 13 year old is really cool. His name is Jesus and last time we were there he told us to wait so that he could get pencil and paper. He came back and asked us again what the steps to prayer so that he could write them down. His brother gave him a funny look and Jesus told his brother that he needed to learned how to pray and that he was going to write it down so that he could remember the steps. The are a really great family and I am excited to see them again.

The work is going great and we are getting more support from the members in this area. We are going to be having a new branch mission leader also and I am excited for that. His name is Cristofer Moral and he is about 26. He is really excited and has lots of great ideas. I like him a lot and I hope everything will go well with him.

Also I talked to the mother of Elder Castenellos. I think that is how you spell his name. I know that he was serving in our ward back home when I left on my mission. She was really nice and had called to get the phone number of our branch president. She told me that her son was also a missionary in CA. I asked her where and she said Carlsbad and it just went from there. She told me her son had told her that I was coming out here and she said she was excited to meet me someday. She lives out near Atlantic city so I told her that if I was ever out in that area that I would stop by.

Also, does anyone know if Jaren has been able to put in his papers? And how is Sam doing? I was able to fast this last sunday so I hope that he is doing well. Please let me know.

Okay I am going to finish this up. Keep me updated on the goings on back home. Tal let me know how swimming is going and I want to know more about this girl that you met. Remember about 9 times out of 10 girls are trouble.

Love,
Elder Haslam