Spring

Dear Family,

So spring has come as far as the calender is concerned, but it is still cold outside. It got warmer over the past weekend for a little bit but that really did not stick around for very long and this past Monday was pretty cold as we went outside on bikes. On the first day of spring we did get free water ice at a called Rita's. Water ice is kinda like a slushy but a little different. There are a ton of places around here that sell it, and it was good stuff. When the weather gets really warm I am sure that is when we will get it more often.

As far as news goes this week not too many things to report. We had interviews with President Winegar and apartment inspections by Sister Winegar. Neither of which were very exciting. My interviews with President are usually very laid back. He is a man of very few words and I usually don't feel a need to bring anything up to him so the interview is usually pretty quick and then we just go out and work again. Also this time Sister Winegar barely check anything in our apartment; which was a let down because I had spent a lot of time cleaning trying to make sure that everything was in order for when they came. She only checks apartments every six months so she usually does a very indepth check but this time she barely looked at anything.

Something that was exciting was that this past monday we got invited to a birthday party of someone in the branch. Nicole Henry turned five so they all went to a place with a ton of those blow up bouncy things. It was fun and Elder Rhoton and I messed around boxing and jousting. It was also a really good way for us to talk to some of the people there that are not members of the church. It was fun but crazy with a ton of little kids running around in every direction. It was pretty funny to see the people that worked there try to give directions to the little kids. It was funny because only about half of the kids there could understand their english well enough to obey the directions and only about half of those tried to obey the directions at all. So it was basically mayhem but no one got hurt and everyone had a good time. Afterward there was pizza and the kids went home. I really love little kids. It is nice in this branch because all of the little kids really like the missionaries. Some of them like us too much and we have to calm them down when they start trying to tackle us and eat us. But either way it is fun to be around all of them.

I must say that I really love being a missionary. Just yesterday we were able to sit down with a little nicacaguan lady and she explained everything to us about her county and all of the great things that they love to eat. It is so great to get to know people and help them. I will be very sad when I have to leave this area. All of the people here are really great and it makes me so happy when I see them do good things and move forward in life. There are hard times also but I try not to let them get to me. Some people will lie to us and other will just not listen to us at all but that is there decision and my happiness is not dependent on another person's actions.

So I don't have much else to say today. I am sorry that it was kind of a boring letter. But I hope that everyone is doing well at home and please keep me updated on swimming and everything else.

Love,
Elder Haslam