Dear Family,
So a quick update on the weather here. It has gotten really cold in the last couple of days. It is pretty interesting on a bike with all of the wind and the cold. It snows on and off but nothing really ever makes it to the ground and it is all pretty mild so far. The wind is pretty biting and sometimes it makes it pretty difficult to ride bikes but that hasn't really stopped us from getting anything done. We just keep riding no matter what the conditions are or what part of town that we are in.
The other day we had a english speaking lady tell us that we shouldn't go to certain parts of town because the were to dangerous. I kinda started to laugh and told her that she just told us to stay out of the areas were we spend 90% of our time. I told her that that is where all of the hispanics are and that we would be fine. She then told us the bike route that we should take home to avoid a supposedly dangerous street; it added about 2 miles if we would have taken it so we just went home the normal way. It was kinda funny to think about how crazy that lady was and even though syhe was really nice she didn't seem to know anything about the hispanic part of town and was trying to avoid it as much as possible. I can understand not going to some of those parts of town at night if you are a woman by yourself but this lady was pretty ridiculous. Maybe we need to step outside of our comfort zone a little and try to understand the other people's side before making judgments. It goes the same for hispanics; lots of them have horrible stereotypes of white people and they don't really want to change them at all. We talk to a guy on the train yesterday from La Ciudad de Mexico and he said that he was kind of ashamed at the hispanics here that refuse to learn english. I just think that it is kinda sad that people don't want to learn about other people and their culture.
Anyways, so the story of my foot. First off I will answer a couple questions I am sure some people have: 1 Yes it was the same left foot that every other accident has happen 2 No I was not wearing anything on my feet because I was in my apartment. Ok so it happened this past friday. One of the elders in my apartment had recently bought a root beer is a glass bottle. He had placed it is the fridge to cool down. I had just finished lunch and went to open the fridge to get the pitcher of water and when I opened the fridge the soda fell out of the fridge and broke on top of my foot. It gave me a good long gash out 2 inches. I of course remained calm and hopped to the bathroom and washed it out in the bathtub. There was a decient amount of blood but not anything super huge. So then I wrapped it up and the english elders to us to the hospital( Robert Wood Johnson). We spent about 3 hours there and the stitched me up and sent me on my way. We went home and I jumped on my bike and we got off to our next appointment. So I have 9 stitches on the top of my left foot and it is not slowing me down at all. The first couple days I limped because I didn't want to bend my foot but now everything is fine. All of the members in our branch have given me advice on what I should do to make it heal quickly. I am not sure if everything they have told me is legal to do in the US. One member gave me 4 600mg penicillin pills from when she had a c-section (I am not going to use those). I actually didn't take any drugs except advil that night. It was all a every painless process.
So everything is good here out in the east. A little cold but really fun. We have tamales waiting for us back at our apartment, so we are going to go cook those. One of our investigators gave them to us so I am very excited. \
Love,
Elder Haslam
PS Mom, I really am fine. I tried to convince Sis Winegar to not call you but that did not work. I am perfectly fine and you don't need to worry. This is really just a minor injury, you have seen much worse.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
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
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
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Transfers and Snow
Dear Family,
Everything is well in New Jersey and I think that I will start off with the weather report. It snowed yesterday in New Brunswick and it stuck to the ground which was pretty suprising. It was really cold but fortunately we were not out in the cold much because people would let us in. It has been raining on and off for the past week but that still doesn't really stop us as we go out and try to teach people. We just put on a couple layers of clothes on and we are fine. Most people think that we are crazy for riding our bikes in the rain and snow but we don't really mind. More often than not in helps us get into to doors because people feel bad about us standing outside in the rain. I have not gotten sick or anything from being in the cold so we will just keep doing it. The closest I have gotten to being sick was the 30 min I spent in the bathroom a couple days ago. We had eaten at a member's house and she made us enchiladas whic were very good and very spicy. Needless to say the next morning I spent a little bit of time in the bathroom.
I do really love all of the food the members give us and I esspecially love beans. They are a key member of every meal and I really like them. One thing that I also tried which was very good which I was not expecting was cow tongue. A little lady from Nicaragua made it for us and it was really good. It was nice and tender and tasted like a very high quality steak. It was just cut into slices that were shaped as if they came from a loaf of bread. I really enjoyed it.
My companion got transfered and he is now going to be the zone leader of the spanish zone in the south. I am in the north spanish zone so I really dont know when I will be able to see him but that is okay. I really enjoyed being his companion and we had lots of fun together. We worked really hard and did lots of good work together. I really liked him so I hope that my new companion will be just has good. My new companion is from Gremany\Japan and was born in Utah. His name is Elder Johnson and everyone says that he is really a great guy so I am really excited for this upcoming transfer. I will keep everyone updated on how it goes.
As far as we are doing with teaching people things are going really well. We are teaching this man and is family and he says that the Book of Mormon has changed his life. It was really awesome to hear him say that and the only thing that is holding him back from being baptized is that he is not married. That is going to be a long proccess but we are going to work hard to try and get him to that point. We just need to make him realize that he needs to have faith and act. That is one of the main difficulties that we have here with the hispanics is getting them to commit to change their lives. But we will keep at them and try to make sure that they realize that they need to act.
The hispanics are really great people it is just hard some times to get them to commit to somehting concrete. They always say that they will but then more often than not they forget to do somehting or they just don't do it. I really love being in spanish work and I am excited for everything that we can do here in New Brunswick. I feel like I have something of an idea of what I am supposed to do so now I will just try to do it. That is pretty crazy that Bernie is getting married and that you got a TV. I am not really sure which one of those is more shocking but I think that I will have to go with the TV being more unexpected.
I hope everyone is doing well at home annd I will try to get a tape off to everyone this week.
Love,
Elder Haslam
PS Mom, you can send packages to my apartment just send them through USPS(government) so that I do not have to sign for the package.
Everything is well in New Jersey and I think that I will start off with the weather report. It snowed yesterday in New Brunswick and it stuck to the ground which was pretty suprising. It was really cold but fortunately we were not out in the cold much because people would let us in. It has been raining on and off for the past week but that still doesn't really stop us as we go out and try to teach people. We just put on a couple layers of clothes on and we are fine. Most people think that we are crazy for riding our bikes in the rain and snow but we don't really mind. More often than not in helps us get into to doors because people feel bad about us standing outside in the rain. I have not gotten sick or anything from being in the cold so we will just keep doing it. The closest I have gotten to being sick was the 30 min I spent in the bathroom a couple days ago. We had eaten at a member's house and she made us enchiladas whic were very good and very spicy. Needless to say the next morning I spent a little bit of time in the bathroom.
I do really love all of the food the members give us and I esspecially love beans. They are a key member of every meal and I really like them. One thing that I also tried which was very good which I was not expecting was cow tongue. A little lady from Nicaragua made it for us and it was really good. It was nice and tender and tasted like a very high quality steak. It was just cut into slices that were shaped as if they came from a loaf of bread. I really enjoyed it.
My companion got transfered and he is now going to be the zone leader of the spanish zone in the south. I am in the north spanish zone so I really dont know when I will be able to see him but that is okay. I really enjoyed being his companion and we had lots of fun together. We worked really hard and did lots of good work together. I really liked him so I hope that my new companion will be just has good. My new companion is from Gremany\Japan and was born in Utah. His name is Elder Johnson and everyone says that he is really a great guy so I am really excited for this upcoming transfer. I will keep everyone updated on how it goes.
As far as we are doing with teaching people things are going really well. We are teaching this man and is family and he says that the Book of Mormon has changed his life. It was really awesome to hear him say that and the only thing that is holding him back from being baptized is that he is not married. That is going to be a long proccess but we are going to work hard to try and get him to that point. We just need to make him realize that he needs to have faith and act. That is one of the main difficulties that we have here with the hispanics is getting them to commit to change their lives. But we will keep at them and try to make sure that they realize that they need to act.
The hispanics are really great people it is just hard some times to get them to commit to somehting concrete. They always say that they will but then more often than not they forget to do somehting or they just don't do it. I really love being in spanish work and I am excited for everything that we can do here in New Brunswick. I feel like I have something of an idea of what I am supposed to do so now I will just try to do it. That is pretty crazy that Bernie is getting married and that you got a TV. I am not really sure which one of those is more shocking but I think that I will have to go with the TV being more unexpected.
I hope everyone is doing well at home annd I will try to get a tape off to everyone this week.
Love,
Elder Haslam
PS Mom, you can send packages to my apartment just send them through USPS(government) so that I do not have to sign for the package.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Baptism of Edin Zavala (October 22, 2008)
Dear Family,
So we had a baptism this past week. It was really awesome. His name is Edin Zavala and he is from Honduras. He is really an amazing guy and he is going to be a great member of the church.
That is the main news for this past week. It has gotten a lot cooler here and the wind has picked up. It is pretty intense sometimes when we are riding our bikes. We have to fight against the wind and it makes for slow going. But when the wind is behind us we can really get going. I love being able to bike aroung everywhere and this past week I got a really nice bike that fits me well. I got the scarf and gloves(thanks a bunch) so those should keep me warm for the next little while. I am going to go get some sweaters and I already got myself a nice big jacket.
New Jersey is really pretty right now. The trees are all different colors and all of the Halloween decorations are up. It is really fun to take the train places and see all of the trees and the changing season. I really love all of the trees here(there are tons of them).
Other than that I don't really have much to update on. We are working hard and I am learning lots of stuff. I finished the Book of Mormon again this past week. I love the scriptures and everytime that I read them I am able to find amazing things. The stories and doctrine that the Book of Mormon contains are amazing. I am always trying to get people to read the book because it is impossible to deny the power that it contains.
This coming week is the last week of the transfer and lots of things will be changing up next wendsday. I am pretty sure that I will be staying here in New Brunswick but I think my companion will be going somewhere else. He is really a great guy and I really enjoy being able to work around him. Other than that things are going well and I am in good health.
Love,
Elder Haslam
So we had a baptism this past week. It was really awesome. His name is Edin Zavala and he is from Honduras. He is really an amazing guy and he is going to be a great member of the church.
That is the main news for this past week. It has gotten a lot cooler here and the wind has picked up. It is pretty intense sometimes when we are riding our bikes. We have to fight against the wind and it makes for slow going. But when the wind is behind us we can really get going. I love being able to bike aroung everywhere and this past week I got a really nice bike that fits me well. I got the scarf and gloves(thanks a bunch) so those should keep me warm for the next little while. I am going to go get some sweaters and I already got myself a nice big jacket.
New Jersey is really pretty right now. The trees are all different colors and all of the Halloween decorations are up. It is really fun to take the train places and see all of the trees and the changing season. I really love all of the trees here(there are tons of them).
Other than that I don't really have much to update on. We are working hard and I am learning lots of stuff. I finished the Book of Mormon again this past week. I love the scriptures and everytime that I read them I am able to find amazing things. The stories and doctrine that the Book of Mormon contains are amazing. I am always trying to get people to read the book because it is impossible to deny the power that it contains.
This coming week is the last week of the transfer and lots of things will be changing up next wendsday. I am pretty sure that I will be staying here in New Brunswick but I think my companion will be going somewhere else. He is really a great guy and I really enjoy being able to work around him. Other than that things are going well and I am in good health.
Love,
Elder Haslam
Hispanics are Awesome (October 15, 2008)
Dear Family,
I love serving the hispanics here in New Jersey. There are really fun and really fun to be with. There are tons of them in New Brunswick, from every country imaginable. We were street contacting with a member and a less-active in Brunswick and we were talking about how there are no white people in that part of the town. My companion and I were sure that there must be some white people somewhere but the members didn't believe us. So we decided to try and find some gringo but 30 min went by before we so any white person at all, only hispanics and morenos(blacks). It is really great here, not a cooler place in the world.
So this past Friday one of our investigators got married(finally). This has been in the works for the past nine months and I am super stoked that I get to be here to see it happen. The wedding was in our church building and almost the entire branch showed up for it. He has been going to church for the past eight months so everyone is really excited that he is getting baptized. Anyways, so the wedding was supposed to start at 7:30 and then there was going to be a big party afterwards. I was really excited for the party because all of the members brought food form their own country and I was excited to eat and listen to all of the crazy hispanic music. But everyone was late and the wedding didn't happen until 9:15. So basically we got to see the wedding, took a couple pictures, grabbed a plate of food to go, and then rushed back to the apartment because we were way late getting home. It was a really cool wedding though and he is getting baptized on Sunday.
In other news, I am in Princeton today for Pday. We took the train down so that I could pick up a bike that I bought from an elder that is going home next transfer. It is a really good bike and I am stoked to finally have a bike that is mine and the gears don't slip every 5 minutes. The bike that I have been using was just left in Brunswick by another elder and it is a bike that you would buy at walmart for 100 dollars and it is to big for me. But now I have my own bike so I am stoked.
Also hispanic food is really amazing, especially Dominican beans. We ate at a Dominican's house and they gave us the best plate of rice, beans and chicken that I have ever eaten. I really love hispanic food and everything that I have eaten so far has been really good. We also had spicy mexican meatball soup with rice and tortillas called albondigas. It was really good but I destroyed one of my shirts because she made me laugh and I spilled on myself. We also had really good tostadas at a members house in Redbank. I was on an exchange for a day with one of my zone leaders and we went to correlacion and he fed us tostadas. I had three stacked high with beans and chicken and they were really good. Today we are going to Chuck's in Princeton to get cheese steaks(they are supposed to be amazing).
Other than that the work is great. I am learning tons and my spanish has improved lots. It really helps to be just hear it an the members are always a really big help with it. We go and help them with their english and they help us with our spanish. It is really great and spanish is awsome. I love to see the looks on the hisapnics' faces when you say hi to them and speak spanish. They are usually really suprised at first and then they asks you how you learned to speak and then it flows really easily into talking about why we are here and what we are doing. I am getting more comfortable with just being able to talk to people and I can pretty much understand everything that is going on even if I don't understand all of the words. I am still working on expressing myself and expanding my vocabulary but it is all coming along really well.
I love the gospel and the scriptures and I am so glad to be out here teaching the people in the best mission in the world.
Love,
Elder Haslam
P.S. Dad if I could get 100 dollars in my account I would really appreciate it, that is all I need and I should be set. And if you could send me a couple pairs of thermal garments I would appreciate it. Winter on a bike is supposed to be rough without them. (7 degrees last year)
I love serving the hispanics here in New Jersey. There are really fun and really fun to be with. There are tons of them in New Brunswick, from every country imaginable. We were street contacting with a member and a less-active in Brunswick and we were talking about how there are no white people in that part of the town. My companion and I were sure that there must be some white people somewhere but the members didn't believe us. So we decided to try and find some gringo but 30 min went by before we so any white person at all, only hispanics and morenos(blacks). It is really great here, not a cooler place in the world.
So this past Friday one of our investigators got married(finally). This has been in the works for the past nine months and I am super stoked that I get to be here to see it happen. The wedding was in our church building and almost the entire branch showed up for it. He has been going to church for the past eight months so everyone is really excited that he is getting baptized. Anyways, so the wedding was supposed to start at 7:30 and then there was going to be a big party afterwards. I was really excited for the party because all of the members brought food form their own country and I was excited to eat and listen to all of the crazy hispanic music. But everyone was late and the wedding didn't happen until 9:15. So basically we got to see the wedding, took a couple pictures, grabbed a plate of food to go, and then rushed back to the apartment because we were way late getting home. It was a really cool wedding though and he is getting baptized on Sunday.
In other news, I am in Princeton today for Pday. We took the train down so that I could pick up a bike that I bought from an elder that is going home next transfer. It is a really good bike and I am stoked to finally have a bike that is mine and the gears don't slip every 5 minutes. The bike that I have been using was just left in Brunswick by another elder and it is a bike that you would buy at walmart for 100 dollars and it is to big for me. But now I have my own bike so I am stoked.
Also hispanic food is really amazing, especially Dominican beans. We ate at a Dominican's house and they gave us the best plate of rice, beans and chicken that I have ever eaten. I really love hispanic food and everything that I have eaten so far has been really good. We also had spicy mexican meatball soup with rice and tortillas called albondigas. It was really good but I destroyed one of my shirts because she made me laugh and I spilled on myself. We also had really good tostadas at a members house in Redbank. I was on an exchange for a day with one of my zone leaders and we went to correlacion and he fed us tostadas. I had three stacked high with beans and chicken and they were really good. Today we are going to Chuck's in Princeton to get cheese steaks(they are supposed to be amazing).
Other than that the work is great. I am learning tons and my spanish has improved lots. It really helps to be just hear it an the members are always a really big help with it. We go and help them with their english and they help us with our spanish. It is really great and spanish is awsome. I love to see the looks on the hisapnics' faces when you say hi to them and speak spanish. They are usually really suprised at first and then they asks you how you learned to speak and then it flows really easily into talking about why we are here and what we are doing. I am getting more comfortable with just being able to talk to people and I can pretty much understand everything that is going on even if I don't understand all of the words. I am still working on expressing myself and expanding my vocabulary but it is all coming along really well.
I love the gospel and the scriptures and I am so glad to be out here teaching the people in the best mission in the world.
Love,
Elder Haslam
P.S. Dad if I could get 100 dollars in my account I would really appreciate it, that is all I need and I should be set. And if you could send me a couple pairs of thermal garments I would appreciate it. Winter on a bike is supposed to be rough without them. (7 degrees last year)
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
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
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