Week 17

Wednesday, March 31, 2010
DEAR home!

Oh hey!
It's conference Cleaning! DUM DUM DUM!! This happens every 6 months, the P-day before conference- we turn the entire apartment UPSIDE DOWN and clean and vacuum and dust and wash and scrub and throw-out-the-old-stuff and make it SPOTLESS!! Sounds great huh?

Aw man, Elder Richardson is so awesome. He's such a good example to me- he got his baggage plans and release-date papers in the mail- and he told me that he is still going to work hard- even harder now. He said he doesn't want to go home!- He's fallen in love with a new people and culture- and he loves serving. Love him :)

I'm SO excited for CONFERENCE!! It's such an AWESOME privilege to be able to hear from our modern profets- (see I spelled "prophets" like it is in Spanish; "profetas"- prime example of how Spanish is killing my English speaking and spelling :) )
....- and to be lead and guided by them! We have several investigators committed to coming to one or more of the sessions- gonna be great! The Priesthood Session is only shown in the Stake Center in Kingsbridge, which is about 45 minutes from our apartment! NY is 2 hours ahead of UT, WHICH MEANS we won't get home (approved by President) until ABOUT 11- 11:15! Midnight NYC! Awww yeah!! Haha we'll just be on a bus headed for home but still it could be exciting?

I have a temporary Grandma while here in NY- she's an elderly hermana in the Ward- ya know those SUPER cute old people that just make you smile when you're with them? Yeah- she's one of those. I love her! She's so awesome! She's been a member for like 50 years and moved to the US from Puerto Rico recently! Cada time we go over to visit her, she makes us chocolate caliente or juice (depending on the weather) and makes a MEAN SPICY empenada! Love her! She goes to physio to try and regain function of her left arm- she had a pretty severe stroke- but recently she has been improving drastically! :)

I gave another blessing in Spanish on Monday to a Sister in the Ward- she's so cool! She's from the Dominican Republic and her and her 4 kids are members! She said she's been having terrible stomach pains for almost a month. Elder Richardson did the anointing, and I started to give the blessing, when the most incredible thing happened. I started to speak in Spanish, but I didn't know what I was saying- there were words that I said that I have never heard before. I told her that she would quickly and completely heal from this and have the strength to do whatever the Lord asked of her! It was so awesome! Afterwards, in the elevator out of her apartment building, Elder Richardson told me that he didn't notice a single mistake in my Spanish and that it was an incredible blessing. Haha too bad it wasn't MY Spanish but the Spirit's Spanish!!

Aww man, sad story. SO we put down some rat traps in the house....
And they are those SUPER INHUMANE TERRIBLE kind where it's just a pad with glue on it...
Anyways, a tiny baby mouse got stuck on it and i found him there under the stove squirming and trying to get free- it was so sad! Hahaha I'm pathetic. I know I should have just killed him but I couldn't!! And I couldn't just leave him there!! So I read on the back of the trap box that oil will disintegrate the glue- so i started dropping canola oil on him and his feet but i had to help using a plastic knife and fork... BUT i got him free!! Elder Fox and I put him in a bucket and gave him a peice of cheese and named him Captain and kept him for a few days to nurse him back to health! But the White Handbook (my lawbook for the next 2 years) says no pets, so we had to let him go. We put him outside in the car lot next to our apartment... but when we came back to check on him about 30 minutes later he was still there- muerto. :( So sad! Hahaha Elder Fox and I feel like failure parents.

SO EXCITED! This Friday our zone is doing a Zone Blitz in a few of our areas! We're going to Sing and pass out these papers and inviting people to the Church on Saturday and Sunday to see conference! It's going to be great! Haha singing in public- yes!!

Well I gotta go and finish cleaning the apartment! Wish us luck! And pray for the rain to go away! It's flooding here! AHH!

B safe, B happy, B strong!

Always,
Elder Brandon Hellberg