It's VERY COLD.
Winter is WELL on it's way... you can see your breath outside- and there are CHRISTMAS LIGHTS being put up around the city!! HOORAY!!
Quite the eventful week...
On Monday, our District went over to paint the inside of a Member's house YELLOW! It was great fun, and if I can say so myself I think we did a pretty good job!! Afterwards, the Member made us these little mini-empanada looking things as a thanks! I took one, and it felt warm, but not HOT to the touch. So, I popped it in my mouth and bit down- and it EXPLODED into a MOLTEN SPINACH DEATH LIQUID that scalded the inside of my mouth. I screamed and spit it out and made quite a scene... but literally it was so hot it did DAMAGE. Not even exaggerating. I STILL have WHITE HOLES on the insides of my cheeks and about 10 big blisters on my gums and insides of my lips... and my ability to taste has been cut to 10%! And SALT KILLS! AH! Haha I have some WONDERFUL Oral-B ointment stuff. Miracle Worker.
Right After Church on Halloween, Elder Peine and I ran down to the Little Italy area to try and find someone who wasn't able to come to church that day and see what happened! All the way there, everyone was already out trick-or-treating (NY does it early...it's scary at night) and everyone was decked out in crazy costumes! Everyone made comments to us like "Look, their businessmen!" Always right after that one of their friends would say something like "No, that's the Mormons, they always look like that!!!" On the way back from their apartment, we ran into another one of our investigators! He said he wasn't able to come to church because he had to hurry and find a new apartment and he was Apartment hunting. During the conversation with him, a group of 5 or 6 people, all about our age, came up and started talking to us about the church. They asked us why we were Mormons and why we were Missionaries. We were just talking nicely, when 3 Taxi Cabs came driving by slowly (residential area...). Suddenly, out of the tennis courts nearby ran out a mob of little kids- all younger than 10, but a few younger than 6 or 7- with big rocks and bottles and they started HURLING them at the taxi cabs!! Windows cracked and shattered and doors dented- and the taxi cabs just hurried away before more damage could be done. Right behind them a big Escalade drove up and they all did the same thing- hucked rocks and glass at the car- and then what looked like a 5 year old went up to the car, reached up and punched the driver-side mirror and kicked the door! CRAZY I tell you! The group of kids we were talking to told us to get outta there- they said all the Kids in NY lose their minds on Halloween and that because we were dressed nice, we were probably their next target!! Haha we graciously shook their hands, gave them pass-along-cards, and RAN. :)
On Halloween Night, all the Missionaries had to be in their apartments at 6:00 SHARP (for good reason!!)! We planned for the next day early and broke out a fun game called "Quelf"- a game of complete and utter RANDOMNESS. It had us making up silly songs and poems and singing to other Elders and following hilarious rules like "During your opponents turn you may only speak in a Darth Vader Voice. Make sure to utter comments about the Dark Side every once in a while!" and "Before saying a phrase longer than 3 words, you must ask your foot for permission and then in a high pitch voice scream "PERMISSION GRANTED! Do this for the rest of the game!" Haha it was so fun! In the whole night, we only got trick-or-treated ONCE- by three little kids and their parents! Hahahaha we all ran around scrounging up candy for them- then we put in each of their bags a different one of the Church produced DVDs!! BAHAHA!! We said "Here's some candy!... and some pass-along-cards for your friends with pictures of Jesus on them! AND HERE'S SOME DVD'S FOR YOUR FAMILY!!" Haha the kids all got big eyed and "Wowed" at the jackpot... I wonder what their parents did when they saw what the DVDs were!! He he he...
Official note- I consider myself a focused Missionary. But can I tell you, I literally did a triple-take and screamed when I saw right in front of my face, plastered on the side of a bus, the HARRY POTTER 7 Movie Ad. OH. MY. POTTER. I was hoping some terrible thing would happen and they'd lose a bit of filming of the CGI would take EXTRA long or something... and they'd SOMEHOW have to release the final movie (s) after I got home... Now, all of you can go enjoy the movie and love it and all... that's fine... BUT- to anyone who even DARES send me movie information or pictures or anything!!!... I'm warning you... You will have a SERIOUSLY terrible HOWLER heading towards you in the mail! Mark my words!!
Right now we are teaching some truly amazing people. There's Justin, an 11 year old from the DR- he's got such a testimony already. We went and visited him last night to finalize everything for his Baptism this coming Saturday- and he is SO excited and SO ready. His family is excited for him also, and they plan on coming to the baptism. He siblings said they also want to be baptized- and his Mom is very interested too. We met Justin through Venecia, the sweet woman that was baptized about a month and a half ago. They live in the same building- and Venecia has been such a sweetheart to their family and has played a major role in helping us teach them.
Another sweet family we are teaching is Hector and Flor from Puerto Rico. They are so sweet- They have 2 kids, 8 and 18, and loved and cried when we watched the Restoration with them. They both committed THEMSELVES to read and pray and ask if it is true and come to church.
We have so many people we are teaching right now- it's such a blessing. We are working with the Mother of one of the Members here in the Ward. The Daughter and her siblings are all members, and are SUCH good examples to their family and the ward. The Mother is truly amazing. She is dedicated to her family and loves them so much- and has a true and genuine desire to learn and be baptized. She already has a deep understanding and beautiful testimony. It's inspiring. I believe in her.
I love this Gospel. Everyday my Testimony is tested and strengthened. I love doing what I am doing- and I cannot believe how fast time is flying. I was shocked yesterday to look at the Calendar and realize that I have already been away from home for 11 months! Time really is short here- and it flies like nothing I've ever seen. I only have 13 months left- and still SO much to learn and do and BE! I miss home- but being a Missionary is "Vale la Pena!"- and the blessings that come are exponentially greater than what I gave to be out here. I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know it more know than I have ever known before. Every time I see my name badge I am reminded WHY I am out here and WHAT I am doing- and I feel the strength of the Lord helping me as I go forward with faith.
I love you all.
B Strong. B Valiant. B Believing!
Always,
Elder Brandon Hellberg
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