July 20

DEAR HOME!

Hello! Sorry this will be such a short letter!!

This weeks has been SO BUSY and gone by SOOO FAST! We had Zone Conferences on Monday and Tuesday, and we still have one tomorrow! They have been very good though- very Spiritual!! :) Elder McMullin and I love it, but we are looking forward to a less busy schedule!! haha!!

Last Thursday I got to go on a Split with Elder Davis and Elder Head- in OLMSTEAD! Where I was BORN! Haha! It was such a great day- we visited SONIA AND RUTH (If you'll remember them from my e-mails a YEAR ago!!) and several other familis I knew from so long ago! They are all doing great! Last, we went and visited Isabel and Noemi and their family! It was SOO good to see them- they all look so great! I played UT Rep. and tried to convince them to move to the Great Salt Lake Valley! hahah!

Well- gotta run! sorry so short- next week will be longer! I love you all!!

The Church is TRUE!

All my Love!

Elder Hellberg

July 13

DEAR HOME!

Good afternoon! It's a BEAUTIFUL HOT JULY day outside!

Today for P-Day we ran to Scarsdale Chapel and played Dodgeball and Basketball with the Zone! The weather here has been so NICE lately!

LAST Thursday, I got to go on an exchange with Elder Fletcher in HIS area- HARLEM! It was so much fun- and very exciting! I got too see all of Harlem and explore parts of Manhattan I've never been to! We did a small blitz with the English District outside near a park and had a lot of fun just talking to people and introducing them to the Church. Elder Fletcher and I taught 2 amazing people- both of which are preparing themselves for baptism in a few weeks.

CHINATOWN! SO- Yesterday, I got to go on an exchange with Elder Faulkner and Elder Vatcher in THEIR area in CHINATOWN in MANHATTAN! It was SO FUN! I studied MANDARIN for a few hours in the Morning- (extra thanks to my GREAT Asian tutors, Sisters Liu, Su, Chen, and Gao!)- and we went CONTACTING IN CHINESE! hahaha! I learned things like "Hello! Have you even been to Church before?" and "Do you believe in God?" and "HELLO! FREE ENGLISH CLASS!!" It was such a rush! Chinese is a very.. interesting language!! There's all these different TONES in all the syllables and you HAVE to say them correctly or it doesn't make sense what you're saying. But I got by (I felt like a N00B again, trying to learn a new language...) but it was very fun and exciting! I contacted about 60 people in Chinese! We also taught (this is comically ironic) a man who speaks Chinese AND Spanish! It was so funny- he'd talk to Elder Faulkner and Vatcher and I'd have no idea what they were saying- then he'd speak to ME and Elder Faulkner and Vatcher would have no idea what WE were saying! Interesting way to teach, right?? It worked out though! I also got to try some AMAZING seafood soup called 'Mala' (spelling?)- it was amazing! I found a new amazing food called "FISHBALLS!" It's balls of fish meat with beef in the middle! So interesting! We also had traditional Dumplings. MMmm! I also learned some random words like "guitar" and "cake!" and "Have you already eaten?" I also got some good pics of the Empire State and stuff. (Pics attached!!)

TOMORROW I get to go on an exchange with Elder DAVIS in OLMSTEAD- where my GRAND ADVENTURE began!! aha! I'm SO excited! We're going to visit ISABEL! I baptized her right after Elder Prue left the area and Elder Torres came in. It's so weird to think that that was over a YEAR AGO! Crazy! I'm very excited to back to where I was Born (Mission lingo... where you started!) and visit some dear friends and try to help the Elders find some of those that I was teaching while I was there!

Elder McMullin and I are teaching a young man named Alex- he's awesome! He's got a baptismal date for next Saturday and is very excited to be baptized. He moved into our area from Texas in early May of this year. He had already met with the Missionaries there and loved the Church. He even met President (get this!) SAYLIN from the Woodbriar Ward! Cool, right!? President Smith and President Saylin came out at the same time to the field. I heard the Saylins are doing great and are going to have another BABY! So grand!

WELL we are off to get ready for our exchange in OLMSTEAD! I'll take pictures of my old area and familiar faces and send them next P-day! Much love!

THE CHURCH IS TRUE!

B a Missionary! Sea Misionero! 是一個傳教士!!

All my Love,

Elder Hellberg

July 6

DEAR HOME!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!! I can't BELIEVE YOU ARE 29 YEARS OLD... AGAIN!!! HOORAY!

HELLO from a WARM morning here in Scarsdale, NY!!!

I haven't been able to send home many updates for a while! We have been very busy! Many exciting things have happened lately!!

Last week we had a WONDERFUL Baptismal service for Sandra and Iluminada! It was such a great experience! Elder McMullin baptized Sandra and Elder Clark baptized Iluminada, and I sang "I need thee every hour" (In Spanish, of course!) and played the piano! Almost the entire branch was there- it was a very spiritual service. Both were confirmed the next day in Sacrament meeting and everything went well! Sandra amazes me. She has such a strong testimony already- she reads every day in the Book of Mormon and actually asks us questions when she has them. So cool- she just got back from theWestchester Stake TREK- she's went with all the YW/YM into the empty wildlands of New York (some people don't think that New York HAS parts without skyscrapers...) and re-enacted a portion of the Pioneer Trek across the plains! She loved it! (pictures of Iluminada and me, and of Sandra and her family)

In just a few hours one of our members from the Spanish Branch will be entering the... MTC! AHHHH! Massiel Olivo from the Westchester 3rd Branch got called to serve in the Los Angeles California Spanish Speaking Mission! She spoke in Sacrament Meeting a week ago and it was excellent! She is going to be an amazing Missionary!! We wish her the best! (picture attached, Massiel and me!)

TIMES SQUARE has been such an ADVENTURE! SO many interesting things happen! It's very different from what normally happens when we set up street displays. What we do is... Elder McMullin and I go and pick up the Zone Leaders in one of the nearby zones (yesterday we took the Westchester ZLs...) and we park at Kingsbridge Chapel and take the D train to the HEART of Manhattan! We set up a nifty little display that we made in the office and just TALK to people walking by! It's so cool! I think I've talked to at least SOMEBODY from EVERY State in the Country! It's such a diverse place to talk to people- and without a doubt every time we talk to at LEAST 3 or 4 families of Members that are vacationing in NY. I really love talking to people about the Church. Many people ask questions like "Why are YOU a Mormon?", "How does being Mormon help YOU?", "Why are their so many Mormon.org ads everywhere in the city?" "Are you advertising the Book of Mormon Musical?" "Do you like Mitt Romney?" "Have you seen the Book of Mormon Play?" The rarer questions that we hear (but still get sometimes) "How many wives do you have?" "How do you hide your horns?" hahah! It's such a rush- but I love how it feels to just get out there and let people know WHO we are and WHAT we believe. We have gotten a positive reaction for the most part. Almost everyone we talk to has seen the Ads around an most have a positive view of Mormons in general. Manhattan does this cool thing where they put tuned, functioning Pianos in locations around the city and people can just come PLAY on them! Well, there was one just SITTING there in the middle of Times Square... so I went and sat down and started playing-- in about 4 minutes about 60 people were gathered around watching and video-ing and taking pictures! I got up to leave, everyone cheered and clapped, and 2 people ran over and grabbed me and said "Uh uh, nope- you're a new pianist here- they love you, get back on that bench and play more!" SO, I did! The group got even bigger and I just played for about 6 minutes, just kind of doing improv and throwing in hymns, and they all cheered when I was done! Haha it was such a rush!

Yesterday in Times Square, we were just standing there and a man walked up- (He looked kind of Angry...) (He also looked very much like Samuel L Jackson...) and he said to me in a raspy voice "You know that BIG old Pipe organ your church has in Salt Lake? That BIG one they built a long time ago? If you went and took that Organ, and THREW it down a coal mine shaft, what would ya call it?" I nervously said I didn't know, a big mess maybe? He got close and looked me in eye and said loudly "Ab MINOR!" (A flat Miner)... MBAHAHAHA! I cracked up SOOO hard!! Get it!? Hahahah! Elder Barfuss and I couldn't stop laughing- it was so unexpected- and hilarious! (if you don't get the joke.. it's like... an A flat Minor Chord in Music... and like, a squished Miner from a falling organ! bahahah!) Anyway, I got a crackup out of it! (Pictures attached of Times Square Ads and Taxi Ads!)

Elder Merrell in the Office sent Elder McMullin and myself and Elder Peine and Elder Barfuss on a secret covert operation to QUEENS! We had to go pick up 4 brand new Ford Fusions and drive them back to our Mission! They only had 3 miles on them when we drove them off the lot! It felt cool to be in a little Ford-Missionary Caravan heading back across the Whitestone bridge back into mission boundaries!! (new york skyline picture attached!!)

Our 4th of July was wonderful! We went over to the Dalebout's house (a Senior Couple in the Mission) and met up with them and Elder and Sister Merrell and the office Sisters (Sisters Beck and Dunagan) and we had a great Patriotic dinner (SLOPPY JOES!) and played games and told stories and sang America the Beautiful! Haha it was wonderful! Although we didn't get to see the big fireworks displays (all Missionaries had to be in by 8:00), we sure HEARD them- I think people were on our ROOF launching huge fireworks into the air... and I think one mis-fired and hit our garage! haha! Happy 4th!

Alrighty! Elder McMullin and I have been extraordinarily busy lately, but I promise to be better about keeping you all posted from here on out! I am busy, but I LOVE all the exciting things we get to do and the amazing people we meet and I LOVE being a Missionary! I know that what we are doing is the right thing- that we are able to help and bless the lives of others through our service and love and testimonies. Raise your voice! B an example of the BELIEVERS!

The Church is TRUE!

B strong! B MUSICAL! B hiding your horns!!

Always and Forever,

Elder Hellberg!

June 1

HELLO MY DEAR HOME!

I cannot believe it is already JUNE 1ST! Is this not CRAZY!?

This last week has been very busy, but very good! We have been getting so much done! I love working so closely with President Smith and the office senior couple, and Sister Beck and Sister Dunagan who work in the office with us sometimes!! It's great! One of the very cool things Elder McMullin and I get to do as assistants is TRAVEL to most of the different parts of the Mission! I have seen the beautiful green and wooded areas of Newburgh and Danbury, Connecticut and the very tip of the island of Manhattan! Just the other day, we had to meet up with some Elders to drop off supplies in the financial district in Manhattan- and we passed RIGHT by the under-construction FREEDOM TOWER! It looks SO GOOD so far! It's HUGE- it's only about 50 or 60 stories high right now, but about half is already coated with the final exterior glass finish and it looks grand! I have some great pictures of that and the empire state building and other cool NY monuments! It's great to get to know so intimately the culture of New York.

It's CLEARLY already SUMMER over here in the EAST! Finally the pollen storm has ceased and things are blooming beautifully! I LOVE NY SUMMERS! It's warm and beautiful! I hear that it's still SNOWING over there in UTAH! Bahah! That's okay, makes for a great SKI season! :)

Elder McMullin and I are being VERY blessed right now. Because of many other new responsibilities, the time we would normally dedicate towards finding people to teach has been cut drastically- bu the blessings keep pouring in. Recently, our little Branch here in White Plains has been on a Missionary drive and has been finding people FOR us to teach. They have been lovingly reaching out towards their families and friends and inviting them to be taught by the Missionaries! This is the BEST thing for a Missionary! To be a full-time TEACHER and less of a full-time FINDER. We still try and spend our time finding that we are NOT teaching or fulfilling other responsibilities- but it's truly a blessing to have such a great and supportive member-system backing you up!

WELL we are off to Manhattan to drop off a PHONE and then to teach ENGLISH class! Please take care all, B safe B happy!

The Church is TRUE!

Always,

Elder Hellberg

May 25

Hello from a BEAUTIFUL day here in Scarsdale, New York!

So many things have happened in the last two weeks- and it has all gone by SO fast! I feel bad- I haven't really had a chance to sit down and e-mail for a while! Elder McMullin and I have been on the RUN!

We've been driving all over the entire Mission lately- we've been to Manhattan and the Bronx dozens of times already, up to Newburgh and over to Conneticuit and out of the Mission to Queens multiple times too! Good news, I've basically become a PROFESSIONAL city driver- haha! I can finally navigate those crazy streets without feeling claustrophobic or dizzy! SO many one-ways; you have to make loops and loops before you get to where you want to go! Just yesterday, we dropped off Elder Garside and Elder Zwahlen off at JFK Airport- we are going to miss them. They have trained Elder McMullin and I to run around and do all the crazy things they had to do for the past few months- and finally it feels like we've got the hang of things.

Although we run around the Mission and work in the office a lot, we still have an area and we still get to work as Missionaries!! We are covering the Westchester 1st Ward (English) and the Westchester 3rd Branch (Spanish)- our area is White Plains and Scarsdale and a few little cities and towns around the edges like Valhalla (cool name, right?), Greenburgh, Eastchester and a few others. I love this area. We are teaching right now several investigators in both the Spanish and English wards, and they are incredible. Just last week, on the 21st, we met with a young woman named Sandra- she is from Peru! We visited with her and her mom, and we talked with her Dad on Sunday at Church! In our first appointment with her we began talking about baptism- and she quickly said over us- "OH I know all about baptism- and I am ready to be baptized into your church!" She told us she had been praying to know if the Church was true and she said she knows it's the right thing to do. We are all very excited.

Today is the first warm sunny day in about a week- and it's a wonderful day for a YANKEE GAME! We are off very soon to head to YANKEE STADIUM- it's going to be a wonderful day! I'll eat a traditional New York Hot Dog for ya'll back in SLC! If you know anybody going to the game tell them to look for the Missionaries- there'll be about 40 of us there!! haha!

The Church is TRUE!!

B safe, B Sunny, B decked out in YANKEE BLUE!

Always,

Elder Hellberg