Sept 28

DEAR HOME!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! hahaha! I am officially TWENTY-ONE!

We threw me (haha that sounds funny) a little birthday party this morning in our apartment. It was great- a few Elders got up and decorated the apartment and made me a cake! :) It's hard to believe that I am 21 now!

I CANNOT believe that yesterday was my LAST ZONE CONFERENCE EVER. SO WEIRD. Per tradition, all the Missionaries that will be going home within the next 12 weeks bear there Testimonies at the Conference- and I was LAST of 6. By my turn, I was a mushy ball of emotions... but I think I held it together pretty well! It was such a powerful and Spiritual meeting. Also, Sister Fuimaono and I sang a Special Musical number- "When All Is Said and Done"- it's from EFY 2001... But I wrote our own verses that applied to US as Missionaries and in NYC!

I didn't quite realize how much I missed the City while I was upstate. There is such an ENERGY that just makes this city seem so... alive! I LOVE it. Just the other day, we transferred from one train to another in the Union Square subway station... and out of nowhere, HUGE subwoofers start makin the place SHAKE- and 7 guys run up and start Krumpin' like KINGS! I can't even explain how COOL it was. There was probably 100 or more people standing there with there smartphones out recording and watchin these guys dance! I SO was about to jump in there and dance battle wit them, but then I remembered that my white shirt might get pretty dirty on the ground in the subway, AND I was wearing one of my favorite ties... Bahaha! I LOVE Manhattan.

Another MAIN reason why I LOVE Manhattan is because of the Members who live there. SO diverse, SO strong, SO amazing. And there are a LOT of them! (Given that there are over 8 million people in NYC...) Still! We see members almost everywhere we go- and they are all so encouraging and loving. I love the Harlem 2nd Ward- where I am serving now. I've only been here in this Ward for 2 weeks and I was the closing speaker on Sunday already! The Ward is so charged and excited about Missionary Work. Last week we set up a display table at the MEXICAN PARADE with tons of free material about the Church to hand out to people- we invited many Members of the Ward to come, too. It was SO cool- it was like we had 25 or 30 full time Missionaries running around talking to people and sharing what they believe.

I am so happy with and love where I am serving right now and who I am serving with, the incredible families and investigators and everything- it's all just awesome. What a BLESSING to be here at this time!

Happy Birthday to ME! :) Thanks so much all for everything you do. Keep bein amazing.

My Heart is SO full of gratitude. I know the Church is True.

All my Love,
Elder B