April Approaches…

Mom:

Thanks for the joke about the shoe with the “holy soul” Mom. It really did fit my situation. It's funny how real situations from the mission can be so funny.

Jenna:

Congratulations on getting your license! I'll be getting to go through that experience again, since my license expired out here in CA... :P I'm not looking forward to it though... I hope you enjoy driving! You can go to the library anytime you want now! How cool is that?

I'm really looking forward to general conference. It looks like we'll be watching it from the chapel. That's just a personal preference of my companion. I don't have qualms with it, but we'll see what happens.

It'll be cool that the University Ward will be in the Cary building. I could be apart of the singles ward and still come to our building. Hopefully that will happen by the time I get home.

The painting sounds like yet more housework... I'll see how much has changed since I left in a few months.

I did get my shoes replaced, with a decent looking pair of shoes from Wal-Mart for about $20. If they go bad then I can use the other $20 you sent me for another pair. Thanks Mom.

What's funny about the Gila Valley Temple is that I have LOTS of missionary friends from the MTC who were apart of that in the mission there. So I always smile when I hear about that temple.

Dad:

Congratulations Jenna on getting her driver's license!

I have sent out several letters today. I'll be a lot more diligent with letter-writing here, since there really is nothing else to do.

Ben's going to the temple to prep for his mission! Cool! 

We’re pretty busy here.  I do have plenty that I can do, especially since I'm the only Spanish speaker here in the Dixon area, so it's funny teaching solo. Finding solo, etc. It's not too bad. I'm working hard and doing everything I can to stay busy.

?'s

1. Yes I did get the money and the allergy stuff, although the allergies have toned down quite a bit before I got it. I can be sparing with the allergy stuff. I might just take some before going to bed. The money was enough to get me some shoe from Wal-Mart, surprisingly $20. I didn't get the super-wides, but I did get 14W's. So I'm using them right now, and should they fail within a few months I'll keep the extra to buy another pair. I should be fine. Fortunately, biking here isn't too bad on shoes since it's almost completely flat. It's good.
2. I'm in an official ward. An English ward. With an English companion. Visiting English members. I'm finding and teaching a lot of Spanish people, and thankfully there are a good handful of English people who have served Spanish speaking missions that they can help me.  It's a good-sized ward. I'm a little tired, but I'm adjusting to the work of being on bike. I'm slimming down really fast, so I'll be looking really good if I'm bike here for awhile. Like I said before it's a small town so there's one ward, and also it's not too far from the apartment. It's a flat plain. Rice patties.  No hills for a long long distance. This week has been filled with rain. So I've been a very wet missionary. This ward reminds me a lot of home, with understandable differences. The people are great, but you can't really talk about all the special people there or you'd never finish.

That's what's happening here. I love you all! I hope everything keeps being as good as it is right now.

Love,

Your missionary,

Elder Richard Mackelprang