Hello everybody!
First of all thanks mom for the package! You always know exactly what to get me! Also I really appreciated the drawings! Thanks Jack! That was a really good idea! Dad I love your drawing- did you draw me with a striped ties becuase you figured I wear a lot of them? Because I think I ind of do... Oh and Emma- mi Espanol es mas o menos, todavia estoy aprendiendo pero no tengo la opportunidad para hablarlo cada dia como en mi ultimo area, pero cada noche leo El Libro De Mormon...
We had zone conference (there are 7 zones in the mission, I moved from the Metro zone and now I am in the Marina zone...) this past week and the president announced some pretty big changes:
-The mission/the other 4 southern California missions are disbanding the pilot program of bilingual missions. So now the mission is officially like every other mission in the world.... We will have an English program (the 8ish missionaries coming in in June and July will be only English speaking...) a Korean program, an American Sign Language program and of course a Spanish program. The President is excited because there were historically more baptisms during the time that it was separate and because the new changes will be implemented with the new mission president so he doesn't have to deal with it.... I talked to the APs and they said most likely we will still be bilingual missionaries but with the difference that when we are serving in an English area (which will most likely be larger, overlapping 2 or 3 Spanish areas at a time depending on where you are... or not as in the case of Malibu and Pacific Palisades-my current area...) we will ONLY be speaking in English- only going to church in English, when we contact a Spanish speaking person we teach them a short lesson (or if you are really only and English speaking missionary you will do your best-probably just hand them a pass a long card...) and refer them to the Spanish speaking missionaries. Most of the missionaries (me included before I talked to the APs) think that we will all be Spanish speaking or that we will get split up etc so I don't know exactly how this will work...
-Some other changes that non missionaries outside of the CLAM wouldnt really get/I dont have time because I am always kept busy messaging my parents! (which I love doing- not complaining mom and dad!)
Anyway we are still doing a lot of service, which I love doing but makes me wonder how much we are actually helping the area. I got to clean my first ever chicken coup and get attacked by a three foot tall rooster! It was fun! I got to hold a lot of chics too! I had the job of trying to get one who was less than a day old to be adopted by another hen because somehow he didnt have a mother.... Also Mindy (the personal assistant to the less active lady whose house it is) boyfriend had a huge fight and charged into the LAs- susan swenson's house and anyway they are pressing charges... No one got hurt and it was a blessing in disguise we hope because he was Jewish and very anti mormon and we feel like Mindy shows a little potential. She grew up somewhat in the church but was never baptized. Fun side-note- her dad used to be a polygamist! His second wife was his first wifes sister- he married her in attempt to save her from an abusive marraige... Anyway that is all over needless to say he has an entirely new wife but still talks to Mindy and is active again and praying for Mindy/trying to get her intereseted in the church. So we will see how much of her unwilingness to progress (although we never really get a chance to sit down and have a formal lesson- we only talk about the church/her past while we are pulling out cactai in the slope....) was really her boyfriend or if it is just her all along... So we will see where that turns out. Following what seems to be our plan of attack or something- we are trying to see the Joseph Smith movie with her and Susan...
We also helped this really cool guy named Brother Later who is very charasmatic/funny. It is cool walking around town with him because he seems to know everyone! Anyway we helped him move a lot of boxes from his storage unit into another one across town...
I love everyone! Sorry it wasnt too long! I hope all is well finishing up school and such!
I hope my letters found everyone at home ok... I didnt send any to school addresses...
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Love!
Elder Myers
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Love!
Elder Myers
