B eats a lot of spaghetti.

?que honda wuey? alls well here. last week was a complainer email, hopefully this one will be better... weve been doing pretty well on our dinners, 6 of 8 have been spaghetti. i guess its a white people thing. we have knocked doors for countless hours, no success yet, but were having fun while were at it. i think members here think of missionaries as an annoyance, which is the complete opposite of where we were at. we would show up to someone who hates the church and all the members but they get so happy when we stop by and want to feed us and everything, here, not quite. active members shoo us away, which hurt the first few times because we werent ready for it. i do have a couple of stories to tell, however.

1. we are eating dinner (which in itself is a foreign experience, having to use forks and table manners and be super polite and uptight instead of being normal and laughing and having a good time with the members) with an old couple in the ward (spaghetti), and the guy was telling us how he served his mission in sweden. me, trying to mosturize the incredibly dry atmosphere, asked "so you learned swedenish then?" the couple looked at me weird (they dont get humor) and elder barfuss looks over and says in complete sincerity, "uh, that would be dutch."

2. eating dinner with an older lady and her daughter and son in law. they were pretty cool actually, so it was a fun dinner (spaghetti). they lady was making pineapple upside down cake and was finished with everything except the part where she needed cake mix. when she looked in the pantry, all she could find was carrot cake mix, so she made it and was warning us that it might taste funny, we dont have to eat it, etc. elder b nods his head and assures her, "its ok, i like potatoes".

both of the above experiences were sources of great enjoyment, both then and now. kids say the darndest things.

B is pooped.

we dont belong. rich white areas are too weird for us, we just dont belong. and of course, once the area i was in started to get people baptized, i leave to where there is nothing going on. every time, works like a charm. so here we are. white people are not cool. oh well. so, im now in the westchester first ward, no spanish ward, and we dont cover the tongan ward, although the boundaries are in our area. boo! i wanted to come home 260. anywho, not much to report. weve just been tracting and visiting members, neither of which are receptive. we have a car now. its a huge boat that guzzles gas and cant turn the tight corners on the streets. im really tired right now, so i dont feel like writing much. next week

B is fond of the weather.

fast sundays here scare me. im really apprehensive about bringing my investigators on those days, for fear of what they'll think. it starts with the assembly line of all the jovenes under 18, they all go up and state, usually with little variation, "me llamo 'name' por los que no me conocen. (everybody ya te conoce, kid) se que la iglesia es verdadera y que me padre celestial me ama. se que el libro de mormon es verdadero, en el nombre de jesucristo, amen." i dont know what newcomers think about the odd sounding brainwashing going on... however, sometimes the adultos are worse. who knows what they will say. talking about visions and dreams they've had, voices they've heard, odd supernatural experiences, etc. to me, it all sounds like a nut job type of thing, but to them, regardless of religion or background, its the norm. we hear the same type of stuff from the people on the streets, so its just my outsiders viewpoint i guess. i thought utah was off... one thing i have seen, however, is there is a big difference in some of the youth. there are kids, 13 years old, younger, older, that have a really strong testimony, and not one leeched from their parents, but their own. its cool to see that they even tho they're young, they can still think for themselves. i think its becuase theyre all converts...
wednesday had the most perfect weather i have heretofore experienced.
getting transfered on wednesday, hopefully for the last time. ive got 2 more left, so i will probably finish my mission in this next area. president told me who my companion is, and for the first time, its someone that i know. it will be good, this elder and i are as close to being friends as you can get on the mission, so im looking forward to it. hes actually sitting next to me emailing, how bout that? were flushing an area too, my fourth time doing so.
thats all i know about for right now, i dont know where im going or anything. ill let you know more monday.
i guess i just mail my stuff home. were going to chopping today so i can stock up on cheap stolen goods before i leave downtown area for the last time...
see you next week.

B celebrates Halloween in style

ok. 2 weeks ago (i forgot about this last week) on our way home from the temple, we were riding with our DL and his comp because we dont have a car, and claro that we were on the farthest freeway from anywhere when we ran out of gas. the person that was driving just happens to be the worst cali driver ever (or driver period, girls excluded) so it took us 10 minutes at 69 MPH to get to the side. i was afraid we were going to have to get out and push us off the road, but we crawled to a stop on the happy side of the white line. that was pretty fun... i laughed, driver laughed, others didnt. we called other elders to see if they could hook us up with some help but they were unable to, having just been towed from the library. the elder driving that car chased the truck down on foot, but the driver just waved and kept on keepin on. no biggie, the Metro tow truck showed up 3 minutes later and gave us some gas to get to the gas station.

there was something else too, but i forgot it and i dont have my planner with me to look it up, so i guess it will wait till next week.

someone come pick me up. the plane ticket reimbursment should cover all expenses and a pair of shoes from downtown. the 3rd of febuary is my release date, thats when that transfer ends, so thats when they ship me out.
halloween was the most boring holiday i have ever had. we werent even allowed to give out candy. over the voicemail sent to the entire zone, the ZL said something to this effect: "be in your apartments no later than 6.00, not allowed to go outside, to go to parties with members, no giving away candy. you are allowed to change out of your whites, but you have to change back at 9.00 for your nightly planning. it has to be at 9.00 and you need to be fully dressed. basically, you're not allowed to do anything fun, elder anderson" they know how i stand on being boring. bye