Dear family,
It was great to be with Elder Marsden. We dropped him off at the mission office at 4pm, and he was met there by his mom and sister. It was a cool experience to see, although it makes me super happy that I still have a year left and don't need to worry about all that... yet!
It's officially summer... I think. The sun comes out daily and it isn't raining too much, if at all. Washington summers are beautiful, and the sunsets are even better. The sun is starting to set past 9pm now, so I don't ever really get a chance to see it. I can't believe it is going to be 112 over there already in June in Arizona. Arizona is my home, and always will be, but it scares me thinking about adjusting back! I guess I'll worry about that when I live through it.
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| Elder Marsden returned home with Honor |
Now a little about my week:
As always, it was great! Elder Marsden stayed with my new companion and I for a week while his mom and sister traveled up here. Now, he is traveling the mission area with them. It is so weird to think about, because when I was first with him, he still had about 6 months left! Now, he is done...
Anyway, before I say more and get thinking about that, I'm going to stop. My new companion is Elder Robles!!! AGAIN! How cool is that?! He and I are companions again in the area that he trained me, Marysville! It's super exciting, and I am grateful to be serving here with him again. It is super strange though - it NEVER happens! Elder Marsden made a comment that I am probably the only missionary who has come back to the area that he started in, and is with both of his trainers. Yeah, that makes me feel weird.
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| Elder Annand & Elder Robles |
Anyway, I don't know if I ever said this before, but Elder Robles is originally from Guatemala! Isn't that neat? He has a funny English accent, but now that I speak more Spanish, we almost never speak in English! Crazy, but cool! I like it... One downfall is that it takes me a little longer to write and make sure that everything I am saying is grammatically correct - at least, I hope it is! This past Wednesday Elder Robles and I taught Zone Meeting. It went great! We focused on having unshakable faith and to teach the doctrine of Christ simply, clearly, and make it understandable. I felt like it went very well. We spent a lot of this week introducing Elder Robles to all of our investigators - that went well! There is something about the Hispanic culture that when they see another Hispanic = instant friendship! So, it is a bonus that my companion is a native!
As you know, I had a birthday! Anyway, it was just a normal day, working and sharing the beautiful message of the Restoration. It honestly didn't feel like my birthday at all! However, yesterday, about 15 members or so of the branch threw me a surprise party!
They got me good! I didn't expect it at all! We had the party over at two of our investigator's home. They have a mom and sister who are members of the church, and they have developed a recent interest, so we are super excited! Apparently, it is tradition to stuff cake into the person who is having the birthday, and yeah, that's what happened to me. I didn't even realize it! They told me that I had to take a small bite from the corner, so I did, and my face got shoved into the cake. I still feel like there is cake in my nose... just saying... It was still a great experience!!!
I love you all so much! It is incredible, this dream I am living! I don't want to ever wake up, but sadly, I know that one day I will have to... I am living day by day and working as hard as I can. The blessings and miracles that have come are so beautiful. I am so lucky and grateful to have this opportunity. I hope that each of you have an amazing next week full of fun and summer activities!
Love,
Elder Alexander J Annand
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