Week 70

Hello family!

First time over Deception Pass   Oct 15,2013

That is so cool that Uncle J was here when he was in the Navy!  I've been giving the service some thought, but I'm not sure yet if that's what I want to do - we'll see I suppose.  Almost everyone here has ties to the Navy.  There are lots of people retired here (who were once stationed on the Island while they were in the Navy), so it's fun to always talk about the different branches of service with the people.

Have you had a chance to look at pictures of Deception Pass yet?

Oak Harbor is soooo beautiful!  It is located in the perfect spot where the weather is nice almost all of the time!  Last week it got pretty foggy and cloudy, but we still haven't had any rain (which is interesting...)!  We'll see what comes this upcoming week!  Icy roads coming up?  Uh-oh!  Everyone is saying that the winter is going to be bad this year.  I'm excited for it.  :) 

I don't know if I mentioned this last week, but I'm not using a car - I'm on a bike!  It was super tough at first (because of my overweight, out-of-shapeness), but now it's great!  Going up a huge hill? No problem!  Okay... maybe a little bit of a problem.

Well, this week went great!

We helped a member move this past week.  It's always sad when we have to help members move because they almost always leave the ward, but in this case the members didn't.  :)  Afterwards, we had some Taiwan food (I think) called lumpia and penset (definitely spelled wrong).  Lumpia is like a skinny eggroll and penset is almost like fried rice, but noodles instead of rice.  Both were very yummy.  :)

There was a baptism this past Saturday, and it went great!  The person who was baptized was 9 years old, and his family are returning members from inactivity.  I love this church so much - there are SO many miracles!!

Carving Pumpkins   Oct 2013

So this past week I taught the oldest person so far on my mission.  Her name is L, and she turns 90 this upcoming April!  It is so neat because she has such a desire to learn more and become baptized!  Makes me so happy that the church is for everyone who is willing to follow and keep the commandments of God - it doesn't matter how old you are!

Last night, Elder Thompson and I carved pumpkins!  I did a cat, while he did an owl.  It was the first time ever carving a pumpkin on my own!  I'm not as artistic as you are, mom, but I think I did pretty good!

(Elder, you and your companion did a fabulous job!  ~June)

Happy Halloween !!

Hope everything is going good!  How are the kids doing with school?  How are Scotty, Sierra, and Heather doing?  It was so neat getting those pictures last week!  Super weird to see how much the kids have changed!  You mentioned that you wanted to send a package - go ahead and send it to the mission office because I still don't know my apartment address (SORRY!).  Also, I'm jealous of Heather's Reptar shirt!  If it's possible, can you send me one?  :)

Love you all so much!  Hope you have a great day!  Talk to you next week!  :)

Love,

Elder Alexander J Annand