Sept. 5, 2012

Hey family!

Sorry I couldn't write on Monday. Stinkin' Labor Day. Hah but guess what? They still had school down here on Labor Day. We were talking to the bishop in the english ward and he was telling us how annoyed he was that they still have school on American holidays, and that even though it's mostly Hispanics down here, that they should still respect the US holidays haha. He said that for summer school, the kids still have school on the fourth of July. Those poor souls...

Anyway, we went to the church gymnasium and played volleyball as a zone. It was a ton of fun! The church is in Mission, Texas and it's the stake center for the McAllen West Stake so it has a full size gymnasium. Last year when I was in Rio Grande we would occasionally (when we had miles) come down to the Stake Center and play basketball for p-days. Those were the days...

The zone has really been struggling these past few months with missionary work/baptisms. We have two great district leaders in the zone and we are working really well with them to help pick things up. I'm excited to see the progress. One of our goals was to increase the unity as a zone and I think that playing volleyball together really helped. Hey I told y'all that Elder Ferrel (my hijo!!) lives in the apartment with me right? Man it's been so much fun haha. In the mornings we go across the street and play tennis together. It's a lot of fun. I've gotten the hang of hitting the ball over the net and keeping it within bounds, so this morning I've advanced to trying to hit the ball as hard as I can over the net. I still have a lot of progress to make. I kept smacking it into the net this morning. I think Elder Ferrel got annoyed. But then, as we were almost done playing, he lobbed the tennis ball over to me and I smacked it back to him so hard and fast that it hit him square in the gut. It was great. 

The work is going great in our area. Right before I got here, the elders contacted a pretty cool family and we had our first lesson once Elder Stevens and I got here. They came to church last Sunday for the first time and are progressing great. We taught the wife and oldest son (9) the restoration and they ate it right up. The husband has been progressing as well, but he has a crazy work schedule which has made it hard to teach him and keep him on track with his wife and kids. There are 6 total in the family: mom, dad, and 4 kids, but only one kid is old enough for baptism. The youngest, Jonathan, is 2 years old and he is an absolute maniac! It's a good thing we are a trio, because 1 is assigned to distract the little devil while the other 2 teach. During the lesson we also switch roles. It's crazy but fun haha. The other boy (7) has a form of autism and the mom was really worried about how he would act in church. She said that for the past 2 years she hasn't been able to take him to any church because he gets frustrated and can't handle being around that many people, but last Sunday he came with the family and he loved it. He loved the primary and he never acted up. I think that played a huge role in helping the mom become converted to the Gospel. She could hardly believe it. 

We're super close to the Rio. I think this upcoming P-day we'll take some cool pictures. I love being so close to the border. I got a letter this past week from Elder Dickson, my MTC companion who is in Tampico, Mexico and he said that whenever he asks people if they have been to the U.S. they always say that they've been to McAllen. I've met quite a few people from Monterrey and Tampico. Who knows, maybe we've run into the same people. Crazy...

Well, I love you all! Thanks for the updates and your prayers. 

Con amor,
Elder Brett

P.S. Sorry I forgot to email my address last week! It's:

3712 Howard Dr. Apt # 18
McAllen, TX 
78503

This is probably the last place you'll be able to write me on the mission! Better enjoy it while you can!! hehe