May 28, 2014.

Hey!!

So I'm gonna write it all together this week.
First of all, you guys went to Disneyland!! I haven't been there in
sooooo long.. Like 6 years. That's awesome that you guys were able to
go how you did (: I'm glad you enjoyed your weekend!!!
So, last Saturday we had a baptism. It was awesome! We baptized
Manuel, and another set of missionaries baptized a family, so we had 4
baptisms as a district. It was awesome! The baptism went really well,
Manuel's kids came and his little 8 year old son told us he wants to
be baptized now.. So he'll probly be baptized in 2 or 3 weeks! Cool
right? Sunday we had a fireside with our mission president. He is
awesome, I always learn so much from him! I also sang a duet with
another missionary for the musical number.. I think it went well?
Since Sunday things have Been a little crazy.. Before we started the
fireside President Morgan Pulled me aside and told me that another
missionary was sick in the city and was most likely gonna have to go
home on Tuesday (yesterday) and he asked me if I would be willing to
go take his place if he ended up going home.. I said yes. So I got a
call around noon yesterday from the assistants telling me I had like
three hours to pack and then I had to meet them at the mission home..
I only had time to say bye to one family /:  Do you remember Elder
Critchfield? My "son" .. Well, he has a bad case of mononucleosis and
was bed-ridden for the last two weeks. He went home yesterday, and I
came to north Manhattan to take his place. I'm really sad he is home
/: the assistants brought me here yesterday and I got to see elder
Critchfield before they took him to the airport.. That was really
nice- he is supposed to come back to the mission field within two or
three months- I really hope that's true!
I'm pretty sad I had to leave Stamford. I love that place! But I know
I'm needed elsewhere! My zona right now is north manhattan. Otherwise
known as Inwood. Or Washington Heights aka Dominican Heights. EVERYONE
is Dominican here haha my specific area is from 155th st. to 170th st.
From river to river. Remember Rucker park, the place I played ball at
last week? Well, that's in my area haha pretty cool right (: my
companion's name is Elder Cruz! From Tijuana!! Holla haha team bean! I
actually lived with him a year ago when I was in the Bronx, so we
already know each other which is good! Another weird thing is that I'm
Zone Leader again. Definitely did not expect for that to happen! So
yeah. Things are really crazy right now. Transfers are two weeks from
tomorrow, so who knows, I might just be here for two weeks to fill the
gap and then get transferred again. It wouldn't surprise me, I've been
all over the place! Or I could just finish my mission here. We will
just have to wait and see.
I'm not sure what we are doing today. We might go play basketball, but
the assistants invited me to go to the natural history museum with
them. And elder Cruz knows somebody who works there so we could go
into the extra exhibits for free, so we might go do that, I'm not
sure! I still feel pretty weird, I didn't expect to be where I am haha
I am trying to just stay positive and enjoy the journey. I know The
Lord Has a plan and he wouldn't put me here if there wasn't a purpose
for it. I love you guys, thank you for your prayers and your support!
Cuídense!

May 21, 2014.

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Pops.

What's up! What did President Burnham tell you we had to do? Aww man, today was your last day of school! That's awesome (: and weird.. School out here doesn't get out until the middle of June.. How do you feel about teaching summer school? It's crazy how events mark check points like that.. It makes time pass a little bit faster! Haha that's so awesome that you are getting perfect scores for your "grades" at AT&T.. It doesn't surprise me at all! 

I'm doing great! Transfer are June 11th.. So three weeks from today? In regards to travel, we like to take the bikes as much as we can, but sometimes we are so packed that if we take the bikes we won't make it to all of our appointments on time, so we need to take the car just to save travel time. It's nice having the option of either bike or car.. Especially when it rains, we never have to get wet! Dile a abeto y Maricruz que también los extraño y les mando mucho amor! 

Madre.

Estoy muy bien!! Y tu? Have you been to the doctor to have your knee checked? Or are you just assuming that you will have to get surgery? That's rough :/ is it the same knee? I'm sure you've told me but I can't remember if it is.. Wait so is dad's work gonna provide the tablets for them? That's really cool! Haha tablets are taking over.. 

Jason is graduating?! That's crazy to me too! Everyone is so grown up.. Also, yes, I've seen pictures of Karla's graduation! And the dinner! Or at least I'll try not to haha! 

Stuff!

We were crazy busy last week. We taught 31 lessons again. Things are going really well for us! We are actually going to have a baptism on Saturday (: I'm pretty excited, it's been almost a year since I've been a part of one.. The guy getting baptized is named Manuel Contreras. He is soooo ready! He is really committed and willing to live the gospel.. When we were at his house on Saturday he told us he was originally planning on getting baptized in September, but when he thought about it he realized he doesn't need to wait that long. So he asked us if he could be baptized on the 24th. We had already taught him everything, so in Sunday he had his baptismal interview and he is good to go (: we have a few other investigators who are sooo close! We may or may not be having another baptism on the 31st.. Una dominicana! We are definitely seeing the fruits of our labors here and I'm so glad. Being in this area/ward and having awesome companions is really helping me stay more focused than I think I would be if I were to be serving anywhere else. 

This weekend we are having a fireside with our mission president, and I think I might be singing a solo for a musical number. It's not for sure, but if I do me and Alexia will be doing the same thing haha kinda cool. 

Today we are going down to Harlem! Gonna go meet some other missionaries at Rucker park to play some basketball (: I'm excited! It should be fun. Then later today we are going to a members home because her son is coming home from his mission and arrives today! And he needs companions until tomorrow when he gets released. But yeah. It's crazy. Life is good, I'm enjoying the work, I'm happy. We aren't hungry, the people here are amazing, we have people to teach.. I really have no complaints! I hope all is well with all of you. One love!! 

Look what I learned how to do! 

May 14, 2014.

I'm doing good! I can't believe Karla is graduated from college....... That's insane! I'm glad you and dad were able to take the day off so that you could go and be with Karla. He is a busy man.. Mom you are awesome, don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Thanks for everything you do!

Aww man, spring sing! I wish I could've been there. It sounds like Beto is just getting better and better at singing.. Alexia too!  I hope high school is everything she expects it to be.. I miss high school haha those were the days..

I don't think I need too much help with school.. I'm not really sure how to go about doing things, I might even need to wait until I get home to figure all of that out even though it will be really rushed! I don't think I need scholarships yet because it's community college.. Those will come in handy when I transfer to a university in a year.. I think I'm gonna start looking into all that soon. 

Things are going well with our area. We are still really busy and teaching a lot. There's a few people we think can be baptized before the end of the cycle.. We just have to help them realize it! The past couple of weeks have been awesome because with the combining of the areas I now get to meet and interact with all of the members I didn't get to be with before and it's been so fun! The members here are awesome and love us so much, and getting to know them means more trust ... Which is what we need with everyone! I don't have much else to say since we talked on Sunday.  But I love you guys! I hope you have a good week (:

May 7, 2014.

Hey everyone!

I'm writing a short email today since we're gonna chat soon.

Yeah. It's all good, my hair will grow back! That's awesome that Alexia had a solo! Haha that'll be cool to go home and be able to sing a song with full parts as siblings..  ? I'm so excited to watch beto play volleyball. I be he's grown so much since I left.. 

What else did you do for your birthday?

We had such an amazing week, but I won't spend too much time tellingly about it because I'm gonna see you guys on Sunday! So just ask me about it then haha but here are some pictures so you can see what we've been up to here in Stamford. 

Also, I'm gonna call around 8 o clock here.. Which is 5 over there! I hope that works? And I hope that's not inconvenient for the missionaries over there.. Tell them I'm sorry!

April 30, 2014.

Hey guys! 

Sorry, today is transfers and that's always a little crazy, so I'm just writing a general email! 

So, I'm staying in Stamford. My companion elder Stephens left to the Bronx! But they didn't send a replacement.. Haha so what's happening is they're combining our area with our roommates' area so I am now in a trio with Elders Gamble and Bailey! We're already all good friends so I know we are gonna have fun! We are gonna be suuuuppeerrr busy. So far in the past two days we've taught 13 lessons because we are doing the work for two companionships as one unit.. 13 lessons in two days is a lot! My guess is we'll be averaging about 25 lessons a week if we can keep up with all the work there is to do. Which hopefully means we'll have a few baptisms this cycle- I'll be keeping you guys posted!

It's been a good week, things are really looking up. 

So yesterday I went to the barbershop to get my hair trimmed up cuz it was getting a little long.. But the barber messed up BAD so I had to tell him to just cut it all off.. So now I'm back to my short hair again. Except this time I didn't want it.. But it's whatever! Just gonna grow it out again.. As for Mother's Day, we still aren't sure what time we are gonna be calling.. I can call after 2:30 Arizona time right? That's 5:30 here.. I just want to make sure. 

Today a few of my really good friends in the mission ended their missions.. It's so crazy to see them go! It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that missions end.. This is our whole life and then when the time is up we have no option but to give it up... Soon that will be me! 

I'm sorry you guys get a lame email today, time is on the short end for sure. We have a lot to do today! I hope all is well, I love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers and your support (: have a good week!