HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABIGAIL!!!! or sister allred.
Just had to shout out to my cousin in the Mish. I feel bad, I should have called her. Haha. There's a member, Jimmy, who has all the missionaries' phone numbers and sometimes I invite him to come teaching with us and I tell him to call her so I can talk to her. Haha. Nothing wrong with that right?? No. I'm glad you're feeling better now, Mom. And yeah, I doubt Elder Arnold will speak again so soon. He was so nice and gentle during Conference. If only people could meet the real him. :) Woot Woot!!! Those shirts look SWEET!!! I was a little bummed because I did play beater for Hufflepuff back in Hogwarts and I saw that Savannah is getting the Beater Jersey, BUT I was team captain for that team also, so all is well. I'M PUMPED for that though. Super Trunky. And MAN! The Claytons are hosting the CTM Reunion?!?! And I checked the sign up list and already recognized a bunch of names. MORE TRUNKY! AND you want' to know when I'm coming home?? Sheesh!! Ya tryin' ta kill mee?? Well, because I got an extra week added on to my mission, it should Thursday, August 3rd. I know President Shields has the authority to change it if I have to leave early for school or what not. But honestly, I just want to get exactly 2 years in. A 2 year mission. July 29th 2015 to July 29th, 2017. If anyone tries to send me home before that, I'll tell them to take a hike. Oooohhhh. A Puertorrican Christmas. What fun.
Oh yes. We got transfer calls last night. Elder Staheli, my companion, is pulling an "Elder Flint" and going from Chritstie North to Black Creek Central. And I and Elder Valliere are staying here!! AND! my first son (trainee) is coming to serve with us in a trio. Yipee! I'm SO old. I'm like a father having to babysit his two sons. :| All I know is that I'm going to be wiped after this next transfer. I thought one of them was a handful....   BUT! I'm happy to be staying here in Toronto. I'm going to really try to be a better example this transfer and help out my two trainees.
Well this week was pretty nuts. To give an example, it's POURING rain right now. LOVE IT!!
Actually, to be frank. This week was pretty below par for me. But I saw a lot of other peoples' lives blessed. So that makes me happy. One of my favorite families in the ward just had a new baby, so I was able to see it and hold and tickle it (kidding, that's illegal for missionaries) yesterday. But it was quite cute. Along with that, I made another Chocolate Cheesecake for the Birthday of Elder Paul, my Haitian Zone Leader that speaks five different langauges. I also helped a lot of families out doing Family History work. I've decided that I'm going to have three automatic callings when I get home: Family History Consultant, Ward Organist, and Bishop. jeje ;) I had lots of good Hispanic Food (I made Tostones with this giant deep-fryer we have in our apartment. Tostones are fried green plantains, SUPER GOOD). Other fun things that happened this week is finally we had an investigator come to church last Sunday, and we were able to meet a lot of interesting people. And let me tell you, there's a lot of interesting people in Toronto. A story?? Fine, I'll tell you one.
So, one of the other Spanish Missionaries in Toronto is Elder Babbel. He is one of my favorite missionaries and my brother by birth (mission birth). For the longest time he'd always say, "I'm Lucy." In the girliest, high, girly voice (for an example, have Dad say it :). One day I asked Elder Babbel who "Lucy" is. He told me "he" is a transvestite (or a man that dresses and acts like a woman) from El Salvador, that one sent in a referral for the missionaries to come over, basically so "he" could flirt with them and probably other things (luckily they fled quickly). So yesterday, a woman from Salt Lake City called us to give us an online referral. We were excited because as Spanish missionaries, we don't get online referrals AND we had gotten another one a few days ago which turned out to be super solid. The lady on the phone was describing this lady who just asked for a visit from the missionaries and her name was Lucy Hernandez. She then gave us her phone number and address. My first thought was, "Lucy" isn't really a Spanish name, then my next thought was the Holy Ghost impersonating Elder Babbel saying "I'm Lucy." So I immediately called Elder Babbel and asked him what THE Lucy's last name was and he said he thinks it was "Hernandez." So we all started freaking out. Elder Babbel said he'd call her because he'd know his voice right off the bat. So he calls him and it goes straight to voice mail. Then Lucy calls Elder Babbel back and Elder Babbel makes the mistake of saying, "Hello, this is the Missionaries." Lucy then says, "Hello," then Elder Babbel hangs up the phone because he knows it's him. "Lucy," now knowing it's a missionary's number, calls him back like a dozen times and leaves a couple of voice mails talking about how he wants the handsome Elders to come over to his house and all this crap. AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Crazy stuff!! The adventures we have in Toronto.
Well on a happier note. One thing I have been talking about with a lot of people is the reason for church and church attendance. One of our solid members told us that he feels like his testimony deteriorates while at church because he's not in what he calls the "elite" group of members and people sometimes say mean things about others at church. When he said that, I thought, "Who Cares?! Church isn't about socialization, it's about the Sacrament!!" Luckily after talking with the Bishop, the member came this last Sunday. And later this week, I was talking with an older woman on the Subway and she told me that church is all about socialization and she doesn't need that anymore. I paused and thought. Then I said "Although socialization is a plus, our church focuses on Ordinances and Covenants, or ways we can come close to God and make it back to Heaven." And it's true. But sometimes we need to realize that. We need to realize that church is not about meeting our group of friends and forming cliques, but "everything we do in this church is to help people get to the temple" (quote from an apostle). Everything. It's all for Salvation. Not Popularity. I LOVE our church because it is so focused on Eternal Life. It really is the goal for everyone. I Love you all and hope to see you all in the Celestial Kingdom. :) Chao!!