ALONZI!

I don't really get the title of this post, but it's what Ryan's latest email subject heading was, so we'll go with it. Let's get down to the meat of the email, shall we? It's a loong one, so settle in with some popcorn and enjoy!

Good stories? How about my first sunday in OOOOOOOKlahoma!?!? Well, on my first exchange in Miami, OK (which i found out is an indian tribe, which explains the odd pronounciation!) Elder Fernelius and i found a man named Roy, who was baptized when he was 8, but fell away shortly after, and has a wife and two kids. Great guy! Loves his family very much! Short as a stump, but has a huge heart! Anywho, we were rather bold with him, and this sunday he came to church! WOW, it was so exciting! He has two daughters, Sophia 2, and Addy 6, and BOY HOWDY, they were a handful! Elder Horch (that's how it's spelled, sounds like Cork though ;) ) sat with an investigator who said he would try to show up, and so i sat with Roy and his family! Well, Elder Horch and i were well prepared for the little girls! We had stickers, and crayons, and colored paper, and when they got sick of coloring blank paper, I drew pictures and gave it to Addy to color, and eventually gave up trying to please sophia with a picture, grabbed a grey crayon, and just colored with her on the bench. But it was FANTASTIC!!!! The girls LOVED primary/pre-school, and Roy and Jessica (his wife) said "we'll see you next week, if not sooner!" to some members they knew! So they were already planning on coming to conference! Woooo hoooo!!!!! :) That did my ol' heart good.

So, that's about it for good Stories, i've only been in Miami since... friday. :) Send everything to my Miami address if not the mission home until we actually move, because we're filling out a change of address form. :)

Details? Well, apparently Miami is like... a small city/town. At least it is considered that in the mission. Which makes Granby a small piece of farm dirt size-wise! But at Church, it was so nice! The high-councilman was a member from Granby, AND, his speaker/friend/thing was Matt Hansen who is one of the many sons of the Hansens who we lived with in Miami, though Matt lives in Monette. :) OH! Question for ya'll, did mom ever blow up the mission map, and hang it up? If not, give her grief until she does, and if she has, make her something yummy like a smoothie! It was a lovely Sunday treat because when Matt saw me he greated me warmly, and i felt a bit more comfortable in the Miami Ward. Strangely enough though, Granby's Ward Building might as well be a stake center comparatively! Miami is TINY, and apparently most of the wards are the same size as Miami. Granby has the highest activity rate in the ward, but Heavenly Father has good things in store for Miami, so that's exciting!

The Area is... Large. The people aren't a warm, because they've got the small city cramped attitude, but they don't know their neighbors, and are a very closed off people. The people in Oklahoma are very different from the people in Missouri, ("mizzurah" if you're living in Oklahoma or Arkansas :) ) I LOVE being in Oklahoma! The wind really does come sweeping down the plains! The wind is not only a force of terror, and nature here, it is a beautiful brush that paints the skies with clouds, and light, dazzling any quiet soul who takes the time to slow down, smell the air, and look at the sky. Unfortunately not too many people in Miami are like that. Our area covers a few smaller towns WAY out in the boonies, and there the people are much quieter, and slower, kinda like Granby, i like it in those towns. Like Welch, strange name, nice people. :)

Elder Horch is AMAZING! He's like... completely different from Elder Day, and we get along very well. He's from Wilsonville, Oregon, right by Portland. He's a great guy! He looks chinese, or native somehow, but both his parents are white, and of his 5 siblings only one is dark like him, the rest vary from him - bright blonde curls. He's very wise, and if i stay in Miami i'll be his last companion. He's an incredible teacher, and is very knowledgable! And, he does it in a way that doesn't make me feel stupid, so that's nice too! :D One more thing to add to a list of many things i want to learn from him. We'll be moving to the Bakery apartment soon, and i'm super excited, i've been living out of my suitecase for a while, and it's not the most effective, not gonna lie. We're going to try and get hammocks for beds in case our beds don't fit, but we'll see how that goes. :) Elder Horch is very very organized, very smart, definitely a humble type A, math type. Great thinker, great missionary. Elder Horch is VERY funny! Like, hilarious!

I've resolved to eat more healthy after i ate an entire thing of stuffing, and then looked at the sodium count. Thus bringing about the quote Elder Horch and i say quite oft, "Can you measure salt in grams? .. .. .. .. .. Am i going to die?"

Family, I write family, because i esteem you ALL as such, in all honesty, the Church IS true. The Spirit made it known to me long before i arrived at the MTC, but this experience is only serving to strengthen my testimony. I may not know Miami well, but i love the people in it, and all the people in Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas! I love all of you! I love serving the Lord! I wonder how I'LL look, when I come again? The earth will be white, with drifted snow, the earth will not know spring. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior, and i have a personal relationship with him. I know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. I KNOW the Book of Mormom is the word of God. It is wonderful, and delicious.