Thursday, we had studies, and then we were going to have a lesson with Vlad, but the internet went down at the church for about 2 hours, so that royally messed that up. We then met up with the zone leaders for lunch, and then did our weekly planning. After that, we went and met up with Alex again and played some basketball with him and some neighborhood kids, and then went to dinner at the Williams', and went to home from there. While we were home, we received a call from someone who we didn't know but who was registered in our phone as Andre. So anyhow, he asked us if we would be willing to come over on Saturday and visit him and of course we accepted (it's not very often that you get appointments handed to you on a silver platter like that).
Friday, we did studies, and then were supposed to have a lesson with David (the blind guy), but when we got to his complex, he wasn't there, and he wouldn't respond to calls, so we kinda stayed around for a little bit just to make sure he wasn't there and taught his doorman Brian in the process and left him with a Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet. We went from there to an interview with Sisters Roberts and Matthews (Sister Matthews is 6'2", super duper tall), and then we went out to Union Square and did some contacting based on asking people to write down things that they were grateful for. I was pretty much universally rejected except by this one little old lady named Lisa who felt sorry enough for me to talk to me. We then went down to Chinatown for our dinner at a restaurant called "Vegetarian World" (a lot of promise in that name right there) as Hermana Hoyos is a vegetarian. Let's just say that that restaurant traumatized me out of any chance that existed of me becoming a vegetarian. It was literally the worst meal I've had yet on my mission, everything just tasted awful (even the stuff that I thought that was more on the safe side, like broccoli, I have no idea what they did to it) and most everything had the strangest (strange in a bad way) consistency. So that was a delightful meal of turnip cakes, mock ham, spring rolls, tofu, and more. Sigh. Afterwards, we went home and hoped we wouldn't die overnight.
Saturday, we did personal study, and then went to correlation meeting (Bro. Barrett was surprised to see me around), and talked even more about the Spanish Area Proselyting Focus. He then took us to lunch at Chipotle (I'm still not a fan of Mexican food), and then we went back to the church for our online event, which turned out to be us just teaching Isaac since he was the only one to show up. After that, we went down to the financial district to go see Andre (the guy who called on Thursday, and then proceeded to call us Friday and Saturday to make sure we were still coming as well), and we got to meet with him. He used to be in the Marines, is 53, and was being taught last summer by missionaries, and even had a baptismal date, but had a family emergency that he pretty much had to drop everything and go help with so it fell through, and then lost contact with the Elders due to that. He was super ready for us to come though, he wanted to read from the Book of Mormon with us (we read 2 Nephi 31, which he said he'd read before and liked), and then he asked us if he could be baptized on June 15. Blink blink. He also asked us about the addiction recovery program, due to having troubles with coffee, tea, and cigarettes. We barely had to even bring up anything, this guy was so ready. We set appointments with him for Tuesday and Thursday, and then went off to help the Engs disassemble and reassemble a loft bed. They then bought us pizza, which we took home and shared with the zone leaders.
Sunday, we did our studies, and then went to the 15th street chapel so Elder Jensen could interview one of the ASL Elder's baptismal candidates. We then went to church (boy, was everyone surprised to see me). Alex and Joseph were there, and sacrament meeting focused on family history. We then went and made a new dinner calendar, and then helped Bro. Webb fill up the baptismal font (one of his kids just turned 8). We went to priesthood after that, and then went to the baptism. It went really well, and the Webbs had actually invited one of their non-member neighbors to come with their kid, so we got to talk with them. Her name is Joy, and she loved it and was very touched by the love she felt there. Her son fell in love with the chorus from "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus" and wants his family to sing it every morning and evening. It was really cool. Afterwards we traveled down to the Myres' for dinner, and then came home.
Monday morning we had our studies, and then went to district meeting, had lunch, and then went off to Elder Jensen's doctor's appointment. He filled out some insurance forms and stuff, and then he went into the appointment while I sat around and twiddled my thumbs. The doctor said that there was nothing wrong with his knees and that there was nothing that he could do to help. Great. So we called President Morgan and told him what the doctor said, and President Morgan decided that the best idea would be to transfer Elder Jensen upstate. So we, innocently thinking this meant we'd find out where he'd be going in the next few days and then leave after that point, went on with our business and went down to the 15th street chapel and met up with the Hermanas to go to dinner. While we were there, we got a call from one of the APs telling Elder Jensen where he was going, and that he'd be leaving the next day, and that I'd be getting an Elder Hansen. Well. Um. Yeah. SO we went to dinner, and then came home to pack.
Tuesday, we got up and did laundry, then finished packing up Elder Jensen, and then went with the Zone Leaders to the temple and met up with the APs and sent Elder Jensen on his merry way. We then went to an appointment with one of their members and talked about patriarchal blessings, and then went to meet up with Jason. We found out that he's moving on the 5th to South Carolina. Great. We then went back to the apartment, where the APs dropped off Elder Hansen about 20 minutes after we got there. We helped him unpack, and then went to Taco Bell for dinner.
Today, we did our studies, and then came here. We're planning on heading up to the chapel for some basketball/ping pong, and then going and getting groceries and such, and then have a lesson with Alex and dinner with Bro. Brown on Roosevelt Island.
So yeah, fun week. Sigh. So, also, I feel pretty guilty having you people send all these letters and I keep forgetting to respond to them, so I'll respond to the latest ones now (at least some of the stuff that was brought up).
So, I was not near the buildings that exploded in Harlem, we live down in the Lower East Side (the corner of East 6th Street and Avenue D), so don't worry, I'm still here! Yeah, it was gas explosions.
Glad to hear most everything is going well on the homefront (hope the car stops being weird and that the new apartments don't cause too much trouble, thanks for the map but I remembered the spot). To address Papa's, I've actually been in contact a little with Justin Heftel and we're seeing if there's a time that he could come down to the city and hang out sometime. He lives up near where my almost new area was, at least in the same stake.
Sounds like you all have been having fun. Hope you have a great week!
Elder Ralph Smith
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