"So, I guess this should be news to all of you, but I got transferred. Elder Jensen got a training call on Wednesday night, so I knew I was going somewhere at that point, but didn't find out where I was ending up until Saturday night (meanwhile I was super impatient about finding out where I was going). So, I'll tell you where I ended up at that point mwahahahahaha I'LL MAKE YOU ALL WAIT.
Ahem. anyhow, Wednesday, after emailing we went to the 9/11 memorial again and enjoyed that, and after that . . . it apparently wasn't particularly significant so I think we next went to Alex and read with him as well as helped him with his English. We then went home and started planning and then the phone rang with the caller ID of "Mission Office," so Higbee and Kroff came running out of their room while Jensen picked up the phone. "Hi President!" "I sure hope that you're wanting to talk to Elder Smith." ". . . Well, ok then." So yeah, I'm not training, but he is! So then I started getting super anxious about where I was ending up.
Thursday, we had studies, and then had a lesson with David (the blind less-active guy), and found out that he suffered from a stroke at one point, which led to him losing his sight as well as some memory loss. He's actually an endowed member, but has forgotten most everything that's happened and a lot of the gospel-related stories and some doctrine. So that'll be the missionaries’ job for a while, helping him to relearn what he already knew. We left there, and then started on our way to the 15th street chapel, and we talked to a lady named Dina along the way and got her phone number at least. We then got to the chapel and did our weekly planning, and then went out and played basketball with Alex up at 87th. We then trekked back down, had dinner, and then went home.
Friday, we got up at 5:00 (blech), and left by 6 to head up to Harlem to split with Elders Rutland and Kia (Elder Jensen needed to go with someone to the trainer's meeting, and Elder Kia was the closest one), so we did that. Elder Rutland is going home tomorrow (he's all done with his 2 years), so it was fun being able to be with him relatively close to when he was leaving. He's super nice and funny, so it was an enjoyable experience. We had studies together, and then went to a lesson with Vlad (poor Elder Rutland), and then we went to two lunch appointments back to back (so much foooood), and then we came back down to the West Side of Manhattan and visited one of his converts, then went to an appointment at a McDonalds, then met back up with Elders Jensen and Kia. We then went over to the Winders for dinner, and then went home.
Saturday, we had personal study and then went to correlation meeting (guess what we talked about). We then went over to our lesson with Anthony and broke the news to them that I was leaving (Norka was NOT happy), and then we took a little bit of a break because Elder Jensen's knees are killing him (hereditary knee problems aggravated by the walking/stair climbing, he may have to go home for scans and stuff as we found out yesterday), and then we went over to the 15th street chapel to interview Sisters Jensen and Roberts. After that, we went down to dinner at the Bennions, and then came home. Once we were home, we found out where everyone was going. I'll start off with other people first (make you wait even longer bwahahahaha), anyhow, Elder Higbee got released as a zone leader (he's been one for over a year) and is “whitewashing” (aka both he and his companion are new to the area) in Monticello, a podunct little town at the opposite end of the mission, and he'll also be teaching English to a freshly trained missionary from Spain named Elder Lopez (thank heavens that wasn't me). Sister Jensen (not Hermana) is being sent up to Harlem, and Hermana Laititi is getting sent to Grand Concourse in the Bronx. Ok, that covers pretty much everyone I've ever talked about, so onto me. I'm going up to New Rochelle (the place that Elder Jensen just was) to be with Elder Jessee, who is actually younger in the mission than I am (he just finished training, and he was trained by Elder Kroff). So this'll be fun. I'll talk more about it once I'm actually there though!
Anyhow, Sunday we had studies, then went to church, went to ward council, then both Elder Jensen and I got to bear our testimonies in sacrament meeting. We then went to Sunday School, and then to Priesthood. We also helped a little bit in Primary, as they were having a lesson on missionary work and they used us kind of as an object lesson, and had us answer questions. It was pretty fun. After church, we went to the mini correlation meeting that we have, and then interviewed the Hermanas. We then went to the Kell's (Sister Kell and her husband are German!), and their oldest daughter is about to leave for her mission in Santa Rosa, California (Spanish speaking). We then traveled home.
Monday, we had a district breakfast of chocolate chip waffles with Nutella, whipped cream, strawberries, syrup, and so forth (yum). We then had district meeting, which was about how we can receive help from prayer and such. We then had lunch and took pictures as a zone, and then we went over to Norka's to say goodbye and get fed one more time (sheesh), took some pictures there, and then went from there back home to start cleaning the apartment and packing. We did that for a while, and then went to dinner at the Dickens' (they made some homemade sort of spaghetti Bolognese tasting sauce over big spinach ravioli along with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, it was soooooo good), and then we came home.
Tuesday, we got up, did our studies, packed some more, did laundry and then packed that, and then Elder Jensen had some back and forth calls between himself and President Morgan over his knees (Elder Jensen has pretty bad knees), and then we met up with the Hermanas and went to dinner at the Gibbons'."
OK, so now that you've read what I had originally, here's what occurred last night. So, last night, we got a call from President Morgan. Elder Jensen has an appointment for his knees on Monday of next week. After they prayed about the situation, the decision was made that I'm remaining in the area for at least another 6 weeks if not longer. Elder Jensen is no longer training, Elder Jessee is receiving his trainee, and if Elder Jensen has to go home, I get Elder Filoso from the ASL program. So basically, everything just got thrown in a blender. Sigh. So sorry to kinda fake you guys out with the beginning of the email, I was just too lazy to rewrite the entire thing.
So, hope you all have a good week, so I'll talk to you all later.
Elder Ralph Smith
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