Wednesday, May 25, 2011

A Baptism Soon?

Hey all,

Your letters were great as always and It's good to here that all is going well in Calgary and that the weather is getting better.  Things here are going quite well.  We had the interview for baptism with one of our investigators and now we're just working out the kinks and getting the date and everything else ready.  Which is freakin awesome!  His name is Ricardo, he's the one that got married a couple of weekends ago and now he's ready for baptism, so that’s good.  It’ll be great for the entire family.  Aside from that we've been working to find more new investigators and teach as many people as we can.  Finally, the weather has cleared up a little here too.  It's been overcast for the last 8 days or so and raining everyday too.  We got back in contact with Nube the other day and found out that she's been going through a really hard time.  Her ex-husband is being a jerk.  He is planning on going back to Ecuador and leaving her with no support money for the kids. The government here is also talking about sending her son back to Ecuador, even though she is legal and he was born here.  Finally, her mom recently contracted cancer.  So suffice it to say, she could really use some prayers and I'm sure she would appreciate it if you'd include her in your prayers. 

I can’t remember if I've told you about this one guy that lives in Peekskill.  I saw him my first week here in the area and he always starts talking to himself or whoever else, about how dumb the Mormons are and blah blah blah.  It's really kinda funny and I look forward to the times when he sees us and walks past us.  It's gotten even funnier recently because he's changed from Mormon mode to JW mode.  Now he assumes we're JW's and talks bad about them when he sees us, which I have no problem with, it's almost like he's working to help us and remove the interest in the JW church that others might have, especially seeing as New York is like the JW Utah. 

Another funny thing that happened today is that Elder Fotu decided to clean the bathroom and grabbed a bottle that he though was 409 (like fantastic) and then sprayed it all over the bathroom.  He then noticed that someone had written “PER” on the bottle.  After he sprayed it he came to ask me what “PER” meant?  To which I responded.  "You didn't spray that did you?  That's permethrin."  (A really dangerous pesticide that if you spray indoors you have to leave the house for the whole day.) So now we're stuck outside with nothin really to do. Elder Fotu also told me after the fact, that permethrin is illegal in NY, but since the Church is an  organization, they get to use it.  So yeah, just an event that I figured I'd share with you.  I thought it was kinda funny.

As for Chester I think I know what the problem is.  He misses me.  Duh, it's because I've been gone, he never tried to run away before I left did he?  I didn't think so, so that must be the only reasonable answer.  You’ll just have to wait for about 16 more months and then it'll be alright again.  But hey, you have to give to him credit too; he's a pretty smart dog, having figured out how to open the gate.  You can’t really call him dumb, just a coward.  Just tell dad though that he really doesn't need a 3rd eye.  Maybe just try an electric collar.  I've met a couple of dogs here that it seems to work pretty well for.  Now as for dad and using my bike, that's totally cool, (as long as you buy it a new front fork.) JK, you can go ahead and use it.  It’s actually a very comfortable ride.  And as for your question about talks, I haven't given one yet.  I've been rather lucky and this ward really likes to use its members for most things and not the missionaries.  They feel that it strengthens the membership within the ward. 

The church uses Sprint for their phones and but I think the way you did things for me worked out quite well, just buying some international minutes.  Otherwise, I'd probably go with Verizon or something.  She shouldn't really need to be making a bunch of calls.  Texting is much easier and then if she does need to make a call, just keep it short.  Is Sarah going to bring my laptop with her?  Finally, I have faith in you dad, keep shedding those pounds.  I myself would like to put on 20lbs of muscle to bring me up to the 190-195 range, but that is rather challenging as a missionary because we really don't have control over our diet and not entirely enough time to sustain whatever muscle we do gain except from walking, which is even harder when you’re upstate and a lot more driving is involved.

Now finally, about my birthday.  I'm really not sure what I want, some ties would always be nice and to be a little more specific, ties that go with a blue or brown suit, and that aren't striped like [///] hope you get the idea.  But if they look really cool it's alright.  They don't need to be super conservative, like all red or blue... some different colors would be nice.  But I'll try and think some more over this next week and I'll let you know some more ideas in my next email.  Bye for now, 

Elder Dilling

P.S.  I got a ticket for turning left where there was a no turning sign that I dint see, so I'll have to use some money to pay that off.  The ticket doesn't tell me how much, and I'm going to court on the 31st.  I'll let you know what happens next week.  Have a good one.