Compilation for April 27, 2015

[Mom note: Elder Payne wasn't able to write much this week -- perhaps the fact that he spent his p-day time trying to get his ATM card working so he could buy a few groceries. All part of the fun! Here are few things he did say to us...]

Yeah! I'm staying in Riverhead with elder Cottle. *sighhh oh well!

I'll keep working hard!

Haha I have so many tips for Jeff for his mission. He's gonna have a much easier time than me hahaha

Got an email from Kelli Jenkins today. That was cool.

The mission is great. I'm having a blast. Time is flying! Fourteen transfers left to go! I come home December sixth 2016 by the way. A little soon to make plans, but, oh well!

Love you!

Hey y'all!

Hey everyone! 

Great week in Riverhead. Today starts the last week of the transfer. I also had my four month mark this last Friday! Crazy to think I've already been out that long. 1/6th of the way. Definitely makes me want to push harder and work harder. Next Monday I will officially be done training. I will be very very glad to be done with that. I will also find out if I'm leaving Riverhead yet. That's pretty exciting! Elder Purcell, an English speaking missionary here has been telling me some crazy stories about Jamaica Queens. Sounds like the place for me! Definitely one of the more dangerous places here, but it's probably still okay (you're welcome mom). I'm super excited to see more of the city. Just the parts I have seen are crazy. Just a tiny bit different than good ol Boise Idaho. 

This week has been a little disappointing because we got dropped by about five super promising investigators. I guess that's how it goes sometimes! Soccer this week was also kind of a flop. We invited around twenty or so people and one person showed. We played hard none the less! Fútbol is something that I'm getting better at slowly, but I'm enjoying it a lot! 

I. Love. Spanish. Because I'm in the states I didn't really think I would get to learn it as well as other people. Wrong! I think that here in NYC I have an advantage over most missionaries! Por ejemplo: so far today I have talked to four Guatemalans, a Columbian and a Dominican in target! Yesterday I talked to some Hondurans, Ecuadorians, el Salvadorians, a Mexican family, and some Colombians. I get to hear every Spanish dialect there is! And yes they're all very different. I love learning new words and new better ways to say things. In the mtc you learn a lot of Spanish that helps you teach the lessons, but actually talking to people is completely different. I love it! It's great! The best thing ever is when we knock on a door and someone says, "no hablamos ingles." We say, "ah si esta bien por que hablamos español!" 

What's the news with Star Wars seven? I heard there was a new trailer for it. I hope it's good! If the movie ends up being bad, I'm gonna have to have a word with J.J. Abrams. Messing up Star Wars is like insulting a close family member (yes we're all looking at you Jar-Jar). 

Fameeleee!

Hey mom!

I got the package you sent! I love the licorice of course and the peeps with frosting were definitely tasty. And probably healthy too!

I have a favor to ask! Kandice Nielson sent me a friend request on Facebook, which means that she either can now use Facebook in Peru, or she's home. We're on a Facebook reset right now and so I can't actually add her back right now, but could you send her a Facebook message and see how it's going and give her my email? Thanks!

Also, is that card good to use today? I wanna get Jeff something for his birthday! I would use some of my food money because I have a ton left over because I'm vey frugal, but we're not allowed to do that...

So anyways, let me know on that.

I don't have any pictures of soccer from Saturday because all 20 people we invited didn't show.... But we're going to the air force base with a para rescue guy! (Those are the guys that help extract SEALs in hot combat) His name is Joe Piccoli (very Italian) and he is awesome! I'll have lots of good pictures from that, although not from the camera because I don't have a way to get them off as of yet. Okay talk to you more later!

Love,

Dolor

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Hey I don't really have time to write much today. We spent almost all day at the Air Force base with Joe Piccoli, a PJ. PJs are the air forces special forces. They are basically combat medics that get dropped in to save navy seals and stuff like that. Very very legit. We got to see the cages, which I've always heard about but never seen. That's where they store all of their equipment. Each pj gets his own cage, and he maintains all of his own gear. It was all very cool. Stuff like that has always interested me, and being there in it all made me think, "would this be something I would want to do?" Oh, for those who don't know what PJs are at all, there are about 5000 SEALs but only about 400 PJs. Very elite. 

We've had kind of a slow disappointing week this week, but I can't complain at all because I know for a fact that there are a lot harder missions than this one! Here I have a very slim chance of getting run over by someone on a motorcycle. When I hear stories like that it just makes me want to work harder because I have it so easy here in the states. I also have unlimited respect for missionaries serving in dangerous places, and places that it's difficult just to get enough food. Keep them in your prayers!

I promise more pictures next week, but here's some silly selfies looking back at the mainland states.

Yes it was very cold. And windy.

Paranguaracutirimicuaro! <- Spanish tongue twister!

Heyo!

What's going on? How is everyone doing?

Riverhead is doing great. The weather is finally treating us well. We played soccer again this Saturday and it was awesome! We had a great turnout. The De Leon family came as well as Wilbur, a guy from El Salvador! It was a ton of fun. We're doing it again next week! It's a great opportunity we have to build trust and friendships with the people here. Also learning soccer is a challenge I'm really enjoying.

Slowly getting better! I am getting into really good shape here. We also wake up every morning at six and go play soccer just with the missionaries here in the district to practice for playing against the Hispanos! They're all really good. Probably because it's their sport!

General conference was great! Those old guys are all really inspired.

Loved the focus that they had on strengthening families. That's definitely becoming more and more important all the time! I would invite everyone to pick one or two principles that were taught and focus on them as a family. Out here in NYC, people NEED some of the things that were taught this conference. They would have much easier lives if they followed some of the principles of this church. Most people look at the stuff we do as limiting factors, but in reality, they lead to a huge increase of quality of living, as well as more happiness. People here work all day, everyday, and they pretty much never make ends meet. I've never been around a group of more hardworking people, but they need something more! Work and earning money doesn't take care of everything.

This week we hung out with the Arreola family. They are members here in Riverhead. The dad is from Guatemala and the wife is from Honduras.

(She has a gangster accent) They are both incredibly committed to the church here, even though they are struggling to provide for their family. Ana Arreola is on fire! She will do anything to help support this little branch. She always invites us over to eat, and always introduces us to her friends. We love her and her family a lot. Really good people.

I will start trying to do better taking pictures. I will definitely have pictures from Saturday soccer next week, and maybe some other good stuff. I'm already halfway through my second transfer! I'll be done training in a couple weeks. Definitely will be glad to have that behind me. Here's to getting moved to the city next transfer! It's a very high possibility!

Alright I'll talk to y'all later!

Peace,

Elder Dolor