Letter from Tacoma #2: November 9, 2015

Hey everyone! Guess what? I actually have a full hour to write emails today, so now I can throw in everything I want to in this letter! YAY!

Well, second week is gone already out here in the Key Peninsula area, and I'm extremely glad that it went quicker than my first week here. Just comes to show a mission always starts out mind-numbingly slow but picks up the pace the farther you go.

Ha, reminds me of my companion, Elder Hansen, when he describes his mission experience so far. He's been out here for a year and a half already but he says "The first month was slow, but then the second one kind of picked up a little bit. Then the third month came, and the next minute I looked at the calendar a whole year had gone by and it was already Summer again."

Elder Hansen is great, and I'm thankful that I could have him as my trainer/first comp. He's from Arkansas, and he's super obedient to the mission rules. He's a good example of a model missionary. Thankfully he's way better at social interaction than I am, so there's never an awkward silence around investigators or members. He has a pretty good sense of humor too, but he'll never deny the fact that even out here in the mission field, he's still pretty girl crazy. But luckily I don't have to tell him to focus on the work whenever a beautiful young woman walks by.

Still, I still trying to get ahold of the 'ropes' here in the Wa-Tac. Our 'apartment' we live at is a member's basement, and it's right next to a GIANT pond out back. They basically have a small lake in their backyard, and it doesn't help the smell of the house when they have three golden retrievers that love to take a swim in it whenever they can. There's a picture of what companion study usually looks like in the mornings attached to the bottom, with Elder Hansen there.

Word of caution to anyone about my area: Everyone and their dog, has a dog. Without fail, every house you knock on will bark back at you. It's kind of hilarious, actually. My companion loves it, since he's a huge fan of dogs in general.

Oh yeah, also last P-day I went and bought a pretty cheap SD card reader so I could send pictures home over email. Not too shabby, if I say so myself.

Anyways, the area out here is really beautiful, and I'll be attaching a few pictures I caught of the scenery. Some of them look pretty good after I messed with a few of the camera settings. Hope you like them!

But seriously, I don't think I've ever enjoyed Mom's or Dad's letters more than I do now. I love hearing what's going on with the rest of the family, but it's certainly different when you're not home and hearing everything that's going into their letters already. Also, thanks for the individual email, Kylie! Hope you don't run into anymore girl crazy guys, just don't come meet Elder Hansen here anytime soon.

Oh, hey Ryan! I know you'll be living it up in Disneyland by the time you read this, but glad to see you made it home safely! I'm still a bit sad I missed your homecoming, but I hope my little 'Welcome Home' package made it all better! You know, I seriously spoiled you with that, and I hope you enjoy a few of my games on the long car ride to Cali and back. I want to hear any funny stuff from adjusting back to life in the states, or even just shenanigans between you, Jake, and Micheal! I really miss the times when all of you guys were around to liven up the place like no one else could... except maybe Krista could...

Anyways, hey, nice pictures! However, Brandon, you seriously need to shave. It looks like you're growing a rug on your face.

It's great to hear from home... hint, hint, hint, hint. (I want to be getting letters from more than just Mom, Dad, and Kylie, okay? I'm looking at you, my other brethren, sisters, and friends!... Um, when you have time, of course, that is...)

My time is growing short here, so I'll wrap this letter home up. I'm loving it here! The members are super nice, always so generous to us missionaries and always ready to help us invite others to the gospel. Right now Elder Hansen and I have this one investigator on date for Baptism this Saturday, so we're hoping he goes through with it! But I'm also honestly amazed as of now. There were a few houses we knocked on, and with some of these people, geez, I've never seen anyone look so happy that we handed them a Book of Mormon. It's a miraculous feeling, and I can't wait to have other experiences like those.

Also, Kylie, "does it snow in Tacoma"? I'm not actually sure, but I hear it rains everyday, even in Winter. Glad I have a heavy raincoat for that! 

Well, that's all for me,

Thanks for reading!

-- 

Elder R. Austin Moe