Letter from Tacoma #18: February 29, 2016

Hahahahahaha! I can't believe it, Mom! There's finally a movie for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies?!?! Well, it's about time! My English teacher had the book it was based off of, but I never was able to read it. But now there's a movie? Ah, man! I gotta see that after I get home in October 2017, for all the kicks and giggles. And even more awesome? Matt Smith is in it! I think a movie is already awesome when it has Doctor Who as one of the characters.

Although, Dad did say it was kind of dumb in his letter, so it sounds right up my alley to put on my bucket list. 

But what's this? A new studio? Finally! I was wondering when we'd get out of the Rec Center. I hope we won't be moving the studio again before I get back, like we have before. This one actually looks pretty cool.

Anyways, this has been a pretty slow week in the way of teaching people. Almost all of our investigators have been busy this week, and they wouldn't be able to meet us until after next transfer. But guess what? Transfers are tomorrow, and it turns out that I'm being transferred to Lakewood, just the area next door to Gravelly Lake.

So, I'm busy packing tonight, because tomorrow's the day I leave. So, if anyone has any mail to send me, wait until I've got an actual address... though I might just give everyone the Mission Office's address, because I can easily pick up mail there once a week. I'll think about it and get back to you guys about that next week.

But this week, even though it was slow and almost no one wanted to talk to us, we actually managed to still have fun. A word of advice to everyone leaving on a mission: Become best friends with your companion, because then you have a sure-fire way to stay happy the whole day and have fun even when you have nothing to do, because most likely, they'll find something to do.

Don't worry, Elder Bosshardt and I haven't done anything too stupid... yet. Though I'm kind of sad I won't be his companion anymore, because he's been super fun to work with, even if it has only been two weeks. He's big into sports, and just from the way he is, I know he's the kind of guy Brandon would get along with right off the bat (ROFL, Sports, bat).

Oh yeah, to finish off this transfer, we got to do something pretty cool yesterday. Near the end of the night, some members, an older couple named the Robinson's, invited us over to their place so they could give us a tour of their house... and their house isn't a normal house. It's the biggest mansion in Lakewood, appropriately named: Thornewood Castle.

​You can see Elder Bosshardt standing at the front of it there. The place is so big, I'd  never be able to get it all fit into a single picture, unless I were to take a picture from an aerial view. The place is huge!!!

So we got to take a tour of this place, and even in a rushed tour from room to room, we were still in there for over an hour. Of course, the Robinson's don't use every room in the castle, so they have about ten bedrooms they rent out to people who want to stay temporarily. I got to take a lot of pictures, so I'll send a few of those in separate emails in a bit.

Though the interesting story about this house is that it was originally built in England at least a hundred years ago, before some rich guy bought it and had it deconstructed and shipped over to Washington, before the Panama Canal was built. That means the ships had to sail beneath South America and back up and into the Puget Sound, before this house was reconstructed again here. The place is very old, and it has come a long way.

Dining Room

The Garden

Selfie

Main Room (Taken from the stairs)

Gathered around the fireplace

The Red Room (US Presidents Taft and Roosevelt actually stayed in this room)

The Blue Room

The  Bathroom

The Patriot Room

The Library

The Honeymoon Suite

Giant Outdoor chess set

The view of American Lake is pretty good too!

Also, Kind of off topic, but you know that cake mix you sent for my birthday, Mom?  Well, a member showed me how to make cookies out of it, and they came out pretty good.  My first attempt at cake batter cookies.  They were delicious! 

Anyways, to close off this letter, yesterday was Ward Conference, and all the church meetings had a common theme: The wise man built his house upon a rock. The Stake President even had everyone sing the primary song during third hour, which was pretty funny. But even if it is a simple lesson, or a simple concept, it is true. In all reality, the best rock to build your testimony on, I think, is the Book of Mormon, because it is truth and physical evidence of God's work in these Latter-Days. This simple, yet complex, book has stood the test of time for almost two centuries, being attacked in vain, but never defeated. The reason why is because it, like we should be, is built upon the rock of our redeemer, Jesus Christ.

I love you all!

Thanks for reading!

Elder R. Austin Moe