Letter from Tacoma #26: April 25, 2016

 t feels really weird being the only one out of my siblings that's currently out on a mission. It isn't bad, per say, but it just feels... strange. Of course, maybe that's what I get for not starting my mission papers earlier. Though now that I think about it anyways, I'd still have this feeling even then, so oh well.

Hey everybody!

This first off, transfers have come, and I'm loving where I am now. I'm currently down in Mountain View Ward, which is a combination of Toledo and Winlock Wards, just south of Centralia. This is what most of the area I cover looks like:

That's right, I'm now in...

FARMVILLE! (dun-dun-DUN!)

Joke Dedicated to Robin Heuer (AKA. My other Mom)

Anyways, jokes aside, I'm loving the new area! In the more open parts of the area, you can look to the left and see Mt. Rainier, a little tinier than what it looked like back in Lakewood. But then you look to the right and you just see the outrageous majesty of Mt. St. Helens! Guess that's why they call it Mountain View... wait, I already said that last letter, didn't I?

Oh well. I've got a new companion. His name is Elder Jensen, and he's been in the mission for a year and a half now. But the funny thing is, he's... hm, how do I describe him... Oh I know! Just combine Ryan Seamons and me together, and that's Elder Jensen. He's nerdy, but very good with computers. He loves to talk, but he's just about as talkative to strangers as I am. We have quite a bit in common, but there's still enough of a difference that I have to figure out how to work with him.

The people in the ward are nice though. They're all country/farmer folk, which means they are all very hard working, they're very honest, they appreciate any kind of conversation with others, and they actually know their neighbors much better than most people in city do about theirs. And so far, every ward member I've talked to has a great sense of humor... even when they see my name and joke, "Hey, Moe, where's Larry and Curly?" I swear, I've heard enough Three Stooges jokes to last me a lifetime.

Really the only hard parts about this area are going to be moving our apartment this Saturday (Since the ward boundaries changed, our current place of residency is out of our area, oops!), and also the fact that there are a lot of baptist churches down here. It's like the mini bible belt, but worse! From what the members have told us, and also the actions of said baptists prove this to, they have whole classes and pamphlets in their churches all about how to avoid mormons and how to bash us, too. Hopefully I've learned enough about patience to do just as well here as I would anywhere else, because I know that'll start to get annoying.

But yeah, this is really a beautiful area! I'll be sure to send pictures of the view with this letter. Also, it seems that Toledo here has a mini airport... and you want to know what the main business for that place is?   SKYDIVE TOLEDO! HAHA! I know what I'm gonna do on a return visit to my mission. I'm sure Ben will be joining me for that trip too!

Congratulations for making it home, Kylie! Now it's back to normal life, so I hope you make an easy transition!

And Ben! Learn to love roleplays while you're in the MTC! To this day, I still hate roleplaying, but at least I can do it. I mostly blame that on my MTC comp, but also on myself, because I was getting frustrated through it. Not a good way to start off a process that'll be used throughout the rest of the mission.

Pictures; 

Scenery

More Scenery

And Me! 

Love you all!

Thanks for reading!

Elder R. Austin Moe