83rd Epistle from Elder Kaleb Erickson serving in Patchogue, New York

Back in Brooklyn     written  March 31, 2014

This was a week full of concerts and good times. We got invited to another family home evening last week. We were asked to teach the lesson, so we brought this object lesson about making time for God in our lives. It was a cool lesson. There was a lot of Spanish thrown around at this event. I was kind of lost at points with four or five people all trying to talk over each other. It was insane. At the end we had some Columbian desserts. There were Columbian empanadas and some interesting cheese bread. We got cups full of this hot drink made from sugar cane, or panela in Spanish. It was pretty rough. They thought it would be a good idea to bring out a chunk of condensed sugar cane and have me eat it with a stick of cheese. Apparently that's a tasty snack in Columbia. I have to admit, I would not recommend it for an after school snack. We ended the night with a round of charades. It was a fun night.

Nothing new with the English classes, but on Wednesday I had a dress rehearsal for the concert this week. It was at the bottom of Brooklyn, so we had a decently long drive ahead of us. It was fun to see all my friends again at the rehearsal. I played for three people, Elder Goates, Sister Franklin, and Sister Blosil, all of whom I served with in Midwood. So it was cool to see some friendly faces. The rehearsal ended at six and on our way home, we stopped by to visit a member that Elder Mendez knew in Brooklyn. She was kind enough to take us out to a Dominican restaurant for dinner. It was delicious, we hooked it up with some carne frito and tostones and morir soñando to drink. A meal fit for Dominican kings.

The next day was our break before the concert, so we headed over to find Nancy and Augustine. They weren't home, but their son Hermán was, so we decided to try teaching him again. He has changed a lot since Mason and I tried teaching him before. He was willing to listen and he opened up about how God and church had helped save his life in El Salvador and how he wants to return to church. We had a really nice lesson and taught him how to pray at the end. I think if he actually comes to church with his parents, he'll find the same feelings here that he did there.

Friday was the big day. Things got off to a rocky, late start, but went really well overall. It was a lot of fun to play in a concert again. Especially one that I didn't have to organize, but I only had to play in. That was sweet. We missed dinner, so on the way home we stopped at a Little Caesar's right next to Sunset Park in Brooklyn. Of course, we had to sit down in the park and enjoy our pizza while we admired the Manhattan skyline. You just can't pass up an opportunity like that.

Our Saturday afternoon was spent cleaning the church with some members. Then they made dinner for us afterwards. That was sweet. Some pork, rice, corn, and yucca plant. It was a decent meal. After that, we headed over to a less active's house, Hermano Ventura. He wasn't home, but we met with his nonmember wife and had a cool lesson with her. She is very shy and doesn't like to talk much, especially when her husband is home. So she actually opened up to us this time, which was cool. We almost got her to pray, but then Hermano Ventura came home and she shut down again. Maybe next time.

Sunday we had a baptism in the branch. Her name is Maria, the sister missionaries have been working with her for a while. She gave up smoking and coffee in two weeks, like a champ. It was really impressive. She is a very nice woman, I'm glad she's making good changes in her life. Her parents and her younger brother and sister came to see the baptism too. It was a nice event. After church we had lots of meetings, then we managed to get over to see the Ibarra family in the evening. We visited for a while and enjoyed some jamaica drink, which is apparently hibiscus flower seeped in water with sugar added. It's an interesting flavor, but I like it. Then we taught a lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I've never really had much participation from the Ibarras before, but they were way into this lesson, so that's
always a good thing. It was a nice evening.

And we're back to a normal week without random trips to the city. The next big event is the Easter concert I'm planning to do here in April. So it's time to get to work on that.

Love, Elder Erickson