20 Years of Good Times written July 22, 2013
Another week down here in Midwood. This was a pretty uneventful week, except for turning 20 of course on July 18th. That was a good day.
You asked about my experience learning Spanish in Brooklyn....In some ways it's harder to learn Spanish with English all around, but it's also better in other ways. It makes it a little slower to happen, but I find that it embeds it better in your mind. Because I have to use both languages so much, it all cements it easier.
Spanish has been a real struggle in our district because our missionaries are so young here. Elder Goates and I are the only ones who are confidently fluent. The other four are all pretty new and still struggling. So I decided to hold district language studies every day for an hour. Everybody meets at the church at like 11:30 and then Elder Goates or I teach a lesson on Spanish. It has been really helpful, we have come a long way in this transfer alone. And it helps me learn more because to teach something well, you have to really understand it. It has been a cool experience.
So the week got started with another exchange last Tuesday. This time I was with
Elder Adams. We did a bunch of lookups and had zero success. Just like
most normal days in Midwood. We did have a good district meeting that
day where we provided cookies and drinks though. That was a definite
success.
Wednesday we got started with service in Prospect Park. Then
we moved on to have a lesson with a less active that I had never met
before. It was the 20 year old son of an active member. He got baptized a
year or so ago. Then he put on a lot of weight. Like a lot. He moved to
Columbia for a year and got involved in this huge weight loss program.
He lost something like 250 pounds over that year. He is doing much
better now, although he still has a lot of issues with the excess skin.
It would be great to have him come back to church, but he has a father
who isn't exactly keen on the LDS church. It's a shame, but we're going
to keep working with him.
Thursday was a way fun day. The sisters in my district threw a
district birthday party for me and they made a chocolate cake. We
partied for a bit and then headed out to do an elliptical activity. We
gave out compliments again. It's one of my favorite activities because
we just get to help people smile for an hour. Help them feel God's love
for them. It's great.
On Friday,
we had our movie night. Although it turned out to be a fiasco this
time. The ward wanted to combine it with a homecoming party for a return
missionary in another ward. A guy who doesn't really speak Spanish.
They thought it would be a good idea to combine with the movie night. So
I had a bunch of different members lined up to bring food and the
movie. And nobody showed up on time. We even moved the time back this
week to help people show up on time. Nothing. The food was an hour late.
On the upside, nobody actually came for the movie night. I guess that's
an upside. It's kind of a downside. Everyone there was members there
for the party. So that worked out. We didn't even end up watching the
movie, we just ate the food and chatted with the missionary.
Saturday we had a singing street sweep in a different area in
our zone. They asked us to come out and help them. The coolest part was
that they rolled out a piano into the street for me to play on. I took
ample advantage of the opportunity to play all sorts of songs. Including
the hymns that they asked me to play. It was a really fun activity and
it sounds like it was really successful for them.
Sunday was pretty uneventful. We're doing really well out here.
Things are slow, but I think things are still improving here in Midwood.
Thanks for all the birthday wishes and for all your love and support!
Love,
Elder Erickson
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