Holy Snot It's Cold!!

Good Morning!

Holy snot, first of all i have to say that it has been so cold over
the past couple days. Yesterday was really bad. It was a grand total
of 10 degrees when we left our apartment to go to ward council, with
the wind blowing about 20 miles an hour. The wind didn't stop at all.
After church we tried to check on some people and invite them to a
fireside tonight and i didn't think to put on my hat or scarf and we

were only out in it for about 10 minutes, but by the time i got back
into our car...my whole body hurt from the cold. Its not just cold,
but the humidity and the wind just intensified it.

So now to some of the weeks endeavors. Sending home 2 comps in a row
is difficult. Accompanying them to the departing activities makes it
worse. So on Wednesday they had their departing temple trip so we left
our apartment at about 7 after we had some other missionaries show up
to go to the mission. The only reason we went with them is because I
had an appointment at 12 to get a hitch put onto our car. So we get
there, and we were waiting for people to show up to open the office. I
call the uhaul place and they told me they had no record of our
appointment, and the hitch guy wasn't working that day either. We were
20 miles away from our area with nothing to do for about 6 hours, and
I was with a random other missionary. I had talked to a few other
missionaries about going to lunch. Elder Karbach, and Elder Wilson.
One former companion, and another a really good friend. We ended up
spending the day with them. We went to lunch at a buffet. I'm pretty
sure buffets cringe when they see us walk in because they know we
could probably eat them out of business.

We spent 2 hours eating. It wasn't to bad of a price so that was good.
When we were eating they were telling me about about a place they
found with a bunch of graffiti and they showed some pictures. I was
really interested so we went and walked around it for a little bit.
Took some sweet pictures. I wanted to make a post about one but I
couldn't think of anything. Eventually I thought of something and it
turned out really good. I'm pretty proud of it. We then had to trek
back to Burke to pick them up. Then Elder Ames told us they didn't
have a ride back to Leesburg where they lived so we had to drive all
the way out there, then finally made it home at 5:30. I drove a total
of 130 miles that day. Which isn't that bad except for the fact that
it was all stop and go, not to mention Virginia traffic.

That night we went on exchanges with our district leader. I went with
his companion Elder Wickham. He is new this transfer so he still has
that greenie Fire and very gung-ho about everything. A little
overwhelming at times but still a good kid.

Thursday we went on exchanges with our zone leaders. I went with Elder
Gemar who has been out about 20 months. He is from Saratoga springs
but has lived all over Utah and salt lake county. We checked on a few
people...no success. Then he had a Skype lesson that he taught. That
night they had the Mission leadership conference call. So I listened
into that. Sometimes it bugs me all the new stuff that they try and
all of the new rules. But that's okay. Endurance is key. Missions are
meant to be enjoyed, but sometimes it's all I can do to endure.

We picked up another missionary on Friday since he was on an exchange
and they are currently in a tri-companionship. We went to lunch at SAMs
club then re exchanged.

Saturday was a very interesting day. We had Elder Johnson's departing
interview. We again had to drive all the way to Burke. After his
appointment we had set up to have the hitch installed that day. We
drove there and dropped off the car. We were hungry and wanted some
lunch. Elder Johnson had served near that area so he said there was a
McDonald's not to far. We ended up walking 4 miles there, then 4 miles
back. My feet hurt so bad. He didn't think it was that far, but that's
ok because we had a good time. Eventually made it back again at about
5.

I think this has been one of my longest letters. I am excited to get a
new companion. Elder Johnson has been my longest comp. We have been
together for 13 weeks. I only have 5 transfers left so it seems like
things are starting to come to a close, but I still have a while.
That's crazy that Spencer's time got cut by a month. I know that won't
happen to me. Are they more excited or bummed that it won't be 24
months? I think I would have mixed emotions.

Well I hope you enjoyed this novel. I probably won't ever wrote that
long of an email ever again. I don't know we will see. Hope everybody
is doing good.

Love you!