Mother's Day Aftermath

 

Family,

 

It was so nice to see you all yesterday! I like Skype. It is a cooler experience than just calling. I could see you well, but when my companion got on, I found out I could have made you bigger during my call. Oh well. I am glad you are all well.

 

So- just some random tidbits about this week. A few days ago, we went to go get gas. We pulled up and my companion went to start pumping. Then this guy came out of the building and stopped him. It turns out it was a full-service gas station. The man pumped our gas for us while we talked to him (he did not clean our windshield) and then we went inside and payed. I did not know gas stations like that existed anymore. I felt fancy. I also felt old-fashioned at the same time. It was unique feeling.

 

Jose Soto and his wife have fallen off the face of the earth. We have called them many times and stopped by but cannot seem to get ahold of them. It is a little disheartening. On Saturday we called and his wife answered and we invited them to church and a ward activity, but they did not come. We are going to keep stopping by when we can and hope for the best. Our area covers a lot of area. We go to Council Bluffs Iowa every other day or so, and that is where he lives. If you are corious about our area, you can look at a map- We have everything south of the I-80 and Council Bluffs. The North Elders have everything else.

 

Saturday we had a ward talent show and culture night. It was good. There were a few people who thought they had talents, but...  not so much. They did their best though. Although no investigators came, a less-active did. He has come to church for several weeks now. He is a good guy. It was enjoyable.

 

We got a referral from some Sister Missionaries a few days ago. However, the address we got from the office was bad. We went to the address the office told us and then called the Sisters because they were appartments and we had no appartment number. Ther told us we were in the wrong spot and the referral was actually three miles north of there. We were short on miled and time so we decided to try back the next day. This time we could not use my companion's GPS because we did not have the exact address- only the house number and a general location. It took us about 45 minutes to find. It was quite a search. We FINALLY found the house and breathed a sigh of relief. The Sisters had told us the guy was eager to have us over, but it turned out to be someone else who was not interested. It was a little frustrating, but we laugh about it now.

 

Oh so two weeks ago the normal pianist for Sacrament meeting was gone. Last minute the bishop asked if I played piano and if I could play for sacrament meeting. I agreed with the warning that I could only play the top hand if I did not know the song. That is what I did for three of the four. It was not the best, but it was better than not having music.

 

OH! I almost forgot. On Saturday there was a big party on 24th street (The hispanic part of town) for Cinco de Mayo!! There was a huge parade and big rides and food booths and stuff. It felt like the State Fair. The parade lasted about two hours. Ten of us missionaries got together and attacked the people watching with Finding Faith in Christ passalong cards. The missionary I was with and I handed out about 100 each. The other missionaries handed out lots too. Hopefully we get a lot of people calling in that we can go visit! There were a lot of people giving out fliers and things and a lot of them ender up on the ground or in the trash. But I did not see a single one of our cards in either one of those places. In fact I heard one father say to his son, reffering to our card, "No te la tires. Este es el Diosito." In English it was more or less, "Don't throw this one away. It's shows God." It was cool. I like the respect the hispanic people have for things of God.

 

I hope you all have a good week! Love you much.

 

-Elder Burnham

 

PS That turned out to be a long one. Hope you enjoyed reading it.