Received Mon, May 25, 2009

Dear Family,

Well, first off, Happy Birthday last week Kylie!!! I remembered all day that it was Kylie's birthday and I remembered while I was reading the e-mail Mom sent me, but I forgot to write it down! So Kylie has 2 new pet rats. Maybe we should buy a snake and feed them to it. I think that would be more excited. You had better watch out for the Black Plague!!

It's a good thing we live with a member, because all the libraries are closed! I am using the Randall's laptop to e-mail today. This week my companion got sick for the first time in his life. He was sick from Sunday to Thursday. He didn't really know what he had, all he knew was that his head really hurt and he was really really weak. He didn't know what was going on with his body, because he's never been sick with anything before. He kept having really quick body temperature changes. One time in the middle of the night he woke up and showered twice, then he put on his white shirt and tie and tried to go back to sleep. It made me laugh, but I could tell his mind was definitely not working right. The rest wasn't so fun for me though. Lets just say its pretty easy to get bored when you are stuck indoors and the only thing you can do is read. I did enjoy all the reading time though. I read the entire book of Acts. Now I'm in Romans...Paul uses some complicated language sometimes but I still love it.

Unfortunately reading so much really messes up your eyes. I've noticed that my eyes have gotten a lot worse and I'm sure I need a new prescription. I talked to Sister Allred about it a week or 2 ago and she said that the mission insurance doesn't cover it. At a walmart around here I saw a sign that said a basic eye checkup was $50. That seemed like a lot and my eyes aren't too bad, so I'll probably just wait and if my eyes really effect me with driving or anything.

I got my package full of socks and 2 shirts and a fortune teller. It made me laugh. It's supposed to start getting hot next week, so they will come in handy when I have to start showering 2 times a day again.

Yesterday we had a big thunderstorm randomly come by. The thunderstorms still amaze me every time. It takes about 5 seconds to go from sunny and not raining, to pouring rain. The rain drops are huge too. When they hit our car windshield they drops are bigger than a quarter. I love it when it rains though...it makes things more fun.

Oh yeah...last week we ended up going for a little tour in Reliant Stadium where the Houston Texans play. Unfortunately that day they weren't giving out full length tours, but the guy there felt bad for us and gave us a half length tour for free. We walked around on the field, which is actually just a cement floor right now, and we went into the visiting team locker room and their coaching areas and all that stuff. It was a really fun P-day activity. Now I want to go to Minute Maid Park and to the place where the Rockets play...I forget the name. I'm going to make sure I go to those places before I leave Texas.

That's funny that you guys are singing random hymns for sacrament meeting. They did that in our ward for a week or 2 and it didn't go so well either. I think its fascinating to be in a different ward. Every ward does things so differently. Nearly every single week here they have 2 youth speakers then 2 more older people speak. I also found out that every month they have a topic for sacrament meeting. Now that I look back I think that might be how most wards do it, but I never realized it. I thought it was so weird when I first got here that all they ever talked about was temple marriage. I wondered what was wrong with this ward and why that's all they ever talked about. They also have a transition hymn after the closing prayer where everyone sings a hymn, except for the teachers get up and leave and go prepare their classroom for their lesson. The good part is that a member of the bishopric stands at each door and shakes everyone's hand as they walk out.

We had 3 investigators at church on Sunday and 3-4 less active people were working with. That made me really happy. I'm pretty sure I talked about Maria (the lady with bad depression). She came to church. That was really good to hear. We had a member stop by to give her a ride. A lot of people talked to her at church to.

This morning we had a memorial breakfast and a 2 mile walk. Maria went to both those too. We skipped the walk and just went to the breakfast. It was delicious. There were unlimited donuts and cinnamon rolls and fruit and drinks. Then at 1 today were going to go to a Tongan member in a nearby ward for a BBQ. Elder Taufa served in that ward when he first got here and this Tongan member wants to do a big BBQ for him for he leaves. Then tonight we are having dinner at a members home who always feeds us steak or something really good. So were getting fed 3 huge meals today. That's what I call a good P-day. We're probably going to go play football or softball in between the BBQ and dinner.

Well...enjoy your 3 day weekend! I was going to send pictures of the Dor's baptism through my e-mail this week, but this laptop doesn't have a USB port, so I can't. I'll do it next week though. Have a good week!! I love you all and pray for you every night!!

Love,
Chase