Week 10- Pensacola (E-mail to Barnett's)

Dear Maren,

What is up this birthday on the 27th thing? That's weird. (in reference to all the grand kids being born on the 27th of the month.)

Yeah, Mike seems really interested in the church because during Sacrament Meeting, he looked liked he was hanging onto every word of the speaker. That was good, so we brought him over a dvd. We got to go inside the house, we usually talk outside. His house looked worse than his yard. Example: if you went in the house with Braden or Brody, you would hold them the entire time you were there. We are helping him with that. And I finally found a scripture that says we should give a full tithe to the church. It is in 3 Nephi. It says 'would you rob god?' It was just what I was looking for. But no, we aren't teaching anyone else.

I am in my second transfer now and we have 2 new missionaries in this zone. Elder Champman, who is Russian, but is from Missouri, and Elder Meyers who is from Oregon. You will never guess from what city. No, not Oregon City, but West Linn.

Yeah, Toren already told me about Austin. You are upset that you have to wait a month to see him? Maren, I have to wait, let's see, about 22 months. By the time I see him he won't be a baby anymore. We have this one family, the Kirby's, who sign up for dinner once a month. After we are done eating, Brother Kirby picks an elder and then a topic. We have to teach the topic to his 4 and 6 year old. All I can say is I hope Brody and Braden are not pick eaters.

Maren, you of all people sat back? (In reference to me sitting back and letting my in-laws choose everything while they were visiting.) Who are you and what have you done with my sister? This sister brings a new meaning to the word organized. The thing I learned when I worked at DI is that mom and dad were, well are, really good parents and not all parent are like mom and dad, unless Blake is reading this then I am sure they are wonderful parents too. You wake up to screaming kids, I get to wake up and then be alone until 7:30 because my companion doesn’t want to get up.

Well, things are going ok with my companion. I am finding out we have very different views on things. For example, I was replying to Uncle Steve's letter. Elder Packard asked me what I was thinking about and I said I don't think I would like living in the country. I guess that was the wrong thing to say to him. He went on and on for a hour about how the country is so much better than the city. I guess it is such a magical place. He said we were having a conversation, but I was getting in a comment every 7 minutes or so. He is so much about being a man, it is annoying. To give you a fare example, he like being a "man" like Taylor likes BYU football. He is a really good missionary and is nothing I can't handle.

How do I feel about my ever changing companions? I say, bring it on. I will happily take on a new companion once or twice a transfer. My clothes are fine for now, but the guy who owns the store called Riemington ,the only CTR Clothing Store in Oregon, was like a stereo typical used car salesmen. Well, I think they came with all the problems.

Yeah, we got more dinner appointments. How many times a month do you have the missionaries over, once or twice? I am glad you are having fun with your job. Mine hasn't been so fun because it has been thundering all week and we can't tract if it is thundering at all.

Elder Forsberg