August 18th, 2009 (Email)

Hello and thanks for the birthday goodness!

Those new pants are amazing! They fit perfectly. And those new shirts are so white! Muchas gracias also for the spanish verb book. That's helping a lot. I know how to use the imperfect subjunctive tense now. And those eyedrops make a difference. My eyes feel nice and hydrated now.

Yep Sister Chun took Elder Rada and I to Macoroni Grill for my birthday. That was great. I had mushroom ravioli of course. The waitress had one of the employees come sing happy birthday to me. He was a tall bald white guy and he came and sang happy birthday to me in Italian - all by himself. It was so awkward I couldn't help but laugh a lot. And Elder Rada baked me a peach cake. That was super nice.

Raquel Piceno's back and we're still set to have her baptism this Saturday. We called her dad already to let him know so he won't kidnap her again. We were going to have family home evening with her family last night but they had to cancel so we're going to have it tonight.

Jessica's still doing great. On my birthday we had a good lesson with her with a member from the ward. Her brother Angel decided to listen to us too so now we're teaching both of them. Jessica's 20 years old and Angel is 14. Their parents found out that they're meeting with us and they don't really approve. Nevertheless Jessica and Angel are still interested and told us to keep teaching them. They want us to come anyday before 5:00, or in other words before their parents get home from work. So that'll be fun. We're really hoping to see the two of them at church next Sunday. We wouldn't need the parents' permission to baptize Jessica but we would for Angel. We'll see what happens.

I've caught a cough lately so Sister Chun's helping me build up my immune system by having me take all this essential oil stuff. I think I'm going to nickname her Sister Chun the Potions Master. She made some sort of wintergreen/honey substance for me last night and she's having me sniff this herbal oil stuff called Thieves. You know the stuff the wisemen gave Jesus when He was born, the frankencence and Myrrh or however you spell it? Those are essential oils and she actually has them and uses them. Awesome!

Jordan Call and I have been writing back and forth for a couple months now. That's awesome that his area covers Queens - that's where Elder Rada and his family have lived for the last 7 years. And if he's just Spanish speaking he'll be sure to meet them. He'll probably even meet Elder Rada since he goes home in November.

Sounds like Yellowstone was an adventure even though you didn't see much wildlife. I haven't seen much wildlife for a long time. A few weeks ago I saw a horse and I was surprised because that was the only horse I've seen for about 10 months! All we've got out here are stupid chihuahuas and pitbulls. I decided that among all of God's creatures chihuahuas are one of my least favorites. They're always trying to bite my ankles. I just have to keep reminding myself that I'm a missionary and they're not footballs.

Well that's all I've got for you this week. Things have been kind of slow for the last few days. Lots of appointments have been falling through. Thinks should pick up soon though. Transfers are next Tuesday so we'll see what happens! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Tyler Lewis