November 24th, 2009 (Email)

Hello
Last week was probably one of the most difficult weeks of my mission. White-washing an area is really really hard. I got lost about a million times trying to get to our appointments and this area's a combination of two areas so it's huge. We didn't have time to grocery shop last Tuesday because of the complicated transfer. My companion ran out of some perscription medicine he needs to take and none of the pharmacies have what he needs so he's been really agitated the last couple of days. And on top of that I got TWO parking violations because of street sweeping. Oh, and about that: I have to park in the street because there's no parking left for our apartment. Over here they do street-sweeping and I guess last Wednesday I parked on the wrong street at the wrong time. That cost me $47 (!!!). So yesterday I figured I'd be fine parking on that street since today's Tuesday but it turns out that the street-sweeper does the other side of that same street on Tuesdays and that just happens to be where I parked. So that's another $47. So now I'm not going to have any emergency funds left. I'm really really frustrated about that and I don't know what to do. I'm really sorry but I think I'm going to need a little help there. I hate asking for money but I'm going to have to send my other half of my emergency funds to the mission office to pay for that today and then that'll all be gone. I still have money on my debit card though. Should I just pull $100 out of my debit card and keep that for my emergency funds?
Anyway, that was the bad. The good thing is that this is a great area for finding and teaching people. I've had some good experiences this past week and as I started to figure out the area and get a little more organized I started to feel better about all the stuff I have to do now. That's probably why I'm experiencing so much opposition. It's just been one challenge after the next this past week. But I'm going to get through it.
Elder Twiss and I are getting along fine. He's from North Carolina. He had a rough MTC experience so I think he needs a friend to keep him positive out here. I'm doing my best with all the stress and stuff. I hope I don't sound to negative-- that second parking ticket just really threw off my morning.
We're teaching a mix of spanish-speaking and english-speaking people. The Long Beach 7th Ward is filled with mostly Samoan people with some hispanic people. It's a combined english/spanish ward so we have to have a translator in sacrament meeting. That's pretty weird. We went to the spanish sunday school and that was cool. My spanish has improved a lot since I had all this responsibility placed on me. I can understand a lot more and say a lot more.
I have a lot of responsibilites now. I have to give trainings in spanish every week to my district which consists of me, Elder Twiss, Elder Kemp, Elder Barnes, Elder Ball and Elder Challis. I have to get numbers from each companionship every week and then report them to the Zone Leaders. I'm supposed to go on exchanges with each companionship in my district. That's mostly what the district leader does. Not too much. But on top of that I do have to train and organize this area. I just need more time to take some breaths and get my thoughts organized. I have very little time for that. Weekly Planning was my favorite thing to do last week. I felt a lot better after 2 and 1/2 hours of planning.
Daniel Clay and his son haven't been baptized yet. I bet they will be within the next few weeks. I'll tell you when I see his name on the announcements.
Sorry- my zipcode is definitely 90805.
That's cool to know you were a district leader/trainer too Dad. I didn't know that.
Elder Rodgriguez (or Daniel Rodriguez I should say) lives in Washington. His family's lived there for a few years now. Sister Sexton talked about him during zone conference last week. She said that in his departing testimony he talked about how at the beginning of his mission he was discouraged when a lady told him that she couldn't understand what he was saying when he tried to speak english. It's amazing to think that he couldn't speak hardly any english at the beginning of his mission. He was way fluent last time I talked with him.
All I really need for Christmas is some help with my emergency funds. But if you want you could also get me some of that blue hair gel I used back home. And in a deseret book ad I saw something about a CD of some hymns called "Nearer: A New Collection of Favorite Hymns." Out of the music we're allowed to listen to modernized hymns are definitely my favorites. Those are just some thoughts. I'll be happy with anything I you give me.
I know I'm being more stressed than I need to be. I just need a couple more weeks and I'll be able to get back up. Mom, Dad and Hannah-- I love you so much and I hope you know I pray for you and I'm excited to talk with you next month. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Tyler Lewis