Blake-July 16, 2008

HEY EVERYBODY...SORRY TO DO THIS TO YOU, BUT I HAD A TON OF E-MAILS TODAY AND MY ROOMMATES ARE ALL DONE AND WANTING TO GO, SO I DON'T REALLY HAVE MUCH TIME TO GIVE A BUNCH OF DETAILS. BASICALLY LIFE IS GREAT IN ROCKVILLE...I'M SUPER HAPPY ABOUT THIS TRANSFER AND HOPE THAT THINGS CONTINUE TO GO GREAT. MY COMPANION IS REALLY COOL AND THE AREA IS A GOOD ONE TO BE WORKING IN...THIS IS BY FAR MY MOST DIVERSE AREA, AND IT IS MUCH HARDER TO FIND PEOPLE TO TEACH. WE HAVE A BAPTISM COMING UP ON JULY 27...IT'S A GUY NAMED CURTIS STUART...HE HAS BEEN INVESTIGATING THE CHURCH FOR YEARS AND HAS FINALLY DECIDED TO MAKE THE JUMP. I'M NOT POSITIVE WHERE HE'S FROM, BUT HE LOOKS AND TALKS JAMAICAN OR SOMETHING...HE'S GOT CRAZY DREDLOCKS AND IS WAY GOOD AT SOCCER...WHO KNOWS. THE WARD IS AWESOME...I GOT TO ATTEND A FUNCTIONING P.E.C. MEETING AGAIN AND THEY EVEN WERE EXPECTING US...OUR NAMES WERE ON THE PROGRAM AND PEOPLE WERE INTRODUCING THEMSELVES TO US AND ALREADY KNEW A LITTLE BIT OF OUR BACKGROUND (OUR AS IN ME AND MY ROOMMATE...THERE ARE 2 COMPANIONSHIPS IN THE ROCKVILLE WARD...WE LIVE TOGETHER). THE WARD GOES ON FULL SPLITS WITH US ONCE A WEEK AND THE MEAL CALENDAR IS FULL...WE HAD DINNER 6 OUT OF 7 NIGHTS THIS PAST WEEK, SO THAT WAS BLISSFUL. WE ARE ALSO DRIVING A 2008 CHEVY MALIBU, AND ARE SPOILED WITH ALL THE STORES WE NEED CLOSE BY UP HERE IN ROCKVILLE. THERE'S EVEN A P.F. CHANGS AND CHEESECAKE FACTORY RIGHT BY OUR HOUSE, SO I WON'T HAVE TO GO TO POPEYE'S CHICKEN OR THE SHRIMP BOAT FOR MY BIRTHDAY...HAHA. I AM REALLY SPOILED RIGHT HERE AT THE END, BUT I FEEL LIKE I HAVE TO EARN IT. THE WORK IS ALOT SLOWER UP HERE, SO WE ARE GOING TO WORK SUPER HARD TO MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN. TWO HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK...ZONE CONFERENCE WENT AWESOME AND THEN ON SATURDAY WE WENT TO "POTOMAC VALLEY" TO HELP OLD PEOPLE IN A NURSING HOME PLAY BINGO. I GUESS WE DO IT EVERY SATURDAY AND BOY WAS IT A RIOT...THEY ARE PRETTY FUN TO BE AROUND AND THEY JUST LOVE OUR HELP IN PUTTING THEIR PIECES ON THE BINGO CARD AND WHEELING THEM AROUND...THEY ARE SUPER GRATEFUL, SO IT MAKES US FEEL GOOD TOO. ANYWAYS, THAT'S LIFE UP HERE IN ROCKVILLE...I HOPE EVERYONE IS DOING GREAT AND KNOWS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU ALL. AS ALWAYS, HAVE A GOOD WEEK...
LOVE,
ELDER BLAKE HARBER