Some Interesting Things and Observations

So, I don't' feel like my letters have been very specific or descriptive of the area, how I am and the people we are teaching.  I'll try to do better with this letter.

Some interesting things and what I have noticed:

1.  I have had several people (men and women) say that my handshake is too hard :)  oops!  I have dialed it down.  I just shook hands like I do in Buffalo, but I guess these people are a bit softer than I'm used to :)

2.   Despite what you may think, it is the older guys (50s) who do most of the surfing.  Crazy right?  But they love it.

3.  This past week Elder Peterson and I have been biking in 100 (95-105) degree weather.  We are always taken care of though.  People we visit will offer us a bottle of water and we gladly take it.  "Consider the missionaries in the field, how they grow" D&C 84:81-85)

4.  Zone Leaders go on exchanges with all the new missionaries.  Elder Atkin, one of the Zone Leaders, came to Paso, while Elder Peterson left to San Louis Obispo (SLO) for a day.  I lead the planning and the teaching with Elder Atkin.  He taught me a lot.  It was funny watching him ride a bike because he is used to being in a truck.  We taught some good lessons on the street.

5.  We don't have very many lessons a week (maybe 4) that are planned/set-up.  We spend a lot of our time finding people to teach by knocking on the doors of potential investigators, less-actives, and part-member families.  When they answer the door (more like "if" they answer), then we share a message and try to set-up a formal lesson.

6.  We call Less-Active/Recent Convert lessons LARCs.

7.  Each week we keep track of the declarations we make.  A declaration is when we testify of a gospel principle and invite someone to do something.  This usually happens on the street when we hand out pass-along cards or Mormon.org cards and invite them to visit the website.  Feel free to visit the website!

8.  Elder Peterson and I have killed 3 HUGE black widow spiders since I've been here.  They were not in our apartment (thank goodness), but they were big and creepy.  Apparently, there are also tarantulas, but I have yet to see one.

9.  I'm not homesick, but I still love you :)