Great Week

 April 20, 2015

Hey ya'll!

This week was a lot of fun. We had activity zone conference on Tuesday, a temple trip on Wednesday, service on Thursday and Friday, and we helped move a family on Saturday.

For activity zone conference we all went to Chapel Hill to the institute building to receive some instruction and have some fun. I love being with all the other missionaries. It's amazing how you can all be best friends, but you know very little about each other. We just love each other's personality. So we had about two hours of instruction, lunch, and then we played some games. Basically it was a giant chum fest for some Elders and Sisters (meaning Elders and Sisters were flirting like they shouldn't be), but I really just enjoyed being outside and watching everyone relax and have fun. We played volleyball, ultimate Frisbee, soccer, and capture the flag. The field was muddy, so some people got super filthy. I don't know why, but some people just love to roll around in the mud. I'm not the biggest fan of that. I'd much rather stay clean. After the games, President gathered us together and we heard some testimonies, sang some songs, and took some pictures. There's a Spanish missionary picture floating around, so I'll get a copy of it.

The temple trip was also great. We went in, did a session, came out, and took pictures. It was short, but it's always nice to go to the temple and be close to the Lord. After that, it was preparation day. So we just went to the stake center and played basketball. It was a lot of fun and I made some crazy shots and then got a massive dead leg. I was limping since about yesterday. But it was totally worth it!

Thursday we went and helped at the Centro Hispano again. We helped hang some paintings (because Hispanics are so short) and I organized their computer cords and re-set up their computer station. It looks much better now. There's still more to do there and we might even start helping with their English class. Should be fun! I'll keep ya'll posted.

Friday we went back and helped our friend Ken Moore again. He has this bush called multiple arose and it's "diabolical" as he says. Well, we destroyed it! With a couple of bush axes and some clippers we absolutely destroyed it. He was sooooo happy. Family, if you know old Brother Adams, that's who this guy resembles. Same crazy nature, but a little more educated. Hopefully we can start teaching him. We have to be subtle so he doesn't get "on to us" about what our true purpose is. We'll get there.

Saturday we helped the Arevalo's move in the rain. We hauled furniture all up and down the stairs, took like four car trips, lowered a giant couch down a balcony, and then ate some pizza! It was super fun!

Yesterday we went and ate at President Sequera's house for dinner. We're sarting to build a lot of trust with him, and he's turned from "stern branch president" to "light hearted and fun." It's all about how you treat him. He also loves our sense of humor. He especially likes the way I make literal translations from English to Spanish. Like for example "throw out my back" becomes "echar a fuera my espalda." And "we're running out of space" becomes "estamos corriendo a fuera de espacio." And "big fan" becomes "ventilador grande." Like "I'm a huge fan." It's pretty funny as long as you don't actually add these phrases to your vocabulary. That would create an abomination.

And that was my week! It was a lot of fun and I am really enjoying being with the Hispanics here. I love the culture.

Have a a good one!

-Elder Landon Carroll