FEB_5_18_MOM_GBRG_From your mother

 Well hello there Mother.

It has been QUITE the week. So much stuff has happened. As per usual, I wish I could tell you everything, but alas, my fingers can only take me so far. I'll talk about my experience at Seton Hill University during my weekly letter to the masses. Needless to say, it was one of my favorite experiences on the mission. I absolutely love college students and college campuses. I'm hoping someday I'll be able to serve at Penn State or at Pitt. Of course, I'd have to be a Zone Leader or District Leader in order for that to happen. SO. Probs won't happen anytime soon, if at all. 

It's been nothing but COLD here. But I'm really starting to get acclimated to it. Either that, or I'm starting to learn what to do to ensure I stay warm. I can't believe it's been in the 80's over there. Like, I can't even imagine what that must feel like. What is heat anyway.

Elder Lin and I went to go pick up our greenie on Thursday. It was quite humbling to be in the trainer's meeting with all of these other great missionaries. And it was quite weird as well. I feel like I just stepped off the plane, and here I am, 8 months later, training a new missionary. Like, what?? I'm not ready for this. But ready or not, here it comes, right?

Our Greenie's name is Elder Michael Petersen. He is from Farmington, Utah. He is here awaiting his Visa to go to the Taiwan, Taichung Mission. That's where Elder Lin is from, which is pretty cool.  He is super intelligent, and already has a lot of confidence. Maybe a little bit TOO MUCH confidence, if you get my drift. It's definitely been interesting to work with him these past few days, because he is the absolute OPPOSITE of me as a greenie. I was very shy and nervous, whereas he is just ready to convert the entirety of Pennsylvania. Him and Elder Lin speak Chinese ALL THE TIME, and it honestly gets quite annoying. I am picking up a few words though, so silver lining.

Training itself is not as hard as I thought it would be. At least, not yet. What's really been difficult is adjusting to Trio life. Teaching is really difficult. Making decisions is not easy. And because I have the most experience, and am Pseudo-Senior Companion, if something goes wrong, it's my fault. To be quite honest, so far, I'm not a big fan of Elder Petersen. He has the personality of Benjamin Young, if that makes sense. He's fresh out of the MTC, and yet he thinks he knows everything. He's not very humble, and regularly corrects me. He got mad at me the other day for talking too much, when in reality, I was giving them opportunities, and they WEREN'T SAYING ANYTHING. Gosh, it gets me kinda heated.

But I've been studying charity and humility in Preach My Gospel a lot recenty, and I really want to implement those Christlike Attributes into my life. I have so much I need to work on. Everybody has their strengths. Elder Petersen. Is very smart, and really wants to help these investigators. He's handled this whole visa situation very well, and for that, I'm very grateful. He wants to be a firm part of this companionship, which is great. Sure, he has a lot of things he needs to work on. He does lots of things differently than I would do them. But it's not fair for me to judge him because of that.

Anyways, after that little schpeal, I'm done. I'm sorry you couldn't get the lawn mower started this last week. Do you think you'll ever be able to get it started again? That darn lawn mower annoys the crap out of me. It's always been kinda finicky. I'm hoping you'll be able to start it soon. Wish I could be there to mow it for you. Oh wait. 

I heard about the Super Bowl!! That's awesome!! I was hoping the Eagles would win! I can't believe it! I wish I was still in Lewisberry for a few days, so that I could experience what it would be like to have my home team win the Super Bowl. The people by Harrisburg like the Eagles, but the people here near Pittsburgh hardcore bleed black and yellow. But that's cool!! I"ve actually BEEN TO Philadelphia. I never thought I'd be able to say that. 

You shouldn't have mentioned Federer. You know I'll go off and start talking about him for countless paragrahs. I'll spare you that. He is just... One of the greatest athletes in the world. In terms of competitiveness, age, but most importantly, humility. Love that guy. He's a stud. TWENTY GRAND SLAMS. Goodness.

It's just been a week of pure craziness. Here are a few highlights:

- Elder Lin accidentally left the water on in a sink in the basement, and there was TONS of water on the floor. So we had to clean that up today. Good times.

- Elder Lin also lost his wallet and tablet on transfer days. We had to call the Elders who had dropped us off, and had to meet them in the middle to recover his lost items. We got his tablet back, but his wallet was NOWHERE to be seen. He was freaking out. Because he has TONS Of important immigration documents in there. So he called Elder Hobbs (senior missionary), who then sent an email to the whole mission, asking them to look for Elder Lin's wallet in their cars and suitcases and whatnot. We said a prayer as a companionship, and then like one minute later, Elder Lin found it on the floor next to his laundry hamper. It was a MIRACLE. And kinda embarrassing, because it was on the floor lol. But we FOUND IT. PRAYER WORKS. 

- We were helping a member clean out her daughter's apartment, and she told us to throw away these boots because there was no match for them. Shortly after we threw them away, she found the match. So I had to go dumpster diving for the first AND LAST time (hopefully). 

- Elder Petersen knocked out during Sacrament Meeting. And personal Study. For 45 minutes lol.

- Elder Lin got up and bore his testimony yesterday!! It legit almost made me cry!! He talking about how difficult his mission was, but how much he's grown to love it, despite the difficulties. And his english was impeccable. It was one of the best testimonies I've ever heard.

And with that, Mother, I bid you adieu. I hope you know I love you. I hope you like those videos and pictures I sent you. Let everyone know I love them and miss them.

Elder Jake Gonzales 

On Feb 4, 2018 10:33 PM, <perucalica@aol.com> wrote:

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Hey there Buddy Boy!

How are you this hot day?  Yes, I did say hot,.  I’m not sure what it is like where you are but it feels like Summer here today and it felt like Summer yesterday.  Something is wrong when it’s in the 80’s in February.  I hope that it goes back to some cooler weather soon.  I’m not ready for Summer yet.

I’ve been thinking about you a lot this week.  I saw a picture of you on the PPM Facebook page.  I believe it was taken the day that you went into Pittsburgh to receive your training for Trainers.  Did you receive your greenie?  Where is it exactly that he is going?  I have also been wondering how your presentation at Seton Hill went.  I was touched by what you said about Elder Lin’s interview with President Bednar and him saying that the new missionary should get a companion like you.  I hope that you always remember what it means to be kind and what an effect you are can have on others by being kind.  That’s something every mother likes to hear about her children.

Nothing really out of the ordinary happened this week.  Dad and I did go to dinner at John and Sarah’s house this week.  It was very nice.  They prepared fried chicken, garlic mash potatoes and a slaw salad.  Then we played “Stop”.  It was a fun night.  We also were invited over to Lucy and Jesus’ house today for lunch.  She prepared seco con frijoles.  As you know, Lucy is a good cook and her food always tastes wonderful.  I think it especially tastes good because I didn’t have to cook it or do the dishes.

Another thing that happened is that Dad and I attempted to mow the lawn this week.  I say attempted because we couldn’t get the mower started.  It was pretty frustrating, to say the least. We did get the edges done but the grass is still long.  I guess that we’ll have to do something to get the mower going.  It was a not fun way to spend a Saturday.  When the grass needs to be mowed is when I miss you the most J.

Well, unfortunately it was not a good week for BYU Basketball.  We lost to LMU in a game that we shouldn’t have lost.  I think that we lost by 7 points.  We played Gonzaga last night.  We were able to catch up to them after being down by 10 points at half but we lost in the the last couple of minutes.  Oh well, we can get them in Provo this year.

We’ve been watching the last half the Super Bowl which just ended and it appears that the team from your neck of the woods just won. At least it’s from the same state!  I’m sure that you will have heard the news by now.  I noticed that Kyle Van Noy was playing quite a bit for the Patriots but they weren’t able to pull off the win this year.  Also, John informed us that Federer won the Australian Open a few days ago.  I’m impressed!

I’m assuming that you got the message that we have been receiving your photos and also that you still had about $500 in the bank as of about a week ago.  I still haven’t put any more money in your account but hopefully this week I can take care of that.  It’s just a matter of actually getting to the bank to get it done.  I will let you know when I actually make the deposit.

That about does it for this week.  I’m sorry that there isn’t anything more interesting to tell you.  I love you soooooo much.  Always remember that.

Love,

Mom