Well, I went to a member's house yesterday night for steak dinner. His name is Arthur Linderman. They are all American. He speaks Spanish and was the Dover President (Branch President) and then Bishop for a while. Him and his wife and daughter and granddaughter stay in the Ward still for support. All the Spanish Branches and Wards struggle. Dover is a pretty well functioning ward. However, if you compare it to an English Ward, they need help. Both Brother and Sister Linderman help out with the youth program, because they speak English. Their daughter plays the piano, and their granddaughter leads music when the other lady in the Ward doesn't show up. We went over to their house last night. Brother Linderman makes fun of those who get their steaks 'shoe leather' (well-done). I remember Spencer Allen telling me one time that he got his steak at a restaurant medium and loved it. So I grabbed a medium steak. OH MY HECK!!! Best steak I've ever had! Towards the middle of the steak, Brother Linderman's son-in-law told me that it was about medium-rare. It just got better! It was getting really red. It was awesome! I will forever more have my steaks medium to medium-rare. Never again will I have 'shoe leather' steaks. It was really fun there. Great family. I actually found out that Bishop Linderman was a Jew before he joined the church. He's the only non-Jew in his family now. Complete Jewish decent and everything. He said his first contact with a Mormon was 12 years before his conversion. You never know what influence you'll make on somebody. When I was talking with Bishop Linderman more, he said that there was an airshow going on. I forget where he said it was going to be at. Too far and wrong day for me though. I said that I love airshows. He then asked me if I know anything about WWII airplanes because the airshow is a WWII special. I enthusiastically said yes. He started naming off planes that were going to be there. P-51 Mustang, Zero, P-38 Lightning, B-17, and Spitfire. He also said that some actual WWII pilots were going to come and speak. We'll have to go in a couple years!

I baptized Ivan. And yes, I did say the prayer in Spanish. It was really cool. I'll see if I can send some pictures. Ivan's parents weren't at his baptism. They were willing to let him be baptized but not super supportive. I think I'm sending a picture with me, Ivan, and two other members. The lady is Yalily. She's really helping out Ivan a lot. She knows Ivan's mom. The man is her husband. They are both really good members.

The girl is Sydney. A member baptized her. Her dad isn't a member, but her mom is. Her parents are divorced. Her dad is actually pretty supportive and has been coming to church the last few weeks. I think he'll turn into an investigator soon.

 

The baptism was awesome. I sent some pictures. The one picture with me and Ivan and two other people are two members. The lady is named Yalily. She's knows Ivan's mom well and is very supportive of Ivan. Ivan's parents are willing to let him be baptized but not super supportive. It's a little said, but Ivan was very happy to be baptized. Just to prove how smart Ivan is, here's a little story. After the baptism, we had lunch. The line for the food was a little long but not too bad. Ivan got in line by me. Then Ivan said, "This line is like a path to heaven. It takes a long time, but it's worth it." This kid is eight years old. Actually today he's nine! Today's his birthday. He kept telling us how much he wanted to be baptized yesterday because "it would be like a birthday present from God." Yes, he said that.

I've been told that the summers here are brutal. Extremely humid when it's about 100 degrees. Not fun. I'm pretty sure all the apartments have AC. Our AC right now is really good. The cars are brand new so the AC works great. I'm not too worried. June should start getting pretty hot. July and August will be death. Then it'll be September and it'll start cooling down. Just 2 and a half months. Then the fall :) So many trees. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures then especially. 

 

1.  Does anybody know that you play the piano??  Have you played on your mission yet?  You should...cuz you're good. 

Some people. We have the Linderman's daughter who plays the piano really well who plays every Sunday. I told dad about the steak dinner at the Linderman's last night.

2.  What city do you hope to be transferred to next?

I really don't know. I kind of hope I stay in Dover for one more. I heard West New York is really cool. That's right on the Hudson front and where all the pictures of the NYC skyline are taken. My comp served there and he showed me some pictures from there. Really cool. I kind of want to serve in Newark just to say I did. That's where the 'stories' come from. Maybe Morristown. That's a Sister Missionary area right now though.

3.  Do you guys listen to church music in your apartment?

Yes. Sometimes. My comp has an I-Pod with music on it and some talks from General Authorities. 

PS. If you really want to hear a cool talk about the Spirit World. Buy "What's on the Other Side" by Brent something. If you do, make a copy of it and send it to me. We only have the first half of the talk here. The other Elders lost the other half of it. 

-Justin