I would have totally bought some food their, but we weren't allowed to buy anything in New York. Strict rule straight from the Mission President! Too bad, there was a lot of good smelling food there too! Sorry I wasn't in any of the pictures. I did get one with me in front of the temple, but I don't remember if I sent that one or not..

 

Thanks for getting those scripture covers for me! Haha I really need them. They're starting to get a little beat up.. And I still haven't got that package yet. I still haven't checked the mission office. Usually our Zone Leaders go to the Mission Office every once in a while. I just texted them and asked them to check the next time they go!

 

Tell me the two that are in Hackensack and Clifton! They are really close. Close enough that we could easily go on a P-Day. I think next week we're planning on going to a place called Moe's Southwestern BBQ. They have really good burritos there and it's in Clifton. I wonder if that's one of them.. The missionaries that have Clifton in their area go to that Moe's place every P-Day they love it so much. Hackensack is also pretty close. We actually just went there last week to visit one of our members in the hospital there. He just had surgery to remove a nerve in his lower spine that was causing him a lot of pain. His name is Bro. Navarrete. He's a pretty faithful guy! He's fighting cancer and has had 3 open heart surgeries. He's in his earlier 30's and is from Peru. Speaks perfect english. He is married and has a young boy who is around one year old. He says his very thankful for all the blessings he has, he just wishes that he could pick up his son and play with him. After this last surgery he's not allowed to pick up anything heavier than a gallon of milk for a few months. He's devasted that he can't pick up his son. He says that he just wants to be a good dad. He's such an amazing example of staying strong even when the going gets tough. Great member!!

 

So I believe a couple emails ago, I told you about Isaily De La Rosa from the Domincan Republic. I'm pretty sure I told you that he reminds me of Will Smith. Well, I was thinking about that, and I realized that Will Smith isn't really who he reminds me of. I was thinking, then I realized that I used to watch a show that had the real guy in it all the time. Derek Morgan from Criminal Minds!! I HAVE to get a picture with Isaily and you'll know what I'm talking about. I told Isaily about it and it turns out that he watches Criminal Minds too! He thought that it was pretty funny, but he agreed! It's great! Isaily is awesome.

 

I'm wondering how possible it would be to send me some raspberry jam through the mail... I know you've sent me a couple packages the past little bit, so it's fine if you can't.

 

Q of the W:

1.  I googled your address and there is a street view.  It's hard to tell which one it is though... What color is the outside of your apartment?

 

I can't remember exactly what color it is. I know it has the number 963 right next to the front doors. I don't know how old the google picture is, but right now there is a small little donkey pulling a cart in the front yard. A little decoration thing. The owners plant flowers in the cart. It might be a faded yellow.. I don't know.

2.  Would you like us to find and order your backpack?  Kinda dumb but there is some confusion with this subject. Haha

 

Well, I definately need a backpack! Mine is actually starting to finally show it's age. Since 7th grade I've had it I think.. What a trooper of a backpack!! I would one of two things: the one like I bought; the camo one except in black. If you can find it. Another is, just a nice day pack relatively the same size as the camo one if not, a little bigger. Just a nice day pack like that. I'm sure any outdoors store would have one.

3.  Do you know if you will celebrate the 4th of July?  Such as watching fireworks or having a BBQ?  I wonder if you can see the NYC fireworks?

I don't know yet. I hope so! One of our members lives in this tall 13 story apartment building at the very top facing east. From his porch you can see the NYC skyline pretty well. I was actually thinking of asking him if he's doing a party. He is from Columbia and doesn't speak english. I don't how much the spanish program will celebrate July 4. If not, maybe we can just go with the english Elders!

 

Thanks for everything! Love you mom! Love you family!

-Justin

 It's great to hear about all the fun you guys are having. It sounds like a filled summer so far! That's good to hear. I hope it stays the same for the years to come because I do miss those kinds of summers. It's just getting hot here. But, the fire flies have come out a few times! That is something the East Coast has over the West Coast. I don't know why they are over here and not in Utah. It gets just as cold here as it does in Utah. The fire flies only come out for like an hour in the evening, right after the sun sets. They also only come out if it's like over 85 degrees. They need warmth. Maybe they need humidity as well.

 

I'm so happy to hear your ear is doing good! I was praying and I still pray that it went okay. I'll keep praying for you.

 

I'm excited to hear about Spencer Allen. He's been waiting for so long now to go and it's finally coming up. I'm so excited for him. I've been trying to write him and letter, but I just don't have much time. I'm getting to it though.

 

So a couple things. What's Kelsie's email address? I want to start emailing her some more. Also, you should look on food network and travel channel to see if there's any good places to eat around here. There's a TON of food places. I just don't know if they're any good.. Also, I'm sorry if I was confusing last week. Dad told asked me to clarify, but I haven't found a backpack yet. Sorry for the confusion!

 

MOOOOOMMM! If you haven't looked at any pictures yet. Do so now!

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New York City! We went to the temple this last Thursday. That means I've officially been to the Big Apple. Haha. It was so awesome there!! So amazing. So many buildings! They're huge buildings too. We met up as a Zone in Union City and took a small bus. (The hispanic community call them Wah-Wahs.) It took us to a special station in Manhatten. We then walked for about 30 minutes through NYC, mainly on Broadway, to get to the temple. And yes, Times Square was on the way. I tried to take as many pictures as I could. I don't think I sent all the pictures I took, but I tried to send the good ones. I remember walking past the New York Times Tower, and the NBC Tower I think. They were all huge skycrapers! It was crazy how many buildings, actually skycrapers, there were. So many food places that looked really good to eat at. Lots of cool stores that would be easy to spend lots of money at. Like I told dad, $1000 could easily be spent there. That's where we should go! However, not the best place for the whole family to go.. It would be scary trying to get Julia and Kaylee through there. I don't think Kyle would have that much fun either. So we'll see. The best part however was the temple obviously! So quiet in the temple. Amazing place. I always love the temple. The Manhatten Temple also serves as a Distribution Center along with a Chapel for two wards. It has a full size Chapel and a Cultural Hall in it. Wow! That's a big buidling! It was all in all an amazing experience. I get to do it again this December. I probably won't take as many pictures though next time.

 

Anyways, love you all. I love you mom! I miss you and pray for you all.

-Elder Gajewsky

 

Q of the W:

1.  What is your new address?

 

963 East 27th Street Floor 2

Paterson, NJ 07513

2.  What is your new apartment like.  Do you still live with 3 other guys?  Is it better or worse than your last one?

 

Our new apartment is actually not new at all. Haha, it's old and you can tell missionaries use it. There's still 4 missionaries in it. Which is a lot funner than just a two-man I've heard. I would say it's about the same quality as my last one. Maybe a little worse. But I think in the next couple transfers I'll eventually get a nicer one.

3.  Have you heard from Kyle Byington lately?  If so, how is he doing?  Have you heard from your other friends recently?

Kyle is doing amazing! I keep in touch with him through small emails. We both just want to make sure we stay in contact at least a little. No other friends recently.

 

I remember the one scout camp we went on years ago. It was also with Zhaun Draper and Scott Andersen. I believe Brother Thompson was there. That was really fun! I also remember coming to love rappeling. Those couple guys in our ward are really fun to be with! I kinda miss that.. I'm in the spanish program and they don't really have those kind of personalities. At least that I've seen yet. They're good in their own ways though.

Paterson really is kind of dirty. In some places it's nicer. But all in all, it's not that great anywhere. There's one place where there is trash everywhere. It just makes me sad.. This one street is called Martin Luther King Jr. Highway. There's a lot of black people in Paterson. I would think that they would try and keep a street named after such a great leader (especially for them) nicer. But honestly, it's a dump! Haha. Then again, out here by Passaic and Jersey City, around there, it's all dirty. And a little dangerous. All the streets have trash cans FILLED with beer bottles. It's very different. There's good people there though.

 

I don't know where I said that either.. I don't have a backpack. I told Kyle that I found that backpack on Amazon.com. I don't remember what it was called though. Try looking for 'day pack hydration pack'. Something like that on Amazon.com.

 

Does Kyle have an email address? If not, I'll just email him through you. Tell him to send me a reply from the email I sent last week.

 

I really love getting to know the members. The Branch President here in the Paterson 1st is really cool. He loves missionary work. He loves us! He also tells us if there's anything he can do for us to tell him, and that he always has his phone with him. He's great! He actually lived in Salt Lake for a while. 

 

This last Thursday we went to the Manhatten. Yes, that means NYC!! We walked through Times Square and everything! It was an aweseme experience!! I'm convinced, no I know, that if I went to NYC with $1000, it would not be hard at all to blow it all quickly. We took a little bus that the hispanic people call Wah-Wahs from Union City which is right across the Hudson River from Manhatten. We took that right into the middle of it all. We didn't go towards the Empire State Building at all, and no where really close to the Freedom Tower at all. But I did walk right next to the Times Magazine Tower. As well as NBC Tower I think. In Times Square I saw the famous Times Square McDonalds and also the M&M Factory. I took a lot of pictures, but I don't think I can fit very many into one email. I'll send four to you and four others to mom. I'll see if I can send another blank email with more. But nothing in the city was better than the temple. It was so quiet in there. I can't believe how amazing it was in there. Very, very nice. The Manhatten Temple also serves as the chapel to two wards! They have a full size Chapel in there along with a court! As well as a Distribution Center. Crazy big in there! It was an awesome experience.

 

Thanks dad for everything! I miss you guys. I miss going on those camp outs. I miss camping and hiking A LOT! It'll make it all the more sweeter when I come home though. I'm having fun and time does seem to be going by quickly. I don't know if that's good or bad. I'm enjoying myself! Love you all!

-Elder Gajewsky

 

Dear family and friends,

 

I have been transferred to a place called Paterson. It's towards the city. Around the area, it's not bad. Just like other places in New Jersey. Lots of trees and plants. However, we live in the city and we work mostly in the city. It's dirty and ugly. I don't like the area very much. But, the members are AWESOME. We work in the Paterson 1 branch. Yes, branch. Not too big at all. The members are great. They love working with the missionaries. The Branch President, President Campos, is from Ecuador. He and his family are amazing. Super nice. It's called Paterson 1 because Paterson 2 is the English Branch. We room with those Elders. Both Paterson Branches use the same chapel, which is their own building. I'm glad to be in another building, not just a rented space. I've met a few members from the English Branch and they seem just as cool. I'm already pretty good friends with another guy in the ward named Isaily De La Rosa. He's about 18 or 19 and his parents are from the Dominican Republic. Since he's from the DR, he's pretty dark. He reminds me of Will Smith. Isaily is way cool. His parents kicked him out of the house when he joined the church when he was 16. Very strong member. He just turned in his mission papers a few days ago. He comes out with us teaching often. He'll be a great missionary. We also go with a member named Brother Galvis. He and his wife are from Columbia. They LOVE the missionaries. He told me to always talk with him so I can perfect my Spanish and so he can help me out. We are Brother Galvis' patners for home teaching. So we go with him several times a week to help him with that. He's a great teacher! The other night, we were at the Galvis home. They wanted to feed us. They brought out some pasta and orange juice. I was a little hungry, so it was a pleasant surprise. Then they put the plate on the table and I saw the nastiest, biggest, juiciest middle-slice of a tomato sitting right there on the top. (For the tomato-lovers out there, it probably looked like the best tomato you've ever seen in your life. I hope your jealous.) In hispanic culture, you never refuse food and you always eat EVERYTHING. That's the key to getting them to love you. You eat all their food. So I ate the tomato. I didn't taste too bad, but I still don't like them. I still love the Galvis Family.

 

So last week, I couldn't email as long. We were planning on doing normal email time. We decided to go hiking as a zone to a place called the Del Water Gap. It's to see the Delaware River. We went to a place towards the edge of New Jersey close to Pennsylvania. We planned on it taking about 3 hours. Haha. It took a little longer than that. We hiked around for a while. We were trying to get to the Delaware River. It was a really fun hike. I realized how much I miss hiking! We finally got towards the end of the trail. Then we found a road. Off the road was another small path that finally led us to the Delaware River. A couple of us went ahead earlier because we were just hiking faster. That was me and a couple others. We went back to the road to wait for the rest of us to catch up. Then we realized that it's probably going to take a long time to get back to the cars. We decided to take the road and see if that would take us back to the cars faster. So the few of us faster hikers started off walking on the road. The road was a long time to walk. It led us to the highway. I-80 in fact. We could actually take that all the way back to Utah. We walked in the grass and the schrubs on the side of I-80. It took a while, but we finally got back to the cars and drove back to pick up the rest. Then it was about a 45 minute drive back to the library. That pretty much took most of the day. I only had like 30 minutes to email last week so that's why I didn't want to take the whole time to type this story.

 

Mom,

I have a favor to ask. My Spanish scriptures are being beat in my backpack. I'm afraid of the rain getting them too. I've tried looking around a little for these certain cases for LDS Spanish scriptures. Apparently they are only found at the MTC Bookstore. I was wondering if you could try and see if you could get into the MTC to see if you can get a hold of those Spanish Scripture Cases. I'll try and describe them. They're all different colors. Mostly darker colors. It looks like a very South American color pattern. I'm pretty sure the MTC gets them from Argentina or some other country down there. They're are made from a base black case with a zipper to hold the scriptures shut. There are two cases: one for the Bible and the other for the Book of Mormon. There's also one for a small Spanish Hymn Book, but I don't want that. If you could get those, that would save my Spanish Scriptures. Use my credit card for them. 

 

Also Mom,

How are the Great and Terrible Series going for you?? Every once in a while in the Book of Mormon, it talks about the Great and Terrible times. I think of you and grandma when it says that. I wrote those books down on a "Don't forget" piece of paper in my journal so I don't forget them when I can read them again. It's pretty crazy to think I'm almost a quarter way done. To me it doesn't seem that long. It also seems I have a long way to go. I'm excited though. I've made some really good friends in the mission so far that'll be here for a while too. How is your ear surgery recovery going? Back to normal? No more symptoms? I've prayed a lot for that. Love you mom! Talk to you soon

-Justin

HI!

So sorry, emails will be a little short this week. We ran out of time. I'll tell the story next week. Great story for today. So! I'm being transfered! Don't send anything to my address in Dover. If anyone already has, don't worry. The Elders living there will just take it to the mission office where it'll wait for me in a special bin where I can get it in a few weeks. I'm no longer working in Dover. I've loved Dover! Great people. Fun ward and still improving. I don't know where I'm going next. I don't know who my companion is yet. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is Transfer Conference. In the conference, I'll find out where I'm going and who my comp is. I'm glad I'm not in training anymore. That was tiring and a little frustrating at times. I'll be sure to include more stories in next weeks email. I read all the emails mom and dad sent me.

 

I did get the purchase to go through on LDS.org. I'll be getting that soon. One thing that I was thinking I wanted is a new backpack. Maybe something not as big as the one I took. I don't really need all that room. I was thinking something like that camel pak that I bought a little while ago. A good amount of space. Probably just not camo design. Just something simple. I do not need it anytime soon, so if you have any other questions about that, just ask. I would like a camel pak in it though to hold some water. That'd be nice.

 

Every day in the MTC I have an entry, but I've been doing terrible so far with writing in my journal. I will definately put an increased effort in writing in my journal. I definately see the importance of journal writing. I remember something from the MMA I did that the MMA community (you know, the whole Karate community) recommends journal writing because the old Chinese people or whoever invented Martial Arts learned that it makes you more happy and more thankful. I learned that from my MMA teacher. Speaking of which, it's been over a year since I started doing that!

 

I remember Dad saying that if something is broken or not working properly, check it out and try to fix it yourself before you try and buy something new. I don't know exactly how he said it, but I remember the principle. There was this floor lamp in our apartment that was really loose and wouldn't stand up properly. The Elders in the apartment had fixed it by stuffing slippers under the lamp so it wouldn't fall over. I started looking at the lamp and remembered. I found out that the lamp is in perfect working condition. The screws that hold the sections of the lamp were really loose. I tightened them up and the lamp stands tall and proud by itself now! So thanks dad!! Love you guys! Talk to you more, lots more, next week. Sorry again for the short letter.

-Justin

Q of the W:

1.  When will you be going to New York City and to the Manhatten Temple?

 

Yes. Soon. I'll get more info on that next week. Since I'm going to a new area, I'll probably talk about it with my next comp.

2.  What is the funnest part of your mission?

 

I don't know what the funnest part is. I don't know. The best part is probably getting to know people and see them change their lives because of the testimonies they receive.

3.  Are you ironing your shirts?  Grandpa Lee told me that they used to just iron the front part of their shirts because that is all that showed...funny!

I don't iron my shirts. Sometimes I do. The shirts I have unwrinkle themselves if they are warm when you hang them up. I've ironed a couple shirts because I don't hang them up after they come out of the drier. That's a good idea though Grandpa Lee!