July 15, 2009

Hey! Well I will try my best to answer your questions. My comp has been in the field for 1 year and 2 months. He's 24 years old and is from Valparaiso, Chile and he's a stud. Hmm my area includes a pretty good chunk, but mostly we stay in Newburgh(that's where most of the Spanish speaking people are, and they are EVERYWHERE!! haha) We only have a branch and there are about 40 or so people that show up everyweek. That was a new experience for me. I'm used to having hundreds of people in a chapel. Our building is actually really nice and is just like any other church in utah. We are allowed to wear just a shirt and tie if it's above 70 degrees, so that's been everyday so far. But it's actually been really nice weather. I would say in the low 80s and not much humidity at all. Elder Garside ended up in the bronx haha. But the part of Newburgh that I'm in everyday is pretty comparable to the bronx from what I hear. Haha it's pretty freaking ghetto here but's it's not too bad. There are certain streets that are worse than others. I feel like I'm in a different country when we're in the city. Some of the appartments in the city are so trashy. Haha I love it though. We have appointments everyday with investigators, and I mostly just testify. It's pretty hard to understand most of the people here. I'm pretty sure what they are speaking isn't spanish. Mexican spanish is BY FAR the easiest to understand. I feel pretty good when we are with mexicans because I can understand a lot of what they say. It's pretty hard though. Already since I've been here we've taught people from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, dominican republic, puerto rico, peru, chile, and ecuador. It's kind of crazy. Dominicans don't speak spanish though. They speak their own language hahah. P day is on wednesdays, and I'm not sure but I think it's the same for everyone. Well I think I answered most of your questions and will you just forward this to everyone please?? I'm not going to have time to write everyone individually this week. Sorry!! But I'm still doing really well and am just trying to learn Spanish. I really like my area a lot. It's a lot of fun in Newburgh because it's kind of ghetto in parts. It's not too bad though. We haven't heard any gun shots yet so that's a good sign... haha :) My comp said he heard a lot of gun shots in the bronx at night. Maybe we would too but we don't live in Newburgh, we live in New windsor. This area is really nice other than the city. I see deer and stuff all the time ( Gay whitetails... I guess that will have to do for two years) Oh and I've only had to go into the Projects once so far and it was a really nice one. My comp said the ones in the bronx smell like pee and there's sometimes blood in the halls hahahah. But not too worry, I'm completely safe and haven't once been in the least bit scared. I think I'm making it sound worse than it actually is though. You should try to look at some pictures of the city of Newburgh. Well I've got to go now, but I love you all and next time I'll probably have more time to write everyone because I won't have quite as many questions to answer. I love you all!!!! Have a good one LOVE Elder Maxfield