December 20, 2010
Hey hey family, how're things on the west side of the states? Pretty warm? Well, compared to here at least. I don't know how cold it's been here because we don't have any way of checking the temperature, but oh man has it been freezing. But I expected that. And thanks for the thicker gloves, those make a huge difference. They're great thanks. Could you look up the temperatures for the past week just so I have an idea of what it's been and what that feels like? I've been cold and been able to see my breath before, but when I walked out of the airport it was like there was a constant cloud of breath in front of everyone's face that would never go away. Ha but enough on that, we'll just leave it at "it's pretty cold here."

So I'm really sorry about not calling from the airport. I was bummed too, I'll explain the situation more when I talk to you guys in a few days on Christmas. But basically, there was a missionary from my district who sort of messed it up for me because I had to wait with him and then ran out of time to call. He'd never been to an airport before so I don't really blame him, but it's all good, it's in the past and I've moved on. But I'm excited to talk to you guys in just a few days! Thanks for sending a calling card, I bought one at the MTC for 5 bucks just in case you guys forgot to because I don't think we ever talked about what we'd be doing for that.

Are you guys on the cruise right now? Oh man, if I was anywhere else I'd get up from whatever I was doing to meet up with you guys. Can't wait to hear all about it. Pssh and Sean's home! That's crazy! It seems like he barely left. I got a letter from Arin saying she was sitting next to him in our living room and he was on the computer. Ha that's so weird to think about.

So guess where my first area is? The Belle Isle Branch in east downtown Detroit. Ha oh man is it crazy here. If I wasn't a missionary here I wouldn't be doing the stuff I've been doing - like riding around on a bike at night. Ya our area is bikes only. That's pretty tough to do when the weather's like this. We're riding around on snow-covered roads (Detroit doesn't really plow their roads) and half the time the roads are pretty much all ice - it's like riding a bike around on an ice skating rink. I've slid off a few times, but I'm getting the hang of it, but don't worry no injury we don't ride fast. I wasn't sure if I should mention the crazy stuff, but it's not really that crazy so I'll fill you in. And besides we're good about keeping the rules and not pushing our luck with anything, we try to make smart decisions for the sake of staying safe, and for that we're blessed. But that's not to say I wouldn't appreciate any prayers in my direction :) But really don't worry, it's a tough part of the world here but the Lord's taking care of us.

So my first day here my companion Elder Berger and I were out riding around and we ran into a pack of wild dogs walking around one of the streets probably looking for food or some way to get warm. We turned the other way. There was like 6 of them. The place is a lot like what you see on tv (check out Eminem's music video "Beautiful" to get a good idea), a lot of abandoned buildings and houses, some burned down houses. The whole mission isn't like this, just one or two areas are in the actual downtown city of Detroit, so I'm excited to move out to better areas eventually - but it is nice to start off with the toughest parts and right at the beginning of winter, the other parts of the mission will seem easier.

But what makes this place one of my favorite places I've been to is the people for sure. There are some really amazing individuals and families out here and in our branch. And most of them are inactive or have broken (and pretty crazy) family situations going on at home, so the potential here is awesome. Black people everywhere, and I love it. Ha the little kids especially, they're hilarious. The frustrating thing is when you see these awesome people and see how in tune with the Spirit everyone is out here, but then see them not be willing to take steps (that they admit they need) to draw closer to the Savior. Most everyone out here really respects and appreciates the missionaries. If there's a place that really needs help in turning itself over to the Lord, it's Detroit, hands down. Lives are messed up. Families are messed up. And all of these tough problems would be fixed if these people started building upon the Rock of the Redeemer. But we're working on it, I've only been here a week ;)

My companion/trainer's name is Elder Berger. He's a cool guy, he's 6'7''! Ha I feel pretty short next to him. He's going to play bball at Utah State in the fall. He's been here for 16 months. He's the District leader (which is nice because that means we have a car, but we can't really use it because we only have a certain number of miles, but every once in a while we get a break from biking it). He's also been an assistant to the president, so he's a good guy who knows what he's doing. He and I have already seen some pretty cool little miracles start to happen. We've got some tough situations with investigators and families, and we're already starting to see things change and see answers to our prayers. My mission president and his wife are really cool too. I'm pretty blessed out here. My companion from the MTC, Elder Russan, is in my zone so I get to see him every once in a while which is pretty cool.

Sorry for the novel-sized email. I had a lot to fill you in on since this whole thing is still pretty new to me. Studying scriptures and the gospel for a few weeks at the MTC can be pretty awesome if you let it be, but it doesn't compare to the mission. Completely different. It's still pretty cool to me to work as a missionary and see people's lives change right in front of you with the help of Jesus Christ's gospel. It's awesome.

Did you get the tape and SD card I sent? Ummm what else...Oh ever seen a Black Santa Clause? He's everywhere out here. Black Santa's on front lawns and black angels on top of trees...I never thought about it, but who says Santa isn't black? I'm always in bed before he visits so I can't say either way.

Oh here's my address:
943 Alter Rd, apt. 307
Detroit, MI 48215

You can also send stuff to the mission home address in Farmington, but this will get things quicker. I miss you guys and love you. Can't wait to talk to you in a few days. We'll probably be calling sometime in between 11-1 our time.

Love ya,
Dylan