Jan. 3, 2011
Happy New Year from Detroit! Thanks for the email and for sending those pictures. It looked like everyone was having a good time. Ha dad's and sean's hats were sweet. So Makenzie and Delaney already look a little older, maybe my mind's just playing tricks on me? It hasn't been that long. Sounds like New Years was fun, probably a little safer than mine was, which is always good. Can't believe Sean's back at school, he just got back home! But it's good to start asap, plus skype and cell phones make a big difference.
New Years here is pretty insane. This probably won't surprise you, but a ton of people out here have guns. Every once in a while you can hear a few shots go off at night. But New Years is nuts. People had starting telling us that the tradition is for people in the city to shoot off a bunch of shots once it hits midnight. Didn't expect it to be as crazy as it got. Around 8:30 some shots would go off every once in a while, but once it hit midnight Detroit turned into a war zone. It sounded like a bunch of people had automatic weapons too, some rounds of shooting would last for 10 seconds. It lasted for about an hour. From what I've been told the cops just basically take the night off. And I guess people just shoot up into the air and in random directions and the bullets just come back down who knows where - some people were killed last year someone said. An investigator said one year his canopy got shot up on his front porch. Crazy huh?
My companion is district leader and he's supposed to go on exchanges with each missionary in our district every time there's a new transfer. Exchanges are when two companionships split up for 24 hours - it's supposed to help us give/get some new perspective on teaching and to give the district leader an idea of how the missionaries are doing. And since I'm his companion I get to do this just as much as he does, which is pretty cool. So we did our first exchange a few days ago. I was actually with this other missionary on the night of new years eve and new years day after, haha and when the shots were going off he was freaking out. His bed was right by the window, and he ended up moving his bed to the other side of the room because he was scared of getting shot. Well maybe I shouldn't laugh, I mean better safe than sorry....but we were on like the 6th floor of his apartment building. Ha it was pretty funny. But that was cool doing exchanges, he and I got a long fine and had a pretty good day as far as teaching goes.
Tell Rocann thanks for the heads-up. Pigs feet doesn't sound much better. Glad to hear you all missed the floods. I guess that's a benefit from living at the very top of Portola Hills. I gotta send this because I'm running out of time. Good hearing from you all again. Keep enjoying life and finding reasons to be happy. You've all got a ton. Love you big time.
Elder Lamb
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Whaddup doe? doe, like the deer - i don't know why, but that's what everybody says here. How's it going? That was great getting to talk you all on the phone just a few days ago. I still can't believe that was 2 hours, it barely felt like 1 to me. Can't wait to talk to you again in May. How was Christmas day in Orlando? Want to email a few pics of the cruise and D-World? Anything new since we last talked? It hasn't been long so I don't really have a whole lot to say this time.
Christmas was good. We squeezed in normal teaching when we could. Christmas Eve we had two dinners at two members houses. On Christmas morning we opened our presents and called you at the Rumbley's house, they're members in our branch. Sister Rumbley, aka 'Granny', is really the only active member of their family. But there's a ton of people in and out of that house, some are technically members/some aren't. And I'm still trying to figure out who is related to who and how that big family tree is set up. But really good really awesome people. There's a lot of potential there and we're always working on bringing them closer to Christ and getting them more involved somehow. We ended up having dinner there later on in the day after we did some teaching. We had ham, mac'n'cheese, turkey, potatoes, the usual. But something not so usual was thrown into the line-up. Ever heard of "chitlin"? Ha oh man. It's some serious Soul Food. It's boiled pig intestine. It smells like pooh. Tastes like it smells. I felt a little bold and had some. Super chewy, a little bit of hot sauce sort of softens the blow. I took a picture and wanted to email that, but I couldn't find a slot for my memory card on this computer. Just use your imagine, it sort of looks like a piece of chicken that's already been chewed up. Ha sorry if this is making anyone sick, just giving you a taste of D-Town.
I taught Elders Quorum yesterday at church. That's what happens at the Belle Isle Branch sometimes. Awesome members, but the size and attendance has room for improvement. When sacrament started yesterday it was us 4 Elders (another companionship in our area are part of the branch), the branch president and his family, a family of 9, and maybe two others. More people showed up eventually though. The Elders Quorum President asked me to give the lesson on two talks from President Monson from the October General Conference this year - "Charity Never Faileth" and "The Divine Gift of Gratitude". Check them out if you get a chance, there's something in those we all can really work on.
Yesterday at church we were talking with the Branch President and the Young Men's President, and the prez had a pretty sweet idea. I guess the Young Men's program is pretty much non-existent. And something families down here really need down here is a solid Priesthood holder in the home, which is tough when dads aren't always around. So the 4 of us missionaries are part of the Young Men's Program in the branch now. This Tuesday we're meeting with the young men's prez, Brother Black, and we're having a planning session - along with some pizza and a movie (church movie). We're going to plan out activities for the next month or so and start thinking of ways to pump up all the 12-18 yr old guys and their dads if possible. It's also a good way to get some of our investigators involved in the church. Elder Berger and I were talking about a few days ago how sweet it would be for the Rumbley Family if Marlin ( a 16 yr old kid in the family who was baptized but isn't active) got more into the church. So that's exciting.
For Pday today we're going to go to the inner-city down-town part of Detroit to do some sight-seeing and all that good stuff. So I'll try to take some good pics.
Well it's time to go. Thanks to everyone who sent cards and presents. Really, it's awesome just getting normal letters out here so Christmas present packages are a whole new level of excitement. It was good hearing from friends and family and seeing your guys' pics on christmas cards. It was cool taking a step back from the usual traditions of Christmas and focusing on Christ and the holiday's true meaning. Whether people really do understand Christ and all He did for us (I'm still working on understanding that completely), Christmas really testifies of Him and His spirit can be felt a little stronger and helps put everyone in a better mood (with the help of presents and fun activities) but without that Spirit it wouldn't be the same. That might not have come out as smoothly as I'd like. But Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from D-town! Love ya!
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
Friday, December 17, 2010
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