Dearest Mother,
First of all, I want to apologize for the exorbitant and spontaneous ukulele purchase. The ukulele itself was not over 100 dollars, but that in conjunction with the capo and electric tuner (since I can no longer rely on YouTube tutorials) put the receipt over 100 dollars. I thought it was a worthwhile purchase because I had been having difficulty relaxing during my allotted free time and figured a ukulele would help, and it has. BUT I will be sure and only spend that amount of money on things that I need from now on. I really am sorry, that was sorta selfish of me. I'll make better decisions in the future, I swear. And I send this letter to everyone in the family, so now they know of my terrible financial skills. Darn.
I still haven't checked out the mission blog!! Am I really on there?? That makes me happy. Nice to know that there are pictures of me on there and that I'm leaving my impact on the mission in small and subtle ways. I'd bet I look like a complete idiot in all of them, with a piece of taco salad in my teeth or something. Story of my life.
Goodness gracious. I can't believe it's already time for school to start again. Like, I feel like you just barely got on vacation. This kid Yosue sounds like an absolute JOY to be around. He'll keep you on your toes this entire year, no doubt about that. My tablet just autocorrected his name to Yosemite. True story. If he ever gets out of hand, call him Yosemite and annoy the crap out of him. You have my permission to do so. He'll be so confused but you'll be cracking up on the inside, so it'll be worth it.
So... This chronic leukemia thing. I still have no idea what to make of it. It's difficult being on a mission and not having access to Wikipedia or Google. So basically I have no idea what chronic leukemia is, and it's sorta annoying. But you told me that it's not anything to be overly concerned about, so I'll take your word for it. What type of treatments are there?? Would these treatments get rid of the problem all together? Or is it something that you'll have the rest of the life? Is it like a super serious form of leukemia? Gosh dang I have so many questions, but not enough thumb power to ask them all. And I guess I don't really need this information. I told President Bednar about it, as well as the death of Mamamama, and the headaches I've been having. I'm sure he thinks of me as the missionary that has a different problem every single week lol. Weird how that works. I'm praying for you every day, but you already knew that.
YASSSSSSS Sister Gardner fulfilled my wishes and gave you a hug from me! She sent me a letter a while ago, and I just barely got around to responding to her last week. Nice to know that she's keeping her commitments. Lol get it?? Because I extend commitments to investigators every day? Why aren't you laughing? Well, I thought it was funny.
FOOTBALL SEASON IS ALMOST UPON US. I doubt I could have done much better than those kids who competed for the football helmet, but I appreciate the vote of confidence. I'm excited to see how Tanner Mangum does this year. Gosh dang. I hope they don't continue their 'Cardiac Cougars' ways this year. At least we have an easy game against Portland State before the REAL test against LSU. WOW. It feels weird to be thinking about Football. I feel like I haven't thought about it in too long.
Be sure and let me know who the new Stake President is. I've been trying to figure out who would be a good candidate, and I've got NOTHING. That'll be an interesting transition.
I received Braden's weekly email this last week. It seems like he's doing pretty good. I hope he has as much fun in the MTC as I had. I'm glad I don't have to be there to witness the Knudsen's move. Seeing their empty house would just make me so sad and bring back all of the memories that I've had there. It would be too hard. I've realized that I'm a very sentimental and nostalgic person.
The news of the week?? Stephanie and Tyler passed their baptismal interviews!! They're getting baptized this Saturday!! AHHHHHHHH. I'm like SO HAPPY and excited for them. Even better, Stephanie wants me to be the one to baptize her. Like, WHAT?? I'm a little nervous, but stoked as well. I hope I'll be strong enough to lower her into the water and bring her out again. My arms are like twigs. I'm sure the Lord will give me strength.
Elder Marcum and I have been making great strides. He doesn't seem quite as robotic as I originally thought he was. We joke around and stuff now, and I feel comfortable talking to him about anything. I really am blessed to have a companion who is so patient and is willing to have intelligent conversations with me. We literally have like NO common interests, yet he's willing to listen when I talk about sports and stuff. He even plays tennis with me. He's not very good, but at least he's willing. Our teaching has gotten a lot better and smoother as well, so that's good.
I went on exchanges again this week, this time with Elder Montgomery. Elder Montgomery has less days left on his mission than I have months. He's going to BYU this next semester, so we talked a lot about what classes he should take and different college things, which I was MORE than happy to talk about. So yeah. It was cool spending the day with him, feeding on his wisdom. Exchanges are... not my favorite thing in the world, primarily because I end up missing my area too much, and I don't like missing key lessons with my investigators. We're going on exchanges again this week, but this time I'M gonna be the one to stay in Lewisberry, a day I'll be Senior companion the whole day. So yeah. Excited but REALLY scared for that. But it'll be good for me.
I feel like this letter is already really long, but I have a little bit more to tell you. I had my first interview with President Bednar this week. Hot DANG it was enlightening. I feel like I could be totally open with him about my thoughts concerning the first few weeks of my mission. I told him that my weaknesses have never been more apparent than they are now. But I made it clear to him that even though I was struggling, I am determined to continue trusting in the Lord, and I know that He will bless me as I strive to serve Him with all my heart, might, mind and strength.
He told me that in my letters to you, I need to make sure I'm completely honest with you. He said that because you are my parents, I should not deprive you of your duty to strengthen me and know about my well-being. So yeah. I'm doing okay. I've grown a lot more confident in my ability to teach this last week. More than anything, I'm still just dealing with the physical aspects of a mission. I'm literally tired ALL THE TIME. The headaches still have not gone away. My ward mission leader gave me some allergy medication to try, but if they're not gone by the end of the week, I'm gonna call Sister Bednar and try to figure something out.
There's like literally so much more I could tell you. But I think this is a good place to stop. I hesitate to tell you about my headaches and things because I don't want you to worry about me. I'm FINE. Missionary work is going GREAT. I think I'm finally starting to get into the groove of things. I love you, Mom.
Elder Gonzales
Brother John,
Yeah, buying the ukulele probably wasn't the smartest move in the world. But I already apologized to mom and assured her that I wouldn't do anything like it again. So that's the end of that. I am really happy to have a ukulele, though. It has given me something relaxing to do during my free time that I have later at night. Because writing letters and writing in my journal just gets old sometimes, you know? I'm gonna try to learn Church music, so that'll be fun.
Daredevil is a crazy show, but I love it too. I'm not so sure about the Jessica Jones one, though. I hear it's pretty explicit and dirty, so I never watched it. The Iron Fist one looked pretty cool, though. You should give that one a try. Enjoy Netflix. I miss it.
Sorry about the librarian job. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I'll keep praying for you throughout the rest of this week. You'll get your big break. I know you will.
Thanks for your constant letters. You da best. I hope you know that.
Elder Gonzales
Hey Everyone!!
I hope you're all doing amazing!! It's FINALLY starting to cool down here in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, thank GOODNESS. Biking around everywhere isn't as much of a chore as it used to be. I really hope this cool breeze sticks around for a while. I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.
I've been thinking a lot about WHY I'm out here on a mission. Like seriously, why did I decide to leave my family and my friends for TWO years to come to Pennsylvania, with its overpopulation of mosquitoes and crazy humidity?? I'm telling you, being a missionary is NOT easy by any means. We have to deal with rude people who call us names from their cars. We have to deal with the physical exhaustion of waking up at 6:30 every morning. We have to deal with people slamming their doors in our faces every day.
TRANSLATION: We have to deal with A LOT.
So what is it that keeps me going? Why do I put up with all of this, when I could be chilling at home, watching Netflix and eating my mother's cooking? It's because I KNOW that this gospel is true. Literally EVERY single good thing that I have in this life is because of Jesus Christ and His church. Because of Him, my family is so close together, and we know that we'll be together forever. Because of Him, I was able to attend the university of my dreams, in a place that supported and strengthened my beliefs. Because of Him, I've met some of my closest friends that I'll stay in touch with my entire life. Are you seeing a pattern here?? Me too.
I'm out here because of Him. Jesus Christ and His Gospel have blessed me so much in my life. I want others to have the happiness that I have. That's why I'm here.
Also, missions are pretty fun. So that's an added bonus.
I love you all!!
Elder Gonzales
1)Your eyes do not deceive you. That is me in a teal convertible. All of my childhood dreams have now been fulfilled.
2)The Ramirez's, a family I taught on exchanges. Gosh dang I love Mexican families.
3) Yup. A maple and Bacon donut. Baked to order at a place called Duck Donuts. Don't mind if I do. Sorry mom. I'm eating healthy, I promise.
4)Pure bliss.
5) The mission President came to our district meeting on Friday. We took a couple of nice pictures, then accidentally took this gem. Enjoy. Doesn't my mission president look AWESOME?? HE'S THE BEST.
