February 2, 2015

Hi everyone!

Wow that sounds like a crazy week.  Sorry I added a lot to the stress and craziness.  In all honesty I feel like the person least stressed and the one who has to deal with it the least.  I've kept a hold of all the papers I've gotten so I'll send them in after the surgery probably like next week unless you need me to send them sooner.  I have a CD of my first x rays so I'll send that. :)  This doctor that I went to last week and on Friday is super good.  He's got it.  I actually didn't know about the for sure surgery until Friday either and it probably won't be on Wednesday.  Sister Workman is working out the appointment now I hope...  Ha I actually learned more from your conversation with the doctor than I had learned from everything before.  Kinda funny.  Don't worry we all could hear your conversation. :)  It was...  Uplifting.  It's a lot easier to type with this new brace I have so yeah that's good and I haven't really been in very much pain from it so that's good and bad but yeah...  Thanks for everything. :)

I did get your box of sunshine!  It was really nice actually.  I wasn't having the greatest day until I got it and it helped me feel better. :)  So yeah.  Thanks! 

That's so cool about your temple experience. :)  Everything will be alright.  Seriously it will be!  You guys have received so many blessings already from the Lord as far as money goes.  I'm confident he will help if the insurance stuff falls through.  I hope that will work out though.  Good luck...  Sorry again I'm causing so many problems.  

Seriously I'm not stressed at all about my finger.  It will be good and fun!  I'm just hoping that it doesn't interfere with any more sets we have.  We're on a upswing right now which we really need in this area and we need to go to the sets we have...  That's been what I'm stressed about.  And my companion doesn't like dropping investigators so that's kinda hard.  It's pretty incredible how much the Lord has been preparing me for this area.  Elder Nanto is a really great missionary. Pretty much everything I learned before I'm using here and it's really good.  It's like learning to have a stronger personality.  I've been in a state of amazement the past couple days because I realized how much I've changed in such a short amount of time.  Just crazy. 

Anyway I love you!  Nothing really to update on this week.  No life altering injuries or discoveries of oldest fast food chains in the world or anything.  So yeah!  I guess I'll let you know how my surgery goes! (as long as it still happens this week...  It better.)  I'm excited to have anesthesia again actually. :)  It was fun last time I had it.  Anyway Love you!  Have a good week!  Try anyway.  And try not to get too stressed out.  Remember who's in charge.  

mmmmbye!

Elder Passey

January 26, 2015

Hi everyone!

Well I guess you already know the big thing that happened this week.  

I went to the oldest McDonald's in the world on Wednesday after my doctor's appointments though!  How cool is that?  I was so happy that we found it.  We didn't even expect to find it but we drove by it and it has signs and a museum and everything that said that it's the oldest McDonald's in the world!  I got some cool pictures. :)

So...  I broke my finger in two places and dislocated it playing dodge ball.  It's been a hard week.  Probably one of the hardest in the mission so far anyway.  On Monday it happened (though I did win a game of dodge ball before. :) ) Then I thought it wasn't too bad so we waited till Tuesday morning to call it in when it wasn't any better.  Tuesday I spent all day at different hospitals being in pain.  The first guy we went to tried to put it back in place before the x ray and it hurt so bad.  Then they took the x ray and saw it was broke and dislocated.  Fancy that.  Then we went to the ER and was there forever.  They took a ton of x-rays and then they shot my finger up with a ton of shots (extremely not fun at all.) and tried to put it back.  The one doctor tried 3 times and each time he loaded up my finger with more shots and he couldn't get it back in so he called for backup and with the help of this more manly doctor they moved it a bit but didn't fix it. So Wednesday we went to this other doctor and he told me for sure I need surgery.  He gave me a referral and the referral has been what we've been waiting on ever since.  That's been pretty stressful because they said that I need it operated on within 2 weeks and optimally the first week so that's been just grand.  He said I'll possibly never regain full motion in my finger and that I'll have arthritis.  That's what I'm not happy about mostly...  Meh it's ok though.  That's about it for this week though!  Pretty average week you know just livin life to it's fullest!  Livin on the edge...  

Anyway Love you!  I'll let you know how everything goes!  Have a good week and don't stress out about it!  I fasted for it on Friday and got a blessing of healing Tuesday night so I'm taken care of.  Don't worry.

I almost hope they just go all like "oh it's too late you have to cut it off" then how sweet of a mission story that would be!  I would only have 9 fingers!  That would be pretty fun. :)

Try to have a good week and don't worry!  Things will be ok.  I love you!  

Elder Passey

January 19th, 2015

Hey!

Well this transfer is going to be good I think!  It's kinda of a crazy situation right now because we're helping take over a dissolved area. So there are areas and people that my companion doesn't know at all either so that's going to be interesting to figure out.  

So far though Whittier is super nice!  I like it!  It's like normal!  It's weird going from sketchy Long Beach to Whittier.  It's like a culture shock.  Anyway, my companion's name is Elder Nanto.  He's pretty awesome!  We get along pretty good. :)  So that's really nice...  He's pretty laid back and goofy.  He likes to argue about pointless things too which is fun. :)  I'm on a bunk bed again though - sending me back to my childhood. Pretty fun stuff!  We also have two other Elders in our complex who we hang out with a lot which is way fun too.   They're pretty awesome and one of them is brand new from Mexico so he's teaching all of us a lot of Spanish stuff.  We do have a car but we can't use it very much because it's almost out of miles for this month because the last Elders who used it weren't very thoughtful so yeah...  It's ok.  I'm also the driver which is hard because I have to navigate the squiggly roads (it kinda is like Stansbury to give you an idea) and know where everything is.  We don't have a map either right now so it's hard but good.  

I don't really have much to say about this last week though, just we've been working hard every day and we have a great time too. :)  It's going to be a good transfer.  Well if I think of anything else to say I'll let you know...  Have a good week!  I love you!  

Elder Passey

January 12, 2015

Hey!  Sorry again I missed last week email!

So real quick, I'm getting transferred again!  I'm leaving to Whittier.  I'm so sad.  I've pretty much been in a state of depression since Thursday when my companion was called a trainer.  I'm going up to Whittier and it sounds like I may have a hard Elder...  We will see!  I'm super sad though...  I really loved this area.  And Maribelle, the person we picked up like 9 days ago as an investigator has a baptismal date for the 24th and she received her answer to if the church was true two nights ago.  I'm really glad I was able to help her out with that but sad I don't get the chance to teach her the rest of the way.  I'll be able to come back down here for her baptism though!  It's going to be so cool!  The rest of the investigators we have aren't so great...  It's all good though.  Then David and Mayra are doing good!  I"m really sad I'm leaving them though. 

So as far as the challenge I hinted at the other day, on Monday we went to Buffalo Wild Wings which was so much fun to go to. :)  I loved it there.  And going to the fancy Brazilian place right after was just weird and made me super uncomfortable but anyway, apparently at the wild wing thing there is a challenge that Elder Campbell and Wolfinden did that day and I wanted to do it so I did on Thursday. :)  Here's the challenge: they give you 12 wings (which I've never even eaten before Thursday) and they're cooked in the spiciest sauce they have and extra sauce is put on them.  Then they serve them to you really hot and you have to eat all 12 in less than 6 minutes.  Without a napkin or drinks or anything.  So everyone gets really messy.  Anyway when Campbell and Wolfinden did it, it looked super hard and painful and fun at the same time. :)  Campbell did it in 5:15 And Wolfinden in 5 45.  So I did it on Thursday after district meeting and man I was in the zone when the timer started.  I just ignored everything including how hot they were and what everyone was saying and I went as fast as I can.  I did it in 3 47. :)  Afterwards, I realized how much it hurt.  I did notice though around my 8th or so that my eyes started watering.  When I finished, I really hurt.  There was dead skin at the top of my mouth where they burned it real bad and I felt pretty bad for about a day.  It was so much fun though. :)  And they were good!  And since I finished it it was free and I got a free shirt. :)  I got pictures so I'll send them.  

That's the biggest thing I could really think of this week. :)  There is probably more but I can't remember really and my brain is all scrambled right now with leaving already.  Only 2 transfers in an area isn't enough.  Oh well!  Maybe it's preparing me for military life or something.  Anyway I don't really have anything else to say!  Have a good week!  Good luck with everything!  I love you!

Elder Passey

Christmas pictures

December 29th, 2014

Dear Family,

Christmas was good. :)  It was probably one of my favorites.  First of all there was the Christmas Eve thing we did for the Hermana which was super awesome and then on Saturday for the baptism everything went well!  On Friday night it didn't seem like the Elder from Utah was going to make it so Mayra flipped a coin between Me and Elder Taylor to do the baptism.  I won. :)  So I did the baptism!  It was so awesome! :)  Except that the church doesn't have a water heater...  So the water was about the temperature of ice.   But it just added to the funness right? :)  We tried boiling water and dumping it in but it didn't work at all.  It was so spiritual and awesome though. :)  Yesterday we went by their house again at night and she was so happy and she said she felt changed and David (her husband who is a member) said when she went under the water he got a lump in his throat and was so happy.  It was so great. :)  

Ha the rest of Christmas was alright!  I bashed my shin open on a church chair when we were playing zombies.  It's pretty good!  Looks great!  I should have taken a picture.  blood was running down my leg and it looked pretty sweet.  It took till the next morning until it stopped bleeding.  Fun stuff!  

Dang that's too bad with the plumbing...  Good luck with that stuff.  Hopefully it won't get too bad.  you sure do have to laugh when things keep going bad. :)  I've had some of those moments for sure!  It just makes things better when you laugh at them.  

Things are going good.  I feel like I'm just in like a rut right now and I'm trying to get out.  I feel like I'm getting lazier and lazier...  No bueno.  Truthfully it's Elder Taylor rubbing off on me...  I noticed it this past week that I'm becoming like him in some ways and I don't like it at all.  Like complaining about everything and we plop at members houses too much.  I just don't have the energy to do things so well anymore and yeah...  Meh.  Transfers are in 2 weeks so I just kinda gotta hope that we will change but until then work harder than ever.  It's going to be just great.  Oh well I guess!  Nothing else I can do really.  

Well that's it for this week!  the Skype thing wasn't near as bad as I though it would be and Christmas in general wasn't too bad either.  It was good!  I just need to get over this rut thing right now.  That's it though!  So thanks for everything!  Love you!  Happy New Year!  Good luck with all the grumpy crazy kids and house appliances.  

Elder Passey

December 22, 2014

Hi guys!

I'm way happy that the Lord is looking out for you guys. I think I can hopefully make my bike last out the next 17 months.  And as far as iPads go, as far as I'm concerned, it's just a myth.  They're never coming.  They say they will but they mean when the millennium comes.  Man that's so cool about Dad's book and the letter and everything.  And McDonalds with Sam too!  Man that all is just so cool!  That makes me really happy. :)  

Oh it's alright with the call.  I'll still do that.  It's just going to be hard but it will be good!  It will be nice to see you guys again!  Um I really don't know when we will be doing it...  Elder Taylor is being difficult.  We're going to a member's house to do it but I don't know what time.  Maybe like 10 or so?  I'm just guessing so I really have no idea.  Sorry...  

Sounds like a fun week. :)  I love you!

Well this last week not much happened.  I got sick so it's just been kinda miserable trying to push through the work with a cold.  It's all good though.  It's pretty much done with by now which is a blessing for sure.  I just kinda saw it like a challenge to see if I could stick out working with being sick.  It was good.  And my voice was super deep which made my spanish sound awesome.  I sounded like a Mexican Gangster.  

Yesterday we sang Silent Night for our branch during sacrament!  It was super nice and we did really well I feel like especially because I wasn't the only one sick.  I don't really have anything else interesting that happened from last week.  Sorry.  

Everything here is just weird when it comes to Christmas.  It doesn't feel like it's here at all.  The weather is too warm and I don't know!  It just doesn't feel like it.  I am pretty excited though!  We all as a district have a bunch of fun stuff planned for the week.  We're going caroling on Christmas Eve and then in the morning on Christmas we're going to meet together super early and play this zombie game we've been playing recently.  I guess I can talk about that!

So the Zombie game is super fun.  It started out as us playing sardines in the church which is super fun but this zombie thing is crazy.  So one of us is a zombie and goes and hides.  All the lights are out in the church and everyone has something like a flashlight or a nerf gun.  Then we go out and if the zombie kills you you become a zombie too.  But you can kill the zombie for like 10 seconds or so.  It's really fun. :)  Super scary though and it really is like super creepy and stuff.  We're playing it today. :)  It's pretty much all that anyone in the district has been thinking about recently.  Since we can't have normal things entertain us we make games like this which is so much fun!  

So yeah I guess that's it for the week!  I'll see you guys on Thursday I guess sometime with Skype!  I have no idea how it's going to work out or anything but it will.  I love you and miss you!  Merry Christmas!

Love you!

Elder Passey