May 19, 2008

Greetings from WIlmington, "Where the only mountains you will see are Baptist churches (i.e. Mt. Zion Holy Epsicople Trinity Church/ Mount Faith Hill of the Apostles)." In all of my days I have never seen so many churches. Big churches, small churches, round churches, square churches, churches that meet in amphitheaters, churches that meet in basements; I have seen them all in Wilmington.
This last week Elder Witt and I were walking in downtown WIlmington and we spotted what appeared to be a club. When we looked closer, we discovered that the club was actually a church adorned with black lights and neon pictures from the New Testament. We decided that we would go in to explore the church. The moment I set foot in the building my nostrils detected the familiar and potent smell of a cracked out hobo (which smells like a mixture of BO, dirt, sulfuric acid, and alcohol). When I looked in the room, my eyes confirmed what my nostrils smelled. There were a group of homeless men dancing around in a prayer circle. To the side of them was a band of raggedy- looking musicians providing a disjointed melody for the hobos to dance to. Scattered throughout the group of homeless men were a few well- dressed teenagers. Elder Witt and I looked at each other with a confused grin. Immediately a well dressed teenager asked us to join in the praise dance. We declined and went off on our merry way without any explanation of what the heck that church was. I doubt that I will ever see such a weird thing again.
Church corruption exists everywhere. In fact if I were not Mormon I would go into this most profitable profession. Right next to our home is a large church called the tabernacle full gospel. The pastor there is a very rich man. He drives a Bently and probably lives in a very nice house. His congregation, however, are among the poorest people in Wilmington. I talk to people who live in projects and on the streets. His house was built by the blood sweat and tears of these poor individuals. It is pathetic.
Reid, Los Angeles is legit. I am so glad that I am on a mission because it is the reason why the Lakers are winning. The Lord has seen my sacrifice and is blessing the Lakers with a championship ring. Tivo the games so I can watch them when I get back.

May 12, 2008

Greetings from WIlmington "where theres a store on every corner and a graveyard on every street." I appreciate your response to last letter and I am happy to say that me and Elder Witt are getting along great. He reminds me of my favorite cousin. We have alot of fun as well as accomplish a great amount of good. I also enjoyed your article in the Sickle thruster this week. I remember comming on the mission and seeing all these missionaries who were exactly alike. who all spoke the same way and believed the same thing and obeyed the same rules. I promised myself that I would never "drink the Koolaid." As I have matured as both a man and a missionary I have come to the conclusion that every individual subscribes to a doctrine that others believe in. In some way we all drink someone elses koolaide. In some form we are all acted upon. However, it is our choice of whose koolaide we will drink. I have come to the conclusion that I want to live my life in accordance to what the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches. I have made the choice to drink the Kool Aid of missionary work.

Reply to Comments

Dear Sean,I have come to a conclusion. This mission has made me more black than you. I am down with all the knew lingo and phrases that you haven't even heard about yet. I also know how to do the DMACK, the Spongebob, the Run-forest, and the Spider man, but you've probably never heard about those dances because your not black enough. You also may be thinking that these dances dont exist, but they do. Youtube them you will see. Chitlins are the most legit things in America. Have you ever had sweet potato pie?Eric man I love you. I think about you, will, and the rest of the gang all the time. This mission is awesome. I am so excited for the rest of it. When we get home were gonna hang out and then were going to go into the peace core and head out to Africa. Its going to be so tight. Will can come along as well.
-Romney

May 5, 2008

  The highlight of my week was Nina Martinez baptism which almost did
not take place. The Martinez family awoke to their dog suffering a
horrible and painful death. As for me and my companions we showed up to the
church at three o'clock (when the baptism was intended to occur) to
find that no one was at the building. Eventually, however, the Martinez
family showed up and we were ready to do the baptismal service when a man
from Georgia came into the building and told us that he had drove all
the way from Savannha to refinish the church basketball court and he
only had four hours to do so. After much discussion and bargining he
somehow agreed to allow the baptismal service to take place. It was in the
words of Shakira Martinez (Nina's mother) "a hot mess."  

April 28, 2008

Greetings from Wilmington "where the most common profession is
collecting cans off the street." My newest companion is.... Elder Toolson.
However, transfers occurred this week and two other missionaries will be
assigned me in my area. So in other words I will be in a missionary three
some. As for Elder Toolson, he will be headed off to be an Assitant to
the President. I guess his lattest program "Inflect" has really caught
the attention of Salt Lake and will be instituted in every ward and
mission in the world. My guess is that he will be headed on a plane
flight to salt lake before the next transfer is over to perform a tutorial
on his newest product.
 My first baptism will be held this week. Nina Martinez has shaped up
and on Saturday is planning to be baptized. I am quite excited for this
event. She is only elveen years old, but she is so smart. It took a
while for her to believe, but now she does and I am glad that this is so.

We had three investigators come to church on Sunday and another three
less active members. I am quite excited and am looking foreward to the
future. It was a better week than last to say the least.
On Saturday Elder Toolson and I had just gotten out of our lesson with
one of our best investigators when we heard a "hey yall!" Our heads
turned and we saw a car quickly pass by us. The driver stopped and poked
her head out of the car window. It was one of our former investigators
Ranisha. She is a very proud, spiritual, and large black women. I ran
up to her and began to talk to her. I quickly switched the topic to one
that was gospel related and then set a date to meet with her. It was a
wonderful conversation until I looked down and realized that she had no
pants or underwear on. I Stopped what I was saying mid sentence turned
my back and walked away. I experienced a great deal or physical,
mental, and emmotional trama. I went blind until I woke up today. I reallly
am traumatized.
Well that is about all that occured this week.

Greetings from Wilmington "where the sky is grey, the people are homeless, and the Duponts rule the world." However, dirty the people and the city may be I am beginning to learn how to enjoy Wilmingtons inner beauty. I love seeing the people that I serve overcome their environment and rise to something more than a drug dealer or a crack addict. It is these few people who give the little they have that inspire me to give the all of what I have. To what people here overcome, all that I can ever hope to do, all that I have trancended--- my ADD, my depression, and my dyslexia--- is meaningless and pales in comparison to what some individuals do. I have learned so much this week. Elder Hernandez and I have been working extensively with the ward members and less active members to home teach. I am greatful for their dedication. This week has also rendered many oppurtunities to work with members who are not of my culture. Elder Hernandez has a gift and a real connection with West Africans; especially those from Liberia. Sister Gbaye (a Liberian convert) has named me Chandhe, which means to learn. When I asked why she named me that she said that I needed to learn how to teach better. Im just joking but she wouldn't tell me why she named me that. We also tracted into another West African family named the Miracoys. We taught them a first and they were very kind and nice; however we could tell that they did not feel connected to us. However, because it is West African tradition to feed anyone who enters your house the graciously seated us and gave us their finnest china. There was a bowl of mysteriously colored soup in front of me. I began to play use my spoon to look further into what the soup contained. Suddenly I looked into my bowl again and there was a fishes head smiling right back at me. There was also the foot of a pig and the intestine of a cow. I saw Elder HErnandez go right ahead and eat on up and then I realized taht I would have to follow suit. When finished the meal the whole atmosphere of the room had shifted from one of akwardness to one of love and compassion. The father of the home looked up at us and proclaimed that we were true men of God because we were willing to eat his food without hestitation. This small act and sacrifice has led to hours of success with the miracoy family. I love them and I also love their food.

April 7, 2008

Dear Family,
Greetings from Wilmington "America's Drugground." Once again my companion has been emergency transferred. Elder Toolson was so needed in the office that President Murray had to steal him mid transfer. He really is an increadible missionary and an exceptionally talented individual. If this trend continues, by the time I will be off my mission I will have had one fourth of all the missionaries in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Mission as companions. I can only hope that I will have as many baptisms as I have as companions. My new companion is Elder Hernandez. He is a quirky and eccentric individual who has a great deal of charity. I learned how to work hard and be obedient from Elder Toolson and I am sure I will learn how to love the people from Elder Hernandez. The problem I had with Elder Toolson was that we could not talk about anything but missionary work with him. The problem I have with Elder Hernandez is that he does not talk about missionary work. My experience with both of these companions bears truth to the old saying "the grass is always greener on the other side." Regardless of this fact this week has been a great learning experience for me. Elder Toolson was not transferred until Saturday, but I wasn't with him for the entire week. He was on exchanges with other missionaries in our district and then to the mission office to fix something. As a result of Elder Toolson's abscence the burden of being the senior companion was now on my shoulders. At first I had little faith in myself. However, statistically, this week has been the best week since I have been in the mission. We have been reactivating a recovering crack addict by the name of Dorris Eubanks for the past week. On Monday night we went over to her house and mopped her floors. After that we had a short lesson with her. I then asked for refferals from her and she gave me twenty eight names of friends and family members that I should talk to. I have called some of these individuals and so far non of them have any idea about who Dorris Eubanks is. I my guess is that she has been feeding us random names from the phone book.