The Hidden Camera Show Meets Cake Boss

 What's crack-a-lackin everybody!? In case you don't read these and you just want the quick update, here it is, I'm doing great! Alright now on to the good stuff for all those who read the who email because you have nothing else to do haha I'm just messing, but let's get into the week.

Have you guys ever watched the show Cake Boss? Well apparently the Guys bakery is right down the road from me and I had no clue. We went on Wednesday and I have to say, it is much cooler in person. I was hoping Carlo would walk in and give us all free cake but that didn't happen. I would have bought a slice so I could tell you all how good it is, but the prices for a single slice were a bit to pricey for me hahah. It was cool nonetheless. 

I think I told yall that we started playing ball every Friday Night as another way to start finding people, and this past Friday was probably one of the funniest nights I've had in awhile. We got about 35 people there wanting to play ball. We played 5 on 5 which was perfect because we had a team of us 5 missionaries and then 5 other dudes were on the other team. The first game was not our best haha but I blame it on not being warmed up. Then every other game we played we had a nice victory. The whole time we were here everyone on the court thought there were hidden cameras filming us because we 1: We were all dressed up in our church clothes, 2: We got beat the first game pretty quickly and then the rest of the games we were throwing Oops to each other and draining shots left and right, and 3: We were the only white people haha. The best part of it all was that we were playing under the lights and when you are playing a sport under the lights, everything is so much more fun. 

Here's a Little Spiritual Food:

It comes from a talk given by President Thomas S. Monson called, "See Others As They May Become." There is one quote that stood out to me that I would like to share with you all and it says, 

"We must develop the capacity to see men not as they are at present but as they may become."

Having the view of people has really helped me as a missionary and especially a person in general really make meaningful connections with those I come in contact with. I invite you guys to do the same this week!

See yall in 3 weeks!

Tangiringkami ni kabane 

Tia boo Moa

Elda Jeppson

Breakfast at IHOP

Ward BBQ - not everyone pictured 

Killer View 

Have you ever seen Cake Boss? Well here is his shop! 

The Crew 

Broke out Dem Lava Lavas

Elder Kotter and I wishing we were at the beach haha 

Just wanting to fly... hah

The Beauty Of The Atonement

 What's going on everybody! I'm just going to get things started by jumping right into the week;

First off, I went on an exchange this week up in a spanish area and man I felt like I was back in my first week on the mission when I couldn't speak a lick of the language haha. Those 3 years of Highschool Spanish really didn't come in handy haha. It was a good time though. I let some cool people and had a fun time yelling what we believe to a dude who was hanging out his window 3 floors up. You sure do meet some funky people over here in the city, but I love it. 

I had my last Zone conference this week. I mean I remember my first day on the mission like it was yesterday and now here I am, exactly where I never thought I would be. I got to see my bud Elder Groll again one last time which was super sweet. I was comps with him for a couple months towards the end of last year. 

We are teaching this 18 year old named Jonathan and he is pretty dang sweet. We met him at the park a couple times this past week to shoot some hoops with him and I have to say, it has really helped us grow our relationship with him. He has started texted us throughout the week and setting up times to meet before we even have a chance too. He texted us Sunday morning about an hour before church telling us that his aunt wasn't going to be able to drive him to church but that that wasn't going to stop him from coming. He decided he was going to walk the 35 min walk in the very hot humid weather so he could get to church. We couldn't let him get all sweaty before church alone, so we decided to join in on the fun. We walked all the way down to his house and then all the way back up to the church building. It was definitely worth it no doubt but suits just don't go hand in hand with hot humid weather haha.

Here's a little spiritual food for y'alls:

There are two scriptures that I want to share with you all that go hand in hand with each other. 

John 14:6 says, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

 Now skip a couple pages and read this verse found in 2 Corinthians 5:17,

 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

It's pretty interesting how the first verse plays into the second. If we follow Jesus Christ like it says in John 14, then we will be able to leave behind things that have happened in the past and become something new like is stated in 2 Corinthians. Or in other words become clean through Christ's Atonement. Pretty neat stuff!

Well that's all I got for you guys this week! Remember to keep on smiling.

Tangiringkami ni kabane 

Tia boo moa 

Elda Jeppson

Balling up with Jonathan 

                   

Sisters Dever, Willyard, and Fevaleaki 

Whats popping Elder Groll 

Got to meet a guy who lives up on the 20th floor when he gave us his couch 

Elder Child and I 

The Zone 

Us and our friend Ahmeer 

My mind Elder Prophet 

Elder Hickman, Me, Marx, Zinkand, Brough 

Hauling a couch back with Elder Hall and Kotter 

Elder Marx asleep on the way back from Zone Conference 

Adventures Of The Tow Yard...

 What is going on everybody! Another week has gone by so let me share some highlights/fun experiences with y'all:

Saturday is now one of my favorite days in the week again because we started pickup soccer with our ward and the spanish ward. It has been awhile since I've laced up a pair of cleats and played a good game of soccer and let me tell you it was a great time.

Wednesday we had a good old experience. The other Elders car got towed because the road they parked on started doing some construction and they didn't know. They had to go to a meeting so Elder Marx and I had to go down to the tow yard and figure out how to get it out. We met two cool people there who were also in the same predicament as us. One lady used to be a dancer on Broadway, and actor, and is now a movie director, and the other guy was this super funny Hispanic. Our situation reminded me of one of those Disney shows where a couple random people get locked up somehow and are trying to find a way out. We were just all laughing because all of our cars got towed and it cost $182 to get it out haha. We all made a plan that if they didn't give us the cars back then we would just distract the guards and steal our cars back, unfortunately it didn't have to come to that. Instead we had to drive all the way to Morristosn to pick up cash from the mission office and then drive all the way back to pay the bill. Got to love living in the city.

Hopefully you all have a great week! Remember to keep on smiling!

Tangiringkami ni kabane 

Tia boo moa 

Elda Jeppson

The homies and I 

The district minus 2 companionships 

Views on Views 

Of Chicken Embryos and Baptisms

 Happy 4th of July everybody! If you haven't watched the fireworks that's happen on the Hudson River in between NYC and Jersey City, I highly recommend it because it was one of the coolest firework shows I have ever seen. This last week was action packed so let's get right into it shall we.

I have reached my last transfer of my mission or in other words, I have 6 weeks left. I know many people say this, but time really does fly. My mission has had its ups and downs for sure but I am grateful for all that has happened and I'm excited to keep working till the end.

Now for what you have been waiting for. The week started off on a high note when we turn a street corner and see this brawl going on. This wasn't your typical Highschool throw a couple punches fight, this was a full on grab anything you see and try and hurt the other person brawl haha. Traffic cones were flying, punches were thrown, and spectators were filming. The main perpetrator was put in a headlock and carried off, the cops came, and the brawl was ended. I have to say, it was quite the show. Imagine being in a real life game of Super Smash Bros and that's what it felt like hahah Welcome to Jersey City.

Another highlight from the week is when a Filipino member threw a "Good Luck/Going Away" party for Elders Brough, Beazer and I. He didn't hold anything back as you can tell from the pictures below, it was awesome. The best part of the dinner was when he brought out a nice Filipino delicacy called Balut. Imagine a hard boiled egg with a half formed chicken inside that has a little head, some bones, and maybe a couple feathers. It was quite the texture but also quite delicious. 

The week ended off on the right note, our friend Jestina got baptized! It has been so awesome to see her growth over these past couple weeks. When she came up out of the water she had a big old smile across her face. Definitely an amazing experience.

Well that was the week folks. Remember to keep on smiling!

Tangiringkami ni kabane 

Tia boo moa 

Elda Jeppson

Jestina's Baptism 

Baptism selfies 

Our Good friend Maryanne 

The Goodbye party table 

Elder Young and I 

Good Bye Elder Glauser 

The District 

Got to love it

The New NJ river (after 30 minutes of rain)

Good Ol Jackie Robinson

My boy JoJo

Goodbye Elder Young 

Elders Brough, Me, Beazer and JoJo 

Fireworks over NYC 

Skyline at Night 

Us and Charles 

Going away party for E. Brough, Beazer and I 

Balut: A Filipino delicacy or otherwise known as A chicken Embry 

Goodbye Elder Kelly

Bye Elder Brough (comp)