Receiving the Call Anniversary

Your letter didn't come in last week, hence the lack of response.
Yeah, it is wild to think that a year ago, we were watching lax and chillin in the capital. And I am uber jealous of Ben's Chili Bowl dogs y'all are chowing down next week. They were sooooooo goood. I counted the other day, less than 90 until I hit my year mark. That is wild. Time has flown by, maybe not for you, but for me it definitely has.
Guess what. I got a new comp. His name is Elder Burden, from Las Vegas. He actually came into the field the same time that I did, so we already knew each other. He is great. He is an English speaking missionary, so we are a "zebra" companionship.
The work is going really well here. We have seen some cool blessings from the temple. Last week, we got this referral to visit some dude, and we went over there and he asked us for a Book of Mormon, and said that he is gonna read it while he's out of town. He was really excited that we came. Hopefully things go well with him.
Other than that, everything is good here. Evelyn is getting baptized in a few weeks, and we are finally seeing some progress from some other investigators. We should be getting some dunks next month, and lots of member referrals. Those are the best. So yeah, I am incredibly content at the moment. 
That is too bad that Brady had to come home early. I wrote him a letter- hopefully he's gotten it by now.
 Yeah, it has been crazy hot. Like worse than DC last year. Almost everybody gives us water when we come by, so I am staying fairly hydrated, it's just the humidity sucks the life out of you. But I am doing good. So yeah, things are flying high here.

1. Yes mother, I am writing in the journal. I mostly just write what happened during the day, but I am writing in it on the daily.

2. Yes, I think I will name all of my children Juan, Juanita, Juanito, and Juan De Dios.

3. There aren't any gangs here that I know of. It is a safe area. Not as hood as Kaw-Riv.

I don't really have any questions to make you answer. Just love. ha.

I got a peek at the game yesterday in a store. Ah man, I miss lacrosse. Cam Newton is good. Alex Smith played very well. The Panthers stink. Niners are cool. End of story.

Anyways have a good week. Love ya.

Love, Nick

Mother's Day Aftermath

Hey Family,
Daffy is fat. Quit denying it.
Yeah it was really nice of the family to let us use their house last night. We will definitely have to do something incredibly nice for them. Yeah sorry this email is short, but we all know why. Just recap the call on the blog to make up for it.

It truly was a great time talking to you, even though I couldn't see you for the majority of the time. Yeah, Dad, they've been making that lacrosse movie for a few years now. It's supposed to be kinda funny or something. I saw this other lacrosse movie at Walmart one time- it's about some dude that goes to Iraq and then when he gets home play lacrosse to avange the world or some garbage like that.  
Things with the comp are a little iffy right now. We just have very conflicting personalities. I'd imagine that we'll be together for one more transfer, so I'll just have to learn to deal.
Anyways, don't worry about that, I am doing really great. I am focused in the work 100%. That has been a blessing. It is hard to be somewhere else mentally, and still have to teach and do all of the other missionary stuff. So I am really grateful that I can give this my all.

1. Yeah they actually signed up to feed us all of the Sundays this month, so last week we asked to use their skype. Their son has served a mission so they get it.

2. No, they were fine with everything. Like I said, they have been in your shoes, on the parental side of the mission, so they understood and didn't mind being patient.

3. Yeah while my comp called, I just hung out and talked with the family and played with the kids.

Thanks for everything that you have done for me. I appreciate all of the letters, packages, and prayers.

By the way, dad, are my Blue Jays going to take it all? Yes.

Okay familia, thanks again. Love you like crazy.

 Love, Nick

Temple Dedication

Hey!
Yeah, the Temple Dedication stuff was sweet! We sang in front of 10,000 on Saturday, no big deal. We went to the stake center to watch the dedication. Elder Holland was President Monson's companion for the weekend, so they both spoke at the dedication. We didn't have church yesterday; all was put on hold for the dedication.
So we had a really hard week as far as the work goes. On the brighter side, we have someone on date for June 16. Her name is Evelyn Nichols and she is 82. Yep. Her grand-daughter who is a member, took her to the temple open house and she felt something. She is from Alabama and has a southern accent. She is a really nice lady. She said that her goal in life is to be sealed to her parents. Her great-granddaughter is getting baptized on the 16 also, so they will be dunked together. It is pretty special.
We also got a call from the Bishop on Monday and he said that there is a 12 year old girl who isn't a member but her parents are, and she participated in the Cultural Event, and has been touched by the Spirit and wants to be baptized. So we will try to get her dunked asap.
I'll make you a deal about the video thingy, if you send me my memory card, I will do it. I only have one right now because I sent the other one to Dev. As far as the Skype sitch, I was thinking like 4 o'clock my time. I would imagine that my Skype folks have the newest update of Skype. They all have iPhones and iPads so they seem very technological and up to date. Deal? Deal. So yeah, not too much else to say.

1. Yeah people really do celebrate Cinco de Mayo. I mean, we were busy on Saturday with the Cultural Event, so we didn't participate in any fiestas. Mom- yeah, some people say gringo, others say buedo. Both mean white people.

2. This week was SO hot and muggy. Like worse than DC last year. I am getting used to it little by little. But yeah it was really hot. It is supposed to cool down a little bit this week.

3. MMMmm, my favorite meal is... I dunno. But, speaking of favorites, the family that we are eating and skyping with on Sunday are going to make the William Sonoma mac n cheese. Yes.

Okay my favorite family, have a great week and talk to you on Sunday!!!!!

 Love, Nick

Drafted...for the Lord

Mi familia,

I'll be honest, before the Niners signed Brandon Jacobs, I was hoping that they would draft James. I guess they did anyways. They have a ton of running backs. Sounds like a productive effort on our Boys from the Bay's part. How are the Giants doing? Is the bearded hero still going to sit the season? I don't have a ton of info on the Mother's Day sitch, but I will investigate like McGruff the Crime dog on Sunday.

There aren't very many barbecue places up here as we are more north of the metropolis that is KCMO. I miss Oklahoma Joe's. So freakin good.

I got the charger. Thanks a billion. And thanks for the package. It was fun to read how everyone is doing.

The work is really going well. I was on exchanges when we saw Edgar and Cecilia, but my comp said that it went well. We have this other guy named Juan de Dios (John of God, I know, kinda weird) and he is really enthusiastic about the message. Also, we started teaching a guy named Prisco who is very interested in learning more, especially because his dad is a member. So yeah, the work is really cookin'.

The open house is done, and the dedication is on Sunday. Should be cool. We went to the temple again on Friday. It is a pretty cool place. On Friday we also did Liberty Jail, and the Indy VC.- the whole kit-and-kaboodle. The Liberty Jail is about as fun as a jail. Informational but bland as Kansas. The entire MO-KS area is buzzing with temple excitement. Lots of nonmembers that we run into tell us that they went to check it out. It has been excellent publicity for the church and we have been finding new people like crazy. This past week was pretty sweet- 8 new investigators. Hopefully, a lot of good comes from it.

On Saturday we get to go chill with President Monson, and sing the "We have been born as Nephi of old song" in the Cultural Event. Should be a good time. President Keyes is bussing in all of the missionaries in the entire mission, so it will be really fun to see everyone.

The weather has been kinda weird. On Wednesday it was 90 degrees, which was terrible. Now, it is raining. I don't have a problem with allergies here (knock on wood), so that is a plus. Ok, it is your favorite time.

1. We drive or take the bus and walk. We have the car every other week. Members here are very willing to drive us around. It is nice of them.

2. Elder Lopez's English is ok. He rarely speaks it. We try to have one day Spanish, one day English, but it never lasts past lunch. I'm guessing that English isn't his favorite.

3. I make my best effort to pound as much tasty greens as possible when we are at dinner appointments. Seems to be going well.Congrats on the callings, you should tell them about how we are really named Malomet but also Goldberg, and say "If we didn't do Family History Work, I wouldn't have written proof that my husband's family is crazy." I'm sure they'd get a kick out of that. I do.

Okey doky, familia, have a good week.

Love you, Nick

1/3rd of the way

Tell Michael congrats.The baptism sounds like a great success. It is really great that he went through with it. Good to hear that people asked about me and I'm not completely forgotten.

I am pretty stoked about the 1/3 mark. I have been out of the MTC for 6 months now. That is crazy. I don't think that my personality has changed too much, but I am a lot more open with people now. Like it doesn't take me near as long to get comfortable with someone. My faith has definitely grown a lot, and my overall knowledge of the gospel. So yeah, it has been a rad time. By Christmas I will be at 2/3. Weird to think.

 The stake stats are crazy. #1 in the hood.

The new comp is pretty good. We have been working hard and have been seeing the fruits of the work. We don't have anyone close to baptism yet, but hopefully soon we will get someone on date. The ward here is really strong. The members are all very willing to help us. We found a pretty solid family this week. Their names are Edgar and Cecilia. They took the first lesson really well, and even asked us to call them and make an appointment. Hopefully it turns out well for them. The work here is starting to pick up, and we had a missionary themed sacrament meeting yesterday to get the ward more excited.

The temple has been a real blessing for the work because it allows people to talk with their friends about the church in a more open way. They don't have to ask friends out of nowhere to take the lessons, just to go with them to see a big building. We went last week with a less active family to the temple, it went really well. We also had an appointment to go on Saturday, but we got stood up. That kinda blew. Other than that, we are still truckin' along.The temple is still in the open house stage until this Saturday. It gets dedicated on May 6. The entire mission is singing at the cultural event on the 5th. Should be sweet.

That is crazy that Rick comes home this month. Where did the past 2 years go? Well, you know what time it is....

1. We have a great ward. They do not let us go hungry. This month we haven't had a day without dinner. It is great. Therefore, I do not cook.

2. Yeah my companion is good about getting up on time, so we both get up and exercise. It has been good. I always feel better during the day when I exercise. Not as groggy.

3. Yeah so our branch is like only a half hour long sacrament meeting. The ward has quite a few people who served in spanish speaking places, so usually someone will stay with us and give a talk. Yesterday was my turn however. I talked about preparedness.

Alright daddy-o: I am sad that Johns Hopkins has fallen so hard. Luckily, their core group will be there next year, assuming they lose in the playoffs. Have fun watching the draft, I wish I could.  have a good week. Love you.

Ok my favorite mom, thanks for all that you do. Have a good week.

Love you, Nick

New Stuff

An anecdote to start off this email.

Me: Hey does (person) live here?

Man: Nope, not for a few years.

Me: Oh, we have you ever seen missionaries like us before?

Man: I'm blind.

Me:.........

Yep, that happened. This week has been a whirlwind. Transfers are a crazy thing. In 24 hours you are somewhere completely different with someone completely new.

Speaking of whirlwinds, over Saturday night there were 122 tornadoes. They all went right around KCMO, where I live now.

My new comp is Elder Lopez from Mexico by way of Nebraska. He is a very hardworking guy, and I am very happy about that. He's pretty cool. He is really serious at times, which is hard for me because I am not. This area is called Platte Woods, but is located in KCMO, so I'm just across the river from Kaw Riv. The area has a Spanish focus, but we also work with lots of English speakers as well. The ward is an English ward, and we have a tiny Spanish branch of like 5-7 people. We are assigned to cover 2 stakes worth of Spanish, but because of the Temple Open House, we don't have much info for the Liberty stake.

Quite a few of the members here are in either med school or dental school in KCMO and they live in a group of town homes we call Provito (Lil' Provo). The area is nice, I am looking forward to working here.

Leavenworth has their own set of mishies. Elder Eldridge, the Nichol's cousin is there actually. He is a funny guy. We talked yesterday for awhile. Um.. what else?

I am excited that Michael is getting baptized. That's gonna help everybody out.

The ward is good. It is all white people. That was different. We cover the ward, and then a Spanish branch. It is small. All is going well here, our apartment complex has a gym, and that is sweet. We live really close to the temple. So yeah, life is good. Oh we almost had to give a funeral for a kitten on Friday. We were contacting people, and this lady stopped us and asked us if we could help out with her grandkid's cat's funeral. She lived far, so we kindly declined.

Yeah, all is going well. I am excited to really get going with this area. We live like 10-15 minutes away from the Temple. It is a really cool building. We went on Wednesday before transfers. It was a good time. Well, not much else to say without spoiling your questions.

1. It wasn't necessarily hard to say goodbye. It just kinda happens. They were all very supportive. Keep in touch with Sis. Gaona for me. She helped us a lot.

2. We live in an apartment. It is pretty nice, but the bathroom is tinsy tiny. Speaking of which, here is the address:

6317 N. London Ave. Apt. K

KC, MO 64151

3. So no we aren't in a ward of Spanish speakers. Just a little branch. The area authorities are talking about combining a lot of the little branches in the greater KC area to make a decent sized branch/ward.

Alright Momma, hope you can relax a little this week.

Dad, Glad the bay treated you well. My contacts are fine. I will be good for a long time with them.

Love you,

 Nick

Hoppy Easter

Hey!
Easter was pretty good. The sacrament meeting that we had was really good. They did the whole story of the death and resurrection. It was really interesting.

I'm hoping Harold gets called to the Missouri Independence Mission. But only God knows (still have my fingers crossed).

I can honestly say that I will not become a Royals fan. Giants, Giants, Giants through and through. The soccer leagues are all in full swing, so a lot people are glued to that.

As far as the work goes, it went pretty well this week. We saw Ruben, and he is doing well. He wasn't able to get to church, which is a bummer. We have talked about it a lot and these people figure out how to get to various places, so if they really want to they'll find a ride to church. You know what I mean? Like we should always try to find people a ride, but ultimately, they have to have the desire, and they can always figure out how to get there. We weren't able to see Vilma at all this week, every time we went by, no one answered the door. Yeah, there really isn't any solution for the daytime situation. Just keep going.

 Transfers are this week. I couldn't tell you what will happen. I will be sure to let you know. I initially thought for sure that I would be transferred, but Pres. Keyes has said that this transfer will be really small. We had a zone conference/ half-mission conference last transfer, so this upcoming transfer are interviews. Anyways, all is well.

You know what time it is:

1. The Temple Dedication is May 6. We can only go to the stake centers to watch. We can't go to the temple itself.
2.For Easter we went to the Gaona's. It was fun. They are a fun family.
3.I just finished the Book of Mormon like on Saturday. Next is D&C. It is going really well.

Dad: What is up? All is well here. Nothing too crazy. Just basic KCK hood-rat stuff. Wheelin and dealin. There are a ton of sweet cars here. Like 90's caddys with 24s and such. A lot of Monte Carlos here. I think it is like 50/50 that is get transferred. That stinks that the Giants lost all 3. What is up with that? No run support again? fill me in.

Mama: We get to talk pretty soon. That'll be fun. I got my mission call a year from next month. That is crazy how fast the time went. Sorry I don't have much to say.
Well mi familia, I miss you and love you. Have a good week.

Love, Nick