Hello hello hello! I love and miss you all. A lot. x12. I think the more time that goes by on this mission, the more my appreciation and love grows for all you family and friends. You mean the world to me, and you are the biggest support group ever. So thank you! Keep on being bodacious. Oh yeah, thank you for the harmonica!!!!!!!! It made me so flippin happy. I dont really know how to play it yet, so im still in the major experimental phase. Everyday as a companionship, we have to read a few pages from the white handbook...so the harmonica has let me spice things up a bit. I beatbox into the harmonica and make a steezy rhythm and tune, then Elder Chong raps the words of the white handbook. Oh the life of missionary entertainment.
All is well in Wrexham Wales! Not gonna lie, it pretty much feels like home right now. I know the entire area like the back of my hand, and I know the entire ward like family and I'm pretty sure I've seen and smelt nearly every person in the town. That being said, I'm gettin itchy to move on. Even though im getting that stuck feeling, we are still seeing miracles! It definitley brightens up the work! So here's a recap of my last week:
We play quick neighborhood football matches every couple days. We mainly play against all the local tweens, and they kick my butt, but I am slowly getting better. I learned a couple of their footy tricks and I've gotten a couple of those "OOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" moments. We had a BBQ at the chapel, and we invited a handful of these kids and they showed up! It was way good to see them in the chapel, rather than doing drugs in the streets. We are trying to be the best positive influence on them as we can, and we can already see a lot of progress. I love them all, and its awesome to hear "Hey Elder Goodman!!!" when we randomly see them in town or on the streets. It is my hope that their hearts will be opened to missionaries in the future when the time is right.
Exchange with Elder Clark! He is from my MTC group, and he is a hardcore gun/knife/bow/redneck enthusiast from northern Utah. That being said, we got along very very well. It was way refreshing to connect with someone, Ron Swanson status, and to just talk about weapons and anything related to outdoors. It got us both a little home/adventure sick, but we overcame it and worked hard and met really funny drunk people on the bus ( "DONNA!!!! wake up babe! DONNA! I love you babe!" she was black out drunk). Elder Clark is a really good friend, even though he ate all of my precious Jaffa Cakes, and we made plans to go on outdoor expeditons together after the mish. I love exchanges!
We had a lunch appointment with a young, funny hipster couple out in their cottage home in the middle of the Welsh fields. Their entire home had funky artwork, vintage cameras, a sweet garden and pandora TV playing all the music that I love. I love the Bridgewaters, and even though they fed us a really organic meal that left me hungry 5 minutes later, I could totally see me and Heather in them. One day
I finally got to go to the mission home! There was a chinese planning meeting there that Elder Chong was a part of, so I got to tag along for a bit. The home is massive and beautiful (for Britain). When their meeting started, I teamed up with another tag-along elder, Elder De Ligne from Belguim, and we decided to go work (explore) the grand city of Manchester. We took the tram, walked a bit, jumped on some double decker buses (of course we sat in the very front up top. Its the closest thing to flying on the mission), and met some very interesting people. We ended up in Picadilly, which is just a huge mixing pot of different people, cultures, smells and shops. It was Elder De Ligne's birthday, so we stopped and treated ourselves to Subway and the LEGO store. That store is every kids dream. Pure Legos. Everywhere. Overall it was a good day with a lot of traveling, so it definitley eased my itchy feeling. For now!
So....yesterday I ate probably the best meal that I've ever eaten on my mission. For sure. We met a young Vietnamese man named Kevin, and he invited us over for tea! When we went over, there was a full spread of traditional ingredients around the kitchen, and we got to watch him cook! The end product was a bowl of flat rice noodles, beef, spring onions, chinese parsely, mint leaves, lime, and Sriracha sauce, all swimming in an ox tail broth. It was incredible! It was incredibly fresh and it smelled like heaven, and it warmed up my entire soul. Best meal award so far. Oh yeah, i'm getting pretty shnazzy at chopsticks now, thanks to all my new asian friends.
This entire week, we have been cycling hardcore. Its really tiring, but its allowed us to get so much more work done. Plus, its the closest feeling I can get to downhill longboarding. Lately, we have been getting home late and I'm always exhausted and I crave relaxation and sleep, but the thought always drifts into my mind "I am here to teach people...not to get back into my flat at 9:00". It pumps be back up, and gets me stoked to talk to more people. The mission is hard, I only really share the good things that happen, but I'm loving every second of it. I cant believe I've been here for over 5 months already. Time is truly flowing right by!
Well my lovely family, keep on keeping on, and I will see you again before we know it. I love you, and God be with you till we meet again. Peace out!
Elder Goodman
aka BA
p.s. I get to go on the Church History tour tomorrow!
p.s.s. There is a lot of cloud sauce today
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