He's a DAD......

Hola Familia,

So lots of new things to talk about! My new companions name is Elder Hernandez. He is from Maryland close to the D.C. area. His dad is from Michoacan Mexico and his Mom was born in Washington but her family is from Nuevo leon Mexico. He's the oldest of 3 brothers. He is pretty solid and has a good testimony of the gospel. Things are going good at first he wasn't sure how to act or be as a missionary but after I taught him to just be himself he started to calm down. It definitely takes patience to be teaching someone how to do things and how to be a missionary, especially with myself. I think I've been stressing a little trying to make sure everything is good and doing things right. But I've calmed down myself a little as well. We're doing a good job making sure we're doing the right things and working. He knows parts of the language and can speak and share his thoughts better than when I came into the mission because he has a little of a language background, but I'm way ahead of him in terms of grammer and correct speech. He has a good foundational  understanding of the language but he needs help, so I'm teaching him as if he doesn't know anything and starting from scratch. Yes we still call new missionaries greenies. It'll be a good couple of transfers he knows why he's here and is willing to do anything. YES. My prayers were completely answered with President Thomas. I love President Kendrick but I never really felt he did things specifically for the hispanic culture and it felt as if he was more focused in the white work. But President Thomas LOVES the Mexican people. Did I tell you his first sacrament meeting was with our ward? He and Sister Thomas both bore their testimonies as well! You can tell he hasn't been able to speak Spanish as much as he'd have liked to but it's very good. He's going to be an awesome mission president. When we went by and visited a couple of the members they just loved him. They said they felt so loved and are very happy that he'll be our Mission President. In my interview with him (It was all in Spanish) he just asked me about myself and who I am as a missionary and stuff like that. He said that he's looking forward to being able to work with everyone and is happy that he'll be able to serve amongst the Spanish speaking people of the mission. In the beginning it looked like Sister Thomas may have been a little overwhelmed by things but now she's getting used to it. Everyone goes through an adjustment period. So this week we went to get a bike for E. Hernandez and he bought a bike from a missionary that just left for $20. It needs few repairs but it's in VERY good shape for $20. He was so scared when we first starting riding them. He said he didn't ride a bike since he was 12 so it was definitely an interesting experience. First he started off super slow but then as we started going he sped up a bit. He said that he was praying super hard that no one would hit him or he would lose his balance or anything like that. Needless to say it was everything I was expecting in a classic new missionary. He talked to a couple of people by himself which was a good step, this week I'm going to see if he can start doing other things on his own, but of course I'll be right there to help him if he needs it. The first time he left a message on the phone he kind of freaked out and didn't know what to say but it'll come in time. It's weird, it's kind of the opposite when I started. First I learned how to understand, then read, then speak. He already knows how to speak some, understands a little, and reads none. So we'll see how we can improve his skills. Well I guess about that's it for this week! Have a good week!

Elder Emerick  

district??? Not sure