Brian Email 6-2-05

Hey y'all,

Yah, it's crazy to me too that it's already June. I'm going to be 20 before too long, that's scary! I hear being 20 is nothing to look forward to. The weather was really nice all week. We have had lots of clouds, so it's not too hot, then it didn't start raining until after we got the car back from the Sisters. :) Ha! We win, they get a whole week on bike in the rain!

Vicente and Maria didn't go to church (again) because Vicente took a trip to St. Louis, MO. I still don't know how he was able to afford that, he took a Greyhound all the way there and back. I remember looking for prices once from Boise to Salt Lake on a Greyhound, it costs $200 round trip... I don't know how Vicente pulled it off.

We've had some good lessons with a man named Victor. He was a referral from a member, and he's been really confused about religion. He told us that he was scheduled to be baptized with the Jehovah's Witnesses (Is that how you spell "Jehová" in English?) but we came and he started doubting a lot of things they had told him. He likes what he's heard from us, and he knows what he needs to do, he just wants to make sure that he's with the right church before he is baptized or stops meeting with anyone else. He still hasn't been to church, but he keeps saying how much he wants to come. He's really sincere, and he wants to know the truth so bad. He has been looking for the right church for so many years and he's studied with the JWs and the Catholics and a few different Christian groups, he just doesn't feel right about any of them. He's an awesome guy. He started smoking and drinking when he was 9 and he used to be into some hard drugs, but he stopped them all cold turkey all at once a few years ago. He has a lot of will power.

That's awesome dad, that you're reading Preach My Gospel. I decided I like "Promulgate My Gospel" better, I found that phrase in DyC 118 or 119 or somewhere around there. It's a really good book though. Everything is stated very plainly, but there are so many things to learn from it. I like a lot of the quotes they put in it. We are supposed to study it half an hour every morning, but it's hard sometimes because I've read it sooo many times now, in English and Spanish, and there are so many other books I haven't read yet, (the whole mission library, most of the Old Testament, etc.) But there is still more to learn from it, it just gets pretty tedious sometimes.

Yep, I'm still in Charlotte. I kind of get the feeling I'm getting transferred soon, I'll finish 6 months here at the end of this transfer. Not many missionaries stay in an area much longer than that. I kind of hope I stay, but at the same time, I'm sick of working with the same excuses from the same people week after week too. Charlotte is really starting to feel like home though now. My address here is still 1327 Beacon Ridge Rd. #1418 Charlotte, NC 28210. The mission address is... hard to remember. Sorry, I don't have it written down. I'll have to send it later. I'm so bad about getting that to you, I don't think I even told y'all yet. I know all the right numbers, just not in the right order.

I started working out again. I stopped doing much after my bike thing because my wrist/arm hurt pretty bad, but I'm back on the weight machines and I'm working on my 6-pack again. I lost it before I even left the MTC. I'm doing 250 crunches a day now though. I've started gaining some more weight too since I started working out, that's a good sign. Hopefully I'll be ripped when I come home. Pushups are still too much for my arm, but I'll get there before too long I hope.

Well, that's about all I have time for today, I got some things to do. It was great hearing about y'all, as always. Have a great week, I love you all. Make sure you do some awesome stuff this summer!

Love, Brian Harris