Brian Letter 7-14-05

Hi family!
Thanks for all the info about Grandma, I hope she's still doing ok.
I'll be sure to pray for her specifically. And thanks for the birthday
greetings, I got the package on the 11th, and I enjoyed it a lot. I got
the dictionary on the 12th, right after Zone Conference. Nothing like
Zone Conference to celebrate your birthday. My district leader also
turned 20 on the same day!! He told Sister Noel that it was my birthday
too, (she didn't remember, and I'm not even sure if anyone here in the
office knows or has a record of my birthday, I'm a stranger here still,
sorta) and then both the Greensboro and Winston-Salem zones sang to us
during the lunch break. I didn't really tell anyone in the branch in
advance, I always felt weird when my companions got gifts from people in
Charlotte. I didn't want anyone spending money on me, it's hard enough
to pay rent on their trailer homes as it is, I would have felt bad
accepting any gifts from anyone. But when we went to our appointment
after ZC, we told one member that it was my birthday, but then we had to
leave for a dinner appointment. It turns out that as soon as we left
her house to go to dinner, she called the other family and told them to
hold us up as long as possible. She started a cake immediately and
brought it over before we could leave. You just can't stop Mexicans
from throwing a fiesta!! I don't know if you know of the tradition, but
the birthday boy has to take a big bite out of the cake, and when I had
my head down they pushed me in deep. I knew it was coming, but it was
fun. I had blue frosting all over my face.

Holy Moley is right! Andy got a 35!!! I got a 29 too, like dad, and I
didn't get any scholarship. I think Julie hit right around there too.
I only know of two other people that have gotten higher than 34, one is
Austin Call, and one is Chris Hoeger that I ran cross country with.
They both got the Hinckley Scholarship. That's great that Andy ranks up
there with them. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Andy gets the
National Merit Scholarship either. He can go up on the wall with
Shannon at Centennial!

And now I'll answer your questions about my mission. No, there are no
other Spanish missionaries in Winston-Salem. :( We used to have two
sets, but we don't have enough support or something, I think it would
work to put two more in here. We drive a good 50 miles every day, just
getting to appointments. There is one companionship in Greensboro, but
we never see them except at combined ZC. It's weird being in an English
district. Charlotte is the only city with more than one companionship
of Spanish, and there are only 4 there. I think President Noel just
wants to build up the strongest part a lot more, there's no point in
doubling the size of a branch in Greensboro by putting another
companionship there... Haha, it sounds like I'm exaggerating, but the
sad part is that I'm not really stretching it too far. They have about
10-15 people at church on a good week.

Our baptisms still haven't happened. I don't know yet if Victor and
Luciano from Charlotte have been baptized. I know they had dates set.
Our big day here is on the 24th. We are also aiming for another one
during the beginning of August.

My companion is doing awesome. He speaks Spanish so well he reminds me
of me! Just kidding, but he does speak well other than a few minor
problems, but those are normal. He studies a lot. His name is Steve
Mitchell from Eagle Idaho. He lived more or less around the area of
Chinden and Eagle, so maybe 4 miles or so from us. He says he knows
cousin Amy, and I think he asked her out once or twice too. We know a
bunch of the same people, but we never met before here. He was so fed
up with his last companion. It was the longest 6 weeks he'll ever have
to deal with. Good to get it done at the beginning I guess. He says he
never wants to be a slacker like his last companion was. He seems
pretty level headed, and he has a lot of common sense. He's a good kid,
we get along great so far.
Anyway, I need to get going. I LOVE the dictionary by the way! I read
it a lot. Thanks for everything, have a great week! Tell Brian T hi
for me, and happy birthday. I love y'all, hope everything is going
great in Boise by the time I hear from you next week.

Love, Elder Brian Harris