July 28, 2009

Hey Mom,

First off sorry for writing so late! The McCollam's are on vacation and they have been instructed to lock up their computer room when they are gone. So we didn't have a way to email on Monday so we had to come to another member's home today to do it (we had to get special permission to do so).

Sounds like a fun time having Dad leaving to Brazil and Kody starting cherries. I tell you what I felt a large pang of jealousy when I thought about working cherries. I will definitely plan on doing that the summer before I go back to college after I get home.

I'm glad Kody took so many pictures on his tour. I told him to make sure he took a ton! I don't know how I'm going to view a lot of them since they are in HD which my camera won't read. You could probably send a CD and I could view them when I email or something. Who knows.

Wow, the next couple of weeks for you really do sound weird. That's a bummer that you won't be able to play the piano. Don't worry about complaining, your circumstances and my circumstances are different so it's more disappointing when you don't get to play than it is when I don't get to play. I actually get to play more than I really expected though still not as much as I would really like. I am trying to do better about singing whenever I feel like it regardless of who's around as long as it's appropriate ;)

Speaking of singing, this Sunday was Branch Conference and somehow my companion and I got conned into singing in the choir :P I never wanted to sing in a church choir because they are always so absolutely terrible and I didn't want to be associated with it. Well the practices were terrible so I was a bit worried. Luckily, the performance on Sunday actually went really well. One of the verses we did as a quartet with Sister Ensey singing alto, Tanee (16) singing soprano, me singing tenor (yes...tenor), and Branch President Prescott singing bass. It sounded really really good and I was very happy to have been part of it. We sang hymn # 273 Truth Reflects Upon Our Senses.

I'm looking forward to reading your journal photo copy :D I know the feeling of really enjoying something but having nothing to write about. Thus you don't get a whole lot of stories from me.

Yevonne was at church, so were Melissa, Jason, Aimee, and little Jason. Also, Sister Smith (a less-active member), has been there the past two weeks as has Sister Fitzgerald (another less-active member), and also Sister Vance (yet another less-active sister). We were very excited.

Aimee is 15 nearly 16 and she is hard to teach because she is really shy and has a hard time feeling comfortable participating. I think she feels like she's going to answer something wrong so we are really working on presenting things in a way that are not scary. We are trying to ask questions that make her think but that she can still answer. It's actually a very fun challenge. She is definitely being able to see how happy her parents are.

Things with Ben fell through. He never came and we called but nobody answered. I guess he forgot. Oh well, we played a game of Trivial Pursuit in the McCollam's nice cool basement.

It's getting stinkin' hot! Wanna hear a funny story? Well Sister Green took us to dinner last night and as we walked out we were commenting on how it was hot but cooling down and she said that it's supposed to cool down everyday this week and by the end of the week it's supposed to be down to 90! We all cheered! I commented on how it's pretty sad that we get excited that it's going to be 90 degrees! I am definitely learning to cope with sweat.

I love using the typewriter. It is such a blast. You know I always loved typing at home. I would get a keyboard out even if it wasn't attached to a computer and just start typing for the fun of it. A typewriter helps me satisfy that craving when I don't have access to a computer. ;) I had to do extra enters and what not to get the spacing right. What I should have done was just used the little manual knob to space it but whatever ;) It is definitely a sign of the times that I hadn't ever used a typewriter. I am going to take it with me when I get transferred of course! It has a handle that I can carry it with so it won't be bad. You'd be surprised how little stuff I've collected compared to other missionaries :)

My guess is that I will get transferred but no guarantees either way.

I got emails from both Kody AND Dad but Kody's came while he was in Detroit, or at least one of them did. I would definitely have been surprised if I hadn't gotten an email from Dad. I did :D I think he sent it from Brazil actually. It has a subject that makes me think that. I love Dad, he is definitely a great guy.

I miss you too :D Thanks for being proud of me Mom.

Love,

Elder Jay Davis