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The last days are upon us

Well, here we are. My last full week as a missionary. It's been a crazy journey but it still isn't over! It's like the fourth quarter of a game 7 and I refuse to just choke away a 3-1 lead. I've been working hard to make sure that I can finish strong. Here's a little bit of what's been going on since my last update! 

We have been knocking a ton. I think we've started and finished about 9 or 10 buildings since the start of the transfer. So I mean a good amount which also means a good amount of success. That's also one of the best faith building things to do because hearing people ask who it is then just walk away after they find out, is not very fun sometimes. But we've been doing it with a smile on our faces and have actually found some really cool people! We accidentally knocked into a less active member who's not in our area Book and she called us then told us to talk with her family! We didn't know she was a member when we went over though so we were pretty surprised to hear she was just reading in Nephi and wants to start reading through Alma...so we were like you're a member right?? And she was. She's just less active because no one can take her to church and she's pretty old and can't really get around too easily. 

Then there's Romy Reyes. He was a referral we got a while back, tried to get a lesson with him for a couple weeks, then once we did we asked him to be baptized and he was like yeah for sure. His girlfriend is already a member but because some Sundays she doesn't go, he doesn't go either. And he's going to YSA which is a different building than ours. We are just teaching him because he's in our area and YSA only has sister missionaries and he didn't really like them haha. 

This past weekend it snowed again, too. And we had a potential lesson pretty far from where we normally go. So we took a bus there and right when we got to the house, it starts snowing. Then we grab a quick bite from good ol' McDonald's (thanks mom for the money) and then it snows even harder. I got some videos for you all this week! 

Also, to build member/missionary relationships, we've been meeting with a lot of members. And of course they ask the question, "How long have you been on your mission?" And Elder Menden says 6 months and then once I say about 23 and a half that's usually followed by oh how do you feel? And I gotta say. It's a weird feeling. I gave my departing missionary testimony this past week in zone training meeting and that's the first time it's really felt like I'm going home. And my usually response to the members is that I'm excited but definitely really sad too. Like yeah New York is a beautiful place but it's being a missionary I'm gonna miss. There have definitely been times I took my time out here for granted but I can definitely say that this is one of the greatest things I've ever been able to be a part of. It's been an amazing two years! 

1-3) The view from queens to Manhattan

4) Bet you can't tell which face is mine

5) Another view from queens to Manhattan 

6) I'm snowy

7) my temple pic! 

And the group Temple pics

1-9-17

Another Update to me
Lessons for us went pretty good. We got referred this guy (Rome Reyes) and we finally got in contact with him
after a couple weeks and now he's on date for baptism! He is the boyfriend of a member and she wanted Elders to teach him because Elders can teach better to her haha. That was funny. And so we talked to him and at the end of it he was like yeah, I'm down to get baptized! So we set it up for January 28th. After I leave of course but that's okay haha. The only problem though is that he's going to a different ward right now...so we have to find out if he
wants to come to our ward or stay in the one he's going to right now. He's going to YSA so he's technically in both wards' boundaries. It also snowed like crazy this past weekend! So it's been a cold past couple of days. I'm excited to get back to a "winter" in California haha. We also found out that Sergio is coming back this week! He told us last week he wouldn't be back until January 25th. He's someone that Elder honey and I found the last week of last transfer. He seemed super legit and then just left for vacation randomly but it sounds like I will be able to teach him now!
And here's the pictures! Including the tag picture. The first two are of the torta I got this past week. My favorite Mexican dish. SO good. Basically just a really good sandwich. And Jarritos is also amazing. It was some pretty cool scenery so I took the tag picture there. Then it's us in the snow. Elder Menden takes mirror selfies in a building when he can find a mirror, so I took a picture of him taking a picture of himself while I take a picture of both of us. The last 3 are of how long my hair has gotten...I cut the sides myself
because it's been close to 6 weeks since my last haircut now but I
don't trust myself with the top. But it is super long

New Year

1-3-17 (Update to me)
As for my week, it included a lot of
knocking. We started to just get to the point where we don't really
know how else to find people other than breaking into apartment
buildings and just knocking every door. We had some success from it
too. Nothing too exciting yet but some lessons and contact info. This
week we will see just how interested all those people were haha. And
find some more. As for New Year's Eve, it actually kind of sucked
because I was sick pretty bad with a stomach virus Friday, Saturday and
Sunday. Still a pretty sore throats yesterday and today as well. And
Friday and Saturday it was to the point where I really couldn't go out
and work. So that wasn't fun at all. But I do feel a little better
which is nice! 
-I asked if he was legally breaking into these apartment buildings ;)

Oh we're not going to get arrested because we may be breaking in the buildings, we're bringing people into Christ so I think will be OK. I'm not sick anymore so it's all good. Today we went into the Lego store and I tried to help them find these Batman stickers, but apparently you can't do that after you turn 14. So I just told the guy that I'm mentally 12, but it still didn't work. Yesterday was just a regular day of work (1/2/16) because I guess President thought more people would be home because of the holiday and we found some people so it kind of worked out. So today we're going to go to this science place. I think I have to pay and that's weird to me to be paying to learn and I didn't like going to school for free to learn but I'll be OK. I'll have fun. (This was Tyler talking to Siri and her translating)

One More

12-20-16

Well, it's officially my last transfer! So I thought I'd better go ahead and write a weekly before it gets too late. So here ya go! So Elder Honey is out and I'm now with Elder Menden. He's pretty new in the mission so I haven't really known him but we've been putting in some good work as my time comes to an end. This week we put in a lot of time just trying to find less actives and new investigators. 2 weeks ago now Elder Honey and I found this guy Sergio who seemed genuinely interested and turned out he really was. We had our first lesson with him this past week and it was really good. We taught the restoration, gave him a Book of Mormon and he said that he would definitely read. We tried staying in contact with him but he works like crazy so it's been hard. We are hoping for another lesson with him tonight though. 

As for lessons this week, it was pretty much just visiting the same people and trying to help them make changes little by little. It'll happen though! We believe it. Nixon is the one we are still really trying to help. He is doing pretty well with reading and coming to church now but there are still some things we want him to do better. So we are really trying to help him with the changes he wants to make. The other two people are actually brother and sister. Christian and Susie. They are pretty interested it's just hard to get lessons with them so we are going to see what we can do. And the only other cool thing from this past week is just that it snowed! Of course I had mixed feelings because, you know. Cold. Haha well that's pretty much it. Hope you've enjoyed receiving all these because I've enjoyed writing them all!

Transfers

12-12-16- (Short update to me only)
I will be staying in the city! Which is what I
wanted honestly. I prefer Brooklyn but Queens will do. I already told
the district leader that no matter what, the night before I leave I'm
going to Brooklyn bridge park for a little bit. I love that place. I
love this place in general really though. Oh and Elder Honey is out so
we will see who I get! As for the week, it was the hardest I've gone
in a while. I really wanted to finish strong here so that's what we
did. We even got more than double the usual amount of lessons we get!
So that was good. Oh! And please send an umbrella and I think I sent
my bottom thermals home by accident....or I lost them in which case I
would like a new pair. I looked through all my bags and just nothing!
It was sad. I was cold. And we got snow yesterday!!!! It stuck to the
ground too! It was a lot of fun. It's all gone now though. That's
about it from me!