Tuesday, September 24, 2013

9.23.2013

Dear Family,

 
I cannot believe how fast this month has gone by! It has been a very unique month with some difficulties and great learning opportunities. I'm grateful for all of the opportunities I've had, even though they haven't all been the easiest things to go through. But all in all, I'm grateful for the month of September! I can't believe it's almost been a month since Elder Sedgwick got here! That's crazy.

 
That will be odd to think that the 11th Ward might not be your home Ward in a week.. I can think about how difficult that could be for the Youth. After my mission, I understand what the point of church is and would be able to adapt from it, but it would have been difficult to go from the Priest's Quorum with all of my friends to another with different guys. But, after a month or so everyone will adapt and it will seem like normal!

 
I'm glad you were able to find the Enoch Train music on iTunes! Yeah, it's instrumental (kinda folk-ish) versions of Hymns. They're pretty good, while being unique. With the limited amount of music we have, it sometimes sounds like we're listening to the same thing over and over. I have learned to love Hymns though! When we hear normal music in Walmart and other places, it all seems.... I'm not quite sure how to put it. Pointless? It doesn't uplift or edify in most cases. Hymns on the other hand, definitely help me focus on the work. Not to say I'm only going to listen to Hymns after the mission, but I have learned the purpose of them! :)

 
Now that it's fall, we probably don't need to worry about the white shirts. I have a lot of long-sleeved shirts and they're all holding up pretty well. I like the size 15 on the neck as well as "Slim" or "Fitted" fits. I don't know if you could tell in pictures lately, but I've slimmed down a little bit this summer. I'm back down to 140, which is what I was before the mission. At my peak, I hit 150.... So that's pretty wild stuff. I want to stay around 140! It's been amazing to see how quickly I've been able to lose weight as I did simple stuff like drink more water and stop buying soda and oreos... :) Also, walking and biking all summer helped. So hopefully I don't start gaining again this winter! You're right though, most suits and slacks are getting slimmer and more fitted.. That's the style now days. I guess that means we need to try and stay slim and trim so that we can fit in them! My suits are all holding up fairly well. I think I'm going to go get them dry-cleaned soon (I haven't done that as much as I should..), but the only Dry-Cleaners in Lowville doubles as a liquor store.... So........... Yep. Haha
 
Things haven't changed much in our mission yet. I figured because we're in the US we'd be one of the first to get them, but I was wrong! There's been a greater emphasis on working with members, but besides that it's just work as usual! We've been told that we will be making the changes (facebook, iPads, Church Tour Hours) during the 1st quarter of next year. As of now, it's just been the same old thing.. Try potentials, tract, try referrals, tract, and teach a few lessons here and there. But things are beginning to improve!
 
This past week Elder Sedgwick and I both had colds, which is no fun. I don't know why, but the colds out here in New York stay with me a lot longer than they did back home! It's odd to realize that when you switch where you live, even you immune system is affected! But I felt a lot better yesterday (because I could actually breath out of my nose!) and am improving. That's good. Besides that, we had a pretty good week. We did a bunch of service on Tuesday that was fun! We helped a member clear out his "swamp" and get a bunch of wood out and cut the wood. I never imagined I'd be cutting through weeds and stuff with a machete to clear a path on my mission, but I can now say that I did! Pretty cool. It was hard work though! I was picking up some pretty big pieces of wood and then throwing them out to dry land so Elder Sedgwick could cut them. Don't worry though, I was really smart on how I was lifting and throwing. I've seen too many people with bad backs and knees on my mission... Not something I desire in my future. I feel like I could go and do shot-put (or whatever it's called when you throw the metal ball) a lot better now! Although, my right side was the one getting the workout. My left side of my body seems kinda weak in comparison. Oops.

 
We also had a Zone Meeting in Utica, which was really good. We rode down with the Senior Couple in Watertown, The Hamarris (I may have misspelled that..). They were really cool to get to know and reminded me of how much I miss the Huffs! Elder Hammari was telling me I should look into the Airforce ROTC when I get home if I want to go into either Dentistry or Meteorology. He said if they really want someone, they'll pay for pretty much everything in schooling as long as you sign on to work for them afterward. Something to think about.. :)

 
Brother Laconti's funeral was on Friday. Because most of his family is Catholic, it was a Catholic service. It was amazing to see the differences there was in the funeral, as well as the similarities. The Lowville Branch priesthood was all there and we were the pallbearers for the casket. Kind of another unique experience. It was all in all good.

 
On Saturday, it was the Cream Cheese Festival and Lowville made history! They had the biggest cheesecake in the world here... Unfortunately, Elder Sedgwick and I weren't there when they revealed it, but we did get to eat part of it. So I ate part of a world record on Saturday. Pretty cool stuff, huh?

 
Yesterday was really good too. We had a lot of people at Church that hadn't been for a while. Also, our recent convert Becky, invited 2 of her friends to come to church. They really liked it and we have appointments set to teach them this upcoming week, as well as a few appointments with referrals and former investigators. Hopefully we'll have a very busy and productive week! It looks like that should be the case.

 
I'm getting excited for conference! I can't believe it's almost that time of the year again. It's weird to think back about what life was like last time it was fall conference... I was in Owego with Elder Baird! A lot has changed since then, but a lot is still the same! It'll be good to hear the counsel of the Church Leaders! I love General Conference!

 
Well, I better get going. Hope you're all doing good!
 
Love you guys,
-Elder Hussey


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