6 April 2009

Conference was great. We went to our church building to watch it and then we had to
evacuate the church because there was a gas leak...our building apparently has some gas issue, this is the second time it's happened since I've been out here. Anyway, we watched the rest of conference at Pres.'s house since West Hartford is really close to Bloomfield. They were so kind to have a bunch of missionaries crash there on such short notice. Their three daughters flew out from Utah this weekend to visit them. They planned it secretly with Pres. to surprise Sister, and then they tape-recorded her reaction when she opened the door and saw her three daughters standing on porch. It was pretty cute. :)

By the way, let me tell you how hard it is to get used to having conference at 12 and 4 instead of 10 and 2. Don't ask me why. Not like it's an enormous change. It just feels that way for some reason.

So, does anyone know why we don't observe Good Friday or any part of Holy Week except Easter Sunday? We had dinner at an investigator's home on Friday (they're Catholics) and they wanted to know if we were allowed to eat meat that day.

Fun fact: you know the city Poughkeepsie, NY? Remember how no one knows how in the world it's pronounced? Well, I met someone from there this week. It is pronounced
Puh-KIP-see. Who knew!

There is a restaurant in Avon called Five Guys. It is to DIE for. The
hamburgers are probably one of the best hamburgers I've ever had in my life. Avon is a super-rich city in our district; it's close to Bloomfield, so we went there in between sessions of conference on Saturday. Apparently some celebrities live there. And apparently the Prophet's relative also lives here, and he drops by occasionally
unannounced. The Avon elders said once during district meeting that he always says
Amen!very loudly during the meetings.

Speaking of restaurants, there is a Whistle Stop Cafe here in Windsor and a member is going to take us there this week! (Anyone seen the movie Fried Green Tomatoes?)
We've picked up some amazing investigators this week. One of them is a teenager who is the son of a less-active member in the ward. Apparently missionaries have been dropping by for years in an attempt to get his mom back to church, and her son spent a lot of time with the elders and really admired them. We dropped by their house a few weeks ago and Sister Haueter asked if her son would be interested in taking the lessons from us, and she said she would ask him and give us a call. Later that week we get a call from her this kid is so ready it's not even funny. He wants to be baptized, he wants to go on a mission, he needs a ride to Young Men's this week, he needs a ride to church, etc. etc.

Another fun story: we got a referral from a recently baptized member. This kid is
also a teenager. We called his mom to ask for permission to give him the lessons, and she basically told us to get lost (politely). He came to church on Sunday and we went to his house that week, just to drop him by a Book of Mormon and ask again if there was any way we could teach him. Not only did she invite us in, but we ended up teaching him and his parents together right then, and they are scheduled to take the second lesson this week!
Life is good. :)

One of the assistants is planning a mission musical fireside that we get to participate in. Apparently this is more than just a one-time event we'll be performing it two or three times, maybe? Anyway, one of the performances is in Rhode Island. I'm so excited!!! This might be my only chance to go out there. There haven't been any sisters areas in RI for a while.

Conference was so uplifting and wonderful. I'm so grateful to belong to a church that is led by a prophet. Stick with the prophet, kids! That's the only way to be safe.

Love,
Sister Monson