Busy and happy!

2010 15 November
Hey mom!
Okay, so here I am on a 15 minute computer trying to burn through everything I need to so that you can have a good idea of what's been going on this last week.
So I guess I'll start with what happened last P-day to get things started. We went and spent the day with the zone leaders down in Tigard, and it was a blast! We spent it talking, laughing, and crashing elder Davis' toy helicopter into things haha. It's remote control, and it is seriously so much fun to try to fly around in their apartment... we had more than a few close calls with it going into people's eyes, into the sink, toilet, out the window, etc. Anyways, it was a pretty good time.
That night, we had the opportunity to go on exchanges with the assistants to the president which was really interesting. I just remember the beginning of the mission where it seemed like the zone leaders and the assistants were really scary and far away from us in every sense, but now that I'm here as a zone leader, I can't help but wonder if maybe the other zone leaders who have been in this position have felt the same way. Now I feel like we're really good friends with the assistants, and I think we might have a closer relation with the elders in our zone than any others... I don't know if there should be "professional distance" between a zone leader and everybody else, but I don't feel like it should be that way. Anyways, I love being where I'm at because we get to spend some good time with the elders in our zone. That exchange with the AP's was interesting though. Their area is pretty tiny and it covers a complex that is known as "the kill zone". A complex of about 800 units... it's ginormous! Anyways, I ended up knocking in there with Elder Hunter for quite a while haha. It's pretty sweet I think Elder Hunter and I had a pretty close connection and we're gonna end up hanging out after the mission.
After that exciting exchange with them, we took advantage of the open time we had this week and knocked like nobody's business, and found some new investigators.... we found nine this week haha. Now, so it doesn't seem like we're worthless missionaries, a new investigator is only counted when you get in the door, teach a lesson, they accept a commitment, and set up a return appointment... "anciently" it was counted as someone in the door who didn't let you in, but accepted a return appointment (basically every Hispanic in the world) Anyways, we're pretty stoked on having some work :-)
Aside from that, we had an exchange where I got to work with my "little brother" in the mission, elder Hawkins haha. It was the last elder that Smithee trained, and it was a pretty good time.... not really too much to report there aside from the fact that we get along pretty well!

Oh! So I was all excited on Wednesday night because I got a call from elders River and Page telling me that Ivelisse Cruz was going to be getting baptized, so I was super stoked! Sunday rolled around and we were prepping to take off for the baptism when we got a call from them again. They said the baptism was cancelled because she was having contractions and had to go to the hospital... Luckily nothing was wrong when they went to visit her an hour later, and she actually asked if they could still do the baptism, but they're going to wait till next week to do it now haha.
Speaking of Sunday, church here in Beaverton is a whole different animal. We have the organization of the ward, but less members than a branch, so in a way it's good, but it also is kind of difficult to figure out how to do things... there are only about 20-30 members that show up on a regular basis from what I hear. I really love the families that come though... they're awesome!
Other than that, the Oregon sneeze has started here... NOOOOOO!!!!! For those of you who don't know who don't know what I'm talking about, the Oregon sneeze is something unique to this area. It begins in about the end of October/November and doesn't really quit until about May/June. What it is, really, is like a really fine mist/rain. It really feels like someone has sneezed on you though and it just feels gross, and it just keeps going throughout the whole day! A constant, sneezy, wet feeling it's just weird. It's okay though with that jacket I bought :-)
One other interesting thing about Sunday was the family that we ate with. Their last name is Jorgenson, and it turns out that his family is from our old neighborhood in Orem! I don't remember his name, but they said that his whole family has lived there for years... I think we might actually have been in their ward at one time or another. Anyways, that's the interesting news from this week.
Okay I'm gonna get off the computer, but I love you all so much and I hope things are going great for you. Have a great week and I'll talk to you later!
Love always,
-Elder Kurt Mooney