FIRST LETTER FROM MICHIGAN

FAMILY!!! hi!!! i tried to send you a letter the day i got to my new area but the mail system here is sort of a joke!! hopefully the letters will get sent today but yeah!!

so i will reply to dad's email in here with general info as well and then i will reply to the others individually. So some general info. I am in Bay City, Michigan!! it is right in between the thumb and the index finger, "michigan is a mitten, don't ya know?" (said in a northern accent). My companion is elder stevenson and he is way cool. he has only been out here one transfer! like he got trained, and now he is training me! maybe i will get to do the same thing? but he is from california and is a really good missionary. Bay City has been on fire with baptisms and things lately, and hopefully we will be able to keep it going! it is the most successful area in the mission right now. 

but the poverty here is NUTS. everyday we go door knocking (D. K.) down streets that i would not feel safe walking down if i weren't a missionary. lots of lower-class white people. first night i was here we went and taught these two people justin and chanielle. they live in a trailer park and it is just so sad to see all the circumstances these people live their lives in. i wish i could show you the insides of these apartments and houses and things. it is NUTS how bad it is in there. but we have had some really good success DK and stuff. I am getting better at talking to people when they answer the door and sparking their interest. elder stevenson is a good teacher and we are doing well! we have a baptism this saturday and i will confirm her a member and give her the holy ghost on sunday in church! crazy huh? we have already taught a ton of lessons and eaten at members houses and everything. its been really fun and productive! im loving it out here. 

EVERYONE HERE SMOKES. that is the biggest struggle with getting people baptized is just that everyone smokes and does drugs and stuff. the area just south of us is saginaw and it is full of ghetto black people who love missionaries haha everyone calls that area sagnasty. thats where derricott is. his companion played baseball for TVILLE and i remembered him! crazy huh? 

my new address for the next few months is 

Elder Parker Green

4720 Orchard Manor Blvd. #8

Bay City, MI 48706

dad i will now answer the list of q's

1.    Did you get your luggage that you had to check okay?

yes

2.    What did you do your first night in the mission home?

we went to MSU campus and just walked up to people and tried to teach them. the campus is AMAZING. just rivers running everywhere and stuff and its huge. so much wildlife. cardinals and stuff. and lots of squirrels. they are not afraid of people either haha theyll run right up to you. then we just got trained by the APs and mission pres and had dinner and went to bed. oh also we had interviews with the mission pres and mine went really well! 

3.    What is your mission president like?

super cool guy. super smart and definitely knows what he is doing. he is cool and has a sense of humor but is pretty soft-spoken.

4.    Who is your companion? see above

5.    Where is he from? see above

6.    What city are you in? see above

7.    What's the weather been like? 

umm... pretty awesome. usually around 80 degrees and cloudy. not too humid. but it has been raining for like 2 days straight now, so THANK YOU for that last second rain coat.

8.    Did you get your bedding okay?

yes, thank you

9.    Are you in a car or do you need a bike?

car. the church is buying the nicest cars. we are in a 2013 chevy cruze and the day we got there the mission bought like 4 2013 ford fusions. its THE LIFE.

10. What is your apartment like?

pretty decent size and everything. i will try and take some pictures for next week.

11. Is it just you and your comp or are there other missionaries in your apartment?

yes

12. How did you get to your first area? By car, bus?

car. elderly missionaries drove us.

yeah the ward is good. wayyy smaller than back home though haha tons of converts. lower middle class or lower. our ward mission leader is the best in the whole state of michigan he is awesome. 

wow... only 2 hour meetings?! why?! that is NUTS. i guess we will see what happens... 

yeah plz keep me posted on how mikeys sports stuff goes. haha im real glad tommy had a good time! from the pics it looked like it woulda been the best night of my life as well!! haha

keep me posted on the NBA finals plz! i cant believe they lost game 1. in miami. thats nuts. '

thats too bad for brennon.. i cant believe he didnt get drafted! yeah i recognize all those guys from watching them at BYU. i cant belive they had so many get drafted... haha 

well i love you soooo much dad!! youre the best. thanks for the advice, will do. i miss you very much and love you very much!! cant wait to hear back from you!!

ps the people in michigan are michiganders. so whenever someone does something white trash (lights a cigarette in the middle of a lesson or runs across the street with no shirt or something like that) the missionaries all say, "its a 'gander thing."

hi everyone! i had a few extra minutes so i just thought i would email you all. i love you all very much!! and miss you very much!! thank you soo much for your emails and things, you dont know what it means! 

so in michigan, LOTS of people have pretty bad northern accents haha like instead of volume they say vaaalyoom. they do that with a lot of words haha. i already told mikey this but i have gained like 8 pounds since i left home! i have been working out every morning and i love it! hopefully i can get bigger and stronger while i am here!

im trying to think of some funny stuff that has happened.... OH YEAH!! the 'ganders talk like there is no tomorrow. elder stevenson and i have run in to some people who LITERALLY talk for 20 minutes without either of us saying a word. it is sooooo bad. they will talk about everything in their life for forever!! haha its pretty funny!! also just some of the stuff you see when you are door knocking can be pretty funny.

so here is a story. we saw a guy mowing his lawn the other day, and he was super interested in the gospel. so he said to come back in a half hour. we did. no answer. we went back a few times, no answer. we went back a few days later (yesterday) and a 12 year old kid answers the door. he is wearing a tigers shirt. we ask if justin (the guy who was working in the yard) is home. he informs us there isnt a justin that lives there. i tell him cool shirt. he says the tigers won today. then he steps out on to the porch and we kinda start talking baseball. then his mom comes storming outside. she is like I HAVE TOLD YOU GUYS 3 TIMES TO STAY AWAY FROM MY HOUSE. THIS IS THE THIRD TIME I HAVE HAD TO TELL YOU. THERE ARE MINORS HERE, STOP TRYING TO TALK TO THEM. THIS SIGN (sticker on her door) SAYS NO SOLICITING!! we say sorry, start walking away, im having to bite my tongue from saying hey you have never seen us before, so you cant have told us to leave 3 times. we were just talking about sports with your kid, and we arent solicitors!! she runs out to our car to write our license plate down so if we come back she can call the cops haha. so there's that. 

love you all!!

Beautiful Fall in Kalkaska