Othello, Washington (week 9)

Well I've made it alive to the mission. The flights were a bit boring but I got to talk to some great people both on my two flights and on the layover. I'm told that most of the American people in this area are members so that makes for bigger wards and more people to help the work. When I arrived The APs picked me up and the airport and I got to be with them until the next day where I got to meet with President Lewis and go to my new area. The APs are great guys and really show their love for all the missionaries in our mission. They kept going on about me and making songs. I did some service Saturday with the APs as well. We spent time at a park pulling staples and nails out of pavilions so that they could be repainted. 

President Lewis is a great. He is a big fan of tennis and has been following the US Open. When we had lunch with him at the mission home he got me up to date on how the tournament is going. Pres. Lewis has a son serving in Chile right now and told us some stories his son shared with him. President Lewis has only been here for two months so there wasn't much he could tell me about the weather and the seasons here. I can tell that President Lewis has lots of love for mission work and this mission. 

President and Sister Lewis drove me out to my first area which is about a two hour drive from the mission home. My first area is Othello Washington. This area is right on the border of the mission and some of it extends into the other mission. My companion is Elder Turley and he is from Mesa Arizona. He is a great elder and is actually one of the Zone leaders. They split up ZL companionship's because they have so many new elders entering the mission that they are not able to have the Zone leaders in the same companionship. In our area we cover an English ward and a Spanish ward. We are able to teach in both english and Spanish which is a bit weird compared to Mexico where we were always speaking Spanish. Elder Turley says that my Spanish is pretty good and that it shouldn't take too long to get me to a good level. 

We just had Stake conference here and Elder Johnson of the seventy spoke to us. He is a great speaker and really focused on the importance of the sabbath. He talked about how we should be looking at what we should and shouldn't do as opposed to what we can and can't do on Sunday. He also spoke on how we all have a purpose to why were are somewhere or why we do something and that there are no coincidences. I look forward to being able to serve in this area and get to know the members more.

I hope everything is going well back home and that everyone is getting along.

Love,

Elder Boren

Dylan's companion Elder Turley 

President Lewis and sister Lewis