Elder Ryan Horton: #freakincarraso

HELLO FAMILY and FRIENDS! I hope and pray all continues to be well back in Utah and wherever else all you weirdos are.

As I indicated in my last e-mail, I have been transferred to Long Beach in the branch Ximeno. In my area is the beach, signal hill (for those of you who know what that is), and just a little bit of ghetto. But when I think of Long Beach, this is what I imagined. I'm in paradise!

My new companion is Elder Keeler. He's from st. George, he sings, and we get along just fine! I love that i'm no longer in training and that I get to make decisions as a companion now.

As for the title, a very general saying amongst missionaries here from what I have seen is "freakin carraso!" a quick Spanish lesson... You can add "ita/ito" or "asa/aso" to basically anything to make it sound smaller/gentler or bigger/more astounding. Thus, when a very nice car is seen, carro turns into carraso! the freakin added for emphasis. So, next time you guys see a ferrari in Utah, think of me and say "freakin carraso!"

I'm settling in very well here. We have one investigator who we teach regularly, who is Russel and his wife Digna. They have an autistic 16 year old Israel. I have only taught them once, so I will keep you all updated with them. As for the rest of our time, we spend it trying to find more investigators through visiting former investigators to see if maybe, just maybe it is their time to hear the gospel again.

I like to search for things to make the work fun. The other day as I got out of the car, 2 little black kids asked me "hey, you from church?" to which I responded yes. I then proceeded to pass the ball for them while they took on the roles of recievers and defenders. It was a lot of fun and those little things make my day. I love to plant little seeds like that and place a good image of missionaries in the minds of kids.

Well, other than that this week hasn't been much! I thank you all for being awesome and keeping the faith. This is my 132nd day in the mission, but who's counting? HA! I'm about 1/6th done with my mission, but who's counting? HA! Just kidding, I'm having the time of my life out here. I love you all.

Love,