Week Sixty Six - Getting to Know Garland and Back on the Liahona!

Hay caramba what a week!  It was like the first week of my mission all over again!  Bike, butt hurts, it's blazing hot outside, completely lost in the area, and I don't know anyone!  The stress of everything didn't entirely hit me until we got dropped off at an empty apartment that didn't even have beds! (but the apartment is very big and nice for a missionary apartment)  For the first couple of days, I had never been so stressed in my life.  I could have just sat in the apartment wondering where to start and letting that stress eat at me for weeks!  But once we got my companion a bike, I hit the pavement with the good ol' Liahona, Elder Alkonis right behind me, and we just started talking to people.  That always makes me feel better; sharing the gospel is the solution to everything on a mission!  Every time I get on that bike, the stress almost immediately goes away.  Although going from a car to a bike is probably the biggest demotion ever, it is a beautiful thing.  I wouldn't say I'm happy about it, but it isn't as bad as one would think.  There is just a feeling of satisfaction as a missionary on a bike that you don't get in a car. 
 So yeah, my companion is Elder Alkonis from LA, California.  He is one of the nicest kids ever, but I don't know if we have a single thing in common.  But he is a trooper and keeping up, so I can't complain. 
 I had my first district meeting on Wednesday.  I did not like it one bit, but it went fine.  There are a couple of familiar faces in the district though:  Elder Crockett, who is covering the other side of the branch that I am serving in, and it is a strange feeling to be working with him again!  Then there is Elder Adams, my bff from the MTC, who is the Zone Leader here.  Him and his companion are great and have been a big help to us this past week.  So in all, there are four companionships in the district: Elder Crockett and his companion, Elder Adams and his companion, two sisters, and us! 
 Garland is quite different than McKinney.  It didn't take long for me to realize how great I had it in McKinney. I was very comfortable there, however Garland is a lot more Mexican and densely populated and there is just a lot more to do here.  It is somewhat of a ghetto area, with apartments on top of apartments on top of apartments!  I could probably stay here for the rest of my mission and never run out of places to knock.  It is a good place to train a new missionary.  Elder Alkonis is getting all kinds of great experience everyday.  Oh and the members are great here and I am probably going to fall in love with them all.

-Elder Powell is not in my zone.  Not sure how close we are to him, but I doubt I will see him much.

-12365 S. Plano Rd. #2204

     Dallas, TX 75243

-In the package you send me, if possible, I would like you to send a few pairs of compression shorts, and a clicker counter thingy majig, you know, like the one Curtis Christensen used to use when he counted the number of people in sacrament meeting?  Hopefully you know what I'm talking about.  I have no idea where you would even find one of those, but I figured if anybody would no, it would be my mother!  Or at least you could find out.  Love you!

So my week was quite frustrating and stressful and overwhelming, but we survived, things are only going to get easier, and we are doing the Lord's work, so all is well!

I am happy and you need not worry about me.  Know that I love and miss everybody, and tell TommyBoy that I'm proud of him!

Elder Williams