Transfer 2, Week 2 (?) -Elder McKay

Hi Mom!

Thanks for the package!  I really was not expecting that and had a total blast opening it.  The cinnamon rolls were kind of stale, but I still enjoyed a couple of them.  The fruit leather was perfect though!  :)   Lol, we inflated the bouncing party balloons right away and started beating each other.  We must have put too much air into them though because they both popped after a few minutes.  Talk about loud!  My ears were still ringing several minutes later after one of them exploded near my head!  I don't plan on having any pork sandwiches tomorrow, but I did get some baked beans for dinner (yay!).  Unfortunately, we're busy enough that there won't be time to make a cake either, so I had to resort to a Wal Mart clearance rack cake and some ice cream for tomorrow night's after-planning party.  Hehehe...don't spread the word, but we're also planning on a raid on the other Brunswick elders with hundreds of those little party snaps!  War is on!   =D

Hmmm, this has actually been a pretty slow week where nothing really unusual or interesting happened.  Let's see....  Oh, ok, there was one moment that reminded me a little bit of Acts chapter 3.  We were biking along M.L.K. Jr. Boulevard into the ghetto when we hear a, "Hey you!" from a porch and someone waving out the corner of our eyes.  We skid to a stop and go back a few yards to find a middle-age black lady with a beard (no kidding) chilling on her porch with a joint of something that smoked.  "You boys got any money?"  We told her, no, we don't have any money ("Silver and gold, have I none), but we do have the word of God ("such as I have, give I thee").  She looked us up and down for a few seconds and then waved us off with a disgusted look saying, "I've already got all I want of that."  It's kinda sad how sometimes people can't see the need for something when they think they already have it.

We returned to the cochroach fighting ring last night - it was brutal and desperate, but this time the final score was Cochroaches: 1,  Elders: 0

We finally turned out the lights and went to sleep without finishing the hunt.  (sneaky little buggers...)

We have a recent convert in our ward who is from Australia.  Haha, her accent is 100% Aussie!  She calls all of the elders "Lovey".  She also has a monkey and several turtles (tortoises?) that she brought to the states with her.  I've attached a photo with me and Mick, a 52 pound turtle that is only "just a baby".  Apparently, he'll get up to about 200 pounds.  Now that's a turtle!

We also have a lot of trains that come through Brunswick. Some of these cars have some intensive graffiti art and I've attached a photo of one that Daniel might like - I know he's a Garfield fan.  :)

I'm glad to hear the family is doing well though.  It sounds like Lou is loving Phoenix.  Mmmmm, pool hopping.  Lol, we have a pool, but we just can't use it.  =P  Mom, I'll bet you have the pageant memorized more than any of your kids do after going through all of us having parts and quoting them around the house year after year.  "Behold, Zarahemna, we have not come out to battle against you that we might shed your blood for monarchy or power!  But behold, this is the very cause for which ye have come against us!"  Bwahahha, I think I might quote that this evening and Drive Elder Turner crazy tonight!  He gets great joy out of that sort of thing though: I already have to quote The Princess Bride and Incredibles for him almost every day.

Gabe finished 2nd!?  I feel like the odd Howell out...  It sounds like Joe is also turning into a speedster.  Maybe one of the youngest ones will compete for Daniel's running throne someday.  As for me doing P90X, well, let's just say I'm doing a trimmed down version of it.  :)  We don't have a whole lot of equipment or the actual fitness booklet or anything, so one of the Elders is just leading us through as much as he can remember from memory of what he did previously.  We do that about two or three times a week though and I'm enjoying it.

Rollin Nielson is in Florida, huh?  Does that make three or four of us from Manti that are serving in this state?  I guess I'm in Georgia, so I escaped.

Good luck with all the summer weddings. It still seems weird when people like Charles and Martha are getting married - I still think of them as super young, but I guess that just means I'm really old.  =P

Thanks for the prayers, I definitely need them!

Love ya'll,

Elder Mac

Elder Mckay and Mick