City People are Just Different...

Hey everyone! So this is actually the second time I'm writing this
letter... Something happened with our iPads that deleted the huge
draft that I wrote to everyone. Needless to say, I was pretty mad.
Anyway...so AGAIN, it's been a pretty crazy week. It's been really
stressful for me. Taking over the area with Elder Stevenson has been
hard.

So there was a lot that happened this week but then again not a whole
lot that happened. So not a whole lot happened because...well...we
weren't able to teach any lessons this week. That was weird for me.
Usually were able to at least teach SOMEONE! If nothing else, were
able to teach some less actives or active members. But things have
been so crazy these past few weeks with General conference and stake
conference that no one has signed up to have us over. It's been
disappointing because usually getting to know the members in each area
is like my favorite part. I absolutely love going to members homes.
It's so nice to be in the presence of a nice family that has a
testimony and just loves the missionaries. This ward is a little
different just because, well, they live in Manhattan haha. City people
are just really different than most people. The city is such a
ruthless environment that people become pretty selfish and blunt. Not
that the members are really like that as much...but you still kind of
see it.

Anyways...we were able to teach a lesson to John who is an
investigator that we got passed off to us from the 3rd ward. He can
only go to church at their wards time, but he lives in our ward
boundaries. So he's pretty awesome. He actually says that he has
already been baptized when he was like 14, but we don't have any trace
of his records so were in the process of tracking those down. He's
super smart and just understands things...which can be a bad thing
which we found out this week. During the lesson, after we asked him if
there was anything we could do that would help him on his way coming
closer to Christ, he was like, "yes actually...so I know that you guys
have to teach me all of this stuff about the restoration and the plan
of salvation and the commandments and stuff...and I get it, and I
understand it...but I was wondering if we could start discussing some
of the higher up stuff. I understand all of this basic stuff, but what
I'm really interested in is our church's beliefs on becoming like God,
and the nature and characteristics of God, and what we believe about
other planets and such." Haha we were just kind of taken back and were
like, "uhhh....well as much as we'd love to talk to you about that
kind of stuff, we are called to teach people about the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. Not that we don't want you to have questions like that, it's
just that we aren't really supposed to be the ones that talk to people
about that stuff. We keep things kinda basic." Haha it was interesting
but he was understanding...despite being a little disappointed.

So this week was stake conference!! It was so awesome. The theme was
aligning our will with the will of God. The speakers were really good
and the music was amazing. My favorite part was the musical number
that the stake music director put together. We were in it and there
were like 50+ missionaries serving here in this stake. So what we did
was we all sang "Called to Serve". We all sat in the back of the gym,
and as the intro started, we all stood up and got into lines, then
when the verse started, we all started singing as powerfully as we
could and walked down the aisles to the front of the chapel. By the
time we all got there and were facing the congregation, the second
verse started and the whole congregation and us sang the second verse.
It was so awesome!!! The spirit was soooo strong. Pretty much everyone
was crying haha.

The best part of the whole week, though, was my interview with
President Morgan. It was so good. We were just able to talk about how
I was doing. He asked about Elder Stevenson because he knows that he
is very slow thinking and doesn't connect the dots very well. We
talked about how it's been hard and I've had to mother him a lot, but
that overall we are doing okay. It was just good. The spirit was there
and he was able to help me out a lot.

Well, sorry this email is so jumbled. It was hard to write all of this
twice and I think I'd forgotten a lot of what I had said haha. But
anyways, that was about my whole week! I hope all of you are doing
swell. Love you all so much! Take care!

-Elder Stafford :)

So in our area, we actually found the store that has ALLLL the super

weird, fancy, expensive furniture and decor that you'd find in a super

frumpy, super rich old couple in England's house hahaha. It was

awesome!! I think I'll take the fake peacock hanging on a swing in the

background...that would look lovely in my man cave at home! 

 Super cool looking school in the middle of Manhattan. Yes, it is a castle.

So......we accidentally fulfilled my (secret) dream of leaving the

mission and going to Queens. We hopped on the wrong train on night and

ended up going across the river into the New York South mission haha.

So naturally, I took a selfie by the Subway sign that says that

you're going to Manhattan. Breaking that rule (on accident of

course!), check!