The Land of Plenty

I know I'm on the computer a little earlier than usual, but I guess a change of area, calls for a change of schedule.

So the drum roll please.... I am now serving in the land of plenty (or so my companion calls it) of Passaic New Jersey. It's a pretty great place, and a lot different from Union City. The culture is more so Mexico here, with the majority of people being from the homeland of Mexico. I haven't had a lot of opportunities to work with and talk to Mexicans (a little bit but not a lot) so it will be interesting to get to know them a little better.

My new companion is Elder Jarrett from Highland Utah. He went to Lone Peak, and is actually my first companion that loves BYU about as much as I do. He loves basketball, and we get a long pretty great. In honesty, Elder Jarrett reminds me a lot of my old roommate Chase Bastian. Maybe it's just because he has red hair and freckles, but I think in someways he talks like and acts like Chase which is pretty cool. It's only us two living in an apartment. It's a pretty big apartment for 2 people. We have a really cool mega-desk that we study at, which is basically 4 desks pushed together, but I'm really liking it here in Passaic.

It was kinda sad to leave Union City while at the same time kinda refreshing to come to a new area and meet new people. It does have it's challenges though. Without Utah Mountains, it's really hard to tell the direction you're headed. I left the awesome grid system of Union City, to a place that just has a bunch of random names, but luckily Elder Jarrett is the driver, and we have a GPS to help us out.

Life as a zone leader get's pretty busy. This week me and Elder Jarrett had to do 5 baptismal interviews for people in our zone. It was a great experience, and I did my first all Spanish interview with a guy named Atelmo. It was pretty humbling though, because it really made me realize that I need to work on Spanish a lot more.

So on Tuesday we went to transfer conference where we all received our new assignments. I was thinking I was going to go to Passaic, I guess it just made the most sense. I shook President Jeppson's hand on the way out of the chapel, and he had me in a hand shake and was really expressing his gratitude for accepting the assignment of Zone Leader. I think I'm going to have a really good relationship with President Jeppson.

On Tuesday night we went to correlation and I had the opportunity to meet the Branch President. He's pretty new, but he's really awesome. He was talking about how important our health was, and was trying to get a feel of who was feeding us. He asked us about every meal for every day of the week. So that's why it's called the land of plenty, because we get fed a lot (supposedly) and one of the ladies in the ward buys a bunch of grocery items for us including Milk, Juice, Muffins (Costco muffins), Water, Yogurt, and other items. This really is such a great branch, and I think it is only a branch because we are in a district and therefore can't become a ward.

We have 4 people with baptismal dates right now, and they are as follows:
1. Marilu. Marilu is a really sweet lady, I think from Mexico. She was taught in the past, and last year went to church 3 times. She was picked up again, and set with a date. She still hadn't been to church since last year, but this week we taught her a little about church, and she showed up to church an hour early, and stayed for all 3 hours. She is set for July 31st which is pretty great. Hopefully she can be ready by then, and can continue coming to church each week.
2. Dilcia: We found Dilcia just the other day. She is from the Dominican Republic, and let us in on account that her dad received a blessing from missionaries or members one time in the DR and now he's still alive, so I guess that is a good sign. She didn't come to church, but I think she has a lot of great potential, and will be baptized one day.
3. Ana: Never met her, will tomorrow though.
4. Victor: Last night we went and taught Victor and the family he is living with. He lives with the Garcia Family who are recent converts, as well as his sister who was baptized last year. Elder Jarrett told me he wasn't sure how much his mom would like the idea of baptism, but last night we taught him the Plan of Salvation, and talked about baptism and helped him overcome some of his fears. We invited him to be baptized for August 7th, and he ran to the back room to get permission. His mom said yes, so now Victor is preparing to be baptized. He is like 11 years old.

But yeah, things have been pretty busy, and Sunday night even busier trying to fill out all these reports and things. It's good though, business makes time go by faster, and keeps me more focused. I don't have too much else to update on.

Our new address is 56 Chestnut,
Garfield, NJ 07026.
Yep I live in Garfield, the City of Champions (Or so the sign says).
It's a nice place, and there is a lot more green here.

Well, I guess that's just about it. Thanks for the cookies you sent, they are delicious.

Thanks again for all our support.

I hope everything else is going well, and that you are all still enjoying the summer. Love you tons!!!

Love,
Elder Hicks