What happened to Febuwary?

I know that's not how you spell it, but come on, February makes no sense to how it's pronounced. This month has gone by so fast. It's only 3 days shorter that normal months, but it seems to have gone by a lot sooner than that. As for the accident, I saw that comment you put on the blog... and well... I kind of accidentally purposefully neglected/forgot to mention it before. I figured you'd freak out so I wanted to wait until I knew for sure what was up with it. It won't hurt insirance, everything is covered by the church, my concern was that accidents out here would make your insurance rates go up, and were that the case I would have refused to drive. But, everything, including repairs, is all covered by the church. The accident was a very minor one, nothing to worry about, it's all fine. Um, in other news, I'm doing better from the illness. I've been on an antibiotic for a few days, and Last night President and Sister Bahr paid us a surprise visit. Sister Bahr made us go out and work yesterday, but we're doing a lot better. (Elder Stettler was feeling pretty sick too.)
I can't believe that in 2 weeks it will be 6 months, it seems like January and February just failed to exist. Next thing I know it will be September again.
Winter hasn't quit here quite yet. We've been having some cold weather spurts, and it's really been annoying. But things are warming up now, hopefully for good, but on the other hand I'm not excited for the summer, I've heard the heat here is worse than the cold.
Oh, also, Sister Feeley said she really enjoyed talking to you. She has been calling and talking to the other Mom's, Elder Amundsen's and Elder Stettler's I think, and I kind of made an off-hand comment that she should call and talk to you sometime. She said "Well, give me the number!" And when I got sick she thought it was a perfect excuse. She's a really awesome member. She loves the missionaries a lot.
Well, I hope you are all doing well, and I wish you the best of luck. I'm doing well here and am happy and loving the work. Talk to you next week Love,
Elder Isaac


Mom's note: I got a phone call on Monday morning from a sister in Isaac's area. Isaac went to dinner at her house on Sunday and apparently had a fever of 102.7º. She was concerned and wanted to know what medications he could take ( she is an RN). It was very sweet, although I have to say that I would prefer to find out that my son was really sick after he is better. I would worry less that way! It is really nice to know that there are good members looking out for the missionaries out there!

Oh, the things we find out.......

We received a series of short emails this week. Isaac emailed on Tuesday (very short) because they thought the library would be closed. He mentioned oh so casually that he may be driving soon because he his companion had gotten a 'red dot', and that he was nervous because he had already had an accident while driving in Rockland County. WAIT A MINUTE..... AN ACCIDENT? That was the first we heard of it. Isaac's letters sometimes leave us trying to read between the lines, but you'd think he would mention a car accident! Anyways, we wrote back asking for more details. This was his response.....

"well, the library wasn't closed today after all. I must have misread the sign, but I could've sworn it said it would be closed on Lincolns birthday. As for the accident I had a car wreck my second week driving in Rockland. However it wasn't bad enough that I got a Red Dot. Accidents in this mission are almost a joke. This mission is #1 for car accidents in the entire world, partly because we have more cars in our mission than most, and also because driving here is crazy. However, usually here on your first accident they usually don't even consider giving you a red dot, unless someone is injured, if someone is hurt it's usually an automatic Red Dot, or if there is a substantial amount of damage. Since then I've been driving a lot better, but still, drivers here are pretty stupid, and the big reason I had the crash is because of driving stress. I've gotten more comfortable now, but it still sucks that soon I'll be having to drive again. Love you, and talk to you next week."
Oh yeah, we feel better now! I guess this is a trial of our faith.
We also got a hand written letter this week. I will transcribe it some other time.

Thanks for all the love and support you give Isaac. I know he appreciates it!

Liz

5 month mark

Yesterday was my 5 month mark. I am amazed at how fast it has gone.
I've been doing well here, but its a little frustrating at times. My companion is going home in less than 6 months and is kinda trunky. Other than that, things are going well here. The members here are really awesome. The Spanish side here is stronger too. Once again I'm in a Spanglish Ward, but that's okay.
That's really awesome that Murray has progressed so much. I hope Olive is up to another puppy, both Murray and Champ seemed to push her buttons a lot.
I'm sorry to hear that everyone at home is sick. I hope everyone starts feeling better soon. Oh, as far as address goes...
Packages need to go through the office, but also letters can go through the office as well, it will take a little longer to go through that way. but my apartment address is:
5 Pangborn place Apt 4H Hackensack NJ 07601
And also, the last week of the transfer cycle, and the first week of the cycle, letters should all be sent through the office, in case I do get transferred. The last day of this transfer is March 15. Not really a whole lot of other news. Tomorrow we're going on exchanges 1/2 day with the Zone leaders.
Love you all, and miss you tons.
Love,
Elder Isaac

Letter from District Leader

We received the nicest letter today from Elder Quirino, he was Isaac's D.L. until he was transferred last week. I just wanted to share a little from his letter.......

"My name is Elder Q. I am from Sao Paulo, Brasil, I am a missionary here in New Jersey, Morristown mission, at at this moment I am assigned as a district leader here in Rockland, County. This was my first area in English, because I was called to serve in portuguese. But it was such a blessing in my life, because I had an opportunity to serve with Elder Isaac, I want to say that I am not his companion, but I am his district leader, and I learned so much from him. His manner of work is wonderful, he is very dedicated and very determined. He has a great sense of humor and is very happy. I love him so much, unfortunately , he is leaving this area. But I know that he will do well in his next area, because he is going where is expedient to the Lord."

It was really neat for us to hear from his D.L. What a humble, sweet missionary. He goes on to bear us his testimony of the gospel. We had a really sweet experience with this missionary at Christmas. When I was putting Isaac's package together I had the feeling that I should do something for all four missionaries in his apartment. Nothing fabulous, I just did a stocking with some treats, socks and a new tie. We didn't know at the time that Elder Q. wasn't going to receive any gifts from home because of his parent's humble circumstances. Elder Q. in his letter thanked us for the gifts. He said that he knew the Lord had provided a way for him to receive his blessings because he was following the commandments. It was a small act for us, and I am grateful that we followed the Lord's promptings so that this Elder could feel the Lord's love for him. It is a reminder to me that very often the Lord answers someone's prayers through someone else. I know I need to be a lot more in tune to those little promptings.

We are thankful to all of you who remember Isaac in your prayers. I know that he appreciates the letters he receives. He has so little time to write, but I hope that he returns at least a portion of your letters.

We are so grateful for Isaac's missionary service. We feel the Lord's blessings in our lives. We miss him like crazy, but know that he is doing exactly what he needs to be doing at this stage of his life. We can see his growth in the emails he sends home and can't wait to see the man he is becoming upon his return from his mission.

New Area-follow up to this morning's email

Well, I'm here now in my new area. I'm currently in Englewood, NJ. My New companions name is Elder Amundsen. I'm excited to be here in this new area. It's pretty cool. The area's also really big, and I've learned now how crazy traffic here in New Jersey really is.
Driving around here has been nuts. I'm glad I'm not driving though, Elder Amundsen is. I would probably get in a wreck pretty quickly here, the traffic is crazy as are the streets.
Today, we really haven't done anything yet today, we didn't get to our area until like, 5:00 because Elder Amundsen had to make sure everyone and their stuff made it with them to their new areas. This transfer is crazy though, they moved almost everyone around. Here in my new Zone, zone 2 every companionship except the zone leaders and the sisters were split up. So, just thought I'd give you a heads up and let you know where I am and what's going on.
Love you all.
Love, Elder Isaac.

Well, here goes.....

Elder Kemp was actually the one who showed me that verse. I thought it was pretty funny, but it won't be applicable much longer. Right now I'm in Morristown New Jersey, at the library, waiting for transfer conferences. I am in fact being transferred, and Elder Kemp is actually going to be a trainer. It's pretty cool. We had to leave at like 7:30 this morning to get here on time, because Elder Kemp needed to be there to meet his Trainee, and they're going to eat breakfast and lunch and stuff, then meet us at the conference at 1:30, where I'll meet my new companion and find out where I'm going. I was a little disappointed to find out I was leaving, but it's alright. It's going to be an adventure, going into a brand new area. It was hard to say goodbye to some people. Especially to Brother Romero. His niece actually made me a card. It said "Sorry I was bad, but I miss you so much. To Elder Eleswoth." It was pretty neat. Yesterday I had my last meeting with Frank Peña. It was good, and he gave me a big hug afterwards. We also had dinner with Bro Romero, we had fajitas and Pupusas. The four of us (5 with Bro Romero) had dinner, and it was really good. I LOVE pupusas so much. I certainly hope there are Salvadoreños where I'm going. Elder Grisson is also leaving and Elder Quirino is going to train.
Oh, just a heads up, Elder Quirino sent you guys a letter. The other day he came up to me and said he needed to ask me two favors. One, he needed to see the envelope to a letter you had sent me. The second was that he needed to borrow a stamp. So he sent you a letter with one of my stamps. It was cool though, I'm pretty sure it's not as weird as Elder Barker's Mom writing you. I love you all and miss you, I'll have to write soon to let you know my new area and new companion.

Love,
Elder Isaac

End of Transfer 2-

This is last week's email, sorry I was slow to get it on here.

Transfer Conferences are on next Wednesday, so this is the last email this transfer. This email might not be as long as the ones I've sent home the last couple weeks. Yesterday the Library here was closed due to "Inclement Weather", so I wrote a handwritten letter home.
Happy Birthday Dad! I wasn't sure the date before, but I knew it was sometime here in January, so I sent home a birthday card like, forever ago. I hope you got it. I really want to try this pizza place when I get home. You guys should take me there when I come home.
I'm glad that everything else is still going well back home. I miss you all so much, but I'm doing well here. Things have been discouraging at times, but for the most part I've really enjoyed myself here. My Spanish is going really well, and I've learned and grown so much this transfer. Elder Kemp is a really good missionary, and I've learned a lot from him. One of the most important thing's I've learned from him this transfer is how to give homework, which sounds weird, but it works really effectively to get people to read AND understand the Book of Mormon.
So, I love you all, and you'll be hearing a lot more from the letter I sent home, To leave you all I want to share with you a scripture. Look up sometime Doctrine and Covenants 104:81
Love you all,
Elder Isaac