Norfolk 2nd Ward...

It's a good little ward. not too much excitement for missionary work though. I don't know how to explain it. It's like there is, but the members are not that interacting with the missionaries like normal. So it's something I'm trying to work on. My companion is Elder Stokes. He is an alright guy. He kinda takes over the role of SR companion for now which is fine, he knows the area better. But I still need to jump in when he plan on doing something ridiculous, like biking 2 miles to stop by a guy, then bike 1 to stop by a lady, then go back home for 3 miles for lunch. I say just pack a lunch, plan to work the area around that person and lets go. So longer days, but it pays off. The Lord helps us.

Other than that it's alright. Trying to stay dry, I'm sopping wet after a short ride, so I wear a bandanna to keep the sweat from out of my face. It works good. actually y'all will not believe this but I'm actually eating a WHOLE LOT healthier than i use to. (besides the cookie dough and snickers pie Elder Leonard made today). mostly whole-grain breads, tuna and water. I ran out of money a while back so I'm surviving off the food that no one really claimed in the apartment. I don't want to use my personal card because in the real life, there is no "fall back cash". It's tough, but paying off. My health is up and my body fat is going down. We have a scale that measures it, so with eating 6 healthy, small meals a day, and lots of exercise and water i will be lean and mean in October. yeah baby!

I'm already buff so its just the lean part. seriously, y'all know its true. so along with that, if anyone feels compelled to send me some:
-tuna/chicken in water
-brown rice
-peanut butter
-dried fruit
-almonds or other nuts( not peanuts)
-other non-perishables
that would be splendid. thanks family!

Well in the Norfolk news, its a great place. I'm definitely going to be a pilot in the Navy soon after the mission. I love love love hearing the planes fly overhead and seeing them. It's gorgeous. A TOTAL distraction but I don't care. The area is nice. a lot like Deep Creek with its rough areas and nice areas. So far so good. We are really trying to find more people to teach. You can never have too many. They were teaching a couple of people when I first got here, but they are on the slow track. we need to step them up. Oh we also have Sisters in our ward too. We live with the 1st ward Elders in their area. The 1st and 2ND ward Sisters live together in our area. They are really great Sisters too. hard working. Unfortunately they are not finding too much success. :( super sad day, but they remain faithful! I'm really hoping to help the ward not only gain trust in the missionaries but mostly in helping the sisters. Its super easy for members to love Elders, but its really hard for some to like sisters. I don't know why. They are stellar. One of the Elders in the 1st ward is Elder Leonard, one of the guys from my MTC group. So we have a good time. Oh and the sisters in the 2ND ward, our sisters, are the ones who drive "Lily" my car from Deep Creek. So they had to fix the dent in it this week. so they are walking,poor girls. It's like high 80s all week. They get rides though.

Last night I met a Muslim guy who is going to give me a Koran this week some time. He is a really neat guy. I told him all about Sri Lanka and asked about the Muslim faith. Very similar to ours...very similar. It's amazing how close they are. Their Koran is our BOM written to provide a 2ND witness to the things in the Bible. Their Mohammad is our Joseph Smith. So basically the same thing. I would encourage everyone to look more into other faiths and be familiar with them. It provides good knowledge and proper understanding of others beliefs. Especially because we want people to learn about our faith, we should do the same thing.

Well not too much left to talk about. just really working on getting pretty for October, and trying to not think about it. It's easy. Also, trying to avoid getting such a dark tan this year. too late though, in 3 days I've changed like 2 shades. Seriously it's terrible. Get me a do-rag and call me Shequan.(pronounced shay-kwan). oh yeah.

love to all y'all,
Love, Elder Malone