If I can make it here...I'll make it anywhere

Hola Familia y Amigos!

GREETINGS FROM NEW YORK CITY!

It's NYC alright... Lot's of crazy people, lots of small business, restaurants of EVERY KIND, taxis, metro stations, dead cats, live cats, dead pigeons, live pigeons, LIGHTS, Let me fill y'all in.

Last Monday, I left the MTC and flew to NY. Had a few missionary opportunities in the airport/on the plane... Pretty fun. Actually, I sat between two brothers on the first flight... Who just happened to be the cousins of our good friends the Van Wagoners! SMALL WORLD.

After we got off the plane in New York the Mission President, Pres. Calderwood and his wife were there to meet us with the A.P.'s. What nice people. Seriously, I'm fairly certain I have the best mission president in the world. (I'm also certain EVERY missionary says that... whatever. I really mean it. Haha) They took us up the highest point in the mission... the roof of "The Brooklyner". Wow, what a BREATHTAKING view of Manhattan. I took some good pictures (I'll try to get them posted) but I can tell you, the picture doesn't come close to doing it justice. We ate REAL New York pizza and learned some new things about our mission. I'm also fairly certain I'm in the BEST mission in the world (again, I know everyone says that. Haha).  Something really cool happened in that meeting... the President dedicated our mission. He offered a very powerful dedicatory prayer blessing this land and all who live on it. I feel SO lucky to be a missionary here.  We slept at the mission home and then went to orientation/transfer meeting in the morning.

Orientation.... Well... Umm... nothing interesting. They just have us watch a video about driving mission vehicles made in the 1990's. And they said something about ibuprophen and keeping our apartments in tip-top condition. Haha... Obviously I was thinking about my new companion.

So, my new companion/trainer? AWESOME.

Her name is Sister Van Langen... She's originally from Georgia. Ironically she knows my mom. She was an intern 5th grade teacher at Franklin Elementary in Provo. (Taught AT Franklin, now teaching A Franklin... Meant to be.) Excluding her Crocs.... We're practically soul sisters. Haha... Don't worry she rocks the Crocs better than most. We enjoy a lot of the same things and we definitely appreciate each other's sense of humor. She's hilarious...keeps me laughing. Good thing. After Sister Dean... I don't know what I would have done if I got a companion who took themselves too seriously. She's been out for about 8 months. She's been in our area since she got to NY. So she's an expert...No need to worry about me, I'm in good hands.)

Oh, speaking of my area.... I'm in Queens! My area is called Woodside. Super great area... Beautiful View of Manhattan and A LOT of people. LOTS. And it's so diverse. This place is absolutely the definition of a melting pot.You know you live in New York City when your neighbors are Irish, Muslim, Turkish Mausqe, Evangelical Rock Church Clergy, and well... Pretty much any race/religion you can think of. It's AWESOME.  Speaking of diversity the Woodside Spanish Ward I serve in has someone from every single South/Central American country in it. How cool is that? I LOVE this ward. The members are so amazing, so giving, and so humbe. I LOVE Hispanic culture, it's like I've been adopted into 50 families.  They've all welcomed me with open arms and a whole dang lot of FOOD. They seem to think I have 14 stomachs or something... they've got way too much faith in my ability to eat a whole rotisserie chicken.... 

My district is pretty great... It consists of Elder Heaps (from Cedar City UT) and Elder Hoage (from Sacramento, CA), Elder Van Montfranz (from Salt Lake City, UT) and the ONE AND ONLY.... Elder Nielson, from my MTC district! I was so overjoyed to find out we would be together for the next 12 weeks. Pretty sure Heavenly Father did that on purpose. He knew I would need a familiar face. Oh, another random thing I like about my area is that I don't have to drive. I spend a lot of the time on the metro train/bus. LOVE that.... Perfect opportunity to talk to people.)

As far as the Spanish goes... I thought I knew Spanish, at least a little bit. Turns out I don't. Everyone talks about 246 million miles a minute. So... Yeah. That'll take some getting used to. Buena Suerte a mi. Haha.

Missionary work is tough stuff. I'm not going to lie. It's full of a lot of disappointment when your investigators don't follow through or they decide they don't want to take the lessons anymore. It's just plain sad. And I can honestly say, I love all the people I meet.... Even though I hardly know them. It's kind of a cool thing to experience. And it's straight up sad when they don't accept your message. They just don't understand what they're missing. I understand more and more with every passing day that missionary work requires a lot of patience and a lot of FAITH.

Conferencia General fue muy bueno, no?! I loved Elder Anderson's talk... "Faith overcame doubt, and THOUSANDS were baptized." I know that applies to me. Faith must overcome doubt.

Well.... P-Days are proving to be one of the busiest days... So I've got to get off the computer now, but I love you all! I hope all is well with you, and that you enjoyed General Conference. How blessed are we to have a living prophet and apostles who guide us!?
Keep the faith!

Con Amor,
Hermana Tara Franklin