Day after Mother's Day Call: May 9, 2011

This is part of the email we got from Hank yesterday, which was the day after we got to talk to him for Mother's Day.  It's short, sweet, and we're happy we have his address!  In our conversation with him on Mother's Day, he talked about his new area, which is right on the Gulf Coast, in fact, his apartment is "about 30 second walk to the beach".  His area was hit very hard by Hurricane Katrina, in fact, he said the eye of the hurricane went right over Pass Christian.  He said there is still a lot of destruction there, many structures have not been rebuilt yet. 

He LOVED Vicksburg, and misses it very much, but is trying very hard to work through this transfer, and adjust to the new area, and his new companion.  He's got a great attitude, and we love hearing the faith in his voice.  He sounded great, and everyone in the family got to talk with him.  We didn't want to hang up, but had to eventually tell him good-bye....until Christmas!  It wasn't easy.  Anyhow, here is the email we got from him...

hey it was so awesome talking with you yesterday, i didn't want to hang up, I'm so glad that you guys are all doing ok. i think its so funny though that you discovered red box, haha! its definitely awesome, haha. well yah Pass Christian is cool, i really like how everything looks and stuff. .....

This whole past week we literally just tracted. it was long, and I'm getting sunburned.....

 

 

I'm like 90 percent that that's what it is. maybe you should send a test letter, haha just to see if it works. if you want you can just send stuff to the mission office until we know for sure. anyway I'm sorry that this letter is short but we don't have a library card to get more time on the computer. thanks for the letters and packages you've been sending. those pictures were awesome!  aj looks like he was excited for prom! I'm glad he went to it. well that's it for now, ill talk to you next week, have fun and be safe and stuff, bye!

love hank 

New Transfer- Pass Christian, MS- May 3, 2011

hey mom whats up! well I'm getting transferred this week, I'm going to Pass Christian, Mississippi! It's pronounced pass krish-ti-an. I don't know why but that's how its pronounced. My new companion is going to be Elder D____. Elder B_____ trained him when he first came out. I'm a little bummed leaving Vicksburg, I was just getting used to it like this transfer and now I'm leaving. I wonder how long I'm going to be in my next area. Well it's pretty cool that I'm going to be on the coast just in time for hurricane season, haha! I'm nervous though going into a new area with a new companion and stuff but its probably where I'm supposed to be. There's alot going on in the world right now, the tornado that hit Mississippi and Alabama we've heard was crazy. We're fine here in Vicksburg but its crazy though. The death toll is up to like 300 or something like that. In our ward here they asked for anybody who could go to the cleanup next week instead of church out in the Tupelo area. We would totally help out in, but its really far from Vicksburg. If we were closer we would probably help out.

And also the Mississippi river is flooding. Its a really serious thing because a lot of homes and property may get damaged. The river is seriously going to get really high. Yesterday we were in the park area by the river and some of the park is underwater, and its still getting higher. I'm not going to be there though on the 18th when its supposed to flood all the way. I think its cool that you knew about it though. I didn't think you would, but yah that's whats going on. and osama bin laden is killed!  that was crazy news, we found out yesterday morning, a member was telling us. It seriously is big news.

Well Vicksburg has been great, I met a lot of good people. The G_____, the C____, the R____ and R_____ and the C_____, and the C_____. Vicksburg was a good area and I'm bummed I was only there for 2 transfers.

Well that's it for now, I'm really excited for this Sunday so I can call home! I don't know if i can skype, I'll let you know! In Vicksburg it was  for sure thing because I knew a few people who could do it. But in this new area I don't know anybody. I'll try my best to do it though. Either way I'm excited to talk to you this Sunday. Have fun back home and tell Carla I said good luck for the talent show thing. Bye!

Love hank