First Letter!

This is Diane, Elder Guymon's mom.  I have been stressing out about doing this missionary blog for a week now.  I was thinking about just copy and pasting William's e mails into this blog, plain and simple as that.  But then I started to worry that he would stop writing very much if he knew that was what I was doing.  He would write general letters to all, not a nice personal letter to mom. 

AND---with a public blog, ANYONE can read it, so could be bad if he says something like "my roommates smell bad" and then those roommate's parents find and read this blog and get hurt feelings.  I'm not at all worried that William would break any rules or say really mean things, but I know there have been problems of missionaries doing just that and getting found out by mission presidents, companions families, investigators, members back home, members from the mission, etc. 

So when William, just today in his letter, mentioned that he likes the way his college roommate's mom does her Missionary Blog, it struck me as the answer that I've been looking for!!!!  I'm going to steal her format of just informing readers of letter's highlights! 

If you are on Facebook, and are my "facebook friend", you may have seen that yesterday we received a letter in the mail...not just any letter....but the letter we have been waiting and HOPING for.  (I wasnt positive if William would send one because I sent him off without paper, envelopes, OR stamps.  (oops!)  The mail came really late (REALLY LATE).  So late, that I thought the mail man had already delivered and we just didn't get anything that day.  But at about 5:15 (dont mail mans get off at 5?) the mail man came.  I sent our little friend Adam out to get the mail and he did it, but VERY slowly.  I'm pretty sure he wasn't TRYING to torment me (maybe he WAS????) but he walked slowly up to the house, then looked at the mail, then held up the envelope that I WANTED, then proceeded to try to read the address to see if it was actually a letter from William.  I wanted to grab it out of his hand, but he kept it just barely out of my reach.  When I finally got it from him....I wanted to RIP it to SHREDS, but I decided to just tear the back so I could use the front for the blog/Facebook.  (Please don't use my address for anything bad...might be dumb to put that out there for the world to view!!!!)

The letter's date said May 31st...and it was June 4th, so that letter took a long time to get here (it was post stamped Jun 1.)  He started off "mon famille" which is French for "My Family" I think, if I remember anything from my two or three years of French!

He told us that he is safe.  The first few days were "crazy".  He is already learning a lot and learning it fast and he even remembers stuff that he learned in high school, but later in the letter he points out that he gets along so well with his companion because they are both the worst in the class so they have bonded by studying so much together. 

He has seen tons of people that he knows like Elder Bowles, Chelson, tons more, then "and that twin that N****n didn't marry."  I knew exactly who he was talking about, haha!

He is avoiding ice cream at the cafeteria because he doesn't want to gain any weight. 

The people who have been there a few weeks seem "old".

It's hard to get used to calling people "elder". 

They have already begun teaching an "investigator" (this letter was written on his SECOND day there!!!)

His companion is a "pimpin balla"  (OKKKKAAAAYYYY, what is that, do any of you know???  It sounds like a compliment....I asked him in my letter to him "does Pimpin Balla mean a good looking athlete?", but he hasn't answered yet?)

There are 6 elders in his room.

There are 9 elders in his district, 4 going to Paris and 5 to Montreal.

AND----the last line----"I am glad I'm a missionary".

*What a great letter!