November 12, 2014

Hello Family!!! Transfers have come and gone already... I swear that just yesterday we had our zone break-out session in the Gila Valley and everyone was introducing themselves. And that happened today again but here in Sierra Vista! Man oh man, I kinda wish that time would go slower but I can't wait to see what happens when I do get home! Like I said in my email on Monday, I am in Sierra Vista. Thank you mom and dad for checking out my area for me. It is a pretty nice town actually! It reminds me a lot of Lehi, except for the area that I'm currently living in. There are all the same stores that you would find in Central Tucson or even Salt Lake and just as many restaurants! No matter what I need, there is a store for it here. I was told that I was going to be in the Ghetto part of Sierra Vista but everyone that I talked to in the Valley didn't even know that there was a ghetto! And I was kinda surprised to find out that it is pretty ghetto, especially next to our apartments. We live in the 3rd Story of the Sierra Carmicheal Apartments and all of our surrounding neighborhoods are trailer parks. As we were driving this morning for our morning work out, the kids were coming to the curb to meet the bus. We passed about 30 or 40 kids and not a single one of them was white... I'm going to love this area! :)

My companion is Elder McKenna.  He is about 5'10" or so and super skinny. He has blonde hair that sticks straight up and brown eyes (i think they are brown). As I was at the transfer site, I talked to Elder Siglin (one of my companions in East Tucson like 6 months ago!) and he told me that Elder McKenna had a rough time with his trainer and that if I just stayed happy all the time that everything would work out great. I was kinda nervous coming into the area but we instantly clicked! He is really funny and is definitely "one of my descendants"! ;) He loves to play sports, especially golf and basketball. We are on bikes! I don't know whether I'm excited for that or not but I'm excited for the transfer! We have a decently big area. I forgot that my bike was broken though so Im gonna have to get that fixed today. I need a new derailer and a new set of front gears. Hopefully it won't be too expensive...

On Satruday before transfers, we had morning sports as a zone. It was fun to see everyone again before transfers. We played basketball for a little while and some dodgeball. I grabbed a basketball when we were finished and pretended like I was gonna dunk it. Amazingly enough, I hit the rim with my hand! Ii couldn't grip the ball cause it was super old and worn and slippery, but I grabbed a dodgeball and I dunked it! I couldn't get a video though cause I didn't have my camera... Well, out here in Vista, we played some basketball yesterday for sports. I grabbed a basketball and could palm it. And guess what.... I DUNKED A BASKETBALL 3 TIMES!!! I may not be able to beat you guys at ping pong but just wait till I come home and whoop you in basketball! It will be like playing against 6th graders! ;)

Mom, you talked to my two favorite people in the Gila Valley! I wasn't there for either of them but I wish I could have been! Sister Beals used to be a Sign Language Interpreter for a long time. So she and Elder Gilson got along really well. I loved spending time with them because they were always so spiritual and all the kinds were very good, honest, hard working kinds. They made you want to be better just by being around them! And then of course, Grandma Despain. If I could only pick one person I could go back and see, it would be Grandma Despain! I absolutely adore her! I have decided that if it's at all possible, I want to adopt her as my grandmother. I have never met anyone who is so loving and kind to missionaries, especially to me! She fed us every Monday and any other day that we needed it. Somehow, she could tell when we were lying about having a dinner and would make us one anyways knowing that we didn't have one even when we said we did! I guess I'm not as sneaky as I thought. ;) I wished that I could have done more to help her out! I feel like I told her plenty how much I loved her but I wish that I could have done more to show her how much I loved her! I will though when I get back! :)

Other random facts that I feel more comfortable talking about, today is my 17 month birthday!! I can't believe that the sisters that I came out with from the MTC are going home at the end of this transfer!! Crazy... Also, I have been thinking about the future and I think that I want to go into Pharmacy. :) What do you think? I don't really want to go back up to BYU Idaho but I need to retake a class or two. I would like to do online classes for those and then transfer to somewhere closer to home to do my generals and then go to a University to graduate! That would also provide me with an opportunity to do some intern work at a pharmacy before I get too far into school to make sure that it's something I actually want to do. There are a lot of really good schools that I can try and apply for, but the best ones are in Utah and Cali. We'll have to see what happens but I want to see if that works out. :)

Well, I best be off! My hour is about up. I want you to know that I love you and I miss you and I can't wait to talk to you on Christmas!! Rumor has it that we might not be able to skype though... it is using the members computers and that is against the mission rules... We will have to see what happens though! I'll keep you posted! I love you all so much!

~Elder Kyle Harris