Oh boy

Brace yourselves folks, this is gonna be a long letter.

 

I'm just gonna skip the quote of the week this week because there was so much that happened. So much. This was likely among the most eventful weeks in quarantine, if not the number one.

 

Not to disappoint, however, I will include quotes; however, these quotes will be coming from what seems almost like a daily basis. So here it goes...

 

TUESDAY: "I think somebody cook..."

 

Now I'm not sure if I've made this clear or not, but basically every other person who lives in our apartment building is Russian. To the point that all the notices and signs and things that are posted around the building are all in Russian.

 

Now, that aside; on Tuesday afternoon we were on a phone call with some of the other Elders in our zone when we heard the building's fire alarm go off. At first, we ignored it, thinking it must be an accident and would soon go off. But then it just kept ringing... And ringing... And ringing... To the point that we stuck our heads out of our door only to see a bunch of very confused looking people walking around the hallway and a myriad of voices nervously talking in Russian. Well, the alarm did end up turning off, but a minute later after we had gone back into our apartment it went off again. This time it was accompanied by sirens, and upon looking out the window we saw a police car, followed by a fire department SUV and two large fire trucks pulling to the outside of our building. A dozen or so firefighters started jumping out, strapping on oxygen tanks, and charging into the lobby. 

At this point we were rather concerned, so we ran downstairs to investigate, only to find out that there was no fire, no carbon monoxide and not even the slightest trace of smoke.

 

That's right folks, they sent that much manpower all for a false alarm.

 

One of our neighbors, rather peeved at this disruption to the afternoon postulated that perhaps "somebody cook" (imagine that phrase being said with a thick Russian accent) and somehow it set the alarm off. So that happened on Tuesday.

 

WEDNESDAY: "For all y'all know I'm just tossin' in a rock!"

 

This one was exciting. To provide a little context, there are two names you need to know.

 

First: Lester. He's someone were teaching and is all ready for baptism except for a slight word of wisdom issue. He used to smoke like a pack of cigarettes a day, and now he's weened down to just 2 mg of nicotine on a vape pen, and we're trying to help him cut that out so he can be baptized.

 

The second name is Brother Wilcox. He was our member present in the video call, and he and Lester are really good friends. Right from the start of our lesson Brother Wilcox was, in a good-natured manner, bugging Lester about the vaping and telling him he needs to drop it cold right now. Lester always takes our calls in his car, and Brother Wilcox asked to see the caps pen that he keeps in there. Lester reached over and grabbed it and showed us on the camera. "Is your hand near that widow Les?!" Brother Wilcox asked. "Is your window open Les? Throw it out the window!" Lester chuckled and told us that if he did that he'd just end up walking over after our lesson and picking it back up. To that Brother Wilcox responded: "how far are you from the Bay?" Lester lives on treasure island, so he's literally on top of the bay, and he told us so. Brother Wilcox said "Turn on your car Les, we're going on a drive." Lester obediently turned on his car, and at the urging of Brother Wilcox drove over to the waterside. He got out of the car and, camera in hand, walked over to the water. Looking out across the bay, Brother Wilcox commanded: "Now throw it in the water Les! C'mon! We're right here with you!" Lester seemed to hesitate for a moment and told us that he might just be throwing a rock in for all we know, but after a few seconds his resolve strengthened. He showed us his vape pen on the screen, and then bucked it into the bay! He still has one more at home, he told us, but we'll get him to take care of that. We proceeded to have a really good lesson with him.

 

THURSDAY: "I just need you to drive it 40 miles"

 

Thursday is the day that we go and get mail for the zone from the mission home. Before we left, we got a call from one of the Senior missionaries who works in the office. He told us he needed our help. "When you go for mail," he said, "I also need you to take one of the mission cars that has been sitting out in the parking lot for the last two months and drive 40 miles with it." So we got to the mission home and hopped into a Corolla, and then me and my companion took a trip down memory lane. We both served in Oakland for close to six months each, so we toured the old stomping grounds and had a great time doing it.

 

SATURDAY: "President said he's gonna call you next..."

 

And finally... Transfers are this week. President called Saturday afternoon and broke the news... I'm staying in San Fancisco, but now will only be covering the Golden Gate and Bay wards, and my companion will stay in the Chinese branch. I will be getting a newly reassigned missionary for my companion, and I'm actually pretty excited. The San Francisco zone is literally doubling in size, so it should be a grand old time indeed.

 

Whew. So that's about it. I could have even said more, but this boy is dragging on. I'll let you get back to it.

 

Bye

 

P.S. Brandon

 

P.P.S. Brandon

 

P.P.P.S. Brandon