E-mail from Eric dated 8/18/08

Family:

Oh the last week of summer. I remember how that feels. It is your last week of freedom for 9 months! ha ha. Mom, what are you going to do with all your free time?

To explain my pictures now. One was of Grandma Jah, who we baptized on July 26. One was of me being carried by a random man across a river. This river is one that we used to be able to cross but because of the increased rain it has gotten bigger. We usually just wait and act like we are going to cross on our own and someone will usually come to help us. The last picture was that pig, not a dog, that we ate about a month ago. Our samoan Elder chopped it up into small pieces and it roasted in a Dutch Oven for 3 hours. that was not my apartment.

The olympics are talked about here and when power is here, the members usually have it on. We watch for like 3 minutes before teaching. I hope that isn't breaking a rule, but it is hard to resist, not only for us but for the person we are teaching. I haven't seen anything exciting though. That is cool that Micheal Phelps won 8 medals.

Couper is going to Washington. I told him before I left that he was staying in the United States and he had nothing to worry about. November is coming quick. Cj got his call this same week last year and he didn't leave until Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, its coming up soon. (sorry, missionaries don't really have holidays to look forward to here).

Once again happy Birthday to Brittany last Saturday. Good night you got a crap load of stuff. I would be grateful and thats all i'm going to say.

Now to the questions. I have a zone conference this week and I hope to receive that package. Please don't tell me you spent like hundreds of dollars on this package. I did receive dad's letter from last time and it was nice to know that I have two parents. haha just kidding. Joshua I sleep in a bed like at home, but I don't have a matress, rather a big foam pad like grandma uses for sleepovers. Its kinda hard but it feels so good after walking in the sun all day. We cook on a gas stove all the time. Its exactly like the ones we use when we go camping. Although before I came the missionaries were using charcoal and dutch ovens to cook.

Everything is fine here. Just a heads up for next time, send double AA battries ( the ones here last me exactly one picture on my camera, no joke). I just put my last pair in my camera today. My branch has not been split yet, i'm not sure when that will happen. probably sometime next month. Tracting, yeah right. That would be absolutely pointless. Everyone here would listen to us but they would do nothing about it. We only teach member referrals. P-days usually consist of relaxing because honestly there is not much to do. Although I had a fun one today as we went to the beach to play rugby and soccer. I have never been so tempted to go swimming in my life. The water felt so good on my feet. I do my shopping on the street. Deodorant is still have plenty of and I will deal with that problem when it comes. I know they have it but i don't know how much. Things here don't have a set price, and you can talk them down on everything.

This week was my All-American week. I was on splits for pretty much the whole week. I just happened to receive a fellow american companion each time. From tuesday after noon to friday I was with 3 different missionaries. It was really cool to see how each missionary does it differently but if they have the spirit they will be effective no matter what. I was running my area as my companion (who is the district leader) went to the other areas. I enjoyed it very much, but I also realized how much I have bonded with my companion. I love the guy. Have a great week.

Elder Degen