Saturday, May 23, 2009 - The Rich Life

Hello!

How are things going?

It's been a good week here. Elder Northey baked for the first time in his life and made a cake. Elder Newman made it for Sister Robison on Mothers' day and we got to try some, so we had him show us how it was made. We gave some to investigators, some to the Sisters (because Sister Bingham was going home and Sister Jarrett is always making snacks for us), some to the Hansens, some to Elders Newman and Tripp, and still had enough to eat more than we should have and the rest to go bad in the fridge.

Also, we got to meet all five of the Robison kids. They were here for the weekend and we got to see them at church. President and Sister Robison called it a "day off", but they've never had so little sleep their whole mission. They were running around doing everything.

We also met a really crazy lady at a nursing home. We've been visiting a member there who's been sick for a while. His roommate has a girlfriend that was paranoid to death of demons and being possessed, etc. I guess it didn't help that she was wearing a shirt with a demonic pattern on it, or that she had black piercings up and down. So we taught her about prayer and how we have more power than Satan, and so on. It was more for fun and to satisfy her than anything else. I thought it was funny.

In other news, I've really begun to appreciate soups sold in microwaveable bowls. Several companies, including Chunky, have these bowls that you just pull off the metal top and it goes right into the microwave. It's really cool.

On Tuesday, we were at the Sybrowskys' having a delicious homemade spaghetti meal and Brother Sybrowsky asked if we could help move a family after dinner. So we went with him and the other Elders to the new house to unload. It is a big house. Absolutely gi-normous. There's a built-in aquarium in the front lobby, a library, a crafts room, a secret food storage, a sun room attached to the master bedroom, and (get this) a full-sized regulation racquetball court connected in the back. (Didn't I say I wanted one in my dream house? I've never actually seen it done.)
They had P.O.D.S. (Portable On-Demand Storage units that you rent) out in the front and, needless to say, it took a while to unload all their boxes and furniture.

The other day, as we were at the mission home fixing their computer, the zone leaders were bringing someone who's getting baptized over for dinner, and so the Robisons invited us to stay too. They made steak on the grill. It was good.

On the way to the bank to make a deposit, I had over $1000 in my hands. That's a weird feeling. Big houses, steak, large deposits... I guess that's a theme for this week - just... lots of money.

Anyways, I'm off. That's my life this week.

I love you!

-Elder Brandon Wong

Something I wish I knew before my mission: how to better expect the unexpected.