Now I'm In New Yoooooork! (in my best Alicia Keys impression)

Hello all! I am here in the City, and it is absolutely insane. I feel
as if I'm in a foreign country for sure. Everything is completely
different, and there are so many different people. I don't even know
where to begin. My first area is indeed Brooklyn. More specifically,
it's a place called Bushwick, and I don't know if you can tell from
the street view you looked at, but it's totally ghetto and it's
awesome. I'm going to send some pictures, so you'll be able to see my
apartment. I'm on the third floor, and it's just like one of those
little places you see in movies. It's definitely an adjustment, but
it's fun too. I hope that the letter I sent got to you in Clovis. If
it did, you know about my first day and all that. As for my first
week, I've got a lot to tell. I'm in an area that's just a little ways
away from where Jay-Z grew up. I ate at the McDonald's that he raps
about in Empire State of Mind! At least that's what I was told. That's
not 100% confirmed, but I think it's accurate. I found out that he got
his name because the subway stop where he grew up is where the J and
the Z trains meet. The church building I go to is right off that stop.
It's the Marcy Ave. stop, and he grew up in the Marcy projects.
Speaking of projects, I've tracted them a few times now. I've never
experienced anything quite like the projects. It's so eye-opening to
see how bad the conditions are for so many people. It's definitely a
goal of mine to not have to live in the projects. But I'm so grateful
for how much I've been blessed in my life. The area I'm in is really
interesting because in a fairly short walk I can go from the ghetto to
the drop off point of the hipster bus. It's really a striking
contrast. I've never seen so many hipsters in one place before.
That brings me to what has been really interesting about my first
week. We've been focusing on working in those areas where all the
hipsters are because they are the ones who can get to church and help
to strengthen the ward. There are a lot of great people in the rougher
parts of town, but it's hard for them to get to church, so we're
trying to find a few families that can build up the ward and then help
it to expand outwards so that we can eventually get to more areas.
When families are living in the projects it's hard for them to pay for
the subway to go to church on Sunday, and a lot of factors make it so
it's tough for them to remain active. So the approach makes a lot of
sense, and my mission president is very inspired, but that means that
we have to try to preach the Gospel to a bunch of hipsters and wealthy
urban young people. That's easier said than done. But, my mission
president has developed a new approach to missionary work that is
really interesting. I'm in a district with 5 companionships, and we
are all in a fairly small area centered around the church building.
President Calderwood decided to abolish areas in this one specific
district, and so we are working in what's called an open pool. That
means that all the companionships in my district work in the entire
area instead of having established areas for each companionship to
work in. Those who have served missions probably understand a little
more fully what this means. It's hard to describe stuff without using
the mission lingo, but hopefully that makes sense. It's cool to have
President Calderwood. Not only is he an awesome guy, but he's making a
ton of really inspired changes to the mission. In the transfer meeting
last week, he said that we are on the verge of "The Mormon Minute",
and this mission is experiencing that in the heartbeat of the free
world. Those are basically the words he used. He said that all the
attention that the Church has been getting is about to really take
off, and so he is making changes to accommodate what's going to
happen. The area I'm in is kind of like the pilot program for this new
approach. It's the first area that he's trying this new approach in.
As a result, we are doing some pretty unconventional missionary work.
Just the other day, we went to a really hipster part of town and
another elder and I busked on a street corner. I played ukelele and he
played guitar and we did some indie arrangements of hymns. It was
super fun, and all the people were trying to figure out what the heck
was going on. Someone was like "Are you guys like an offshoot group or
something?" It was funny. People were taking pictures and videos, so
check Youtube for "Busking Mormon Missionaries" or something. I guess
it wasn't technically busking because we weren't doing it for money.
We actually gave the people stuff. As we played, the other elders gave
out pass-along cards and flyers for a "Meet the Mormons" night we're
doing this week. I would have never guessed that I would be playing
music on street corners on my mission. It's pretty funny, but I think
it's a really good approach. We're trying to get the community to
start noticing us so they'll start asking questions and realizing who
we are. I'll try to send some pictures of the performance.
So I have a couple funny stories about encounters with interesting
people. The other day, my companion and I (wait, I haven't told you
about my trainer yet! His name is Elder Pulla, and he's from India.
He's a good guy and he's teaching me a lot about being persistent and
working hard.) were walking down the street and this lady walked up to
me and held out her hand like she wanted to fist bump. I had seen her
the other day, and she had done the same thing, so I fist bumped her
and I think I tried to give her a pass-along card or something. She
pushed the card away and made a face like "I don't want that" and then
pulled me aside and acted like she had a question for me. At one
point, she hugged me, and I was like "Oh man, what's going on here?"
My companion tried to follow us, but she told him to get away. She was
definitely crazy and when she spoke, you could only understand a
little bit of what she was saying. She started mumbling to me and held
out her hand like she wanted something, so I tried to give her a
pass-along card again. She shoved it away and kept asking for
something. I think she wanted money. I told her I just had the card,
and tried to get away, but then she hugged me again and kissed me on
the neck! At this point I was like "Oh no, I'm totally breaking
mission rules, and this lady is accosting me." Haha. I tried to get
away, but she kept blocking my escape, and then she grabbed my hands
and put them on her head and asked me to pray or something like that.
I knew I definitely had to make a break for it, so I side stepped her
and cleared out with Elder Pulla. It was pretty scary. I mean, I was
never in danger, but it was definitely not the kind of situation I
wanted to stick around for. Oh the people of New York. The other
interesting person I met when I was walking down the street as well.
He was sitting on his steps, and my comp and I went up and started
talking to him. This chat turned into an hour and a half discussion in
which this man went off on more tangents than should be humanly
possible. At one point, I was able to break in and give him a Book of
Mormon and challenge him to read it, but he just kept going on
tangents and addressing everything from crop circles to government
conspiracies to chem trails. I thought Uncle Mark would appreciate
knowing that there are more chem trail believers out there. It's a big
issue. When he started talking about them, I wanted to laugh out loud.
The conversation was only cut off when a street fight commenced and
the guy ran off, Book of Mormon in hand, to go help his friend who was
getting beaten up. At that point, Elder Pulla and I split. I think
that these kinds of experiences will become commonplace if I stay in
Brooklyn for a long time.
There's so much to tell, but I have so little time! I'm doing well,
and I really like the City. Everyday when I get on the subway I see
the Empire State Building and the Manhattan skyline. I can usually see
the new World Trade Center when I walk around too. There are so many
cool people here, and I meet a lot everyday. I'm doing well and
enjoying the mission, but they forgot to tell you in the MTC how
flipping hard a mission is! Especially when you're trying to get rich
urban young people to listen to you. I'm working on being more bold
with street contacting. Door approaches aren't that hard because I did
so many of them last summer in D.C., but chasing after people on the
street and trying to talk about the Gospel is tough! It's getting
easier though. The branch I'm in is cool. Get this: Jensen Clifford,
Garrett's older brother, is in my branch! How crazy is that? It's such
a small world. The Spirit was so strong in this branch, and it was
fast and testimony meeting, so I got to introduce myself to everyone
and bear my testimony. It was kinda weird being the missionary
introducing myself. I've seen so many get up and introduce themselves,
but now it's me! It feels surreal sometimes. Oh! I almost forgot to
say that my comp and I have an investigator with an August 19
baptismal date! His name is Jose, and he's from Puerto Rico. He came
to church this Sunday and is working on reading The Book of Mormon! I
hope he is able to gain a testimony and keep his baptismal date. He is
a little hard to read, so my companion and I are trying to make sure
he's ready before he gets baptized, but it's cool to have an
investigator at church. I was pretty stoked. I am having a good time
being a missionary, and I know this is where I'm supposed to be. I
have so much more I want to say, but my companion is going to start
getting anxious to leave the library. I'm going to try to send some
pictures! I love you all so much, and I miss each of you dearly. I'm
so glad to hear that the move went well and that you all like Clovis.
I wish I had a pool! It's flipping hot here. It's totally not a myth
that the people open up the fire hydrants in the summer. They just
shoot out water all day long. It's nice because when I walk by,
sometimes I get a little mist. But I'm really happy to know that
everyone is good! I can't wait to hear how the new schools are! I love
you!

Elder McDonald