July 13, 2015 - Hephzibah, Georgia

Hi Fam!!

Georgia is a lot different than Colorado and Utah I'll tell you that haha. The trees in Georgia are really cool, but along with the trees there are really annoying gnats that I don't think I'll get used to, but it's all good. So Elder Hinton and I are getting along great we both like staying healthy and keeping each other in shape so that's great. And since we like staying in shape we ride our bikes a lot and since we sweat a lot often times people will invite us in from the streets to get water and while we get water we chat about the gospel haha. So yes I did get my bike its a mongoose and I got to choose from 5 and I got the most sturdy one. So when I got the bike it looked great everything worked but the tire was a little flat and I assumed someone had a pump I could borrow so I was going to do it when I got into my area, but believe it or not people in Georgia rarely have bikes so I was riding on a flat tire for 4 days which made for a splendid leg workout. And yes mom I'm writing it all in my journal. My first day was quite the experience, the poverty in Georgia is astounding and people live in houses that you think couldn't be inhabited by humans but they are. My first day I was also amazed at how the dogs are down here cause they protect the territory so you have to be careful and so on my first day I had a scary experience with 5 black dogs. We were riding down a steep hill into a coldisack and these black dogs ran to the street and stopped when we got to the coldisack. So we were like alright , but then we knocked on this lady's house and a huge German shepherd came from the house and ran to us and I grabbed a stick and hit it. The owner was mad but after I did that the dog went away and she yelled at us cause she said he's not a biter but I think otherwise by the way she was coming at me haha. Then we still had to get up the hill past the dogs so we used our bikes as shields and got sticks and we shielded the dogs off until we got to the level road and went off as fast as we could Don't worry mom I'm fine lol.  I've already had so many stories that are crazy but I'm safe and doing well. I'm just amazed at what kids here grow up in and what they experience which makes me grateful for the way I was brought up. Cause I couldn't imagine living in some of these kids' houses. You see drugs all around and my strength has already helped me so much here. I'm glad the house sold I hope it all goes well! I've invited 5 people to baptism and they have all accepted so we have them on date which is cool.Before I end I'll tell you this story, later after we shielded the dogs we met these guys on the street walking and they pulled out a joint while we were riding next to them and talking about god and they were interested but they were just dazed from what they were smoking so they listened and we are supposed call them but we aren't sure if we should or not so we are praying on it. But hey thanks for everything I hope everything goes well and I miss yall!lol. I wish I could tell you more but I have other emails to get to.