Transferred to Tsuyama

Yup I'm now residing in a very cold area by the name of tsuyama. President said in interviews that he was going to send me to a bigger area where i could see more lessons and whatnot. the area is definitely bigger. not really so much in the way of being more urban like i thought he meant. land mass didnt seem like the topic of that conversation. But Tsuyama is more urban than Ako. But we definitely don't seem to be seeing more lessons here. They didnt find one investigator last transfer so we are already doing a lot of finding. So i guess president had a change of heart or forgot about me. But actually, I'm quite happy about it. One of my MTC teachers, Bishoff-sensei served here for like 6 months and he told us some things about here while i was in the MTC. that and my good friend Elder Burhoe served here for 3 transfers before he went to Himeji so ive heard a lot of stuff about the place. Its not the greatest area, but im really quite happy to be here. unlike my last area, i wouldnt mind staying here for 3 or 4 transfers i think. But yeah it is very cold. yesterday i got to experience my nose hairs freezing which brought me back to my winter at BYU. 'cept at that time, i had a mustache which froze too. And this city is waaayyyy spread out. theres about 100,000 people living here from what one of the members here told me, but there arent really any big building or places people gather because everything is so far away. So it makes talking to people a little difficult. There isnt a ward here, its another branch with around 30-35 people coming to church. but the members are all really nice. its not the greatest area. aparently most missionaries before me havent liked it, but i think its good.

My new companion is a Elder Nuttall. I dont have a lot of time so ill just say he's kind of like a spiritual version of Jon VanWagonen. He keeps life interesting and its pretty relaxing to have a companion who i can speak english to. But ill miss Hasegawa. we had a lot of good times.

So as for what happened this week, we didnt do much other than look for people and introduce me to various members and less actives we visit. Saturday, we had a Nabe party where we got to eat some pretty tasty food and yesterday, we visited the hittori family. they have two kids at home who are both returned missionaries so they were fun to talk to. it was a fun visit and we actually ate good food.

again, I'm pretty short on time so i may have to cut it here. Tsuyama is pretty cool and way cold. im excited to be here though. You'll here more from future emails i guess. hope im not forgetting anything too important...

hope youre all genki

love,

Elder Horton