Global Warming

January 8, 2014 Sooo global warming may not be just warming, but I'm beginning to believe in it more and more each day. Everyone says California is way hotter than usual, and New York is way colder and snowier than usual, so I'm starting to see some patterns... but anyway. Luckily it's not too bad here. We had quite the snow storm last week, and New York acatually went into a statewide state of emergency where it was basically illegal to be outside-oops. It was mainly for the plows to catch up and save the roads. Which worked really well. The roads are really good, and today it's actually reaching the 30's which sounds a lot better than back home (-20 windchill??). So the storm was fun. And everyone we talked to actually thought it was a joke that NY made it a state emergency. It was bad for the past few years, but we haven't seen anything yet. Usually kids get baptized in our church at age 8 (we call it the age of accountability), and a couple kids in our congregation are 9 and haven't been baptized yet. So we talked to them and they're both getting baptized within a month! It should be fun. Cutest little guys ever. They're both living in lower income families. When we asked one of them what he got for Christmas, they said they didn't get anything. But his brother said- "I just wanted to spend time and be with my family on Christmas, and that's what I got." The other boy lives in really impoverished conditions- we feel like we're going to fall through his porch when we step on it haha but every time we go over there the family is together, as well as cousins. Even among people that have nothing, most everybody here has a family, which is a huge blessing. It's one of the common factors between us and the people we're teaching that they can latch onto and understand the gospel better through. When you learn about Jesus Christ and God's plan for us in terms of you and your family, there is so much more purpose and meaning. It's great. This week I gained a greater appreciation for my ability to just live and breathe and think like a normal person. We talked to a guy who told us his life story, and I was literally depressed afterwards, because he had a long history of psychosis and depression. I wanted to do something to help him, but felt as if anything I said wouldn't be good enough. I did however walk out of his door feeling really good. I had two feet to walk on, so many friends and family to lean on, and a perfect ability to think and breathe on my own. Sometimes that's all you need in this world. When all else fails, look to the basic things that you enjoy, and know that someone ALWAYS has it worse. We are so blessed as fairly new missionaries to have a totally booked schedule basically every day. We barely have time to relax, but I like it better that way! Happy New Year, and to answer a few questions-no we didn't even make it past 10:30 haha Love, Elder Jake Hirschi