Hey!
I love Tuscaloosa!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’ve only been here 6 days and I don’ t ever want to leave! Elder Hardy is awesome! He’s 22 years old and he’s from Tucson, Arizona. He came out with Elder Lofthouse and Elder Holley...so this will be my 3rd companion from the same MTC group. I thought that was pretty funny. He’s been out for a year and a half and I’ve been out for 5 months!!! Man time sure does fly. Elder Hardy is a really hard worker and I love it. We live about 4 blocks from the Alabama football stadium, and they have a cemetery right in front of it....haha But no joke I love it here. We just walk around and people come up to us and either cuss us out or talk to us about the church.
The first day here we had 4 referrals and people pulling over on the busy roads to ask if we need a ride somewhere or to tell us to come and teach them sometime. It’s awesome. They even have a young single adult group here that we can get to know and help fellowship our investigators. We've been teaching so much and we just got another area to cover, Demopolis, Alabama. It’s a tiny branch. We have 3 people to be baptized within the month and we can easily do that. We are so busy here I barely have time to think. I mean we even have lessons today on preparation day!! And we're going fishing right after this with a member of the ward. I love it haha.
The tornado damage here is crazy!!!!!!!!!!! Whole neighborhoods just gone and I’ve heard crazy stories. One of our investigators lost her 9 year old and 5 year old in the tornado. Her house was destroyed and her children ended up getting killed. Way sad but when you see the damage everywhere it’s hard to believe any one survived! And that was 6 months ago! So I can’t even imagine what it was like the day after.
Our apartment here is way better than my last one. Carpet, weights to work out with and a central air and heat. I love it. But I’m not too pumped because I think we are getting visa waiters this week so we will have 2 more people living with us and that means I don’t get my own bathroom any more haha.
How did Jackie get the recordings on the computer?? I thought that wasn’t possible haha. But awesome! Did you like my voice? I thought it sounded all nasally and gross but whatever. That hawk story was lame but I loved it haha. That’s crazy that everyone is getting ready to go on their missions! I’m so excited for them. I love it out here and getting to know all these different areas and people. I don’t know my ward at all yet though.
It was stake conference yesterday and I’m in the Bessemer stake. It was fun and we had some good speakers. We got a ride there from Bro. Mulder. He’s awesome and from Southern California!!!! So we talked about the beach and paradise for a while and we got pretty close. He’s the one taking us fishing today and also the one with crazy tornado stories. Go to Google and type in "Daniel Mulder hugging his wife"...It’s a picture of him with his wife next to their destroyed apartment. He also said he was on CNN and stuff. They were in their tub during the tornado and barely got out alive. Their whole apartment was splinters and he was telling us how he and his wife went outside after and injured people were all around them and he tried to save some but they just had holes in their bodies from where pieces of wood, brick and metal had just gone right through them. It was way sad but I’m glad he and his wife are ok!
Cal State Long Beach’s student section sounds way funny haha. I would have liked to see that!! And tell Dad to hook me up when I get back! I would love to go to school there! And yeah, I don’t know what classes I would need to take but I want to make prosthetics and orthotics and all that good stuff. Bro Mulder says his father-in-law is a podiatrist and does all that. But I don’t know. We'll figure something out. :)
Jackie showed you the picture of me?? Haha I love that Griffin sweatshirt and no it’s been warm here in Alabama! Way too warm for November 14th. Yesterday was perfect at 75 and today is a little rainy but still warm. I miss snuggling with that little puppy! Get a dog hah. Becca wrote you this week?? That’s awesome! She is such a good missionary! Makes me look like a wanna-be. She’s awesome. You definitely need to write her back. No I have not gotten a letter from Savannah or Chris Sanchez. But then again it probably went to my old apartment. I left my sunglasses in the old car :( I'll write Elder Miller today and tell him to send me all my junk.
I ate weight watcher’s food last night.. haha. Some member in the Northport ward made it for dinner and didn’t like it so they gave it to us hahahaha. It was cabbage, onion and turkey burger. Haha I just covered it in hot sauce like a good southern boy and ate it.
I wrote Grandma B and Grandpa O last week wishing them a happy birthday but I had no Idea how old they actually were. I was thinking how old are you nowadays? 81? 82? Haha. I didn’t know........and man still getting gophers! Shoot Grandpa’s got a magic pool or something that all the gophers want to try.
That mission board is so classy. I love It. Dad, you need to write me a letter, not an email about your conversion story. So I can keep it and not have to pay to print it off. And let me know about all the good family stories you’ve neglected to tell me all my life. That fireside sounds cool. I love some good art every once in a while. And that’s cool that Andy wants to start piano. How many students are you up to nowadays? And Dean finally proposed?? OMG that took a while haha. And she said yes? Dang I guess better late than never. So I think I told you everything. We got a bunch of investigators so I’m not going to name them all. But just pray for everyone in Tuscaloosa and Demopolis. I’m going to get them all haha. By the way the word "Bama" or "roll tide!" or an “A” are everywhere out here. Come on, I know where I am....you should too. Get over it haha. But no joke people here skipped the adult session of stake conference to watch the Alabama football game...they’re obsessed. I'll start taking pictures of stuff around here and send it to you tomorrow. Love you! Have fun in California and keep me up to date :)
Peace! Elder Oppenlander
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