Dear Family,
So...Happy Thanksgiving last Thursday. My Thanksgiving was definitely different than the usual. We had originally planned on joining our Branch and the English ward for the Turkey Bowl (I wasn't going to play) and try and get some of the less active members to join when the morning of we got a text that said that no one was allowed to.

The entire dinner thing was interesting. We went to one of our members houses for turkey and stuff. The only problem is that they still had the Spanish Flair to it. So We had rice.....It was funny because the lady came up and asked if I wanted any rice. I said sure and she gave me a pretty big helping of rice. She then got another spoon full and asked, "Would you like some more?" I said that I was fine and she smiled and said "OK" then put the huge pile of rice on top of the first......so I had a lot of rice. The problem with Spanish culture is they expect you to eat like 5 servings of everything. Thanksgiving is no exception. I had to eat really slow and even then I still ate so much that I wanted to die. But the food wasn't all. One of the daughters asked what kind of music I liked. I thought she was just trying to be nice and start conversation but when I turned around I saw she had her computer out and was going to type in the first band I said into Pandora. I had to stop myself because I almost said "Led Zeppelin"....I didn't think that would go over well so I said "I don't know....my companion likes music..." Then we played Bingo.....5 TIMES......Every time we played one of the females of the family would win so the uncles and father started saying that we needed to play till a man won.....I like bingo...but not that much. The last time we played Me and one of the Uncles won. He didn't really care about winning so he just said "You can win" At first I thought "Oh...how nice!" But then I realized why he did that. The Father started accusing us of cheating. (sound familiar?)  So for winning one of the daughters gave me and my companion a shirt that her company makes. Another funny thing: one of the aunts started randomly singing a song (and by random I mean...random...we had no warning....no one had a warning) After she sang for a while they started asking if we (the missionaries) had any talents. My companion immediately said "Sherman does! He plays Violin" Then someone said "You do Really? Perfect! We have a violin!" They then pulled a violin out of nowhere and had me play it. I played Csardes for them. I thought they would like it. They did. A couple of the aunts recorded me on their Ipads then uploaded it to YouTube.....so....ya.....

Funny enough that wasn't our only thanksgiving dinner. We had another on Saturday with a member and another on Sunday with a lady that my companion accidentally called pregnant (long story better left unsaid) I think she forgave us...at least him. I didn't do anything. The great thing about the dinner on Sunday was that they had invited over some non-members.... :) So we gave a little short lesson on prayer and it's importance. They non-member guy then shared his opinion then gave the classic "We all worship the same God. Does it really matter what church we belong to?" Then the Husband  said "It's like this. A ship is headed for a harbor but it's degree is off by just a little. That little degree makes a big difference and can make you miss your goal. Yes, we all sail our ships the same way, but we need to make sure we get on the right course." And that launched us into the restoration. It went well until after we testified of the book of Mormon...then the Member lady started trying to tell jokes. We were trying to be spiritual! She's telling jokes.  After that we abandoned ship and just went on eating out mini cheese cakes (they were good cheese cakes)

Other than that everything is normal. We heard gunshots the other night in Newburgh but we were leaving soon anyway (well...not so much we WERE leaving soon but we decided to....)

I've realized a lot out here about how eternal God's view is. I always knew that time was a result of cause and effect but with him, it's been since the foundation of the world. Something that Elder Christopherson said made me think. "He knows each one of us as if we were his only child." That means that he has prepared everything for us. Right down to the details of our life and the trials we have to face. He has perfect control.

So ya. I love you guys. Here are some pictures from stuff.
Love, Elder Jeremy Sherman

 

This one was taken when they were having the gasoline shortages after Hurricane Sandy

A surprise visit from friends in our ward.

Jeremy with Kyler Roney, a good friend from home who is going to culinary school in New York and lives in the same stake where Jeremy is assigned.

 

11/21/2012

A few comments from last week's letter:

Yes I did feel rebellious leaving mission boundaries. It was way fun. We helped this one Russian guy tear out the walls of his house because it flooded the entire downstairs. It was an amazing experience. The only downside is that it was a 3 hour bus ride down and an other 3 hours up. So ya....The service was hard but in the end all worth it.

(This was when they got permission to go with their stake down to help with hurricane Clean up efforts)

I'm not in a strong ward. I'm in a branch where me and my companion are the second councilor, elders quorum president, clerk, secretary, and Missionaries. I have been prepared to do that. I was prepared by the lord through you guys. Just like everyone. Every missionary has been prepared for his Type of mission. It's just up to us if we rise to the challenge and accept it or go back to old habits.

Other than that the week went pretty well. Since The new Call of Duty game came out all of our Video Game obsessed members are pretending to be sick so they can play it. (I'm not joking. One kid answered the door and said "My dad is sick" but we heard him in the background playing)