Today is a P-day because of transfers but usually in my mission they are on Tuesdays. I can receive email from other people but I'm not supposed to, just so the temptation isn't there so I guess don't give my email address out, or tell them to minimize any emailing, or just to write me letters instead! Sadly that also applies to other missionaries so I guess I'll be writing lots of letters, since it's probably not encouraged for me to write letters to everyone through you. Well I love you and I already wrote Christa the following paragraphs but feel free to forward them to everyone. I'm really in the real world again, it's pretty crazy. I miss you and I miss everyone from the MTC already, but I guess that's what transfers and leaving (Gasp!) will feel like. It was a little hard to leave the MTC, I'm scared to think of how hard it'll be to leave the mission. The Assistants to the President were saying how they didn't want to leave, and one of them is engaged, so that's a little thought-provoking and slightly frightnening, just because while I certainly don't want to leave now, it wouldn't shatter me if I had spent 2 years here and they said it was time to go home, feeling the way I do now. Who knows, I probably can't even fathom the changes that will happen over the next 23ish months. Wow, it is a little scary to think 20 days are almost over and that almost makes a full month. Well love you bunches and don't know what else to write, I'll work my hardest to keep a bright outlook as I hit the deer-in-the-headlights phase, write me something by next Tuesday I guess. Well we're about to head off on wild adventures! Love you!
Just arrived in my first area in Birmingham, Kidderminster in Worcestshire if you wanna try and pinpoint me on some map. It's close to Birmingham I think but I have no clue so who knows really. Today is P-day so I haven't begun tracting at all here yet but I'm excited to start doing some teaching later this evening, I think. My companion is Elder Shrubb from somewhere here in England, I'll be honest his accent is a little hard to follow so I have to ask him to repeat a bit but it's all good. It's weird being alone with only someone I met 4 hours ago and knowing I won't have a new companion for at least 6 weeks, likely 12. Don't know too much about this area but apparently we're going to work on an allottment tomorrow for service sooooo yeah, that'll be fun.
I was kinda expecting our flat to be a bit dingy or bare but there's lots of food (now that I think about it there's not too much you can just pack up in 2 days for transfers) left over and tons of random things, like some weights :D My companion says he's not too excited for exercise each day but that makes a little more sense when you consider we have no shower, just a bath. That's just bizarre to this poor American Greenie, but it sounds hilariously weird and awesome. Or I'll just convince myself it is. We're now in a library somewhere in the city(I have no idea where anything anywhere is!) and after this we'll go shopping for groceries for me so I can survive till next P-day. Tomorrow I'm supposed to buy a bike so I guess Mom and Dad get a nice deduction on my debit card balance, hopefully there's plenty on it.
It's kinda a bummer since President and Sister Clegg let me email yesterday very quickly, because I don't have anything real exciting to write beyond I'm in the field, excited to start and I have no idea what I'm doing, well sorta. I know the gospel and I know a bit about life and so now I need to use that to teach and preach and baptize. I guess I can mention some of the investigators my trainer told me about. We have one sister who is ready to be baptized(she follows all commitments and commandments and comes to church) but hasn't committed yet, a lady who has accepted a commitment to be baptized but might not be all there, a man who had a terrible past life but wants to turn his life around but he has schizophrenia, and another sister who I think they were teaching here but is gone on holiday(vacation) so we'll have to wait on that.
Love very much from you missionary,
Elder Ryan Baxter
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