Goodbye Albany

Ben's special day. Ben is the one without the "Mormon Smile" :)

Hey again!

Just as the title indicates, I am leaving Albany, but not the United States of America. I'm being transferred to the tippety top of the state near the Canadian border in a small town entitled, "Malone" like the character from The Legend of Zelda, only with an "e" at the end. Luckily the Lord knows that I don't have enough meat on my bones to survive the -50 degree blustery winter winds, so he is sending me there during the summer time. I know very little of Malone, I've heard from a couple of people that it's roaming with Amish people and lambs. Perhaps I will learn not to rely so much on TechMology.

My new companion's name is Elder HAWK. He came out just 3 months ago, so he may be the first companion I've served with that isn't of the legal drinking age. I love him already. I love hawks. Especially on t-shirts.

It has been pretty tough saying goodbye to the urban streets of Albany and the people here. I really have loved it here and I'm going to miss it. I've never been transferred before, so I now have a testimony that it is hard to leave such an awesome area. I know that the Lord has things prepared for me up in the north country, and I'm excited for the adventures with Elder Hawk. Wednesday will be a long day. It'll take us about 4 hours to travel up there from Utica. It will be a good chance for me to collect the scenery of beautiful upstate New York.

The Johnson family minus Za'Mainya. She was gone.

I spent the first portion of the week in Utica working with Elder Ferris. It was my third temple-trip exchange. He is a great Elder and we had some fun times contacting really weird people and some normal people in downtown Utica.

Remember how I told you that we found 2 new families to teach? Well one of them called us and told us that they wanted to stick to Catholicism, which was sad, but the other we picked up as investigators, which made us glad! The mother, Marika Hodge, is super funny. She got really into our lesson and said she wanted to be baptized! Cool way to end the transfer!

Another cool way the transfer ended was with Ben's baptism! It was absolutely wonderful to see his brother baptize him. Ben was already so prepared and just fell into our hands. All we had to do was have faith that the Lord would place someone in our paths that was searching for he truth, and that he did! After the baptism, a member wanted to take us out to do the Emack Attack Ice cream challenge again to celebrate. It was very random, but we were able to finish it in about 8 minutes this time, but with 2 more people. But that's not that important to share with you.

Ben Foote was confirmed on Sunday and interviewed to receive the Priesthood. After sacrament meeting, Elder Ledford and I spotted a new couple who sat in the back. We introduced ourselves and they said they were very interested in our religion. They are agnostic but accept our teachings. They became very interested in our religion from watching a series on PBS about mormons. We are going to call them tomorrow to set something up. Michael, the husband, requested a Book of Mormon in French to make it more fun to study. I told him that my brother just came home from his mission in Lyon. He cared.

Ahh, as I sit using this ginormous computer screen at the Empire State Plaza Library, I think of how much I'm going to miss having the "New York" feel. I'm going to be taking some quality shots with the camera after this. I know that it was inspired for me to come to this place for the purpose to save souls, not just because I like it here, but because I've been lucky enough to meet Ben Foote, the Yarleque family, the Johnson family, and several other people that have played such a huge impact on my life. I was meant for me to be here from the beginning, even if the world thinks I'm supposed to be in Curitiba watching the World Cup. I love New York so much. I know that God puts us in specific places for our growth and personal benefit. He knows our potentials and wants us aspire to them. He loves us perfectly.

I love YOU! And I wish you the happiest of weeks. So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye.

Elder Kunzler