Elder Derrrick Castro
Saturday, December 25, 2010
December 21, 2010
Hey mom!
Merry Christmas! It's good to hear from you this week! I hope this week has been going well despite the rain. It's been raining on and off here and I heard it will snow for the first time for real on Christmas day! That will be really special if it does! First Christmas away from you all at home. I'll miss being together with you all but I know we will all share Christmas time together again real soon!
Good to see that Nicki made it home safely and she and dad were able to make it to the branch party. I miss the branch parties. They are always so much fun and there are always a lot of people there! I see from the pictures that it was another good time! Wow, that's good! Seems like everyone was gathered there to have a good time and celebrate Christmas. A special time indeed.
I'm sure even though dad's birthday won't be the usual party at night it will still be a good one. Doesn't matter if it's big. All that really matters is who you are with and as long as you are with your family that's all you truly need. I will miss eating the palabok again but it'll make it that much better when I come home to eat it again. So I hope that day will go well. Danica and Danielle e-mailed me and told me you are all busy buying your things for the party.
I am very excited to call home on Christmas day! I will be calling in the morning like dad requested so I think you will all have to wake up a little early because of the time difference. We will be heading upstate on that day for a Christmas program and dinner so I'm sorry if I have to call a little early on. Maybe I'll be able to call in the morning and afternoon after we get back from upstate too.
We have not yet received our Christmas packages yet but we know the office has them. We will be getting them on Saturday when we go to Scarsdale for the Christmas program and dinner. I can't wait to see what you sent me and I hope you will enjoy what I sent you all in the package home. Something fun in there for everyone!
Christmas here is awesome. There is lights everywhere and every store plays Christmas music and there are people selling Christmas trees all over the place. There are other things like Christmas craft festivals and cool stuff like that. I think you would enjoy some of those things because you have a good collection of Christmas stuff and there are some unique things here that I think you would enjoy and like to have in that collection. I'm doing my best to stay away from getting sick. Everyone has been a little sick here and it's been kind of going around so we're all just trying to get as much rest as we can and just get through it. The weather is nothing we can't handle here. Are you planning to put more money into my account? I was thinking of using some money and doing Christmas shopping. I kinda used the other $100 you gave me to buy gifts for you all and ship the box as well. Just wondering. Thank you for helping me out with that. I know you wanted me to use the $100 for myself but I decided to get you all gifts. I think it was more important that you all received something from me so you can all remember me this Christmas. Think it's the first time I got everyone gifts so I hope you all enjoy! I know you are being careful with your spending and that's good but I know the Lord will continue to bless our family. I feel blessed to have such a great family and great support back home. I can't wait to call home and really am looking forward to hearing all your voices this Saturday! I hope you continue to feel better from being sick and hope all is fun and safe during these next couple of days! I love you and I miss you mom! I'm thankful for all that you've helped me with thus far on my mission. I will continue to work hard for this next year and when this time comes around again next year I will be that much closer to being home with you all again. Talk to you on Saturday! Can't wait!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
Merry Christmas! It's good to hear from you this week! I hope this week has been going well despite the rain. It's been raining on and off here and I heard it will snow for the first time for real on Christmas day! That will be really special if it does! First Christmas away from you all at home. I'll miss being together with you all but I know we will all share Christmas time together again real soon!
Good to see that Nicki made it home safely and she and dad were able to make it to the branch party. I miss the branch parties. They are always so much fun and there are always a lot of people there! I see from the pictures that it was another good time! Wow, that's good! Seems like everyone was gathered there to have a good time and celebrate Christmas. A special time indeed.
I'm sure even though dad's birthday won't be the usual party at night it will still be a good one. Doesn't matter if it's big. All that really matters is who you are with and as long as you are with your family that's all you truly need. I will miss eating the palabok again but it'll make it that much better when I come home to eat it again. So I hope that day will go well. Danica and Danielle e-mailed me and told me you are all busy buying your things for the party.
I am very excited to call home on Christmas day! I will be calling in the morning like dad requested so I think you will all have to wake up a little early because of the time difference. We will be heading upstate on that day for a Christmas program and dinner so I'm sorry if I have to call a little early on. Maybe I'll be able to call in the morning and afternoon after we get back from upstate too.
We have not yet received our Christmas packages yet but we know the office has them. We will be getting them on Saturday when we go to Scarsdale for the Christmas program and dinner. I can't wait to see what you sent me and I hope you will enjoy what I sent you all in the package home. Something fun in there for everyone!
Christmas here is awesome. There is lights everywhere and every store plays Christmas music and there are people selling Christmas trees all over the place. There are other things like Christmas craft festivals and cool stuff like that. I think you would enjoy some of those things because you have a good collection of Christmas stuff and there are some unique things here that I think you would enjoy and like to have in that collection. I'm doing my best to stay away from getting sick. Everyone has been a little sick here and it's been kind of going around so we're all just trying to get as much rest as we can and just get through it. The weather is nothing we can't handle here. Are you planning to put more money into my account? I was thinking of using some money and doing Christmas shopping. I kinda used the other $100 you gave me to buy gifts for you all and ship the box as well. Just wondering. Thank you for helping me out with that. I know you wanted me to use the $100 for myself but I decided to get you all gifts. I think it was more important that you all received something from me so you can all remember me this Christmas. Think it's the first time I got everyone gifts so I hope you all enjoy! I know you are being careful with your spending and that's good but I know the Lord will continue to bless our family. I feel blessed to have such a great family and great support back home. I can't wait to call home and really am looking forward to hearing all your voices this Saturday! I hope you continue to feel better from being sick and hope all is fun and safe during these next couple of days! I love you and I miss you mom! I'm thankful for all that you've helped me with thus far on my mission. I will continue to work hard for this next year and when this time comes around again next year I will be that much closer to being home with you all again. Talk to you on Saturday! Can't wait!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
December 15, 2010
Hey mom!
Great to hear from you. I'm doing great today how about you? Still feeling sick? Hopefully you'll get better soon. Christmas is coming and I'm sure you don't want to feel ill during those days. It recently started to snow but I'm keeping warm the best I can. It's colder than I'm used to but I'm fighting it. Good to see you're back in good weather after going to Chicago and experiencing a blizzard there and lots of snow. I saw the pictures! We haven't experienced snow like that yet but I'm sure in time the heavy snow fall will come. Just have to be ready for it.
Thanks again for sending the package mom and for putting money into my account. I haven't gotten the package yet but soon I will. They were saving the Christmas packages for closer to Christmas time so we would have something to open on Christmas. So this week I should receive it. Thanks again for sending all those things for me. I will be sending a box of my own home to you guys. It will have some gifts for you all. Hope you enjoy that. Make sure not to open it until Christmas though since it's for Christmas time.
Things are going well here. Nothing special or big has gone on in awhile. Still trying to find more investigators we can teach. We have a few people who are interested and we will soon teach Joseph's girlfriend who is moving back to New York! So hopefully that will go well with them two. Let's see what else.. The branch Christmas party happened recently and it was fun. I will be sending pictures from that. Also, this weekend, Saturday we will be doing an MMTC for the members. Try to help them become better missionaries. But that's all the stuff that has been going on here recently. Nothing too new.
Well, we have to head off to an appointment now so I will e-mail you again next week! I look forward to Christmas day when I can call you all at home and hear your voices again. I miss you all! But I will talk to you soon. I love you and I miss you mom! Thank you for everything again.
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
Hey dad!
Great to hear from you again this week! It's beginning to snow here! Just two days ago it snowed in the night and now it just keeps getting colder and colder with each passing day. My jacket is keeping me warm though. It's really thick and has a few layers so it works well to keep me warm when I'm out there. Also, the building we live in is kept pretty warm so we don't have to worry about freezing to death while indoors. It's actually really good. We spend most of the time on trains and buses and they are always heated so that's a plus for us.
Anyways, can't believe Christmas is almost here and you're right, one more and I'll be home! Hope all is going well back home. How's the weather there? Much better than here I bet. Just getting ready for the end of the year and all. Can't believe it's already close to a year that I've been out. Just gets closer everyday.
So are you done with your school now? It's break time right? How is that going? How were your finals? I know it probably went really good. At least now you can focus on just enjoying the holidays. I know you worked real hard in your classes.
As for me, nothing much new here. We recently had a Christmas party in the branch and I will send pictures of that to you home in the box I am sending tomorrow. Each of you all at home have two gifts in the box. Hope you all enjoy them! This Saturday we are holding a MMTC for the members in the branch. Just helping them become better missionaries. We are pretty busy with activities in December.
Ah, the Chargers. Good that they won against the Chiefs. Hopefully they will pull off another great finish like the year before when they had to win all their games and the Broncos lose but it's more of a only need wins and one loss at least. I'm sure they can pull it off now. Are they all healthy again? Oh and that Lakers/Heat game will be really good. Will see a potential NBA Finals match.
Your birthday is coming up soon! Any plans for that? Or just something small in the house again? It's always been a tradition to have people over so I'm wondering if you will do it again. I can't wait to call home soon. It will be great to hear all your voices again.
Dad, I really loved that you said the best gift you have received it me. I'm really proud to be your son and I'm thankful for everything mom and you have dont to get me ready for this time. I miss you and I love you and I'll talk to you again next week. Be sure to tell me when the package arrives home. Don't open it until Christmas though! Okay, talk to you again next week dad!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
Great to hear from you. I'm doing great today how about you? Still feeling sick? Hopefully you'll get better soon. Christmas is coming and I'm sure you don't want to feel ill during those days. It recently started to snow but I'm keeping warm the best I can. It's colder than I'm used to but I'm fighting it. Good to see you're back in good weather after going to Chicago and experiencing a blizzard there and lots of snow. I saw the pictures! We haven't experienced snow like that yet but I'm sure in time the heavy snow fall will come. Just have to be ready for it.
Thanks again for sending the package mom and for putting money into my account. I haven't gotten the package yet but soon I will. They were saving the Christmas packages for closer to Christmas time so we would have something to open on Christmas. So this week I should receive it. Thanks again for sending all those things for me. I will be sending a box of my own home to you guys. It will have some gifts for you all. Hope you enjoy that. Make sure not to open it until Christmas though since it's for Christmas time.
Things are going well here. Nothing special or big has gone on in awhile. Still trying to find more investigators we can teach. We have a few people who are interested and we will soon teach Joseph's girlfriend who is moving back to New York! So hopefully that will go well with them two. Let's see what else.. The branch Christmas party happened recently and it was fun. I will be sending pictures from that. Also, this weekend, Saturday we will be doing an MMTC for the members. Try to help them become better missionaries. But that's all the stuff that has been going on here recently. Nothing too new.
Well, we have to head off to an appointment now so I will e-mail you again next week! I look forward to Christmas day when I can call you all at home and hear your voices again. I miss you all! But I will talk to you soon. I love you and I miss you mom! Thank you for everything again.
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
Hey dad!
Great to hear from you again this week! It's beginning to snow here! Just two days ago it snowed in the night and now it just keeps getting colder and colder with each passing day. My jacket is keeping me warm though. It's really thick and has a few layers so it works well to keep me warm when I'm out there. Also, the building we live in is kept pretty warm so we don't have to worry about freezing to death while indoors. It's actually really good. We spend most of the time on trains and buses and they are always heated so that's a plus for us.
Anyways, can't believe Christmas is almost here and you're right, one more and I'll be home! Hope all is going well back home. How's the weather there? Much better than here I bet. Just getting ready for the end of the year and all. Can't believe it's already close to a year that I've been out. Just gets closer everyday.
So are you done with your school now? It's break time right? How is that going? How were your finals? I know it probably went really good. At least now you can focus on just enjoying the holidays. I know you worked real hard in your classes.
As for me, nothing much new here. We recently had a Christmas party in the branch and I will send pictures of that to you home in the box I am sending tomorrow. Each of you all at home have two gifts in the box. Hope you all enjoy them! This Saturday we are holding a MMTC for the members in the branch. Just helping them become better missionaries. We are pretty busy with activities in December.
Ah, the Chargers. Good that they won against the Chiefs. Hopefully they will pull off another great finish like the year before when they had to win all their games and the Broncos lose but it's more of a only need wins and one loss at least. I'm sure they can pull it off now. Are they all healthy again? Oh and that Lakers/Heat game will be really good. Will see a potential NBA Finals match.
Your birthday is coming up soon! Any plans for that? Or just something small in the house again? It's always been a tradition to have people over so I'm wondering if you will do it again. I can't wait to call home soon. It will be great to hear all your voices again.
Dad, I really loved that you said the best gift you have received it me. I'm really proud to be your son and I'm thankful for everything mom and you have dont to get me ready for this time. I miss you and I love you and I'll talk to you again next week. Be sure to tell me when the package arrives home. Don't open it until Christmas though! Okay, talk to you again next week dad!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
December 8, 2010
Hey mom!
Sorry to hear that you are still not feeling well. :( I hope that getting some rest will do the trick and you will become better soon! It stinks to be sick specially around the holidays when so many things are going on so I hope you will get better soon! Just continue to get some rest and you'll slowly begin to get better again. It's okay if your e-mail is short. I understand you aren't feeling well also you need to work so it's okay mom. :) Just want you to feel better.
Thanks for sending the package off. I have not yet received it but hopefully soon. But I will for sure have it by Christmas time. I'll tell Elder Melkonian about it too so he will know he has something coming from you guys. I told him you would send something a little in my package for him and he wants to thank you for that.
I'm glad that despite you being sick dad and you were able to go out and be together. That stinks that Red Lobster wasn't too good but I'm sure you're loving the new iPad! Wow, I'm jealous but you are probably right. By the time I get back home it will probably have a camera like all the other "i" devices. That's cool though. I've seen the iPad being used by people on the train. It looks really nice and smooth. It looks like a neat device to use.
Things here have been going well lately. Joseph was confirmed by Elder Melkonian last Sunday so that was good and for this weekend is our Branch Christmas party. We hope to have a good attendance with lots of non-members so we can meet them and maybe get to teach them. Christmas time is a great time to teach people about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hopefully we'll find those ready to receive the gospel.
Make sure to wish Danielle a Happy Birthday for me! I hope she enjoys her day and hope you will all have fun celebrating with her today! Thanks again mom for writing me this week. I'm sorry you're still feeling sick. :( Get better soon and I will talk to you again next week! I miss you and I love you mom!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
Sorry to hear that you are still not feeling well. :( I hope that getting some rest will do the trick and you will become better soon! It stinks to be sick specially around the holidays when so many things are going on so I hope you will get better soon! Just continue to get some rest and you'll slowly begin to get better again. It's okay if your e-mail is short. I understand you aren't feeling well also you need to work so it's okay mom. :) Just want you to feel better.
Thanks for sending the package off. I have not yet received it but hopefully soon. But I will for sure have it by Christmas time. I'll tell Elder Melkonian about it too so he will know he has something coming from you guys. I told him you would send something a little in my package for him and he wants to thank you for that.
I'm glad that despite you being sick dad and you were able to go out and be together. That stinks that Red Lobster wasn't too good but I'm sure you're loving the new iPad! Wow, I'm jealous but you are probably right. By the time I get back home it will probably have a camera like all the other "i" devices. That's cool though. I've seen the iPad being used by people on the train. It looks really nice and smooth. It looks like a neat device to use.
Things here have been going well lately. Joseph was confirmed by Elder Melkonian last Sunday so that was good and for this weekend is our Branch Christmas party. We hope to have a good attendance with lots of non-members so we can meet them and maybe get to teach them. Christmas time is a great time to teach people about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hopefully we'll find those ready to receive the gospel.
Make sure to wish Danielle a Happy Birthday for me! I hope she enjoys her day and hope you will all have fun celebrating with her today! Thanks again mom for writing me this week. I'm sorry you're still feeling sick. :( Get better soon and I will talk to you again next week! I miss you and I love you mom!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
December 1, 2010
Hey mom!
Good to hear from you again this week! That stinks that you got sick! I hope you get better soon! I am just getting better from being sick the past like 2 weeks I think. Well anyways, I'm feeling much better now and am getting better sleep. Before I couldn't sleep because my temperature kept on changing and it made me restless. The East Coast winter is harsh but I'm handling it to the best I can. Looks like Thanksgiving was fun at home! The food looked great and it looks like everyone was there! That was great! I did miss having your palabok at Thanksgiving time but we had a great time here as well. We went to our Branch President's house in the morning and we played football which was really fun! Then we just stayed at their home till dinner was ready later on that night. There was a bunch of food and lots of different pies! My favorite also, apple pie! It was a really good dinner and we even got to take some home with us after the night was over. Before we ate we expressed what we were thankful for, I was in tears when I mentioned my family because I'm thankful for all that you've done for me in the years past and how you got me ready for this time. I'm really thankful for all that you've done for me in terms of that. :) I started to cry reading this e-mail when you told me about dad blessing the food. Man, I really do miss you all at home. But I'm grateful for all the love and support you send me.
So our investigator was finally baptized on Sunday! He will be confirmed on this coming Sunday! It was a great baptismal service and it was great to see Brother Joseph bear his testimony in the end. Hope he continues strong and faithful in the years to come. There's a lot in store for him in the upcoming weeks. It was a great feeling to have helped someone onto the path back to Heavenly Father again. Hopefully this is the first of many! :)
Your birthday is soon! Ahh, I'm sad that I will miss it. :( Hopefully you will do something fun with the family and also have a chance to go out with dad like you always do! I will send you a birthday card asap. It may arrive late but I will send one! Got to buy one for you and Danielle tomorrow when I have time. One year older and one more year wiser! I love you mom!
That's so great that you were able to make it out to Disneyland! I saw the pictures and it looks like you all really had a good time! That's soo good you enjoyed everything but sucks that it was probably the cause of you getting sick! If it's cold there then it's like 2 times colder here I bet. It's soo chilly and sometimes there will be strong winds that nearly knock you off your feet! It's crazy here in the East Coast. Very different from home. That's why I love our home in San Diego. Always having nice weather and all.
As for the missionary work, things are going great! We're hoping to get 2 new investigators this week! We will be meeting with them and hope they will want to know more! We have a goal of 2 baptisms this month so we hope to make that happen! Like you said, hopefully we can find those people who are hungry for the gospel. We can provide! Haha.
And again, thanks for sending me a package! I want to send you all stuff from here so be ready for that. I'll be getting something ready to send home that I hope will be fun for you all. Nothing too fancy just so simple things that will make you think of New York.
But anyways, thanks for writing me again this week! I miss you and I love you lots mom! Hope you get better soon and get to decorating the house! Got to run off to an appointment but I look forward to hearing from you again next week! Talk to you soon!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
Good to hear from you again this week! That stinks that you got sick! I hope you get better soon! I am just getting better from being sick the past like 2 weeks I think. Well anyways, I'm feeling much better now and am getting better sleep. Before I couldn't sleep because my temperature kept on changing and it made me restless. The East Coast winter is harsh but I'm handling it to the best I can. Looks like Thanksgiving was fun at home! The food looked great and it looks like everyone was there! That was great! I did miss having your palabok at Thanksgiving time but we had a great time here as well. We went to our Branch President's house in the morning and we played football which was really fun! Then we just stayed at their home till dinner was ready later on that night. There was a bunch of food and lots of different pies! My favorite also, apple pie! It was a really good dinner and we even got to take some home with us after the night was over. Before we ate we expressed what we were thankful for, I was in tears when I mentioned my family because I'm thankful for all that you've done for me in the years past and how you got me ready for this time. I'm really thankful for all that you've done for me in terms of that. :) I started to cry reading this e-mail when you told me about dad blessing the food. Man, I really do miss you all at home. But I'm grateful for all the love and support you send me.
So our investigator was finally baptized on Sunday! He will be confirmed on this coming Sunday! It was a great baptismal service and it was great to see Brother Joseph bear his testimony in the end. Hope he continues strong and faithful in the years to come. There's a lot in store for him in the upcoming weeks. It was a great feeling to have helped someone onto the path back to Heavenly Father again. Hopefully this is the first of many! :)
Your birthday is soon! Ahh, I'm sad that I will miss it. :( Hopefully you will do something fun with the family and also have a chance to go out with dad like you always do! I will send you a birthday card asap. It may arrive late but I will send one! Got to buy one for you and Danielle tomorrow when I have time. One year older and one more year wiser! I love you mom!
That's so great that you were able to make it out to Disneyland! I saw the pictures and it looks like you all really had a good time! That's soo good you enjoyed everything but sucks that it was probably the cause of you getting sick! If it's cold there then it's like 2 times colder here I bet. It's soo chilly and sometimes there will be strong winds that nearly knock you off your feet! It's crazy here in the East Coast. Very different from home. That's why I love our home in San Diego. Always having nice weather and all.
As for the missionary work, things are going great! We're hoping to get 2 new investigators this week! We will be meeting with them and hope they will want to know more! We have a goal of 2 baptisms this month so we hope to make that happen! Like you said, hopefully we can find those people who are hungry for the gospel. We can provide! Haha.
And again, thanks for sending me a package! I want to send you all stuff from here so be ready for that. I'll be getting something ready to send home that I hope will be fun for you all. Nothing too fancy just so simple things that will make you think of New York.
But anyways, thanks for writing me again this week! I miss you and I love you lots mom! Hope you get better soon and get to decorating the house! Got to run off to an appointment but I look forward to hearing from you again next week! Talk to you soon!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
November 24, 2010
Hey mom!
Great to hear from you this week! I hope things are well with everyone
there at home and I hope you are all excited for Thanksgiving! I'm sad
that I won't be there but hey, one more Thanksgiving and then I'll be
home again! :)
It's good news that Nicki is home! Hope she is enjoying being home
with you all for a little bit of time. Sucks about her traveling home
and hopefully it won't be too crowded on the way back to school. But
it's good that she got there safe and sound.
Looks like you have some good plans for this week! Disneyland? I'm
jealous! I miss going there and I'm sad I'm missing the tradition of
going around the holiday times. And I will for sure miss the food! We
will be gong to the Branch President's home tomorrow for Thanksgiving.
It should be very fun. We will be there most of the day playing
football and eating afterwards! :) I'm really looking forward to being
with all the other Elders and having a good time tomorrow. They are my
family away from home, haha.
Things have been great this past week. It's been fun! On Saturday we
went to this place called "The Bronx Grill." It is the first buffet
I've seen here in New York! It was really good and it was a pretty
good price. It was a good time with the members in the Branch. It was
different being out to eat with a whole bunch of deaf people. I had to
interpret for everyone their orders, haha. Other things going on this
week is that on Sunday I will be speaking in Sacrament meeting and
also will be Joseph's baptism day!! I've gotten the program all set
and ready! It was a good experience putting it together and hopefully
I'll be preparing more baptism program soon!! It's just the start but
I hope we can help other individuals come closer to Christ. :)
I am keeping warm here! It's been really cold and windy as of late but
it's been good. Just a different Winter experience. Thanks for
gathering together things for a package for me! I'm excited to receive
it! I can't wait to see what fun things you will send to me. :) Maybe
some things you can add to that are maybe.. Some of those really good
cookies the Danish cookies thatcome in tins and stuff. I think they
are shortbread cookies. I don't know. If you can't find them I can
purchase them here. Oh yes, and my companion's name is ELDER
MELKONIAN. That's nice of you to send him something as well. I'm sure
he will enjoy what you send to him. :) Thanks for all of that mom. I'm
really thankful for your support and help. Also! Of course I will be
calling you all at home on Christmas! I'm just counting the days till
I get to call you at home. I'm really excited for that!! I'm also
excited that you and dad will be sealing in the branch once again for
Christmas! That will be fun. You should send me a copy of your talk so
I may read it too. :)
So Thanksgiving is tomorrow, I just want to say what I am thankful
for. I'm thankful for dad and you. I'm thankful to be raised in a good
home with good parents who raised me in the true gospel of Christ. I'm
thankful for my sisters and the relationship we have. I'm thankful for
all you and dad do for us to help us and support us and give us the
things we want. I'm thankful for you teaching me the gospel so I will
be prepapred for my mission. I look back on everythig and see that I'm
very lucky to have been raised in such a great family. I love you all
at home and miss you! Happy Thanksgivng!
Thanks mom for writing me this week. I hope you enjoy tomorrow and the
rest of the week! I miss you and I love you!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
Great to hear from you this week! I hope things are well with everyone
there at home and I hope you are all excited for Thanksgiving! I'm sad
that I won't be there but hey, one more Thanksgiving and then I'll be
home again! :)
It's good news that Nicki is home! Hope she is enjoying being home
with you all for a little bit of time. Sucks about her traveling home
and hopefully it won't be too crowded on the way back to school. But
it's good that she got there safe and sound.
Looks like you have some good plans for this week! Disneyland? I'm
jealous! I miss going there and I'm sad I'm missing the tradition of
going around the holiday times. And I will for sure miss the food! We
will be gong to the Branch President's home tomorrow for Thanksgiving.
It should be very fun. We will be there most of the day playing
football and eating afterwards! :) I'm really looking forward to being
with all the other Elders and having a good time tomorrow. They are my
family away from home, haha.
Things have been great this past week. It's been fun! On Saturday we
went to this place called "The Bronx Grill." It is the first buffet
I've seen here in New York! It was really good and it was a pretty
good price. It was a good time with the members in the Branch. It was
different being out to eat with a whole bunch of deaf people. I had to
interpret for everyone their orders, haha. Other things going on this
week is that on Sunday I will be speaking in Sacrament meeting and
also will be Joseph's baptism day!! I've gotten the program all set
and ready! It was a good experience putting it together and hopefully
I'll be preparing more baptism program soon!! It's just the start but
I hope we can help other individuals come closer to Christ. :)
I am keeping warm here! It's been really cold and windy as of late but
it's been good. Just a different Winter experience. Thanks for
gathering together things for a package for me! I'm excited to receive
it! I can't wait to see what fun things you will send to me. :) Maybe
some things you can add to that are maybe.. Some of those really good
cookies the Danish cookies thatcome in tins and stuff. I think they
are shortbread cookies. I don't know. If you can't find them I can
purchase them here. Oh yes, and my companion's name is ELDER
MELKONIAN. That's nice of you to send him something as well. I'm sure
he will enjoy what you send to him. :) Thanks for all of that mom. I'm
really thankful for your support and help. Also! Of course I will be
calling you all at home on Christmas! I'm just counting the days till
I get to call you at home. I'm really excited for that!! I'm also
excited that you and dad will be sealing in the branch once again for
Christmas! That will be fun. You should send me a copy of your talk so
I may read it too. :)
So Thanksgiving is tomorrow, I just want to say what I am thankful
for. I'm thankful for dad and you. I'm thankful to be raised in a good
home with good parents who raised me in the true gospel of Christ. I'm
thankful for my sisters and the relationship we have. I'm thankful for
all you and dad do for us to help us and support us and give us the
things we want. I'm thankful for you teaching me the gospel so I will
be prepapred for my mission. I look back on everythig and see that I'm
very lucky to have been raised in such a great family. I love you all
at home and miss you! Happy Thanksgivng!
Thanks mom for writing me this week. I hope you enjoy tomorrow and the
rest of the week! I miss you and I love you!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
November 17, 2010
Hey mom!
Great to hear from you this week! First off I would like to thank you for transferring the money into my account for the shoes. I will get those when I have an opportunity to but thank you for helping me out. I know I have to be patient with money. I always want you to be okay there first before me here. I can make it. Learning how to budget has really helped me because you know how I loved to spend when I was back home. Having to budget has really make me think twice about things I want to spend money on or if I should buy fast food at times. The money really does add up! But thanks mom. I love you and I'm thankful for you and dad helping me. :)
Well, Glad to see that San Diego is good as always. Things here are windy and rainy and are really becoming of Winter. Maybe soon it will begin to snow. Today was really really windy. It felt like if you walked you would be knocked off your feet and lose your balance! Hope you were able to get a good rest because you were off today. I know your work schedule is weird so your sleeping times are weird too but I hope you're able to get a good amounts of sleep.
Ahh, Thanksgiving! Good that all the girls have breaks and can be together with you at home. Specially Nicki coming back home for the holiday and spiending time with you at home and helping you decorate the house and all that. That will be really special to do that once again with her. Also to light up the Christmas lights after Thanksgiving will be great. So you plan to go to Disneyland this week? That's good! Should be fun for everyone that goes! We are really lucky to have a fun place like that to go to not so far from home. Looks like you got some good plans for this upcoming week. That's good. :)
Just inform me when you send the package so I can look out for it! Will be fun to see what you will send me! I can't wait to get it but I am patient. :)
Our investigator has been doing really well lately. We continue to teach him and he continues to come to church which is really good. He really enjoys coming and he shows a real determination to learn the gospel just by making the long journey from New Jersey to come to church. That is true committment right there. He will be interviewed this week for his baptism and we will announce it this coming Sunday if all goes well. Then he will be baptized the following Sunday. It's a real exciting time for us and him. Will sure keep you up to date about his progress and will send pictures of his baptism.
Other than that I think that's all. Things have been well here and nothing much has changed in the last week. As for Thanksgiving for me we will be spending it at our Branch President's home, President Blanchard. They invited all the ASL missionaries over to their place for a nice dinner and a little bit of football before the dinner. It will be a fun time.
Thanks for e-mailing me this week again mom. I love always seeing the pictures you send me. Make sure to take lots of pictures in the upcoming week with all that you do with the family and with the girls. It will be fun to see all the fun you are having. Look forward to hearing from you next week! It will be the day before Thanksgiving by then so hope there will be lots to talk about. I miss you and I love you mom! Thanks for everyhing!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
Danielle!!!!
How are you my little sister? I forgive you for not e-mailing me for a long time! :P Good to see that you are doing alright. I miss you a lot you know that? That's good to hear that Nicki is coming home to spend Thanksgiving with you all! It should be lots of fun! Mom told me you are all decorating the house? Is that fun for you? I still have the pictures I took last year of decorating the house and also the Christmas tree! Remeber that? It was fun! :) I can't believe your birthday is coming up soon! You are getting old now! Ahhh. And after your birthday is will only be one more before I come home and can see you again! :) Continue to do good at school and be safe but have fun too! Also I will be baptizing someone in the next two weeks! Exciting right? I will send pictures so you can see how it all went. Hope to hear from you again soon little sister! Be good!
Love always,
Your big brother Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
November 10, 2010
Hey mom!
Wow! Big update this week. Lots to read but I enjoyed reading it all! It's cool to see that you all have been busy and having fun recently. Makes me miss the fun but that's not to say that I'm not having fun out here because I'm loving things out here. Times may be tough at times but we get it together and still enjoy it all. The work is great and the city is amazing. I couldn't think of any better place to be serving the Lord.
This past week has been pretty eventful for me as well! Lots has gone on. Elder Melkonian and myself were able to achieve a new high in lessons taught the past week with 16!! That's a rare high for us in the ASL program. Just really never a lot of people to teach but we were able to work hard and achieve and goal we had set for the week. It feels good to know that we can set up goals and if we put our heart to it we can succeed! Also, along with the lessons we taught we also were able to extend and baptism invitation to our investigator Joseph Sabatel!! HE WILL BE BAPTIZED ON NOVEMBER 28th and confimed the following Sunday!! BIG NEWS!! FIRST BAPTISM!! I really had felt the strong spirit through this whole teaching process with Joseph. He's excited about the gospel and he loves church. He's made numbers of friends now and I know he's ready to be baptized. It was just a perfect cap to an amazing week. We're working hard this week to beat the success of the past week. I taught a cool lesson to an active member family Monday night. We went there and they even surprised us with dinner! Wow, it was great and a big surprise! Good thing we went there hungry! Haha! But afterwards we began the lesson. I used an object lesson. I had a chocolate bar and I had one of the kids hide it while the other one would then later try to find it. The chocolate represented the gospel and the person trying to find it was a person trying to discover the truth. Once the kid found he we had her taste it and tell us how it tasted. She said "sweet" and "good!" We then asked her to share it with everyone else and everyone also had a similar response to the chocolate. I explained that it is important that we share the gospel with our friends. It's just instinct when you experience something good you want to share it with others, you want to tell them about the "sweet" message the gospel holds. It was a great lesson and the Feliz family really enjoyed it. They are a great family with a strong spirit felt within their home.
I love that picture with dad and Danica! They're cute, haha. Danica looks good with the braces. They probably hurt for the first while. I know mine did, but they will do her good. Now all your kids will have nice straight, taken care of teeth, haha. The weather here has been really cold lately. I think it's finally starting to transition into the colder times here in New York. Will be an interesting experience to have a white Christmas hopefully. It will be cool! I really do love the holidays and am sad that I won't be there with you all to celebrate but I keep you all in my mind and will surely do so during the holiday times. I miss decorating the house as well and am glad to see that you will keep up strong traditions of decorating for the holidays. Always my favorite time of year.
Good to see that Grandma's birthday went well! I know you worked hard to be a good host to everyone that came and visited your mom on her birthday. I hope it was just another good time as always. I see from the pictures everyone looked happy so I'm assuming it went great! Did you have your famous palabok there as well? I miss eating Filipino food believe or not! :D But I really miss your palabok the most!!
Thanks again mom for e-mailing me this week. This big update was really great and it's good to see that things are still good there at home. I miss home but I love being here. The work is great and it's really starting to pick up as of late. It's really good and I'm enjoying it. I miss you and I love you mom! Thank you for all your support and for sending all the pictures to me to make me feel like I'm at home. I know you and dad are really caring for me. I love you both.
Just to inform you I did take $40 from my account this week for things that I need at home. I also have a request that I also asked dad about too. My shoes are wearing out and I don't want to use my other pair just yet. With the weather changing I will need something more sturdy to withstand the harsh weather. I was looking at these boots/shoes the other day that look like they can do the job. They cost around $100 so I'm asking if I can have that money to purchase those. They would really be good specially since the shoes I wear now aren't rain resistant and my socks get drenched in the rain. These boots/shoes would really help. They are a nice brand "Timberland" and are comfortable. Don't know when or if you can help me out but just tell me if you'll be able to. You know how I am about spending money. I always feel bad when I ask for money. But I think these could really help me out here.
Thanks again mom! I miss you and I love you lots!!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
November 3, 2010
Heyy mom!
Thanks for getting back to me this week. Seems like you and the cousins and Grandpa had lots of fun visiting Nicki in Idaho. Thanks for sending me the pictures too. It made me feel like I was there with you all. It's always good to take pictures so you can always capture good memories. I'm working hard on taking lots of pictures for you all here in New York. Hopefully by December time I will send home a card full of pictures so you can all see some of the fun that's been going on here.
This past week has been really great. We hit a new high with our lessons and we just continue to work harder and harder. Last Thursday at our Halloween Carnival we talked to two people who showed up with one of the members and we could potentially have two new investigators! Along with that, on Sunday our current investigator Joseph Sabatel showed up to church! We were all surprised because he always told us he had a problem getting around walking but he braved up and decided to make the long trip from New Jersey just to come to the deaf branch. He truly showed very strong commitment and with that he had a great time at church. He was very excited when we gave him the ASL Book of Mormon and hopefully we'll be able to chat with him more about that soon! It's been going really well. We have a baptisimal goal of 3 for the month and hopefully we'll be able to hit that mark.
I'm glad things have been going well at home for you. How has work been? Hopefully not too hard. And also it seems like Cheyenne's baptism turned out really well too! Looks like lots of people showed up which is always good for people who are baptized. It shows the support and love from the members which is really important.
How was Danica's trip to the dentist? She will now have nice straight teeth. I went to the dentist like a couple of weeks ago and the dentist told me I have very nice and healthy teeth. Haha, I laughed and said that I learned how to keep my teeth clean from my mom. :)
Anyways, that's all for now mom, still got one more e-mail to write to President Smith for the weekly report but I look forward to hearing from you again next week. Again, thank you for sending me an e-mail and also for the pictures. I miss you and I love you a lot mom. Keep things up at home and tell everyone that I miss them and I love them. Till then!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
October 27, 2010
Hello mom!
Thank for writing me a short message telling me what you'll be up to this week. Hope you enjoy your vacation visiting Nicki. Tell her that I miss her and that I love her. Hopefully all is well with her and her studies. Hope your week has been going well too. The week here has been good thus far. A good start with 5 lessons in the first two days of the week which is another good starting spot for us. We're hoping to get it into the double digits by the end of the week.
Nothing too special going on this week. We have a Halloween Carnival on Thursday for members and their friends so hopefully through that activity we can find some new investigators and then also since Halloween is on Sunday we missionaries have to be inside by 6pm.
Last weekend we had Stake Conference here. It was really nice and focused a lot on missionary work. Two missionary moms spoke and also a recently returned missionary. They all had really strong testimonies about the missionary work and their testimonies really strengthened mine. It was great. I had the chance to sign interpret but found out through my experience I still have to work on that aspect on my language. So during language study I have been primarily been focusing on that. Along with those speakers Mission President Smith and his wife Sister Smith were present and spoke as well. They gave really great talks. President Smith always gives great talks so it's always great to hear him speak.
Hmm.. what else has gone on this week..? Well, the weather currently is pretty bad. It's like a really humid muggy feeling and it's raining at the same time. It's awful and hopefully will change soon. I want it to stay cold now and not be warm anymore. We already took out our AC and it feels like we did so too early.
Oh yes, just to inform you I took out $40 from my account today to buy some things I'll need for a Zone Activity we're having next week. It's Harry Potter themed so I'm buying some things to dress up like that for when that happens. I will for sure send you pictures of that activity along with many others to come. I should probably send one of my SD cards home so you can just upload all the pictures yourself. That would be easier and so everyone can see how I'm doing out here.
Hope all is well at home. Hope you and dad aren't working yourself too hard and that you guys get enough rest from all the work and all. Tell Danica and Danielle that I miss them and love them too! Anyways, I will go ahead a e-mail dad now. Look forward to hearing from you next week! Enjoy your vacation in Idaho visiting Nicki! I love you and I miss you mom!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
Thank for writing me a short message telling me what you'll be up to this week. Hope you enjoy your vacation visiting Nicki. Tell her that I miss her and that I love her. Hopefully all is well with her and her studies. Hope your week has been going well too. The week here has been good thus far. A good start with 5 lessons in the first two days of the week which is another good starting spot for us. We're hoping to get it into the double digits by the end of the week.
Nothing too special going on this week. We have a Halloween Carnival on Thursday for members and their friends so hopefully through that activity we can find some new investigators and then also since Halloween is on Sunday we missionaries have to be inside by 6pm.
Last weekend we had Stake Conference here. It was really nice and focused a lot on missionary work. Two missionary moms spoke and also a recently returned missionary. They all had really strong testimonies about the missionary work and their testimonies really strengthened mine. It was great. I had the chance to sign interpret but found out through my experience I still have to work on that aspect on my language. So during language study I have been primarily been focusing on that. Along with those speakers Mission President Smith and his wife Sister Smith were present and spoke as well. They gave really great talks. President Smith always gives great talks so it's always great to hear him speak.
Hmm.. what else has gone on this week..? Well, the weather currently is pretty bad. It's like a really humid muggy feeling and it's raining at the same time. It's awful and hopefully will change soon. I want it to stay cold now and not be warm anymore. We already took out our AC and it feels like we did so too early.
Oh yes, just to inform you I took out $40 from my account today to buy some things I'll need for a Zone Activity we're having next week. It's Harry Potter themed so I'm buying some things to dress up like that for when that happens. I will for sure send you pictures of that activity along with many others to come. I should probably send one of my SD cards home so you can just upload all the pictures yourself. That would be easier and so everyone can see how I'm doing out here.
Hope all is well at home. Hope you and dad aren't working yourself too hard and that you guys get enough rest from all the work and all. Tell Danica and Danielle that I miss them and love them too! Anyways, I will go ahead a e-mail dad now. Look forward to hearing from you next week! Enjoy your vacation in Idaho visiting Nicki! I love you and I miss you mom!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
October 20, 2010
Hey mom!
Glad to see that you had recieved my letter. I hope you enjoyed the pictures and are keeping them somewhere safe. You're putting together a mission scrap book for me right? That would be cool. I have lots of things to put in it when I come home. I'll be sure to try and send more as soon as I can develop them. I just go to a Rite-Aid and do the instant photo develop thing. It's very conveinent.
As usual you are always on the move. That was cool that you got to see a concert of Lani Misalucha. I hope you were able to enjoy it a lot specially since you were up in the front. It must be a whole different experience being up in the front of a concert. But by the looks of the pictures it seems like you really had yourself a good time with Auntie Edith. That's great. :)
Ah, and another birthday that I miss out on. Also I miss out on your Palabok. I really do miss eating that but I will enjoy it that much more when I come home. That will be a must when I come back that you cook some! Yummy!
So it's starting to rain there? Same here. It's been a normal thing here now. It will either be really cold or cold and rainy. I think soon it'll just end up solid and then snow. I can't wait for snow though. I know we already experienced it here but it will be a different experience living here and having snow. Much different from home since home is just always nice weather all year round. It will be interesting. I'm all ready for the snow and the cold. We pulled out our AC so the cold air doesn't get into our apartment. Weird huh? We have to manually pull out the AC, haha. Just new experiences living in NY!
All is well here. Just had my first District Meeting on Monday as District Leader. It was different being a leader but I guess I have to get used to it. Maybe one day I might end up going up in the chain. That would be cool to experience. I know the Elders in the higher posistions enjoy it all the same so that would be cool if I ever got to experience that. It's been good so far as DL. Not really as hard as I thought it would be. The week has been going by well. It started off not so great but then snowballed and got better. We only have been through 2 days in the week and already have scored 6 lessons. Not the normal thing for us so we're a bit excited for that. We're hoping to push more to get more done this week seeing as how this weekend will be booked up with us being at Stake Conference interpreting. So wish us luck on finding more ways to teach this week.
We had training on Tuesday. The whole mission recieved new phones which are pretty high tech compared to what you think a missionary would get on their mission. It has a camera and everything. Pretty cool stuff. The training went well and we enjoyed it all. During the training President Smith was talking about investigators and how we can't deny them the waters of baptism. Like if they were homebound and stuff like that. It was really good to hear that because our investigator is homebound. Can't really get around because he is kind of big and uses a cane. But we were approved to baptize him! I want to continue teaching him more about the gospel and see if we can get him to church one time and then we will think about extending the invitation to be baptized!! I am truly excited about that. Might be able to experience my first baptism as a missionary. It will be extrodinary. Keep praying for us about that mom.
That is really great news that Cheyenne's baptism is just this weekend! Wow, it will be an amazing experience for her! Be sure to send me pictures of that. I will certainly be looking forward to seeing how that went down. Thank you for continuing to send me pictures. It just keeps me up to date on what you are all doing there. Sounds like you've been having lots of fun lately and with the pictures I don't feel all that left out, haha.
As for things that you could send me in a package. I have no clue what to ask you to send. I think just think of things that I could use during this time or small gifts that I would enjoy as a missionary. I miss you all and am looking to send a box home to you all as well with stuff for you all.
That is great news that you all continue to read things from the church magazines and the scriptures everyday. I do it here and I know it really helps so I know it will help you as well. Congrats on finishing the Book of Mormon. I wonder how many times I will read through it on my mission. I should set up a goal and see if I can achieve it. I do different things every time I read to help me understand all that I am reading better. So hopefully that will work out to my benefit.
Hope you are able to go to Disneyland as well! That will be a good thing to maximize the anuual passes that you bought so I look forward to seeing pictures from that too!
Thanks again for e-mailing me this week mom. I miss you and I love you a lot. Thank you for everything that you do for me and your continued support for me on my mission. Look forward to hearing from you next week. Till then.
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
October 13, 2010
Hey mom!
Great to hear from you once again this week! Glad to see that things are still going well back at home. Sounds like things have been very busy as of late for you all at home. Busy going to weddings and all that fun other stuff. Hope they have all been fun and enjoyable experiences. Thanks for sending the pictures. It looks like lots went on and that's cool. Good to see everyone in all the pictures. This week although short still has been very eventful already! Transfer calls have come through and Elder Gervacio will be leaving us and will be transfered to the English program in Yonkers! That is some big news. Now the companionships here have been cut down to just two in each. With that the companionships are changed. I will be Elder Melkonian's companion for this 5 week cycle and Elder Gabriel will follow up train Elder Jenson. Elder Jenson still needs some work on him because he's still really shy with the members and all. Hopefully he'll break out of his shell sooner or later.
With that news, there was still one more position to fill. Elder Gervacio has been serving as our District Leader for the last few cycles. Now with him gone President Smith has called someone else. He has called me to serve as the District Leader of the ASL district!! It is really big news! I know it will be hard taking on new tasks but I know if I rely on the Lord he will help me with this new calling. Wish me luck in this new leadership position mom! I'm kind of nervous about it but I'm sure things will go down well.
Other things that have been happening.. we recently had a Branch party for Halloween coming up. It was a fun time and we met lots of non members so hopefully from that we'll be able to pursue them and be able to teach them about the gospel. Hopefully they will feel inspired by the message that the gospel carries.
Oh yes! About the jacket that I wanted to get. I didn't get it. Instead I bought this jacket from Elder Gervacio. He never really used it and it's rain resistant and it has another layer for snow. Its really good and durable so it will work for the harsh winters. He showed me the receipt for the jacket and it was retailed at $200 at Men's Warehouse! He only sold it to me for $40! It was a really good deal and has been keeping me warm and dry from the rain the past couple of days. Hopefully it'll continue the job into the rest of the winter. I'm ready now though. Got my jacket and gloves, scarfs and a hat. I know you continue to be careful with money back home seeing as you are supporting a lot there but I'll always make sure to inform you if I'll need money for anything. For now though I should be fine.
Mission work has been fine but I hope it can pick up now that I am District Leader. I really want to push for looking up non active members and really work on getting refferals from the other members because that is our best source for finding people. It is really hard to find deaf people here specially when they don't allow us to knock doors in the deaf buildings. Apartment buildings here have lots of security. Hopefully we'll be able to share the gospel to more people soon! I will be giving a talk this Sunday again about Priesthood Organization. The branch continues to do well. I love serving there. I continue to voice interpret in Sacrament Meeting for the reception of signs so I can analyze signs better. IT's been working well.
But other than that, all is well. I miss you mom! I wrote you a letter with pictures included so hopefully you'll receive that soon! Look forward to hearing from you next week! I miss you and I love you. Thank you for all that you do for me. Stay safe.
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
October 6, 2010
Hey mom!!
Great to hear from you this week! It has been a very good week so far and even a better past weekend with General Conference just ending. It's been really good and I throughly enjoyed conference. It was indeed a treat to hear the one person I was looking forward to hearing from first and that was Elder Holland. It's a coincidence that you thought of me when he was giving his talk because I thought of you as well. Both you and dad. I had tears streaming from my face when Elder Holland was talking about the sacrifice of the parents of those Elders and Sisters who go on missions. I thought of you and the girls and all the support you give me out here. How much you sacrifice and how hard you work to be able to pay the monthly required amount for the mission. It made me really have a greater love for you all back home. It's hard being away from the people that care about you the most but I can feel all your support from 2000 miles away. Thank you mom and thank you all.
That is sooo great that you were all able to attend 3 of the 4 sessions of conference. I'm sure the spirit was strong felt there and it was good that Auntie, Jopet and Cha Cha were able to attend all sessions. That must have been such a great experience for them all. To finally be close and in the presence of the Prophet and the other General Authorities of the church. It must have been such a great time for them. Conference must have been an awesome time there. We had a good time here. We stayed in the church for all the sessions and it was fun just hanging out there with the members in between sessions and just talking about the past sessions too. It was fun! We were able to watch the ASL feed with the interpreters. I saw one of my MTC teachers interpreting at conference. It was cool! Maybe one day I'll be there interpreting! :)
Haha, that was cool you were able to scrape together tickets for conference. It must have been a fun experience and also a good one since people will be more nice about giving tickets to you. And that was cool you once again got interviewed! Wow, lucky! Maybe you'll end up in a church news story or something or maybe the pictures they took will show up in next months Ensign. We'll just have to wait and see, haha.
That's also good that Nicki was able to attend too. Good to see she is doing well with her studies and all. It must have been great to have her with you again. :)
I cannot believe it! Cheyenne will be baptized at the end of the month?! WOW! That's really great news! Be sure to keep me updated on that. That is really great of her to connect with those missionaries and be able to hear and accept the gospel in her life. That is a really big step for her. That is great the branch is growing strong again and now they have put back full time missionaries there. It looks good for the future of the branch it seems. Hopefully things like that will kick up here in our own little branch. Hopefully we'll be able to bring people back to church, get them excited about church.
This weekend we have a branch party so hopefully the non members who show up will be able to hear our message that we will give and spark interest in the gospel.
That is great things are going so well at home. Things are doing fine here. I will continue to work my hardest out here and make you proud. Not the bad proud but the good proud, haha. :)
I miss you and love you a lot mom. Thank you for all that you have done for me up to this point. I don't know what I would've done without all your help. Talk to you next week!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
September 30, 2010
Hey mom!
As for my health I am feeling much better this week! No more sniffling or coughing as much. I'm back to good health and just continue to do the best I can in this work. It's hard to belive that time has been moving so fast. I'm now entering into my 7th month here in the mission and I can't believe I've already spent that much time here. It's crazy but I'm loving my time here.
I'm so jealous! You got Annual Passes to Disneyland! Wow, that's really great though. Now you can go anytime you want. That's fun and also very cool. I saw the pictures of you all at Disneyland. Looks like you had a really good time and hopefully will have more great times there in Disneyland to come.
Cheyenne is taking the missionary lessons? Wow, that's really great news. Hopefully the missionaries there will be able to help her realize that Christ's gospel is really true. It's such a good thing to know and for everyone to know that it's true would be amazing. We're just out here giving out that invitation to come closer to Christ and I don't hope, I know the missionaries there will do all they can to help Cheyenne realize that. That's great that it's been a fun time with her learning and all. Be sure to keep me updated on how that goes.
That is sooo awesome that you'll be going to conference in Utah yet again! That's really cool! It's always great to be out there and see conference live. But the spirit is felt everywhere in the world. I'm very excited for conference time and can't wait for this weekend to hear the General Authorities and to hear from my favorites Elder Oaks and Elder Holland. I will be so focused when it comes their time to speak. They always give great talks. And it is also a good experience for Auntie Emma, Jopet and Cha Cha! They'll be in SLC for conference and will be there live. They'll be able to see conference and the place where it happens. It's truly a miracle come full circle for them and their journey the last couple of months.
Thank you for sending the pictures of Danica's birthday as well. It really looks like you all had a good time with family and all and just keeping things very simple as of a party. That looked like a good time and I can't wait to celebrate all of the birthdays come 2012.
Oh I am excited to tell you this! I might soon receive a calling as a full time teacher in a new class they are setting up in the Deaf Branch. I was talking with the President of the Deaf Branch, President Blanchard and when we were talking he just told me he had a revelation that he saw me as the teacher for this new class. It will be a lot of responsibility but I know if I rely on the Lord, He will help me. It's nothing official yet. Might take a month but I'll be sure to keep you updated with that.
Also, It's getting colder so I'll want to go buy a jacket soon. There is a really nice one I saw in Costco and I'm wondering if I can get the money to buy it. It's $55 and it's Calvin Klein. Just be sure to write me if you put money so I can know and go and purchase it. It's nice for the price and it'll keep me warm out here in a rather soon to be cold New York. It's been cold and rainy lately so a jacket would help me a lot.
That's what's been up this week I'll be sure to update you next week!
Mom, thank you for all your support. I know you and dad work day in and day out just to support the family. I know it, and the girls know it. We have the upmost respect for you as parents and I can't think of any two better to have raised us in life and in this gospel. I will continue to work hard and make you proud mom. Now, get some rest. :) I know you probably had a hard days work. I miss you and I love you mom. Look forward to hearing from you next week.
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
Hey dad!
Great to hear from you this week. Sorry I didn't get back to you yesterday. We were really busy and ended up not having enough time to come to the library to do e-mail so we got permission to have a little time today to do so. It is really hard to believe that the time here on my mission just seems to keep flying by. I'm already entering my 7th month in the field and that's really hard to believe. It is truly great to see that getting lost in the work has done much to help the time fly by. But as much as the time flies by fast I don't want things to end. The work we're doing here is truly great and I'm loving every minute of it.
I think I saw the jacket you are talking about at Costco yesterday. It's a Calvin Klein jacket and it's around $55. I tried it on yesterday and it fits really good. Would be good for the cold. Recently it's been raining and windy and cold so buying a jacket soon would do some good. Maybe you can put the money for that in my account and I'll pick it up next week when we go to Costco to food shop again.
That's great you'll be able to go to Utah and attend conference as well! That's good you got time off! I'm really excited for conference and can't wait to hear what all the General Authorities have to say. It's always amazing to hear their words and I'm sure this weekend won't dissapoint. It's also a cool thing that Jopet, Cha Cha and Auntie will be able to attend conference. It's good to see that now they'll be able to be in the place that they only saw on TV. It will be a great experience for them.
Oh wow, hopefully the Padres get it together. There's only like 4 games left or something like that right? Hopefully they end it strong and hopefully at least snag the Wild Card. Looks like it maybe come down to the last series. I heard they'll play the Giants for the final 3 games. Those will be the biggest games of the season for them! And the Chargers should pull it together. Still trying to work out the kinks in a sort of new team. Hopefully they pull it together like they do each year and win.
Thanks for all your support dad, it really means a lot these weekly letters and your words of encouragement to me. I know you and mom are working hard to support us all specially Nicki and I being away doing different things. I'm really thankful for that. Thanks again dad. I miss you lots and l love you too. I'll look forward to next weeks e-mail.
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
September 22, 2010
Hey mom!
My week has been well. I'm just now finally recovering from being sick last week. I have just a slight cough now, but it's getting bettter. Last week we visited a family that is Filipino! I didn't know there was a small community near our home here in the Bronx so it was cool to see. Their name is Ardinez. They were a very kind family and are very faithful in the gospel. It was good to spend time with them and have dinner with them as well. We were invited to their house by these other missionaries in the English Program. It was a good time and it made me miss home a little bit because I was around Filipinos again, haha. It was a neat little experience.
And now for this week, we received a new missionary, Elder Jenson. He is from Utah and is Hard of Hearing. He has two hearing aids. He's a real quiet guy but maybe he feels like he is being overwhelmed by all of the hustle and bustle of New York. I know I felt like that when I first arrived here. Hopefully he will lighten up soon. Elder Gervacio and I are team training him and I will most likely take over training him once Elder Gervacio is transfered into the English Program in the near future. We'll see how that goes about.
General Conference is coming up. Are you excited? I know I am. I'm ready to hear the counsel of the Genreral Authorities again. It is always exciting to hear what they have to say. I'm looking forward to see what Elder Holland and Oaks will speak on. They are my favorite Apostles by far. Dad told me you are going to Utah for that? That will be good. Are you going to take auntie Emma and the kids? That would be a neat experience for them. General Conference time is a busy time for us too. We will be watching from the church building and will be ready to back up interpret if anything with that goes wrong. It will be an exciting weekend for sure. I can't believe it's already conference time again! Seems like only a little time ago that the April conference happened and now we're soon in October. Time surely flies by fast.
Be sure to send me pictures of Danica's birthday. I want to see all the fun that went on that day. I'm sure Danica is excited to now be in Young Women's. Good for her. She is really growing up fast and that's good. Also, be sure to e-mail me about you week and how it went. Did you travel or do anything exciting as usual? Or just rest and stay home? Anyways, things are going well as usual and hopefully things will continue to take off from here. Really we've been focusing on less actives and getting them back to church. Hopefully all our efforts will convince those less actives to come back to church and be close to Jesus and Heavenly Father again.
This work is surely great and I'm loving every moment of it mom. I can't ever thank you enough for preparing me for this time. Hope your week and day is going well. Write me back soon and I look forward to reading your e-mail next week! I miss you and I love you lots!
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro-
September 15, 2010
Hey mom!
Great to hear from you! I know it's hard to believe huh? You have a missionary son who is out in New York serving the Lord. It's a great experience for me being out here and I'm loving every minute of my time out here in the field. Sure it may mean you are getting older but that means your kids are growing up. It's a good thing to see that all your hard work with us growing us is showing success. I'm thankful for all that you have taught me about in the gospel to get to the point where I've been today.
My week has been great so far. I have been off and on sick this week and hopefully will get better soon. Right now I have a sore throat but good thing I teach in ASL right? Haha. But other than that we've been on a big push to get the members family members to come to church. We're having a special home teaching this Saturday for the family members of members so they can come see and hear about the gospel and see if it's something they would be interested in. It's a great idea and it would be great to see some success from it. We've been busy passing out fliers for that. Yesterday we had Multi-zone conference at the chapel at the temple and it was a good time. Good to mingle with the other missionaries again as well as get taught by our mission president. I had to interpret and I feel like compared to the last time my skills in interpreting have gotten much better. We had a good time yesterday. Tomorrow we will have interviews with the president and those like always should go well. Things have been great here in the mission field. It's been getting a lot colder as of late and that's a really good change. Hopefully you can send me a jacket soon or maybe send me money for one so I can get one soon. That would be greatly appreciated. :)
Good to see that things have been like always been going good at home. You and dad still are very busy it seems even with just the two girls at home now. Is it a different vibe at home now with just the two girls? I'm sure you all still have lots of fun though. I heard Nicki is really enjoying herself out there in Idaho. That's really great for her. :) Is she making new friends fast? That will be good she will e-mail you each week so she can tell you about her progress. These weekly e-mails are really what keeps us connected.
I can't believe Danica will be 12! Wow, she is getting older and older. That's good though. This weekend should be fun for you all as a family. Be sure to wish her a Happy Birthday for me. Tell her I miss her and I love her. :) Sounds like you will have a good time going downtown and eating good food and just celebrating with family. That's always the best. Be sure to send me the pictures when you do get them.
I guess that's all for this week. Thank you again mom for writing me each week. Your e-mails help me get on with my week and they keep me wanting to do the best I can out here for you all at home. I miss you and I love you so much mom.
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
Great to hear from you! I know it's hard to believe huh? You have a missionary son who is out in New York serving the Lord. It's a great experience for me being out here and I'm loving every minute of my time out here in the field. Sure it may mean you are getting older but that means your kids are growing up. It's a good thing to see that all your hard work with us growing us is showing success. I'm thankful for all that you have taught me about in the gospel to get to the point where I've been today.
My week has been great so far. I have been off and on sick this week and hopefully will get better soon. Right now I have a sore throat but good thing I teach in ASL right? Haha. But other than that we've been on a big push to get the members family members to come to church. We're having a special home teaching this Saturday for the family members of members so they can come see and hear about the gospel and see if it's something they would be interested in. It's a great idea and it would be great to see some success from it. We've been busy passing out fliers for that. Yesterday we had Multi-zone conference at the chapel at the temple and it was a good time. Good to mingle with the other missionaries again as well as get taught by our mission president. I had to interpret and I feel like compared to the last time my skills in interpreting have gotten much better. We had a good time yesterday. Tomorrow we will have interviews with the president and those like always should go well. Things have been great here in the mission field. It's been getting a lot colder as of late and that's a really good change. Hopefully you can send me a jacket soon or maybe send me money for one so I can get one soon. That would be greatly appreciated. :)
Good to see that things have been like always been going good at home. You and dad still are very busy it seems even with just the two girls at home now. Is it a different vibe at home now with just the two girls? I'm sure you all still have lots of fun though. I heard Nicki is really enjoying herself out there in Idaho. That's really great for her. :) Is she making new friends fast? That will be good she will e-mail you each week so she can tell you about her progress. These weekly e-mails are really what keeps us connected.
I can't believe Danica will be 12! Wow, she is getting older and older. That's good though. This weekend should be fun for you all as a family. Be sure to wish her a Happy Birthday for me. Tell her I miss her and I love her. :) Sounds like you will have a good time going downtown and eating good food and just celebrating with family. That's always the best. Be sure to send me the pictures when you do get them.
I guess that's all for this week. Thank you again mom for writing me each week. Your e-mails help me get on with my week and they keep me wanting to do the best I can out here for you all at home. I miss you and I love you so much mom.
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
September 8, 2010
Hey mom!
I'm great here in New York. The work out here in the field is great. Nothing has really changed since last week. Still working hard to get people to teach. We made special pass along cards this week that we hope we can leave with deaf people we meet so they can contact us and come to church. We have also tried to get the English missionaries involved by teaching them a short conversation they can have with deaf they come in contact with so maybe that will help us a lot!
I was reading your e-mail and couldn't help but smile at all the fun you are all having at home. It seems like everything is going really well back at home. Good to see that you have time to just be with dad while the girls are now back in school and it's good to see that Nicki is all good and settled in BYU-I. I didn't know Sarah was going there too. I thought she was planning on going to Provo? But good for her, at least Nicki will have someone she knows there at the school with her. How was Idaho? Is it a nice place where the campus is at? I also heard from a few missionaries here that Idaho has rough winters but Nicki will be fine. It will be a different experience for her and that's good.
That's good Nicki and the girls are keeping in good contact still. Have they learned how to use the Skype program and all that? That will be good since it will be one good and easy way to see and talk with her. Have you learned how to use it too? Wow, nice, that's good you got her an Apple laptop. Apple is definitely the way to go with that. They are fast and reliable and they have less chances of getting viruses. I'm jealous, hahaha. And I know Danica will love that iPod touch. :)
Danielle is really lucky to have gone to a game with EJ. I haven't been to one is such a long time and I miss watching baseball. That's good that she had a good time with cousin EJ and it looks like it was a good bonding experience for her since she really hasn't gotten a chance to spend lots of time with him. Good for her. Wow, EJ lives only a few blocks from Petco Park? That's very lucky of him. Hopefully EJ and dad will have a good time at the game if they go. Be sure to tell EJ I said 'hi'.
Thank you for all your prayers mom and dad, you are all in my prayers as well. Hope the rest of the week goes by well and I look forward to hearing from you next week.
I miss you and I love you lots mom.
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
I'm great here in New York. The work out here in the field is great. Nothing has really changed since last week. Still working hard to get people to teach. We made special pass along cards this week that we hope we can leave with deaf people we meet so they can contact us and come to church. We have also tried to get the English missionaries involved by teaching them a short conversation they can have with deaf they come in contact with so maybe that will help us a lot!
I was reading your e-mail and couldn't help but smile at all the fun you are all having at home. It seems like everything is going really well back at home. Good to see that you have time to just be with dad while the girls are now back in school and it's good to see that Nicki is all good and settled in BYU-I. I didn't know Sarah was going there too. I thought she was planning on going to Provo? But good for her, at least Nicki will have someone she knows there at the school with her. How was Idaho? Is it a nice place where the campus is at? I also heard from a few missionaries here that Idaho has rough winters but Nicki will be fine. It will be a different experience for her and that's good.
That's good Nicki and the girls are keeping in good contact still. Have they learned how to use the Skype program and all that? That will be good since it will be one good and easy way to see and talk with her. Have you learned how to use it too? Wow, nice, that's good you got her an Apple laptop. Apple is definitely the way to go with that. They are fast and reliable and they have less chances of getting viruses. I'm jealous, hahaha. And I know Danica will love that iPod touch. :)
Danielle is really lucky to have gone to a game with EJ. I haven't been to one is such a long time and I miss watching baseball. That's good that she had a good time with cousin EJ and it looks like it was a good bonding experience for her since she really hasn't gotten a chance to spend lots of time with him. Good for her. Wow, EJ lives only a few blocks from Petco Park? That's very lucky of him. Hopefully EJ and dad will have a good time at the game if they go. Be sure to tell EJ I said 'hi'.
Thank you for all your prayers mom and dad, you are all in my prayers as well. Hope the rest of the week goes by well and I look forward to hearing from you next week.
I miss you and I love you lots mom.
Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
September 1, 2010
Hello Danielle!
Great to hear from you. How are you doing? Hopefully you're doing good. :) Mom told me you are reading the Book of Mormon and listening to the audio book too! I'm trying to do that too. We're probably going to burn a cd of it so we can listen to it at our apartment. Hope you continue to do a good job on that. Write me again and tell me how you're doing on that okay?
New York is fun here. It's still really hot but soon it will become cold and it will even snow! I'm very excited to live somewhere where it snows. It will be fun but really coooold! How has summer been? Hopefully you were able to have lots and lots of fun through the whole summer. :) Are you ready for a new school year? I know you will do well with all your studies. Continue to get lots of "A's."
How is Danica? Tell her to write me too. I miss you both and hope you will continue to do well.
I miss you and love you Danielle.
Love always,
Your big brother Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
Great to hear from you. How are you doing? Hopefully you're doing good. :) Mom told me you are reading the Book of Mormon and listening to the audio book too! I'm trying to do that too. We're probably going to burn a cd of it so we can listen to it at our apartment. Hope you continue to do a good job on that. Write me again and tell me how you're doing on that okay?
New York is fun here. It's still really hot but soon it will become cold and it will even snow! I'm very excited to live somewhere where it snows. It will be fun but really coooold! How has summer been? Hopefully you were able to have lots and lots of fun through the whole summer. :) Are you ready for a new school year? I know you will do well with all your studies. Continue to get lots of "A's."
How is Danica? Tell her to write me too. I miss you both and hope you will continue to do well.
I miss you and love you Danielle.
Love always,
Your big brother Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
September 1, 2010
Hey mom!
Great to finally hear from you! I see you have been really busy in the last week and that's good!
It's good to see that Auntie and the kids are here now in the states! Good for them. When I saw the pictures you sent me all I could do was smile to see that they are finally here after such a long time wait. That's good. :) Seems like you all had a good time exploring around SLC! That's good they finally got to see all the things they would only see at conference time in person. Truly the good work of the Lord.
So this weekend is the big weekend you'll be taking Nicki to Idaho. That's also truly amazing. That's good for her that she was able to attain a scholarship so she can have schooling covered for her for awhile. I know she will do well there and make you and dad proud. The Lord has truly blessed her with an opportunity to go further her education where she desires to be. Good for her. Tell her I love her and good luck.
I really enjoyed seeing the pictures from EJ and Adelle's wedding. That looked like it was tons of fun. It looks like you all enjoyed yourself and I'm sorry that I missed it. But it was great to see that you captured some moments from the event. :) And seeing the rehearsal party at the house made me miss home but I know we will continue to host lots of parties so there will be a lot more to come that I'll be there to enjoy. :)
That's really cool that you challenged the girls to read the Book of Mormon and hear the audio too. I think that will really help them listen and understand more about the Book of Mormon. We're trying to get an audio version too so we can play it in the apartment on Preparation days and stuff. It would be good to hear and it would be a different experience listening to it. Hope that goes well. Danielle e-mailed me about it and she seemed very excited about it. But she is always an active reader and that's good. I'm becoming one myself as well. I've been really interested in reading the gospel library and have been going through "Our Heritage." It's really good so far and it is giving me more insight into the early days of the Restoration and such. It's a good read.
Nothing much has changed here. I voice interpreted last Sacrament meeting on Sunday. It went fairly well. I think I've really been stepping it up in terms of work because we have so much responsibility put onto us now. So hopefully I'll continue to trudge through it all and be able to do all this great work with the help of the Lord. I've been teaching this member, his name is Chung Wong. He's a great guy. A deaf Chinese man with Cerebral Palsy. I was teaching him last week and when the lesson was over her offered the closing prayer. In it he expressed his love for me for teaching him about the gospel. Tears came to my eyes because I was caught off guard not knowing he would say that. It's a tough task being in the ASL program because we don't see much success compared to the others but I love it here. The members appreciate the work and dedication we put into uplifting the deaf branch. At that point I knew that really it didn't matter if I had investigators, I have members here in the branch that love the gospel. They may not know it well but we're here for them so we can teach them, help them better understand it. I love this work. I love being a missionary. It's truly been a blessing to me.
We just keep going onward with the work. The weather hopefully will change soon. It's a new month and we're looking to keep the good work up. Elder Gervacio and I have been doing great work the last couple of weeks since Elder Evenson left. It's good because it really shows that with a little push and effort and hard work can go a long way. We even have 2 potential investigators now which is really good for us. Wish us luck with that.
Mom I miss you and I love you. Can't thank you enough for all the help you've given me leading up to this time. Thanks for all the support from home. I will continue to do this great work and make you proud. :)
Love always,
Your son and Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
Great to finally hear from you! I see you have been really busy in the last week and that's good!
It's good to see that Auntie and the kids are here now in the states! Good for them. When I saw the pictures you sent me all I could do was smile to see that they are finally here after such a long time wait. That's good. :) Seems like you all had a good time exploring around SLC! That's good they finally got to see all the things they would only see at conference time in person. Truly the good work of the Lord.
So this weekend is the big weekend you'll be taking Nicki to Idaho. That's also truly amazing. That's good for her that she was able to attain a scholarship so she can have schooling covered for her for awhile. I know she will do well there and make you and dad proud. The Lord has truly blessed her with an opportunity to go further her education where she desires to be. Good for her. Tell her I love her and good luck.
I really enjoyed seeing the pictures from EJ and Adelle's wedding. That looked like it was tons of fun. It looks like you all enjoyed yourself and I'm sorry that I missed it. But it was great to see that you captured some moments from the event. :) And seeing the rehearsal party at the house made me miss home but I know we will continue to host lots of parties so there will be a lot more to come that I'll be there to enjoy. :)
That's really cool that you challenged the girls to read the Book of Mormon and hear the audio too. I think that will really help them listen and understand more about the Book of Mormon. We're trying to get an audio version too so we can play it in the apartment on Preparation days and stuff. It would be good to hear and it would be a different experience listening to it. Hope that goes well. Danielle e-mailed me about it and she seemed very excited about it. But she is always an active reader and that's good. I'm becoming one myself as well. I've been really interested in reading the gospel library and have been going through "Our Heritage." It's really good so far and it is giving me more insight into the early days of the Restoration and such. It's a good read.
Nothing much has changed here. I voice interpreted last Sacrament meeting on Sunday. It went fairly well. I think I've really been stepping it up in terms of work because we have so much responsibility put onto us now. So hopefully I'll continue to trudge through it all and be able to do all this great work with the help of the Lord. I've been teaching this member, his name is Chung Wong. He's a great guy. A deaf Chinese man with Cerebral Palsy. I was teaching him last week and when the lesson was over her offered the closing prayer. In it he expressed his love for me for teaching him about the gospel. Tears came to my eyes because I was caught off guard not knowing he would say that. It's a tough task being in the ASL program because we don't see much success compared to the others but I love it here. The members appreciate the work and dedication we put into uplifting the deaf branch. At that point I knew that really it didn't matter if I had investigators, I have members here in the branch that love the gospel. They may not know it well but we're here for them so we can teach them, help them better understand it. I love this work. I love being a missionary. It's truly been a blessing to me.
We just keep going onward with the work. The weather hopefully will change soon. It's a new month and we're looking to keep the good work up. Elder Gervacio and I have been doing great work the last couple of weeks since Elder Evenson left. It's good because it really shows that with a little push and effort and hard work can go a long way. We even have 2 potential investigators now which is really good for us. Wish us luck with that.
Mom I miss you and I love you. Can't thank you enough for all the help you've given me leading up to this time. Thanks for all the support from home. I will continue to do this great work and make you proud. :)
Love always,
Your son and Elder Derrick Joseph Castro
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)