April 27, 2011

Hey mom!

 

Great to hear from you once again this week. Today was a great day. In the morning our district went to the temple! It was great to go and do a session again after such a long time of not attending. We just don't get as much opportunity here as we did back in the MTC. We are only allowed a temple trip every 3 months. It was a great time there. The senior couple that works in our area here was working in the temple today so it was cool to see them during that time. We all had much fun. After that we went to Chipotle and ate burritos. They were soo good. It's probably my favorite place to go and eat but here it is way more expensive than back home. It's all the taxes that they charge you. It stinks but I guess that's the price you have to pay in New York.

 

The weather has been wonderful lately! Very San Diego-like. It was pretty humid today. I kind of have a headache from the weather. It's really crazy how the weather is just ever changing here. One time it can be rainy and then the next day it will be sunny and warm. Definitely been hard to adjust to. It will get hotter with summer around the corner. It's already pretty hot nowadays and it's only spring! Hoping to beat the heat any way we can. It is very hot in the apartment. Our air conditioner is broken so we're only using fans. Not really helping.

 

This past week was great once again. Sunday was very special. Easter was great because so many less actives showed up to church and all. It's weird how holidays like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas bring more people back to church. Unfortunately it's only for one Sunday. Hopefully they were able to feel the spirit strong enough to want to come back and be more active in the church once again. We had a special meeting after Sacrament where we all stayed together and we talked about Jesus Christ. A sister led the discussion about Elder Holland's talk back in 2009 conference entitled, "None Were With Him." It is such a wonderful talk that really describes how Christ did what he did all on his own. Even down to the point where in order for him to fufill his purpose Heavenly Father had to leave his Only Begotten Son. Hearing the talk brought tears to my eyes. He knew intelliectually what he was getting into but Elder Holland goes on to say that he didn't comprehend the spiritual and physical pain he would feel. How grateful I am for Christ and his Atonement. He has given us all hope that one day we will live in the Celestial Kingdom with Heavenly Father again. After that discussion we watched the movie "The Testaments." Remember that movie? I really love that movie because of how it is portrayed and how the father of the film had so much faith in the exsistence of the Lord and about the true gospel. I don't think I can have dry eyes by the end of that movie. After church a sister invited all of us over to her house for an Easter dinner. She cooked ham, sweet potatoes, biscuts and other things. It was delicious! Sunday was a very spiritual day.

 

Tomorrow we will be having a multi-zone conference once again. My last as an English missionary I'm pretty sure. There's a 99.9% that I will be back in the ASL program in two weeks. I'm excited to go back. I love multi-zone conferences because we are able to receive counsel from our mission president, President Smith. He is very wise and I know he enjoys being a mission president because he didn't serve a mission before. He was a convert and now this is his first mission. He enjoys being here and we love having him as our mission president.

 

Thank you once again for the many pictures you sent this past week! I loved all the pictures from the camping you sent. Looks like there was a good turn out and every one seemed to have so much fun! That's really good! I miss going camping with everyone. I remember way back when we would camp a lot with the members before. We would go so much and we always had so much fun. I can't wait to go back and go camping with you all again. I know I have to do better at sending pictures. I hope I can get on the computer in the church and send pictures then. I can't really send them on the library computers. It's really hard becasuse the time on the computers is timed and so I only have a short time to e-mail you all individually. So soon I promise lots of pictures for you all at home! I have taken lots here so I wil lbe sure to send them when I can.

 

That is great that there are so many missionaries now! It seems like everyone is leaving. Who will be home when I come back?! Haha, that's good though that everyone is going out to serve the Lord. They will truly feel blessed for their lives. I know I have experienced so many great things here on my mission and have had so many experiences that I will be able to look back on in the future. Here's to hoping more will continue to "bring the world His truth."

 

Mother's Day is fast approaching! My district will sing a special number on Mother's Day in sacrament meeting. We are singing "Love Is Spoken Here" from the Children's song book. I at the same time will be signing the song. It's such a good song and we really made it special with the way we're going to sing it. I'm going to sing my best so I know you will be able to hear the song in your heart on that day. I also can't wait to call you guys! It will definitely be amazing to hear all your voices again. I hope you are all excited as I am! I have missed all of you so much! You should tell me what time of day will be good to call you guys so I know when I can call and we can have time to talk.

 

Well mom, I think that's it for this week. Got to finish writing the rest of the family. I miss you and I love you so much mom! Thanks for writing me this week and again thanks for sending so many pictures! Continue to send lots and I hope to send lots back soon! Hope your week goes well and I hope you all continue to have fun times at home. Take care mom! I will talk to you again next week!

 

Love always,

Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro

Yo sis!

 

Sup? Haha. Good to hear from you again! I miss you! You didn't write me last week? Busy much? I'm asking a lot of questions! Hope all is going well with you back at home. Are you enjoying being home? Relaxing and looking for work? Anyways, hope that is going good. I'm going back to the ASL program soon to answer your question. I am very excited to go back so I can use sign a lot again. I still practice everyday so I will be ready when I go back. I missed being in the ASL program and teaching people in sign. I just love the language and it's been such a special experience to teach it in ASL. So they always get Jared and I mixed up? Funny because the only other Filipino in this mission, Elder Gervacio, he is an ASL missionary too, yeah, everyone gets us mixed up! It's crazy. Everyone thinks we're brothers, everyone says we're twins. I think it's funny. So I thought that was funny how they got Jared and I mixed up. :P

 

Very cool that you are digging the Singles Branch. I wonder if I would enjoy it. :P I don't know. Maybe we'll have to see if I decide to go when I come back, haha. But it's good that you are enjoying things there. That's good that they have so many activities. But that's good to hear the singles branch is so strong there. Unlike here, there aren't many active YSA. It stinks because this girl who is nannying here from Utah is the YSA "leader" I guess you can call it here in the ward and she holds a FHE every Monday night and we're lucky to get two people to come to it. We're trying out best to reactivate the less active. I mean what better way than that? They've already accepted the gospel. So why not keep those in the gospel going strong again. Not saying we aren't diligent going out and finding news but we're going on a strong push to bring those less actives back!

 

That's good that you are getting working opportunities wherever you can. It's important you try to earn as much money as you can so you can continue your schooling. It's very important and good to hear that you are so dedicated to it all. That is very good that's what you are focused on. It's been said to obtain as much education as possible and I see you are diligently doing so. I've kind of been thinking of that too. I think I'm really leaning on wanting to get into Journalism. I've been talking to different members here about it and they all tell me to come back to New York and go to NYU because they have a good journalism program but I don't know if I want to come back here and live here, on top of that it's expensive! Yikes! Definitely something to think about and research when I go back home. Journalism sounds super fun and it involves all that I love. You know me being all tech savy and wanting to know about anything and everything music and movies. What better way than writing about those things? Cool eh? You should research journalism for me a bit.

 

How was Easter? Ours was good here. Our sacrament and classes after were great. All us missionaries sang with the ward choir. It was fun. We sung "This is The Christ." A very great song about the Lord. There's a line in that song where I almost break out into tears. You should look it up and learn it on the piano. It's pretty simple. Practice! :) We also that day watched "The Testaments." Love that movie. Such a great fun movie with such emotion throughout. Definitely one of my favorite church movies.

 

Anyways, I hope all is well with you. I'm doing bad at sending pictures I know!! But I will send them soon! It's hard to send them from the library because the time on the computer is always limited (boo!) but I will once I get more time and a chance to. I promise! I have lots of pictures to send!

 

I hope all continues goooood and hope all your dating is going gooood too! Like I always say, don't want you getting married yet. I'm not home to see it! Haha, just joking with you but just enjoy and be safe. I love you little sister. Do good and take care of the young ones. :) I'll talk to you soon!

 

Love always,

Big brother Elder Derrick Joseph Castro

April 20, 2011

Hey mom!

 

How are things at home? Must be good to have Nicki home. It is so great that she was able to get the counselor's job for the Girl's Retreat! That is awesome! It will be a great time and a great blessing for her to be able to participate in such an activity. Plus on top of that she will get paid for it from what Nicki told me in her last e-mail. That is good because she will be able to get money for her schooling so that will lighten the load a bit for you guys to help her out in her schooling. Hope that when she goes back she can go obtain a scholarship so she can get another semester done there. She is really doing good things and I hope I'll be able to catch up soon enough. Still don't know what I want to do when I get back, what I want to pursue is really up in the air. I feel really good about being some sort of writer. I like to write and I think I'm good at it so it may be something I want to do. Don't know yet but it's been something I've been thinking about a lot talking with lots of missionaries that are going home soon. They are happy/scared because they just get dumped back into life and they have to start all over again. I hope I can get off the right foot when I come back but for now I know it is so important I focus on the work out here. Maybe through it I will be able to see what I might go to pursue.

 

Thank you so much for sending so many pictures this week! Like I've said before it is always great to see the things you've been up to and I'm very thankful that you've taken so many pictures to make me feel like I'm there with you. I think I should do a better job of taking pictures here. Need to capture more moments here in New York before they are just gone. I just realized that the other day. I need to do a better job of that. Maybe you can send me one of those nice Cannon cameras that the professionals use? Haha just kidding. :) Maybe. :D But I am thankful for the many photos you've sent to me. Thank you for that.

 

It's been a very Easter centered past week and a half here. With ward activites about Easter and the Easter program going on this weekend at church and our many dinners with members it is such a great time. We had an early Easter breakfast the other day at the house of the senior couple that are serving in this area, the Wilhite's. They are a great couple and are very kind. The house they live in is also the bishops store house so we do service there. After service the other day they made us an awesome breakfast and then afterwards we sung Easter songs and we shared our testimonies about the Savior. I was the first to get up and I couldn't help but get teary eyed speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ. We really can't comprehend the sacrifice that he gave for us. It was the ultimate sacrifice of love and for that I am thankful. I think that thought in my mind also plays in part as to why when I feel like things are getting hard I just don't give up. Because Christ didn't give up on us. He was left alone and bled from every pore because he loves us and when we feel like life is hard we can't really give reasons as to why we can't do it because Christ did it all. He went through so much more and he was perfect! He truly showed us the way and we have no better example for us than that of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. One of the songs we will be singing in the choir for Easter Sunday is called, "This is the Christ." There is a line in there that says, "How many drops of blood were spilled for me?" Really how many drops of blood were spilled? I get chills every time I sing that line because I know his Atonement is true! He lives and he will guide us through and through. His great plan of Salvation has provided me with so much. He has provided me with a great family with loving parents, dad and you to help me through this life. Mom, I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for Jesus Christ and I'm thankful to serve the Lord and wear His name on my heart.

 

Being a missionary is truly and blessing and it's great to see that so many are joining the ranks of being a messenger of God and helping those around the world hear His great restored message of the gospel. This is such a great work and I thankful to be apart of it. I'm thankful for the year that has passed and only hope to go on to do bigger and greater things as time passes here on my mission. In the mornings I am very tired but I get up knowing there's just another great day ahead of me.

 

I miss you and I love you mom. I'm thankful for everything dad and you have done for me and for the girls too. I have been raised right and I hope I can continue to make you guys proud. Tell everyone I miss them and I love them and I hope to hear from them in e-mail. I will continue to update you every week of my going ons and will continue to keep you all in my prayers. Take care and have a great week. I will talk to you again next week! Until then..

 

Love always,

Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro 

April 13, 2011

Hey Nicki!

Good to hear from you. Glad to see you've made it home safely. How does it feel to be back for a little now? Hopefully you're having fun being back home in San Diego. It's good though, always need a break from school and stuff. That's good you're thinking of staying there for college. You've already made lots of friends there and seem comfortable there so I think it'll be good for you. I'm glad to hear you are loving it so much there. You're doing great.

Sounds like you'll be really busy if you also land a counsellor job. That's cool that it is also paid! That will be good for you so you can also pay off some of your schooling which is really important since school is so expensive. That will be a fun experience for you.

That is cool you will be going to the singles branch. I was always afraid to go. But good for you that you will be going. I'm sure you will have fun there. Lots of people we know are there so it should feel right at home. I can't believe so many are back from their missions and Jacob and Nate will be heading out on their missions! Everyone is just growing up really fast and life is just going by. Sooner than you know I will be back! Ahhh! Hard to believe and hard to think about.

I'm in the Olmstead area of the Bronx right now, but... I will for sure be going back to the ASL program in May. Around May 11th I think it is. Because my "father" is going home, Elder Wright. Then there will be a spot for me to come back. I am excited but sad at the same time because I've grown to love the English program and the ward and area here. It's been good but I will be happy to go back. I contacted a deaf lady yesterday on the bus and it felt so good to use sign language again. Good to know I haven't lost it all. It's been a good area. We are teaching two young kids right now getting ready for baptism on the 24th of this month. Their names are Tanitra and Tylil. They are 12 and 11.

I absolutely loved General Conference! It was soo awesome and probably my favorite one of the recent ones. I loved the talks by Elder Eyring in the Saturday morning session about the Law of Consecration and service and also the talks of Dallin H. Oaks and Richard G. Scott about marriage. Made me think a lot about what I should prioritize in my life as well as what I should work to become and change in my own life. Conference was definitely good. What did you think of the speakers? Any stand out to you?

Well I hope all is continuing to be well with you! I miss you and I love you so much little sister! Take care of the family and good lots of good while you are home. E-mail me back soon and I will talk to you then! Keep up the good work and be safe and tell everyone that I miss them and love them! I will talk to you again soon!

Love always,
Your big brother Elder Derrick Joseph Castro

March 30, 2011

Hey mom!

Great to hear from you this week! Wow, you guys were really busy this

past week! You have lots going on in the next few days too. I'm really

excited about conference this weekend! We will be watching in the

church building. I can't wait to hear from many of my favorite

Apostles as well as the Prophet! Conference is always a great and

spiritual time. I love the messages and stories that are always shared

each time. I look forward to take some good notes and really listen to

their counsel. That is so great you will be there with the girls and

even Nicki will attend with you again! That's good. I hope you all

have fun there and I look forward to going with you all again when I'm

back.

This week has been good so far. The weather is just crazy here and

it's just off and on rain. It's even supposed to snow this weekend! I

got sick from melt companion. It hailed a couple of days ago so he got

sick and I think he passed it onto me now. I'm doing my best to get

better. Hopefully I won't be sick for a long time. I'm not feeling too

well but at least today I will be able to rest up.

Our transfers happened again this week. Nothing changed for our

district this time around. Everyone will be staying. It's good though

because this last cycle our district really bonded with eachother so

we're happy that we're all staying for another cycle. Elder Gervacio

went back to ASL which means after Elder Wright goes home this next

cycle I might be going back to ASL. I'm happy to at least be here for

one more cycle. It's definitely been fun here but I'll be happy to go

back to sign language again.

Work continues to be well. We just got back to teaching the Fernandez

family new just found out they aren't married so that will be a hurdle

to overcome before they can be baptized but we think as we continue to

teach them the decision to be married will come more easily. They are

truly a great family and just hope that soon that they will continue

to listen to the spirit and the gospel.

That's cool you got a new phone! Andriod phones are supposed to be

really good. I remember the first one came out right before I left on

my mission. That's good that those phones are getting popular.

Hopefully that will be a good phone for you.

Our mission continues to read the Book of Mormon together. I continue

to love reading the scriptures each and everyday. It's always a good

way to start off your day. It's always great how things just pop up

sometimes and they are totally new. We are truly blessed to have this

book for our time. Lives truly can change through reading this book.

I'm thankful to be in the Lord's service.

I hope your day and week continue to be well. Hope you guys enjoy

conference! Take lots of pictures and send them to me! Look out for

the total of missionaries during the Saturday session! I miss you and

I love you mom! Take care and I will talk to you again next week!

Love always,

Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro

March 23, 2011

Hey mom!

Today I am doing well. We just played basketball today and now doing e-mail. In a little bit my district and I will be going to this Ghana restaurant because Sister Adjei in my district is having her birthday tomorrow so we thought we'd take her to the Ghana restaurant here because she is from Ghana and she has been talking about going there so we will do that after we are done e-mailing. Just been having a pretty relaxed day.

This week we had interviews with President Smith. Mine went well. Lasted almost an hour and we talked a lot about the district and how things are doing. I told him things are great and we are doing well. We are enjoying our district here and the area and ward are great. The way he put it I think we will all be staying here for another cycle which we are all excited about. I talked to him about when I'd be back in the ASL Program and all he said was, "soon." Could be possible after the upcoming cycle that I go back into the ASL program because I think Elder Gervacio might go back this coming cycle. Just doing my best here in Olmstead for the meantime,

We didn't baptize the family yet. But we're still slowly working with them to get them to that point. They are spotty on church attendance and we really want them to come consistently before they are baptized. They are a great family and I know whether it be soon or later they will be great members of the church. I always feel a great spirit whenever we teach them.

Good to hear that things are still the norm over there back at home. Having Branch activites and just always partying with good Filipino food and such. It's great and I miss those kinds of celebrations.

I miss you all there. I hope all continues to be well. I'm sorry if the e-mail is short but we have to hurry home and shower before we head to the restaurant to go and eat. I hope you all stay safe and continue to have a good time back home. No worries about me here. I'm doing fine and I'm doing my best to full serve the Lord and His children here in New York. The weather may be yucky but we get through and we know the Lord will help us through it all. Thanks mom for your e-mail this week. I hope to have more to tell you next week. Stay safe and tell everyone that I love them. I love you and I miss you mom and dad!

Love always,
Your son Elder Derrick Joseph Castro