July 25 Letter from Gardiner, ME

Hello madre!

Woo hoo!  I remembered my camera this time around.  I figure that deserves a self pat on the back.   The family in the pictures are the McInnis family.  He was the ward mission leader in that area.  He is a machine.

I can't wait to get the packages!  This is going to be a good gift, if it takes two packages to send out!  I can hardly wait to receive them.  Thank you so much in advance for sending those.  I appreciate it so much!  I will be sure to have that cheesecake in the freezer when it arrives.  Luckily packages here arrive around 10:00 AM, so I will be there to rapidly move it from the heat to the nice cold freezer..

Speaking of heat, things have been crazy hot here in Maine.  The temperature has been around 100 degrees, plus 70 to 80 percent humidity.  You literally walk outside for a few seconds and then get plastered with sweat.  Some of my shirts have gone through a bit this week, but thankfully they are still holding up.  I bet you could collect the amount of sweat between Elder Gaykowski and I in the gallons!  I hate humidity.  But thankfully we DO have A/C in our apartment.  I would literally cry if we didn't.  Glad I got out of Somersworth when I did, because the A/C unit doesn't work there.   Poor Elder Miller.

Right now we are teaching several people..  All of them are around the age of 30 or so.  From what I have put together from talking with them, I don't see any of them getting baptized any time soon.  But they are amazing people and I know eventually something will happen.  We do have a lady who is getting baptized on the 27th of August.  Her name is Melissa and she is really funny.  We had dinner over at her house with her Husband and kids the past week.  Her husband plays the guitar, so you know I brought up music into the conversations.  He let me play his electric guitar, which was ridiculously fun to play.  Their sons listen to the same kind of music I do, so it was awesome to talk with them about that sort of stuff... 

So Elder Gaykowski and I did talk to President about the Gym.. We talked with him during the zone training this past week and he told us that it was ultimately up to us, but he gave some words of caution.  Apparently gyms are common in our mission, so I think President is going to make an official ruling on whether gyms are OK or not.  I hope they are, because they truthfully and honestly make the day better.  I definitely have more energy throughout the day.  But I can also clearly see the real possibility of a gym being a bad thing.  So we are going to finish out our month membership and see what President has to say about gyms this upcoming transfer.  I hope they are OK to still attend!

Elder Gaykowski said a deep comment the other day in church, he said "I don't necessarily remember everything that my leaders in church have taught me, but I do remember the actions and the way they lived there lives."  I thought that was a great thought.  Action speak louder than words.

Things continue to go really well here in Gardiner.  I found out last week that our bishop owns the subways in this area, and he gives us free subs every Monday for lunch... Guess I am going to subway!!  The only thing better than a subway sub is a FREE subway sub!

I hope you have a great time in Lake Powell.  I figure your on the road right now, so I guess I can say that I am enjoying myself more than y'all..  I love you so much

Elder Novak 

Letter from Elder Novakovich

Things are going great. Even though I am writing this email while standing up, things are fantastic I was transferred, I believe I already mentioned it, to Gardiner, Maine. Yes there is a Walmart. Were about to head out right now in fact!

It's crazy how small of a world it is, but I am serving with a kid who was good friends with the companion I had in the MTC. His name is Elder Gaykowski and he is a legit kid. I served with him in the first district and he and his companion there were awesome. It was nice to once a week get the chance to actually talk with someone. WE both love golf, so I am super excited to go for my birthday.

The ward I am serving in is pretty cool. They have member meals for every night, so not paying for as much food is great. The only thing I will have to do is budget the meals we eat out. This district I am in loves to eat out every week, plus my companion I have now likes to eat out too. But I am not too worried about that. All we really have to buy in this area is milk, bread, and cleaning supplies, and the rest is taken care of. A member here gives the missionaries a couple dozen eggs each week, so that takes cares of a lot of lunches. Needless to say, we are doing good in regards to food..

As for missionary work, this area is as "gun-ho" as my last area and it's a great ward. I am excited to be in this area. Both my companion and I get along extremely well, so it's going to be a blast.

Gardiner Maine has a beautiful river that runs through the town, and I will be sure to take some pictures of it. I am going to have a lot of legit pictures to take. I will be sure to get the sundown on the river one night. I will be sure to send some next email.

I am happy to hear that all is going well back on the home front. It's good to hear that things are going great. Hopefully Tyson enjoys the obscene heat that is going around the country. It has been hot and sticky here! Holy cow, it has been nuts.

I love you and thank you so much for everything you do for me! I truly appreciate it so much!

Transfered to Gardiner, ME

Elder Novakovich was transferred to Gardiner, ME.  His new address:

35 Neal Street Apt B
Gardiner, ME 04345

More from Somersworth

Holy crap.......  What an eventful Father's day.   I don't even know what to say.   I am so glad that things worked out.  I can't believe that happened.  I'm sorry.  You are in a surgery room wayyyy too often.  Is the post recovery ok?  I imagine you would get the day off for work?  I love you so much.   I am so happy that things worked out. 

Umm...from the sounds of it, things are much less "eventful" over here in New Hampshire.  It's hard to compare.  This week we had some solid referrals from members.  This Thursday we are teaching a family of seven who called our bishop and warned him that he should be expecting seven new members to the area.  So we have the opportunity to teach them.  I am really excited to be able to be part of that.   We also have another lady who we are going to teach that will be having dinner with us at a members home.  So lots of good things are going to happen this coming week. 

Things in my new area are going great.  We are seeing some miracles taking place that I can't believe are happening.  We stopped by a non-active member, who hasn't been to church or anything in 15 years on Saturday, and saw him playing basketball in his front yard.  So we said can we play some 21 and he agreed to play with us.  So we played with him, got to know him a little more, and then we went into his house to cool down and drink some soda pop (perfect treat for a post workout).  When we got done talking with him, he agreed that would come to church.  I really wasn't sure if he would, but he showed up as he said he was going to.  After sacrament meeting, Elder Miller and I introduced him to our bishop and during the conversation, he mentioned how his wife (non-member) was going to change up her Sunday work schedule if possible to start coming to church.  If that wasn't enough, he also said that his sons (non-members) and daughters (non-members) said they wanted to start coming to church.  I could hardly believe it.  A member inactive of 15 years shows up and starts saying all of this. Gotta love basketball.

  

I am glad Dad enjoyed the hat.  I didn't know if the hat was too "bling-bling."  But I am glad that he likes it though.  The maple syrup was from a member in Vermont.  Believe it or not, that little container of syrup runs around $20 or so.  It takes around 40 gallons of maple sap to make a single gallon of maple syrup.  Hence, the extreme prices for the maple syrup.  To be perfectly honest, I still like Mrs. Buttersworth more than the "real" stuff.  But I will never admit that to a New Englander.  They would lynch me for sure.  

  

Things are going well out here.  Besides what I asked for in my package, the important one already being fulfilled, I have nothing really to ask for.  The members take care of us pretty well.  Both of us are getting really comfortable with the area and seem to have a good grasp on our role in the work in this area.  The members have an amazing splits idea they set up every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday where they have a couple of members go on splits with us to visit in-actives.  I have never seen that in a ward before.  It's a great idea. 

Well hopefully everything will work out with Mom.  I will keep a special prayer in my heart for her and the family.  I love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers.  I haven't said this, but I pray every single night that the family will be watched over.  I love you all so much. 

  

Elder Novakovich

First Letter from Somersworth

Sorry I wasn't able to email last week.  Since it was a holiday, the College was closed down and we were not able to answer emails at all.  But it was a good P-Day though. We had the chance to play basketball with the bishop and other youth members in the ward.  It was awesome. 

I really like this new area.  The members are unreal.  We have a ward that is wholly invested in missionary work.  We have member meals every night, and the ward mission leader has it set up that we go on splits with certain members every Tues, Wed, and Thurs night from 6-8.  It's nice not having to worry what to do in the evening.  The Ward mission leader here is quite great.   He was a life saver this week because both my companion and I were put into this area fresh.  They shot-gunned the area and without his help, we would of been running around blind for quite some time. 

My companions name is Elder Miller.  He is a good guy.  He plays basketball, which is very good news.  I plan on balling it hard this upcoming transfer. 

The area I live in is considered the older part of Somersworth. I might have been scared in this type of neighborhood before my mission, but it’s cool though, because the kids they all like the missionaries here.  They call us the "church boys" What a nice title.  We got invited by one of the families on our street to go to a big barbeque they were having right before the husband heads to San Diego for work.  They are a Catholic family, but they feed the missionaries and provide support for them whenever we need any.  I couldn't have asked for a better area.  Even non-members hook us up.

I have had to step up my workout intensity now.  We get fed every single night, with leftovers for the following day. I can't complain with that at all.  I bought a perfect pushup thingy and it has been kicking my butt.  Perfect pushups are hard!  I never would have imagined struggling to complete a series of pushups.  

Love,

Elder Novakovich

Zone Conference - Sharon Vermont

Talk about a cool place to hold Zone Conference.  A couple of weeks ago Elder Novakovich participated in Zone Conference which was held in Sharon, Vermont at the Joseph Smith Memorial.

Pictures from Johnson, VT