Hey! From Portales, New Mexico

Dear Dad & Mom and Family;

Well it has been awhile since I have wrote. I am sorry about that. I will work on that. I am really getting bad with the letter writing. I don't think anyone has gotten a letter from me in awhile. I have a stack of letters just sitting on my desk. I hope I get those people wrote back before the next year is over. Lol! Things are going great here in Portales. Mom, you were saying that it looks like it is a farming community. Well it is. There is a lot of farming here. I love it. It makes me feel at home. We have gone out and done some work on some members farms. It has been a blast. It was pretty funny watching my comp try and get the eggs from all the chickens, I was rolling on the ground laughing. Watching him around all the goats, cows and horses. He kind of gets freaked out. We are getting along pretty good. We have had a few scuffs but who hasn't! I think I can tell you that I am not ready to get married right when I get back. I think I may need a little freedom, this 24/7 stuff is kind of tough sometimes.
Guess What? We had one of the members take us home the other night. He wanted to see the house we live in. Well, we have a cellar under our house and he wanted to see it and so he went under there with a flash light. Well, as soon as he went under there he looked up and saw a whole bunch of black widows and a whole bunch of egg's too. So our house has them everywhere, under the house and you know me, I hate spiders so much. I started to freak out and my comp was freaking out too. I don't think I got more than an hour of sleep that night. LOL. It was bad.
Dang, I can't believe I am past my year mark. That's so crazy. This last year is going to fly by. We are going to get a new mission President here in about 3 months. I am sad but excited at the same time. I guess I have mixed emotions about it. So everyone keeps telling me that Portales is the place to be or in other words, The Promised Land. After our meeting last night I am starting to believe that. We are teaching this lady named Salina, her daughter Destiny, and her 4 boys. Jonny, Elisha, Clay, Micha. Then we also teach Destiny's boyfriend Cody. We were at their house last night teaching them the Restoration. At first they were somewhat into the lesson. Then we got to the Joseph Smith part and all the kids started getting closer to us. They were all leaning in so they could hear better. The circle of the little family got really tight. The spirit was so strong. Like you could grab your arm and slide it down your arm and wipe the spirit right off your arm. Weird analogy! Lol I don't know how else to describe it. It was so awesome! I told them the First Vision and I bore my testimony after and I started to tear up. It was so amazing. I loved it. We set a date with all 7 of them for April 10th. So pray that it will go through. We also set a date with this guy for April 3rd but he told us yesterday that he was good where he was at. I felt that when we set the date with him that it wasn't going to go through. That is ok! He is a great guy and it is his decision, we are here to share the message. We planted a seed and he was very grateful. The ward here is very missionary minded. They love to go out with us and they love to feed the missionaries. I hope I don't get fat before I leave here. Lol! Actually I have lost weight since I am back on a bike and using the tower 200. That thing works great and I get up early and exercise in the morning. Anyway, this ward kind of reminds me of home. Everyone is related and they are a strong ward. I just love it here.
So I hear that Taylor and Laurin and Rex will be there for the summer. That is going to be so fun. Where is Taylor working at? Did you say that Laurin is working for Kacie part time also? Wow! Everyone of the kids are going to be so big when I get home. Crazy! Well I had better get. I promise I will do better on my letters. You will get one next week Mom. Promise! Love you all and ya'll all take care!
See Ya'll , from Portales, New Mexico!
Love Elder Eppich