Oh yeah! You betcha.

Dear Friends,

Of course that Olive Garden deal is not in my budget, and if you try to send me money, I'm going to save it for an iPad.  But I appreciate your thoughtfulness.  Okay, story time.  I'm starving myself for the time being because I got the worst news ever.  Our investigator told us that her friend thought she was meeting with us just because we have big butts.  My fat fanny is definitely my greatest insecurity.  It was game over from there.  So, anorexia is my new lifestyle after today because we're going to this Brazilian steakhouse for dinner called Brazeiro's or whatever.  Apparently it's the place to be and it costs like 50 bucks a person.  It's all about the hookups with us missionaries...

Yeah, I don't really think I look like Joseph Gordon Leavitt at all, but my companion is convinced.  Whatever.  I'm kinda liking the brown too, but I'm not going to keep buying hair day or anything.

Oh yeah, we totally have a car.  I need to get my bike fixed because... well it's a good thing to have.  But it's tough.

Also, we're doing P90X now as our workout routine (I don't remember if I had mentioned that).  The mission president approved it for our exercise time.  I'm about to kill myself with not eating and doing P90X.  Total body transformation.  Haha, it's going to be crazy/

OMGosh the griddle is the coolest thing ever.  I use it all the time.  I don't know why we even have a stove anymore.  Breakfast burritos, pancakes, Mcgriddles... the possibilities are endless.  I highly recommend it if you can get a good deal.  I still am out of luck with a waffle maker though...  can't do those with the griddle.

Well, Eva still hasn't gotten her private church tour.  But she's in the capable hands of the English elders now.  So whatever.  Yeah, the branch attendance is horrible (<--- that's a Spanish word), but membership isn't really that high either.  The branch directory is only like 2 pages.

Well, I haven't always gotten along with all my companions either, but they're all great.  I love 'em.

No, I don't believe that it is encouraged for us to go to other churches, but that's what other elders have said to me and I'm kinda like "false doctrine."  What I'm saying is, I don't think it's either encouraged or discouraged, but if you ask me, it's a waste of time.  You hit the nail on the head though, I've been thinking the same thing, are we sometimes guilty of not mentioning Christ as often as we should, really, His Atonement is the center of it all.  I will quote Joseph Smith in summarizing our beliefs, forgive if I mess up, but he says:

"The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that he died, was buried, and rose again on the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it."  -- Joseph Smith

That kinda puts it all in perspective for me when I read/remember that quote.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  I shouldn't laugh at those things, but yeah.  "YOLO sounded so good nine months ago" is hilarious.

Oh yeah, transfers is this week, but Elder Henriquez and I are staying together.  He's going to be a district leader though.  He's so power hungry.... JK.

Doug, you're the funniest.  I forget that not everyone has had the pleasure of viewing the majesty that is the world's largest buffalo in North Dakota.  What an eye-opening experience for you.  Ah yes, the Soviet plot to assemble an dimensionally superior buffalo... one of the darker spots on our failed diplomacy with the communists in history.  For those of you that are unaware, the following is an excerpt from the informative reply that my brother-in-law sent me:

"Fun buffalo fact, the Soviet Union once sent a letter to the Jamestown chamber of commerce asking for the dimensions of the world’s largest buffalo. The Jamestown chamber of commerce decided against sending the dimensions to the soviets fearing a communist plot to build a bigger buffalo, however the closely guarded dimensions can still be found on the plaque in front of the buffalo. Moral of the story, sometimes a letter just doesn’t cut it and you need to suck it up and visit."

I was indeed also aware that "Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo that buffalo Buffalo buffalo" is a grammatically correct sentence. Another fun fact Douglas, you don't even need the 'that' in the sentence. The sentence "Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" is also just as grammatically correct. Icebreaker!? Can you say Icemelter!!!? (<--rhetorical question). Thanks for the educational reminder for all of us. If you weren't already aware people, Buffalo buffalo are a real issue in the world of rambunctious wildlife....

Life is definitely at a snower pace in North Dakota (hahaha, see what I did there?).  That's for sure.

BTW Fawn and Doug: Happy Anniversary!  Aren't I so thoughtful?

I can't wait for next weeks email.  They really are riveting.  Thank you.  I love 'em.

The picture that I've attached is a puppy road block that we ran into while driving through a neighborhood.  My cute-O-meter was running off the charts and I really wanted to grab a couple of them and take them home.  But we know how the pet situation works out at our apartment...

Well, this past week we had zone conference and it was awesome.  It was all about the Book of Mormon and how we can better utilize it as the converting tool that it is in our proselyting.  Read the Book of Mormon.  If you've already done it, read it again.  It truly testifies that Jesus is the Christ and will help all of us grow closer to him as our Savior and Redeemer.  I know that these things are true.

Okay, I suppose that's about it.  I can't think of anything else.  I love you all and miss you so much.  Have a great week.

Love,
Elder Grabinger