"Can You Imagine Me A Year Ago?"

You may remember that we did a post all about Eldrew's hair and how he has totally gotten over his obsession with perfect hair styling. (A parting of the ways) Well, Eldrew came to that realization on his own this week. In fact, the title of the post comes directly from Elder Bellomy's letter home this week. (More on that below.)

The letter home this week was back to the short variety. Susan thought that it would be a great idea to make the family letter all about announcing Preston's birth to his missionary uncle. No questions, just baby news. Eldrew responded with about as short an email as he could.

One of the things I admire about Eldrew is that he is obeying the mission rules. We weren't sure if he was allowed to view sites on Preparation Days at the library...but we included the professional baby photo site that has Preston's hospital photos.

(You can see the photos yourself until August 9, 2010. Click on this link: Bella Baby Website The password is: 0622PRESTONHANSEN.)

True of heart, Eldrew told us that he could not visit the site because it was against the rules. He asked us to send the photos seperately and that he'd want to see them.

We were able to send him this photo that he could see:

"Can You Imagine Me A Year Ago?"

Here is the one story that he did share from this week:

I will tell you a funny story. I call it, "Can You Imagine Me A Year Ago?"

Last preparation day I needed a hair cut. We went to the laundry mat and put our laundry in then set out for a barber shop or a hair salon. For some reason all the good ones were closed...so we succumb to "$3.99 Happy Cuts" in a strip mall more ghetto than anything in Rose Park. Ha, ha.

We sat down in the lobby and waited for the one hair stylist to finish. She was Vietnamese. Elder Zhang whispered to me, "I don't think she speaks English..." and I replied, "If she doesn't speak English, I'm not getting my hair cut here. " After a few minutes she was ready to cut my hair..."You wan hear cuah?" (misspelling intentional) I asked, "do you speak English" She was confident, "Yes." ....she lied.

I asked for a 4 on the sides, she gave me a 2 because..."4 too long!!" It was terrible...but I didn't care. It was weird, I parted my hair when I got home and did the best with it I could and I really didn't care in the end.

It left me saying...can you imagine me a year ago?

Three thoughts came to me regarding this "hairi kari:"

1. Elder Bellomy really has gotten to a place where he doesn't care about his hair.

2. I laughed at the notion of him doing his best to part this bad, short hair cut.

3. If the salon is named "$3.99 Happy Cuts" you are going to get a terrible haircut even if they speak King's English!

More next week!

Asked. And, Answered.

Every LDS missionary has a different letter writing profile. Some send long, detailed emails home every week. Others, you are lucky to get a paragraph or two. Eldrew falls on the few-paragraph end of the scale. When we mention this to other missionary parents, we ususally get a, "Oh-our-missionary-sends-wonderful-long-letters-full-of-details-home-every-week" sorts of responses.

Even though Eldrew's letters are short -- they are regular. Every week. And, we love knowing that he is alive and doing well. Even from a paragraph we can get a sense of his happy...stressed...tired...focused...excited...spirit.

But, I think we have broken the code for getting longer letters. We have taken to asking him the things we'd like to know about him and what he is doing. The result are markedly longer letters. The last couple of weeks he has taken the time to answer some of our questions. Here (in paraphrased form) are some of the questions and answers from the last two weeks:

Q: What are the missionaries in the zone like?
A: They are good missionaries. We have very obedient missionaries in out mission... our biggest struggle is the occasional elder that doesn't get out of bed until 7...so it's really good for us. There are some struggling areas but thus is life...I don't really know how to answer that question without taking a few pages ha ha

Q: How many zones are there in the mission?
A: There are 7 zones.

Q: How many English speaking zones?
A: 4 English, 1 bi-lingual and 2 all-Spanish.

Q: Do you spend a lot of time with individual companionships or elders?
A: We spend about more time with individual elders. We switch areas for a day and teach them by example...we apply the trainings, do everything right and inspire them... this week I took a brand new missionary out into our area...he'd been out for 3 weeks...we found 3 new investigators they all accepted baptism on specific dates and all our lessons were with a member present.

Q: By the way...how many missionaries in your mission?
A: There are about 140 missionaries so about 70 companionships. I think it's about 60% English[-speaking] and 40% Spanish[-speaking].

Q:What was the $85 bike shop charge on your account? Any problems with the bike?
A: I snapped my axis and I popped my tire so I had to get it fixed. Funny story...one day in my last area...I don't know if I've told this story. We were riding and nothing was going through all our appointments weren't there and I just looked up into the sky at the clouds and said...Heavenly Father, help me to have patience... then about 10 minutes later and hit a big nail and my tire went completely flat in about 8 seconds. I guess the only way to grow patience is to have your patience tested. Ha, ha.

Q: Does Elder Zhang (Eldrew’s new missionary companion from mainland China) speak English well?
A: Yes, he has great English. He has a very big accent but he knows the English language well.

Q: Is Elder Zhang a convert to the LDS Church?
A: Yes. He was an atheist all his life until 16 when he was invited to a cottage/baptismal meeting in his home town and after 4 hours of hearing the lessons and feeling the spirit, he got baptized. He hadn't ever prayed about the Book of Mormon, talked to his parents about it, he just knows it was right. He then converted is mom and after a year of reading the Book of Mormon with his dad, he got to baptize him. Their branch meets in his home and Sunday School is in his room. The branch is made up mostly of his family members.

Q: Where in China is Elder Zhang from?
A: I can't pronounce it. But, it's in central China. He is one of 100 missionaries in the world from mainland China...when he left one of the first 30 missionaries from his country.

Q: Tell us all about your new area.
A: It is very diverse. There is about every culture and religion here. In about 95% of the lessons I am the only Caucasian person participating. The major ethnic group is people from Africa — Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana. It's crazy. Right now we are teaching a Muslim. She had a dream the night we taught her where she was in the middle of a war and she was screaming, "Jesus Save me!" She was very confused because he doesn't believe he can...but she is slowly understanding why he is necessary as a mediator and feeling the spirit as she reads and prays

Q: What is the Ward like?
A: It's small and nice. The people love the missionaries

Q: How many missionaries in the zone you are in?
A: There are 16 Elders and 4 sisters.

Q: What areas does the zone cover?
A: Memorial, Alief, Richmond, Rosenburg and...well...the entire Houston area, including all 3 missions. We have the Vietnamese Missionaries and they cover that area. It’s called the Breaburn District. Bry Lines served in this branch when he was in Houston. If you ask him he was in the Richmond Zone.

Q: How many districts in the Zone?
A: There are 4 districts: Memorial, Alief, Richmond and Breaburn.

Q: What sorts of things do you do as a Zone Leader?
A:  Hmmmm…plan, pray, and get ulcers over struggling areas, ha ha. We help, lift and inspire the missionaries. We also do exchanges, calls, leading by examples, zone meetings, etc.

Q: How many splits (Missionary team-ups with members of the congregation)
A:  About 2 a week.

Q: Do you have a car?
A: Yes, a 2009 Malibu... V6!!!!

Q: What is it like to have a foreign missionary for a companion?
A: Interesting. He's been Americanized but he's hilarious. Some of the phrases he says make me laugh so hard.

Q: Do you like Elder Zhang?
A: Yes.

Q: I there anything we can do to help Elder Zhang?
A: He goes home in a month so, I don't think so

Q: How is the weather? Very hot, not a lot of rain yet.
A: Is it getting hot yet? Yes...see above

Q: What is your apartment like?
A: It's very big and clean. Zone leaders have to have clean apartments. We had bed bugs for a bit last week though...we killed them all though with some bug stuff....stupid buggers bit up my legs! Ha, ha.

Other letter-home items:
So, I had my first zone meeting this week...I conducted it and gave the training. I was really nervous...Elder Zhang said you could tell I was freaked out (ha ha) I will get better over time.

PS...If you could send some E.F.Y. CDs that would be great (‘E.F.Y.’ means especially for youth) It's approved listening and I need something other than Boremon Tabernacle Choir. Ha, ha. Send it to the mission home...Please?
I'm excited for pictures of Preston. I've been praying for him every night.

Phew, these weeks feel so long in retrospect but so short while living them. ha ha So many things.

------

That about covers the latest news from Houston. We will update the next time we hear from Eldrew.

Uncle Elder!

We just wanted to post a quick announcement. Elder Bellomy is a first-time uncle! His sister Elizabeth and her husband Spencer welcomed Preston Spencer Hansen into the world today. Here is a rather out-of-focus photo of the new addition and parents. (I wonder why they wouldn't let me use a flash?)

Little Preston's birth was something of a surprise. Elizabeth has been under constant observation due to the breech position of the baby and low ambiotic fluids. Tests today showed dangerously low levels of fluid. The doctor ordered that Preston be born today by C-section. Elizabeth was admitted and in surgery within hours. There were concerns that low fluid levels are an indicator of kidney problems. No worries. He is perfectly healthy and Elizabeth is doing well.

As Susan and I prayed before driving to the hospital to await news of the surgery, I was overwelmed at the fact that at the moment that we were praying, Preston was still with our Heavenly Parents and getting ready to come to this earth to begin this part of his eternal journey. To us, Preston is a son of God. He has come to this earth to learn faith, follow the Savior, and to become a part of our eternal family.

In many ways, Preston is what Eldrew's mission is all about. He is teaching other children of God that they are the sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father, that Jesus is the Christ and their Savior, and that by following the Plan of Salvation they can have eternal life and eternal families.

We miss Eldrew. It is a big family event to miss. However, we are so proud and happy that he is on his mission serving his Father in Heaven.

Congrats to Preston and his parents Elizabeth and Spencer. Congrats to Uncle Andrew for his faith in serving his mission. He will be one of many faithful missionary examples to his nephew!

Welcome home Elder Rios. Thanks for serving a great mission.

Elder Ryan Rios was Elder Bellomy’s first missionary companion in Houston. On June 1, he honorably finished his mission and has returned home to friends and family in Highland, Utah.

This weekend we had the privilege of being in the congregation when Elder Rios spoke to his home ward for the first time in two years. (A ‘ward’ is the Latter Day Saint equivalent of a parish.)

Every missionary has a ‘trainer’ who is the person who shows the ‘greenie’ the ropes and teaches him what he needs to know to be a great missionary. Mission presidents typically choose only the finest Elders to train new missionaries. As far as we are concerned, Elder Bellomy got the best trainer he could possibly have. Eldrew loved his time with Elder Rios. We can honestly say that Elder Rios set Elder Bellomy on the path to be the happy, hard-working missionary he is today.

Elder Rios gave a great sermon. He shared some wonderful stories. He is a confident, articulate young man. He bore a strong, spirit-born testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We enjoyed being the congregation with his family, friends, and ward members.

We are sure that one of the reasons that Elder Rios is such a great missionary is that he has great parents. When Eldrew arrived in Houston, we got a call from his father introducing himself to us. He told us that he’d arranged for his son to take Eldrew out to a nice restaurant. He and his wife were excited that their son would be companion to our son and that they were praying for Elder Bellomy’s success and well being. The Rios’s have no idea how comforting it was for us that they were rooting for Elder Bellomy and that their son would be our son’s trainer.

After the sacrament meeting, we were invited to visit the Rios' home and participate in a family meal. Relatives from several states had gathered to honor and see their returning missionary. The Rios’ and their family are wonderful people. We traded stories, learned histories, laughed, and got to meet the missionary who served so honorably and trained our Eldrew.

Welcome home Elder Rios. Thanks for serving a great mission.

Welcome world.

I thought it might be a good time to review some of the weblog statistics for ElderBellomy.com.

Since the site went live about ten months ago the site has had:

• 1971 visits
• 768 unique visitors
• 3,166 page views

From within the United States:

• Utah
• Texas
• California
• New York
• Iowa
• New Jersey
• Idaho
• Virginia
• District of Columbia
• Maryland
• Arizona
• Washington
• Oregon
• Georgia
• Tennessee
• Florida
• Ohio
• Massachusetts
• Nevada
• Colorado
• Oklahoma
• Illinois
• Missouri
• Minnesota
• Pennsylvania
• Hawaii
• North Carolina
• Montana
• Michigan
• Kansas
• Louisiana
• South Carolina
• Wyoming
• Maine
• New Mexico
• Indiana
• Alaska
• Wisconsin
• New Hampshire
• Rhode Island
• West Virginia
• Connecticut

If  you know anyone from North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Vermont, or Kentucky...send them a link to this website and invite them to visit!

Internationally, we have had visitors from:

• United States
• United Kingdom
• Canada
• Australia 
• Germany
• Brazil
• Sweden
• Spain
• France
• Italy
• Mexico
• New Zealand
• Poland
• Indonesia
• India
• Japan
• South Africa
• Colombia
• Romania
• Thailand
• Philippines
• Slovenia
• Guatemala
• Slovakia
• Denmark
• Hong Kong
• Turkey
• Dominican Republic
• Netherlands
• Venezuela
• Israel
• Fiji
• Taiwan
• Bulgaria
• United Arab Emirates
• Russia
• Finland
• Luxembourg
• Chile
• Puerto Rico
• Iceland
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Costa Rica

We want to welcome and thank all of our visitors. We hope that you will enjoy the strories of Eldrew's mission.

Best man, from afar.

Elder Bellomy could not be home for Adam and Lindsey's wedding. We missed him. But we were all proud of his willingness to serve. We were touched by his wedding toast to the couple.

A & L,

Congratulations on this great and important day. I know it is the start of great times for each other and for all branches of the family tree. On the brink of such a momentous occasion I can’t help but to think of complementary colors (even though it’s snowy in Utah, it’s not snowing in Texas and the gardens are in full bloom, trust me).

My biggest fear has always been losing Adam. I know, I know…call it a corny thing to say, maybe it’s because I wouldn’t have anyone else to rip style from or maybe it’s because there wouldn’t be someone else to clean the bathroom with me on Saturday mornings…but mostly it’s because Adam has always been my friend. He’s always let me know what is cool, what I should wear, how I should talk, and, unexpectedly, how to be myself. It is a privilege of mine to see Adam become who he needs to be. He’s always been good, but Lindsey…with you, he’s become great. You are his complementary color. You bring out the best in him. I have never seen him so dedicated, so responsible and so concerned for another person…not even me!! (I’m not jealous, don’t worry, I understand).

I’m thankful for you Lindsey for being the one my brother was looking for, I love you. Adam, I love you too. I’ll give you both really big hugs in about 15 months. Ha ha Have a great night, congratulations again.

Mission international.

Transfer!
Big news around here is that Elder Bellomy has been transferred. We are sad that he was with Elder Born for just one month. That is a very short training period for Elder Born. He must be a very good missionary to be ready for his trainer to transfer. Eldrew spoke very highly of Elder Born.

Alief, Texas.
Eldrew has been transferred to an area west of Houston called Alief. You can still send him mail at the mission home. Here is a map showing where Alief is:


View Larger Map

Mission international.
Elder Bellomy is excited that his new area is so diverse. He reports that about 60% of the residents in his area are new in the United States from Africa. 10% are Vietnamese, and 20% are Latino. His companion's name is Elder Zhang (pronounced Jong) and he is from mainland China! We think it is amazing that Elder Bellomy can serve in Houston, Texas and have such an international experience.

Special Experience.
One of the first experiences in his new area was to participate in the baptism of a very special person. Lia is her name. This wonderful lady is paralyzed from the chest down. Eldrew was one of six people who carried her into the waters of baptism on a sheet. As she entered the water, Eldrew says that she had the 'biggest smile' on her face. He was deeply touched at the meaning of the atonement, the gospel, and the opportunity to touch the lives of the people who need and seek the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

New assignment.
An aspect of Eldrew's transfer included a new assignment from the Mission President. Elder Bellomy is now a Zone Leader.

(LDS terminology explanation alert:) A zone leader is an administrative leadership position within an LDS mission. A zone leader is responsible for 3-4 'districts' of missionaries (usually 4-8 missionaries in each district). We have no idea how many missionaries are in the zone Eldrew is in. The zone leader facilitates communication between the Mission President and the members of the zone. He also helps, trains, and motivates the missionaries he serves. The position involves a lot of time travelling around the zone area and spending time with each of the missionaries.

Elder Bellomy reports that he is already spending hours a week doing administrative reports and various meetings. He is also meeting with Bishops and Stake Presidents in his zone. This is a great opportunity to share in many missionaries' experiences. I would expect that he has a car and does a lot of travelling and staying with other missionaries' apartments. He is excited and overwhelmed at this new responsibility. He hopes to serve the missionaries he is working with.

On the lighter side.
Here is a new photo sent by Elder Born's mom. This is from before the transfer. The Elders are showing off their watch tan lines. I don't know why a tan line makes the Elders so tough...(click to enlarge)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

More next week. Until then, God bless you!

The Born Identity.

Introducing Elder Born!
This is a time when I wish I'd kept up with this blog on a more of a regular basis.

Last month, Eldrew wrote home and announced that transfers were in coming and that he would be training a new missionary arriving from the Mission Training Center.

Within a week we welcomed Elder Born into our mission family. We were very excited. I got a chance to call his mom and talk to her when he arrived. It was great to talk to her. Elder Born is from Phoenix, Arizona. Eldrew says that he is an AWeSOME missionary. In fact, Eldrew sees many qualities in Elder Born that he admires and wishes that he could be more like.

The pair have been working hard, teaching, and inviting people to accept the Gospel. Here is a photo of Elder Bellomy and Elder Born after a very heavy rain storm. It's not a great photo...but I remember working hard in rain, snow, and the heat. These are hard working missionaries braving the elements to preach the Gospel. (Click to enlarge)

The Mother's Day Call.
It was great to talk to Eldrew on Mother's Day. We were all prepped by Elder Bellomy. Being the serious missionary he is, he wrote in advance and notified us of the time when we could call him. He announced that he was timing the call with is Mom so that it would least interfere with his missionary work! At the appointed time, we called...and called...and called. No answer. Then after about 20 minutes, the phone rings and its Eldrew chiding us for not calling on time. It turns out that he'd given us the wrong number.

It was great to hear his voice. We did most of the talking...mostly asking him questions about how he is doing and what he is doing. The funny thing is that he kept giving us time checks. The call home is allowed to last 40 minutes. And, that boy was not going to go 30 seconds over.

"You have 35 minutes."

"You have 13 minutes."

"You have six minutes."

"You have one and half minutes."

Gotta love the fact that he is dedicated to follow the mission rules. It was great to get a sense of Andrew. We can tell he is happy because his warped sense of humor was in full force. He was teasing us, bearing his testimony, and generally glowing about his mission. Only six months until Christmas when we get to talk to him again.

The missing man at the wedding.
Last week was Eldrew's brother's wedding. We missed him. I confess that there has not been a moment since Eldrew left that I have wished him home. Last week was the exception. As we celebrated Adam's wedding, I really missed having Eldrew there for the big event. Eldrew wrote a very, touching letter to Adam and Lindsay. When we read the letter at the wedding dinner the night before the wedding, it brought tears to their eyes...it was a very special moment.

Playing dead.
Here is another random photo sent by Eldrew. It is of a possum doing what possums do...playing dead. (Click to enlarge)

The Wiki article on possums (opossum) describes the behavior of this indigenous medium-sized marsupial as:

"When threatened or harmed, they will "play possum", mimicking the appearance and smell of a sick of dead animal. When playing possum, the lips are drawn back, teeth are bared, saliva forms around the mouth, and a foul-smelling odor is secreted from the anal glands. The physiological response is involuntary, rather than a conscious act. Their stiff, curled form can be prodded, turned over, and even carried away. The animal will regain consciousness after a period of minutes or hours and escape."

Later, after this photo was taken, Eldrew reports that the possum had disappeared — resurrected you might say.

Meeting Elder Rios.
Elder Bellomy's first companion is coming home this transfer. We are planning on going to his sacrament service where he will be speaking. It will be great to meet him and his parents. Elder Rio's parents are top notch folks and have been super kind to us and Eldrew. We are looking forward to hearing from Elder Rios.

Transfers.
There are transfers next week. Stay tuned. More news next week.