It is a small, small, small world.

Elizabeth (Eldrew's sister) called last night and told me that a friend on Facebook just contacted her. Her friend also studied dance at BYU while Elizabeth was at BYU. She told Elizabeth that she and her husband had the missionaries over for a meal...and one of the missionaries was our very own Elder Bellomy! And, they had nice things to say about Andrew:

Well, we just love your brother. He seems to be doing great! He's always happy and full of lots to say. He's an awesome missionary, too. You can tell that he's out here for a purpose.

I know that is not a lot of news...but it is good to hear of someone else's take on Elder Bellomy and how he is doing. It is good to know that he is getting fed and people are being kind to he and his companion. It is also very interesting just how small a world it is that a former classmate of Elizabeth ends up hosting Eldrew at their home.

We got a long, long letter from Eldrew today. He is happy. We are still digesting it and will post a weekly update in the next couple of days.

Hello to the "801" from the 281.

Houston Texas South Mission: Weekly update:

Or, should I say semi-weekly update. Sorry to have skipped a week. Eldrew’s letter last week was short and not very newsy. I think he was having a dip in excitement from his arrival.

Eldrew is funny. He complains every week that he does not get enough news from us. So this week we wrote a MONSTER email. It was 1,998 words long. His reply that arrived this morning was all of 435 words. I guess Eldrew has no concept of reciprocity. But, we don’t really care. We are happy to hear from him and know that he is okay.

Here are the highlights from this week’s report.

His salutation: “To the 801.” (That’s us in the Utah area code of ‘801’)

The Bike: We bought him a used bike through the mission. We asked how it was doing. Eldrew replied that he mostly drives in a car and only rides every few days when they ‘want to OYM (open your mouth). I can only imagine that has something to do with getting a workout.

The work: Going slow, but they feel like they are seeing results. He believes that he and Elder Rios’ diligence and obedience are paying off.

Testimony: Eldrew’s love and faith in the Gospel are growing every day. He knows the Book of Mormon is the word of God. As he puts it is…”to legit to quit…believing in..ha ha.”

His area and the people: He loves the area and the people. He really enjoys all the different kinds of people he is meeting. He is getting into the swing of it so he is better at talking to people. The better he gets, the more people are opening up. He is learning that a big part of being a good missionary is being personable. (I think he is learning to be himself, and have fun talking to people in a genuine way.)

His testimony: I won’t share the specifics…but it is getting stronger and more articulate every week. I can feel his conviction as he speaks. He is really starting to understand the scope of the Gospel message.

He finishes with some comments to each member of the family and (dare I say this) teases his girlfriend for having the Swine Flu.
The sign off: With Love...the real kind, Elder Bellomy.

(One last note...I'm sure that Eldrew would love to hear from everyone who visits the blog. If it has been a week or two since you've written, drop him a note. If you haven't written him yet...send him a nice long letter. He'll love it!)

Mail call: Photo and letter from President and Sister Saylin.

We got a nice letter from President and Sister Salylin (Elder Bellomy's mission president and wife) today. The letter was letting us know that Eldrew has arrived safely, is in good health, and is with his mission companion in the field. They also provided his missionary apartment address. They enclosed the photo above. It was taken the same night as the group photo that was email and posted before.

I think they sent the letter just in case their original email had not arrived...or if Eldrew hadn't bothered to write and keep us updated on his status. They said some wonderful things about our missionary. It was great to get the letter and the photo. We love to get any news. Many thanks to them.

Susan has some sort of supernatural power of discernment. She can tell by simply looking at the photo that Eldrew is genuinely happy...not just smiling because he is posing for a photo.

She's usually scary good with that Mommy Radar thing...so I trust her instincts.

In da hood! (Maple-hood.)

Texas Houston South Mission: Weekly update from Elder Bellomy.
Andrew is doing GREAT! If you know Andrew from his pre-mission days, you know that he is wise-cracker. (He was voted the funniest person in Viewmont High School his senior year.) His humor is a barometer of how he is feeling. Susan and I each read his email this week separate from each other. I asked Susan later how she thought Eldrew was doing…and she replied “Great!” I agreed. We both recognized the dead giveaway being that Eldrew’s trade-mark humor was back — in full force.

Door approaches:
I figure that I knocked on about 25,000 doors on my mission. Eldrew is just getting started and he feels like he is doing well.

"The work is going well and I am getting better at door approaches...I don't feel the extreme anxiety I did the first week each time I knock on a door...soooooo I think that's a good thing."

Funny, strange stuff:
Eldrew had a few experiences this week he found to be “very odd” and that he thought we might like to hear about.

“1. We delivered a Book of Mormon to this one individual and when he invited us into his room there was creepy writing all over the wall and the room was dim and he was really quiet and jumpy. I was thinking, "I hope I live to tell about this" ha ha ha but It all worked out, we taught the first lesson and lived to talk about it. (he hasn't called us back for lesson 2 though)

2. I was told to, "get out da 'hood"... apparently I'm in 'da hood'. Elder Rios told me this area is called Maplehood. (Kim’s note: The area is actually named ‘Maplewood.”) I take great delight in knowing that my mission won't only prepare me for the future by establishing good study habits and work ethic but it is also giving me gangster status that will ultimately help move my rap career along. ha ha

3. I talk to my drunken neighbor at nights and he rambles all the time. He said when he looks at Elder Rios and I he sees God. He's a good guy though, he can't read or write BUT he loves God. "And that's it brother, you gotta love big Daddy." (As he would say)

Mail news:
As mentioned in a previous post, the goof with the Zip Code may be slowing down the mail. Here is his sardonic comment about the empty mailbox:

"I hope all is well in C ville? I better be getting some mail this week...Elder Rios and I check it every night and I think he's astonished at the dramatic cynicism I've developed towards the mail. "that mail box is just a dark cube of failed dreams and false hopes."

 I sent Eldrew a hard copy of the blog so far…he seemed to like it. He also thinks that Elder Rios was cool with being an ‘internet celebrity.”

Miracle!
Miracles do occur on missions. For example, Eldrew now actually pays attention at General Conference…and enjoys it. I passed out at the following comments.

"Conference is about 100 times better while you're on your mission...Personal revelation was exploding while I was taking notes. Elder Holland got a vocal approval from all the missionaries around me...and I must admit, I was pumped up as well. Who dares deny this book of God. Elder Holland's my boy...we're now listening to all his past conference talks...he's the bees knees. All the talks were great though, and Elder Bednar's talk (which will surely be quoted) did bring me some guilt however...I wasn't always as 'diligent and concerned at home' as I could have been and as an official show of my repentance I would like to say I love you all and tell you all that I know that God lives. That I've felt his spirit testify of his Prophet's validity. The heavens are open and God speaks today. Joseph Smith saw God and His son and as a result our souls need not hunger. We can feast on the words of Christ and I know that word is the Book of Mormon. This is His ordained church and I promise you as you abide by commandments both modern and old and establish a firm faith in Jesus Christ we will find happiness now and salvation in the world to come. I know this because I've felt its truth and I feel it's truth. My stomach burns when I exclaim His Glorious message. I bear you this testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Gaining weight.
Eldrew describes his mission diet plan…

"I'm still getting fat even though I'm on the "a lot at dinner diet". I invented that diet....you can't turn down food at dinner appointments so the only meals I can control are breakfast and lunch so I eat sparingly then and pig out at dinner ha ha"

As you can see, he is upbeat and seems to be devoting himself in the work. Thanks for all those who are supporting Elder Bellomy with their prayers and good wishes.

Address correction.

In his email yesterday, Eldrew reports, "Elder Rios and I check it [the mailbox] every night and I think he's astonished at the dramatic cynicism I've developed towards the mail. "that mail box is just a dark cube of failed dreams and false hopes."

We have had some reports that mail is being returned. We confirmed last night that the zip code on the address that Eldrew gave us is incorrect. Here is the correct address:

Elder Andrew Bellomy
12945 South Post Oak # 165
Houston, TX 77045

We need to work on curing Eldrew's mailbox cynicism. Please send him a note or a card.

If you are interested in understanding where Elder Bellomy is serving in the greater Houston area, here is a Google map. (You can turn off the address bubble)

View Larger Map

Welcoming the world to ElderBellomy.com

It is hard to believe that Eldrew has been on his mission for over a month. If the rest of his mission goes as fast as this past month…he’ll be home before we know it!

To mark the one month mark, I’d like to engage in a little geek analytics – Google analytics – to be exact. This website has been set up so we get an sense of where our anonymous traffic comes from. We don’t know who anyone is, but we are having a little fun knowing what states and countries visits come from. Here are a few trivia points about ElderBellomy.com:

Total visits: 322

USA visitors: They come from 27 states: Utah, Texas, New Jersey, Iowa, Tennessee, Washington, Idaho, Maryland, Colorado, Arizona, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Montana, Nevada, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, Ohio, Oklahoma, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Kansas, Maine

International visitors: They have come from ten countries: USA, United Kingdom, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Brazil, New Zealand, India, and Australia

Make up of visitors: 43% find us through links from other websites. (Thanks webmasters) 36% visit from typing in ElderBellomy.com. 21% find us from doing a search on Google, Yahoo, or Bing.

Search rank: As of right now, ElderBellomy.com is ranked as the #3 website on Google for “Texas Houston South Mission” searches

Don’t worry, we have no idea who is visiting this site. Its just fun knowing that people all across America and around the world are learning about Elder Bellomy’s mission.

Last thing...we got a long newsy email from Eldrew today. I will update what he has to say in an upcoming post. For now, I will share words of wisdom from Elders Bellomy's and Rios' next door neighbor:

"I talk to my drunk neighbor at nights and he rambles all the time. He said when he looks at Elder Rios and I he sees God. He's a good guy though, he can't read or write BUT he loves God. "And that's it brother, you gotta love big Daddy." (as he would say)"

More to come....