Looks like Edrew had time to write today. It was a short letter and that's okay with us.
The letter was upbeat, loving, faithful, touching...and highly personal.
He got his Halloween package. (Candy for he and his companion, and an EFY CD.) He was grateful.
He took a few lines to express his love and gratitude to us -- very sweet.
He also apologized that he has not written long, detailed letters.
He quickly shared some of challenges and blessings going on in the mission. The mission is picking up momentum from the last transfer when a number of experienced missionaries and leaders completed their missions and returned home.
Edrew sends his love.
More next week!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Meet Elder Peterson.
No email from Elder Bellomy this week. So, we'd like to introduce you to his companion...
Introducing Elder Peterson.
We were kind of sad yesterday that we hadn't heard from Eldrew...when we received a sweet email from the the Hulet family in Texas. The mail included a photo of Elder Bellomy and his new companion Elder Peterson. (Click image to enlarge.)
Sister Hulet included this kind message about Elder Peterson and Eldrew:
The email was sent to Elder Peterson's parents as well. So, we got the chance to email them and introduce ourselves and exchange emails with them. Double thanks.
Eldrew?
For newcomers, it might be a good time to explain "Eldrew." It is our nickname for Elder Bellomy:
This week, we'd like to introduce you to Alex Boye.
He is a professional musician, and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Interestingly enough, my wife and I had the chance to meet him this week. Susan (Eldrew's mother) directs the marketing and business operations for CenterPoint Legacy Theatre. CenterPoint is a new regional community performing arts center under construction in Centerville, Utah. The theatre is going to be a state-of-the-art performance center with a 540-seat main theatre and a 250-seat black box theatre. You can read about the theatre here: CenterPointTheatre.org. The theatre will be having its grand opening in January, 2011. (Please excuse the shameless plug for the theatre.) Alex was on one of the facility tours last week. That's how we met him.
Pretty cool opportunity. And, he is a very nice guy. Hopefully he will perform at the new theatre.
That's all for now. Stay tuned for more Eldrew news if we get a letter this week.
Introducing Elder Peterson.
We were kind of sad yesterday that we hadn't heard from Eldrew...when we received a sweet email from the the Hulet family in Texas. The mail included a photo of Elder Bellomy and his new companion Elder Peterson. (Click image to enlarge.)
 |
| Elder Peterson (left) Elder Bellomy (right) |
Sister Hulet included this kind message about Elder Peterson and Eldrew:
We have had the lucky opportunity to have your sons at our home. We love the spirit they bring into our home! The last two times they have came, they talked to us about the Holy Ghost and it is so amazing to listen to them. Thank you for sharing them with us. I hope that one day my children can be as awesome of missionaries as they are!The email was as good as hearing from Eldrew himself. Thanks Hulets!
The email was sent to Elder Peterson's parents as well. So, we got the chance to email them and introduce ourselves and exchange emails with them. Double thanks.
Eldrew?
For newcomers, it might be a good time to explain "Eldrew." It is our nickname for Elder Bellomy:
- Elder Andrew Paul Bellomy...
- Elder Andrew Bellomy...
- Elder Andrew...
- Elder Drew...
- Eldrew...
He is a professional musician, and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Interestingly enough, my wife and I had the chance to meet him this week. Susan (Eldrew's mother) directs the marketing and business operations for CenterPoint Legacy Theatre. CenterPoint is a new regional community performing arts center under construction in Centerville, Utah. The theatre is going to be a state-of-the-art performance center with a 540-seat main theatre and a 250-seat black box theatre. You can read about the theatre here: CenterPointTheatre.org. The theatre will be having its grand opening in January, 2011. (Please excuse the shameless plug for the theatre.) Alex was on one of the facility tours last week. That's how we met him.
Pretty cool opportunity. And, he is a very nice guy. Hopefully he will perform at the new theatre.
That's all for now. Stay tuned for more Eldrew news if we get a letter this week.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Sugarland.
This week's email from Eldrew was devoted entirely to answering the family's questions about his new companion, area, and assignment.
For starters, Eldrew is working in a city named Sugarland, Texas. You can read about the area in this Wiki article: Wikipedia: Sugarland, Texas.
Here are summaries of the answers to our questions:
What is the new ward like (demographics, neighborhoods, etc)?
Eldrew seems happy to be there and likes the area and the members. As for what it is like, he reports that the area is fairly affluent with large homes. Most of the people he is meeting are engineers, vice presidents, attorneys, etc. He reports that he is going to gain weight because people are having the missionaries over to dinner almost every night.
What is your companion like?
Elder Bellomy really likes and respects his new companion. He is 23 years old. Eldrew compares Elder Peterson to one of his best friends who is on a mission. He describes him as being a great leader, sober, reverent, and with a strong will. Eldrew confirmed that as a companionship they are the Assistants to the President.
What is his routine like? (Missionary work and assignments)
Eldrew reports that a lot of time the companionship's time is taken up with administrative responsibilities. However, they still set goals to meet all of the standard missionary goals. It is hard, but Elder Bellomy thinks meeting their goals is "doable."
How is the work going in your area?
He reports that it is a little slow...but going. He and his companion don't tract. (Mormon speak: Tracting is what missionaries call visiting door-to-door and handing out LDS tracts (pamphlets) Instead, they go to public places and talk to people on the street. It is more productive than walking around and knocking on doors. They also get 'referrals' from the members of the Church that invite them to dinner.
What is it like to work with President Saylin?
Eldrew had this to say: "He [President Saylin] is an attorney so he likes to hear lots of ideas and then he likes to almost debate the ideas to get a feel for which one is best. So in meetings with just my companion and me he'll ask..."Elder Bellomy, what do you think?" and I'll normally respond... "uhhhh,... ummm... uhhhh...well, I...uhh think..." Ha! That was just the first meeting but now I'm not afraid to give my 2 cents. He told me the first day that he doesn't need or want a yes man. He wants to hear all the opinions."
How is the old zone doing? (With Eldrew moving out and all new district leaders, they have had a complete change of missionary leaders.)
Elderw says: "Yeah...they are all new district leaders but the zone is tearing it up!!! They are doing great... The new Zone Leader is Elder McKinney. I was in his first district. He's one transfer behind me. He was serving as a district leader when I became a zone leader and he is just amazing."
One minor newsie thing.
Elder Jared Peterson's parents (a family Eldrew knows here in hometown Centerville, Utah) asked if they could have Eldrew's email address so their son who is serving in one of the other Houston Missions could write to Eldrew. Eldrew said no emails...just letters. However, he did report that he saw Elder Jared Peterson at the Elder Costa tri-mission meeting..."Ha. I gave Jared a hug at the Elder Costa thing. It was cool."
That is about all the news and reports from Eldrews letter. More next week.
Mormon corner.
For this week, I thought I'd share a video of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing a hymn that makes us think of Eldrew, Our hopes for God's protection over him, and our longing to see him again. Enjoy!
For starters, Eldrew is working in a city named Sugarland, Texas. You can read about the area in this Wiki article: Wikipedia: Sugarland, Texas.
Here are summaries of the answers to our questions:
What is the new ward like (demographics, neighborhoods, etc)?
Eldrew seems happy to be there and likes the area and the members. As for what it is like, he reports that the area is fairly affluent with large homes. Most of the people he is meeting are engineers, vice presidents, attorneys, etc. He reports that he is going to gain weight because people are having the missionaries over to dinner almost every night.
What is your companion like?
Elder Bellomy really likes and respects his new companion. He is 23 years old. Eldrew compares Elder Peterson to one of his best friends who is on a mission. He describes him as being a great leader, sober, reverent, and with a strong will. Eldrew confirmed that as a companionship they are the Assistants to the President.
What is his routine like? (Missionary work and assignments)
Eldrew reports that a lot of time the companionship's time is taken up with administrative responsibilities. However, they still set goals to meet all of the standard missionary goals. It is hard, but Elder Bellomy thinks meeting their goals is "doable."
How is the work going in your area?
He reports that it is a little slow...but going. He and his companion don't tract. (Mormon speak: Tracting is what missionaries call visiting door-to-door and handing out LDS tracts (pamphlets) Instead, they go to public places and talk to people on the street. It is more productive than walking around and knocking on doors. They also get 'referrals' from the members of the Church that invite them to dinner.
What is it like to work with President Saylin?
Eldrew had this to say: "He [President Saylin] is an attorney so he likes to hear lots of ideas and then he likes to almost debate the ideas to get a feel for which one is best. So in meetings with just my companion and me he'll ask..."Elder Bellomy, what do you think?" and I'll normally respond... "uhhhh,... ummm... uhhhh...well, I...uhh think..." Ha! That was just the first meeting but now I'm not afraid to give my 2 cents. He told me the first day that he doesn't need or want a yes man. He wants to hear all the opinions."
How is the old zone doing? (With Eldrew moving out and all new district leaders, they have had a complete change of missionary leaders.)
Elderw says: "Yeah...they are all new district leaders but the zone is tearing it up!!! They are doing great... The new Zone Leader is Elder McKinney. I was in his first district. He's one transfer behind me. He was serving as a district leader when I became a zone leader and he is just amazing."
One minor newsie thing.
Elder Jared Peterson's parents (a family Eldrew knows here in hometown Centerville, Utah) asked if they could have Eldrew's email address so their son who is serving in one of the other Houston Missions could write to Eldrew. Eldrew said no emails...just letters. However, he did report that he saw Elder Jared Peterson at the Elder Costa tri-mission meeting..."Ha. I gave Jared a hug at the Elder Costa thing. It was cool."
That is about all the news and reports from Eldrews letter. More next week.
Mormon corner.
For this week, I thought I'd share a video of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing a hymn that makes us think of Eldrew, Our hopes for God's protection over him, and our longing to see him again. Enjoy!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Transferred
We got our letter from Eldrew today. He starts by telling us that he was transferred last week.
He has been transferred to the SugarLand 1st Ward and is companions with Elder Peterson from Taylorsville, Utah. That is a central Salt Lake Valley city about 20 minutes drive from our house. Eldrew's sister lives almost on the border of Taylorsville on the Murray side of the line. We don't know where Elder Peterson lives, but here is a Google map so you can get a sense of the general location of his hometown.
View Larger Map
Elder Bellomy also has a new assignment. He is going to be one of two administrative assistants to the mission president. Eldrew didn't give too many details as to what the assignment requires. So, I called Greg Whipple who lived a couple of block from us, served in the same mission under President Saylin and happened to have also served as one of his assistants. Elder Whipple, and came home from the Texas Houston South Mission the same day Eldrew arrived. In fact, Eldrew and he greeted each other as they passed in the Houston Air Port.
You may recall our blog about Elder Whipple's homecoming talk which took place in our next-door-neighbor ward — Elder Whipple...Hurricane Ike...FEMA.
So anyways...I called Elder Whipple to get some ideas of what Elder Bellomy might be doing assisting the mission president. He provided some great details. Elder Bellomy is companion to a more senior missionary. Together they have the same assignment. According to Greg, Elder Bellomy and his companion live about ten minutes away from the mission 'home' (the adminstrative office.). They are assigned to a regular missionary area and still do all the same missionary work as before. (Eldrew is excited about this.) They have a added administrative duties and spend about an hour or two in the mission home each day. The Elders assist the mission president with things like setting up conferences, meetings, interviews, assisting zone leaders. Greg confirmed that the companionship will get the chance to travel around the mission with President Salyn to assist in various functions.
Eldrew gave us an example of the sort of thing they do. This week, a visiting General Authority (Mormonspeak: An ecclesiastical leader of the LDS Church that is about equal to a Cardnal in the Catholic Church) visited Houston. Elder Peterson and Bellomy helped arrange and set up a special conference for Elder Costa to speak to the missionaries from all three of the Houston missions. Here is Elder Costa's bio: Claudio Roberto Mendes Costa (For what it is worth, Elder Costa is a terrific and inspiring leader. He came and spoke to the Church in our area last year.)
From what Greg tells us, Eldrew may fill this assignment for a few months or longer.
Eldrew is excited and looking forward to putting his heart into serving. So much so that he let us know that he will no longer have a formal prep day and that we should expect shorter letters from him because he will not have much time to write. We don't care as long as he is happy and doing well in faithful service. Go Eldrew!
Elder Bellomy ended his letter with the following:
Mormon Corner.
As promised, I wanted to occasionally share a few items of general interest about the LDS Church. As you might gather from this blog, Eldrew is spending two very focused years of serving the Lord. Occasionally, we get asked, "what do Mormon missionaries do?"
I found an article that sort of summarizes the daily life and routine of serving an LDS mission.
Life as an LDS Missionary: What LDS Missionaries Do. (By Rachel Bruner, About.com Guide)
This is quite true to what I (Eldrew's Dad) experienced when I was a missionary in New York City back in 1979/81. It is a wonderful time of dedication, focus, and spiritual living.
Well...that's all for this week.
So, last weeks email omitted a large detail of my life. I wasn't going to tell ya'll and let the letter from President Saylin inform you...but...I got transfered.
He has been transferred to the SugarLand 1st Ward and is companions with Elder Peterson from Taylorsville, Utah. That is a central Salt Lake Valley city about 20 minutes drive from our house. Eldrew's sister lives almost on the border of Taylorsville on the Murray side of the line. We don't know where Elder Peterson lives, but here is a Google map so you can get a sense of the general location of his hometown.
View Larger Map
Elder Bellomy also has a new assignment. He is going to be one of two administrative assistants to the mission president. Eldrew didn't give too many details as to what the assignment requires. So, I called Greg Whipple who lived a couple of block from us, served in the same mission under President Saylin and happened to have also served as one of his assistants. Elder Whipple, and came home from the Texas Houston South Mission the same day Eldrew arrived. In fact, Eldrew and he greeted each other as they passed in the Houston Air Port.
You may recall our blog about Elder Whipple's homecoming talk which took place in our next-door-neighbor ward — Elder Whipple...Hurricane Ike...FEMA.
So anyways...I called Elder Whipple to get some ideas of what Elder Bellomy might be doing assisting the mission president. He provided some great details. Elder Bellomy is companion to a more senior missionary. Together they have the same assignment. According to Greg, Elder Bellomy and his companion live about ten minutes away from the mission 'home' (the adminstrative office.). They are assigned to a regular missionary area and still do all the same missionary work as before. (Eldrew is excited about this.) They have a added administrative duties and spend about an hour or two in the mission home each day. The Elders assist the mission president with things like setting up conferences, meetings, interviews, assisting zone leaders. Greg confirmed that the companionship will get the chance to travel around the mission with President Salyn to assist in various functions.
Eldrew gave us an example of the sort of thing they do. This week, a visiting General Authority (Mormonspeak: An ecclesiastical leader of the LDS Church that is about equal to a Cardnal in the Catholic Church) visited Houston. Elder Peterson and Bellomy helped arrange and set up a special conference for Elder Costa to speak to the missionaries from all three of the Houston missions. Here is Elder Costa's bio: Claudio Roberto Mendes Costa (For what it is worth, Elder Costa is a terrific and inspiring leader. He came and spoke to the Church in our area last year.)
From what Greg tells us, Eldrew may fill this assignment for a few months or longer.
Eldrew is excited and looking forward to putting his heart into serving. So much so that he let us know that he will no longer have a formal prep day and that we should expect shorter letters from him because he will not have much time to write. We don't care as long as he is happy and doing well in faithful service. Go Eldrew!
Elder Bellomy ended his letter with the following:
I know that God is real. Jesus Christ is His Son and our Savior. President Thomas S Monson is a prophet and the Book of Mormon is true.
I love ya!
Elder Bellomy
Mormon Corner.
As promised, I wanted to occasionally share a few items of general interest about the LDS Church. As you might gather from this blog, Eldrew is spending two very focused years of serving the Lord. Occasionally, we get asked, "what do Mormon missionaries do?"
I found an article that sort of summarizes the daily life and routine of serving an LDS mission.
Life as an LDS Missionary: What LDS Missionaries Do. (By Rachel Bruner, About.com Guide)
This is quite true to what I (Eldrew's Dad) experienced when I was a missionary in New York City back in 1979/81. It is a wonderful time of dedication, focus, and spiritual living.
Well...that's all for this week.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Shortest. Letter. Yet.
We finally got this week's email from Eldrew. It was four days late and the shortest letter he has written home so far. Here it is:
First, we teased Eldrew in the letter from home this week that his sister Sarah hoped that he didn't get married too soon after his mission because she wanted to hang out with him. Obviously, that got a "Wowzers" reaction. I don't think that Elder Bellomy who is living a monastic life can even comprehend such things.
Eldrew and his companion have an assignment to coordinate the efforts of a group of LDS missionaries known as a 'zone.' The Richmond zone has twenty missionaries divided into four 'districts.' Each district has two or three companionships (two missionaries) from which one of the missionaries is designated to be the district leader.
The zone apparently had almost all of its district leaders going home and ended up with a new district leader in every district. In addition to that, there are also three new missionaries who just arrived in the mission field. Eldrew and his companion are probably very, very busy coordinating all the changes, keeping everyone focused, and helping with all the transfer adjustments...moves...etc. A busy time for him.
His reference to conference is about the semi-annual church wide conference for the LDS Church. It is held in Salt Lake City and features a weekend of meetings, hymns, and sermons from Church leaders. It is a major event in the LDS religious experience. The conference is broadcast all over the world. The overall message Eldrew got from conference is that the faithful should follow the prophet.
The transcripts and recordings of the October 2010 conference can be found here: 2010 Conference talks -- language selector
We are going to add a new feature to the blog "Mormon Corner." In honor of, and to support Elder Bellomy's efforts to introduce the LDS Church to the world, we are going to occasionally highlight a story or aspect of the LDS Church that may be of general interest. If you are interested...great...enjoy. If not, thanks for visiting and readling about Elder Bellomy. We are grateful you stopped by and love all of you.
Mormon Corner.
Wowzers. Ya'll are looking a bit too far into the future on that one.Eldrew was speaking in shorthand...so allow us to explain some of the context.
I don't have tons of time to email. The Richmond zone had some crazy things happening in it. There are 4 districts in the Richmond zone and there are 4 brand new District leaders and 3 brand new missionaries within it. Pretty crazy.
I love you! Follow the Prophet! That's the message I got from conference.
Hope everything at the homestead is great!Short and sweet. We are happy to know that he is focused, busy, and safe.
First, we teased Eldrew in the letter from home this week that his sister Sarah hoped that he didn't get married too soon after his mission because she wanted to hang out with him. Obviously, that got a "Wowzers" reaction. I don't think that Elder Bellomy who is living a monastic life can even comprehend such things.
Eldrew and his companion have an assignment to coordinate the efforts of a group of LDS missionaries known as a 'zone.' The Richmond zone has twenty missionaries divided into four 'districts.' Each district has two or three companionships (two missionaries) from which one of the missionaries is designated to be the district leader.
The zone apparently had almost all of its district leaders going home and ended up with a new district leader in every district. In addition to that, there are also three new missionaries who just arrived in the mission field. Eldrew and his companion are probably very, very busy coordinating all the changes, keeping everyone focused, and helping with all the transfer adjustments...moves...etc. A busy time for him.
His reference to conference is about the semi-annual church wide conference for the LDS Church. It is held in Salt Lake City and features a weekend of meetings, hymns, and sermons from Church leaders. It is a major event in the LDS religious experience. The conference is broadcast all over the world. The overall message Eldrew got from conference is that the faithful should follow the prophet.
The transcripts and recordings of the October 2010 conference can be found here: 2010 Conference talks -- language selector
We are going to add a new feature to the blog "Mormon Corner." In honor of, and to support Elder Bellomy's efforts to introduce the LDS Church to the world, we are going to occasionally highlight a story or aspect of the LDS Church that may be of general interest. If you are interested...great...enjoy. If not, thanks for visiting and readling about Elder Bellomy. We are grateful you stopped by and love all of you.
Mormon Corner.
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