Jiminy Cricket

A short but good email from Andrew today - with pictures!  (Which, of course are worth at least 1000 words each.)

Hey there family, friends, and unknown reader from Australia!

It's your friend, Elder Broekhuijsen again. It actually has been him every time so far, so no surprises there.

It's been a cool week. We had some exchanges, I think. I can't remember. But I guess I should explain the pictures.

First off - a grasshopper that landed on our windowsill. We get lots of bugs in our apartment because of a thing called "the weather is insanely hot and the windows have not been closed for like 3 weeks." So this guy came in and he was not shy about my macro lens.  [Editor's note:  I think he looks like Jiminy Cricket, even though he is a grasshopper and not a cricket - hence the post title.]

Also the moth (that one is DEFINITELY not a butterfly) was huge. Like 2 inches. It scared the bejeebers out of my companion. He's not a bug fan. 

Next news. Elder M* is on a plane right now. Dag, yo. I've never sent my own companion home like that before. I served with that guy for more than a fourth of my mission.  [Andrew next proceeds to give us his address and phone number so we can contact him and have him over for Thai food and to play the piano for us!] :-)

Well I left my dictophone with the departing missionaries last night so they could all leave me some whispered sweet nothings. Dang, Sisters Q* and K* are in that group. Weird sauce; Sister Q* came to the MTC with me, and Sister K* came to the MTC after me. Weird weird weird wyrd. So next week I'll have some dictophone stuff. I think what I'll do is start not reading your emails, putting a lot of effort and photos into the email, and then attach a sound clip that answers your questions and stuff from last week. Good plan? I submit that, yes.

Elder Langston and I have become bug snipers. We have rubber bands all over the apartment now. It's gotten to the point that we can pick off mosquitos from the other end of the room. The centipedes that don't serve any discernable purpose in anyone's food chain or the Plan of Salvation in general are just fodder now. And Elder Langston actually shot down a small moth IN FLIGHT the other night. It was epic. Our apartment has fewer bugs when we go hunting. By a lot.

Okay, well transfers are in full swing right now and it's time for me to head on out. Thanks for everything! Congrats on being chamber President, Joshua. Molodets. Gosh there is no satisfying way to spell that word in English.

Love you all,
Elder Broekhuijsen