he is in south dakota!

So i've only got like a half an hour to email right now because I dont have a library card yet cause i need to get a letter that confirms my address, so i gotta make this fast ha. Well lets start with leaving the mtc. So I woke up at like 5 in the morning so that i could get all ready and go the the travel office. We were on the road by about 6 headed to the airport, it was so weird finally getting out of the mtc and seeing the world again. When i got to the airport it was weird not being surrounded by other missionaries. We had like 2 hours till our flight so i got to call home and talk to family, which was really cool. The i pretty much just sat around until it was time to board the plane. A lot of people were coming up to me and asking me where i served my mission, and i was like oh i'm just going out to the field right now, i guess i look old enough to have already served a mission, guess thats what 2 months in the mtc will do to you haha. The plane that we took to Rapid Springs was the smallest plane i've ever been on, we had to like go outside and walk up stairs to get on, and i swear it only held like 30 people. Plus i sat next to a family from France so i couldnt understand them at all haha. When we landed at the airport in Rapid City i was really suprised because it seriously just looked like a huge field with a little building in the middle of it. There were only 2 baggage claim stations, and there were probably like a total of 300 people in the whole airport. We were greeted by President Layton, and the AP's, then we headed off to the mission office, where i met like 6 other Elders from the area, and met the elder's who i was gonna be with. Originally President Layton told me that i would be in Rapid City till tuesday, then i would go down with the zone leaders to wyoming. So after we had lunch i headed out with Elder Kocherhans and hopped on a bike and started doin some missionary work. We went to downtown and did a little street contacting, we met this guy named Swag, he pretty much told us his like story about how he gets money from the government because he was dropped on his head when he was 4 and how he used to smoke weed and stuff, he was kind of off, but we taught him the restoration, i gave the first vision part and the book of mormon, it was pretty cool because i didnt expect to be teaching that soon! but i think that i did alright. Swag wasnt in our area though so we gave his info to the other missionaries. After that we went to another part of town to make appointments with some investigators, a lot of people here are pretty poor, so a lot dont have cell phones, or house phones, so the only way we can contact them is by biking all the way to their house. Another cool thing about Rapid City is that it is like 50% Native Americans, they are pretty crazy,and i swear everyone here is drunk by like 10 in the morning, but the people here are the nicest people i've ever met, and they are so simple, they all dont really have anything in terms of like money and stuff, but they make do and seem pretty happy. My second day i had a little orientation thing and president Layton told me that instead of going to Wyoming i would be staying here with Elder Kocherhans and Elder Cooper, and they would be my trainers, witch i was really excited about because these guys are awesome and we're pretty close already. All the other elders are really cool here too, the only bad thing about staying here though is that our companionship is the only one in Rapid City that doesnt have a truck, we're all biking, luckily the weather has been pretty good still, like in the 80's everyday, i've heard it could change any day though and be like 50 degrees ha. I dont have like any time to tell more stories this time, but things are goin great, i love South Dakota so much, its true what they say that it doesnt matter which mission you go to because you love it either way. Plus the field is like 100 times better than the mtc ha. Well anyways here is my address for while i'm in South Dakota:


Elder CJ Powers
2525 West Main #311
Rapid City, SD 57702


make sure every thing that is sent is through the post office, because they can forward mail or packages for free that way.


well i'll write more next time!