Heat and Rain

Hey everybody!

As has become normal, I don't have a ton of time to write today, but I thought I'd get y'all updated on the way things are going here in Tucson, especially in the face of the nationwide heat wave and my ten-month anniversary of being a missionary (this monthly "birthday" is a big deal in the mission). Spoiler alert: I'm still with Elder Ely in Central Ward covering Central Tucson on a bike.

A few updates on what's been going on: we lost contact with some of our friends but saw several at church Sunday, so we'll have more opportunities to visit with people this next week; we've had several good experiences recently talking to people on the streets around campus and downtown, which we didn't do much previously; we've had an unusually large number of mission meetings (primarily trainings) over the past two weeks; and I got a haircut last week for the first time since I was still with my trainer (yikes!): now everybody keeps failing to recognize me! Things are going well with Elder Ely and I look forward to another week of missionary-izing.

So: While Seattle/Tacoma undergoes a tortuous heat wave alongside everybody else, it's surprisingly cool here, at more or less 100 degrees a day. It's cooled off a bit from the extreme 115 degree weather we were having a few weeks ago, and it seems primed to cool off more, as monsoon season is about to begin. Basically, there's going to be a ton of rain if things go as normal (they did not last year; if they don't this year, we might start water rationing) with many short-notice thunderstorms. In the past, bridges have been knocked out and large parts of the city have flooded, but that seems unlikely for this year. There are many washes (gullies that act as seasonal rivers during the monsoon) here in Tucson, which will probably flood. Many roads dip down into them, so traffic will probably be highly confused for the duration of monsoon season. Regardless of what happens, I know the Lord will protect my companion and I and I look forward to the adventure!

Due to time constraints -- I was going to write more when I was writing earlier today, but ran out of time -- I'll leave it off here. I hope you all have an awesome week and have the Holy Spirit to be with you!

See y'all,

Elder Brannon

Arizona Tucson Mission

Spain Barcelona Mission