November 7, 2011
Dear Family,
By getting this letter, it means that I am safe and sound in Virginia. On the plane trip here I was tired and compacted in the tiny seat. I had to concentrate and struggle not to watch the in-flight movie, which was Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I read the story of Sampson instead.
President Perry and his wife are very nice people and I am in good hands so no need to worry. They love the mission and the area because of its rich history and beautiful landscape. I have found a number of beautiful houses that you would love, Mom. They’re on Monument Rd. They are very old, restored homes with a lot of history. Mom, I do know that you love me every day by the many letters you send for me that are full of love and your awesome way of telling me about boring Idaho. J I love you all extremely and will send more letters and pictures about my adventure here. I love each of you in a very individual way. I wish all of you the best!
Your son, brother, and goofy friend,
Elder Max McClure
Max also sent an email on the same day:
Hi Family,
My first area is nearer to the Coast that Richmond. It’s a town called Wakefield which consists of two areas: Sussex and Surry. We only have one church in the entire area. Our mission president is President Perry and he is one nice guy and he has a really good background in the work of the Church. I like him a lot but I don’t get to see him a whole lot. I have two new companions which are E. Lloyd and E. Carter. E. Lloyd is waiting for his Visa to come from Brazil and E. Carter has already been here for a long time so he knows everything.
There are things in Virginia that you need to look on Google maps: Monument Road in Richmond is one of them. Look at the houses and tell me what you think. Another thing that you will fall in love with is the church building we go to every Sunday. It’s an old 100 + year old church that was built by the Quakers and everything is the original deal like the seats and the decorative ceiling. I'll try to get some pictures of it for you so you can oooo and awww.
I love you all incredibly much and really wish I could have one more phone call before Christmas. One thing I want is letters from more of the family so I can spend time writing back to the people I love.
The short story of my half a week in Virginia is in the letter I sent Friday so you’ll be getting it around tomorrow. It has some of the last of the pics of the MTC before leaving. Two days that weren’t included were Saturday and Sunday, so here are the basics of those days:
Saturday we did a lot of service for people so we spent most of the day in our service clothes. We cleaned out some gutters for the Dayton’s where the mom is French so she will speak half in English to us and half in French to her children and cat. They gave us a meal of pumpkin soup which tasted weird because she added carrots for flavor and a dessert of homemade pumpkin pie that has no relation to the real deal pumpkin pie but it was okay. We also helped put an attic ladder for the Fishers that live in trailers while they build their house. They have the walls and wiring and some of the pipes done but they are burnt out which is odd because they are halfway done and got the hard half done too.
Sunday we had to fast and had to go over to church around 8am for a meeting and had to wait for church that started at 10 am. During the meeting the children were screaming while people were giving their testimonies. The strange thing was that everyone wanted to give their testimonies and there were no awkward pauses. After the other two meetings, we had choir practice. The choir is the other two missionaries, me, and two ladies, one of whom is major pregnant. We went to the Harter’s after a short trip to the apartment and we had spaghetti but it was hard to get in line because they had a lot of their family over that Sunday. After, we went out to a big garage shed and played a bunch of games. One of the Harter’s daughters was riding a horse and it didn’t want me to pet its face because it had been abused by the Amish. Very weird. Then I went and picked some cotton to send you guys in my next letter so you can brag about having real Virginian cotton right from the bush.
I miss you all an incredible amount and hope you are all coping without me there with the death silences and awkward moments. I really love you all and most teens don’t know how a family relationship can help them in the long run but it creates something more than just a group of people, it creates a family that loves each other. I love you all like a spider web loves to catch people in the face as they walk into it. Thanksgiving is coming up and please have everyone write me a letter. I love you all and I’ll be back in no time.
Love,
Elder Max McClure!
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