Welcome to New York (It's been waiting for you)

Hello friends and family!!!! So guess what I have officially survived my first week in New York City. Hold the applause. It was an interesting week. Totally different from the MTC but it's been great. So I'm just going to talk about when I got to the mission because the last week of the MTC was super boring and just sad and no one wants to hear about that. I know what you have been waiting for.

Monday: we woke up so early!!!! At 3:30 we had to be at the travel office so we had to wake up at 2:00 am to start getting ready for our departure. At the airport we had a little over an hour before our flight left so we got to call home. I didn't get to talk long because sister Provard talk over an hour but it was fine. Haha sorry fam bam. We got to Detroit and we had to run across the terminal to get to our
 next plane. We got there right as they started boarding. Lucky us. We finally arrived in New York ands its BEAUTIFUL!!!!! We flew right by the Statue of Liberty. When we went to baggage claim we were told our mission president would be there to pick us up arms no one was there haha we looked like lost puppies. Eventually we saw our mission president running up to us. He's such a nice guy. As we walked out of the airport it was like walking into a bathroom after a hot shower. Hot and humid. New York has a weird smell I don't really know how to describe it. Once we got to the mission home we just had our interviews, dinner and all that fun jazz.

Tuesday: so here is the big moment. The time where you all find out who my companion is and where I'm headed. Drum roll please..... I'm in south shore!!! Yep Long Island. It's so green and beautiful here. I love it. I'm actually in a trio right now because my trainer sister Layton goes home next transfer. I'm also with sister Deuel and she will finish up my training. They are awesome. And we're all from Utah so that's weird and sister Layton has a cochlear but she talks so well! You would never tell she was deaf. When we got to our apartment we unpacked then just got to know the area. Turns out I am serving both English and ASL in this area. There are dogs everywhere in New York. I am in heaven. Everyone has a dog. I just want to pet them all. We live right by a lake so that's awesome and we are really close to the ocean.

Wednesday: first day in the field! So we ran around the lake and oh my word there are Mosquitos everywhere. My legs have been eaten alive. We met a couple of referrals and they are all interested so good for us. We also went around and met a lot of the members on the ward. People are weird in New York. We met a guy while knocking doors and he is Santa clause. That's what he does for a living and he was on his way home with a ton of kitten milk. Hopefully for some kittens. We met someone to and he's from Turkey and turns out he was a foreign exchange student is Utah so he's really interested about learning. Score!!! We had a part-member family invite us over for dinner and they are my new favorite people ever. The dad hates Mormons but he talked to me a lot. I guess that's a good sign according to sister Layton. She says I really good at talking with people.

Thursday: it's so foggy here. It's like walking into a scary movie but I love it in the mornings. It's so perfect. For the morning we just did some finding and we were able to find of people so that's always a good sign. We had to take our car in for repair because our taillight was out. Thankfully we had weekly planning so we headed over to the Starbucks across the street because deaf people are always at Starbucks. We met the bishops wife and their family is so stinking cute. Their daughter just makes my heart smile. She kept making me read her books and her mom was so embarrassed but I loved it. Sister Layton says I'm a trouper because I not freaking out yet but in all honestly in just a keep my feelings to myself kind of person. I mean it's overwhelming to meet all these new people but I'm sure I will get the hang of this in a couple days.

Friday: this morning was super slow because we had to wait for our apartment check and we passed with flying colors. Then we had a lesson with two of our deaf investigators and we found them through family history. I had to practice a lot of patience to teach a deaf old lady how to use the computer. Yikes. We had a couple more appointments and they all went so well. A couple progressing investigators so we're stoked about that. After all our lessons we went to  a members house and these people are crazy. They have about 12 different animals. From lizards to dogs to cats to spiders you name it. All they would talk about is animals. And some really awkward conversations about animals you probably shouldn't share with missionaries haha. As a district we went knocking and I don't know what everyone is talking about but every New Yorker I have met is so nice. A little odd but really nice. We found someone who was interested and we got her number so we know she won't just throw away our number haha. That happens a lot. As we were driving home we saw a group of teenagers and they started yelling "hey girl hey" so we gave them a Book of Mormon. It was a funny experience you just had to have been there.

Saturday: it was deaf day today! We had all ASL lessons except for one. We got invited to an African barbecue this coming Saturday so that will be so fun! And lots of people to meet. We're pretty excited. One of our investigators has been meeting with the Jehovah's witnesses so he was being a bum but he is really smart and opened up to us a ton. There are a lot of deaf people from Spanish families I noticed. I guess we learn a lot of Spanish in my mission so that will be cool not going to lie. We had a really awkward lesson though because we went knocking and we found a deaf girl and her family was Spanish but wanted to listen so their son had to interpret for us and we has to voice interpret and it was so awkward but they want us to come back with the Spanish missionaries as well. Whoop whoop.

Sunday: today was stressful! We had to interpret all of church and it was my first time interpreting so I was freaking out the whole time. And since sister Layton has a cochlear she can't interpret so it was up to sister Deuel and I. Although I did pretty well for my first time so that was good news. We had dinner at a members house and it was so good. My family will never believe this but I actually like rice now. They probably just died from shock. Later we went knocking and we found two new people. Holla!!!

Well that's the email for the week! I love it here and the people are amazing. Shout out to shawntaes birthday tomorrow. Love you sister!! Talk to you all next week!!!!

Love, Sister Seay
P.S sorry if I missed anyone this week make sure to forward this to people who didn't receive this email.