Back in the Hudson River Valley

I have had quite a variety of areas on my mission thus far: from the
wealth and ritz of Scarsdale to the poverty of the South Bronx; from
the majestic beauty of the Hudson River Valley, to the grandeur of
Manhattan's skyscrapers. Now transfers have come, and have landed me
in yet another entirely unique area: New Paltz.

New Paltz (pronounced just like it's spelled) is in the Poughkeepsie
zone. Unlike Poughkeepsie, where I was several months ago, it is not a
city. It is a small little village out in the middle of nowhere that
only exists to serve as a campus for the State University of New York
(SUNY). Farm fields and forest surround me with just a few specks of
civilization here and there.

My companion is Elder Hanson. I don't know much about him yet. He's
from California. He's half Japanese. He joined the mission six weeks
after I did.

We are the only companionship of Elders on this side of the Hudson
River in this zone, so things might get kind of lonely. But the try to
make up for our banished state by giving us a luxurious apartment.
It's bigger than any apartment I've been in on my mission so far. We
have a washer and dryer, a dishwasher, a fireplace, and so much space
we don't know what to do with. But again, we might not see other
missionaries for weeks on end. We serve a small branch of about 35
active members. I'm still a district leader and all the other
companionships in this district are sisters. So really I am the relief
society president.

My old area was whitewashed. This is the first time I've ever heard of
the Office being whitewashed. They wanted to make it a Spanish area
though and decided to do it all at once. I don't know how well it will
go... I left them a note with as much instruction as I could think to
give. Hopefully mail still gets around. Elder Tanner is in Stamford,
Connecticut now.

I don't have much else to write. After all, I did just get here. I'll
send some pictures of my last week in the Mission Office/New Rochelle
area.

-Elder Samuel Burton


1. Time lapse of Long Island Sound in the morning taken from the gym
on top of the Zone Leader's building.
2. Elder Sanford, Me, Elder Tanner
Elder Gardner, Elder Jimenez, Elder Cordon, and Elder Wulff
after dinner at Elder and Sister Gardner's apartment.
3. Elder Larkin, William Smith, Elder Tanner, me, and Elder Nelson at
city transfers
4. Elder Hanson (my new comp), Elder Holtom, Elder Richards, and me at
upstate transfers