this week's letter 9/16/2009

The solemn click of a dead starter fueled my anxiety for the coming day. Why me!? I exclaimed with a pitiful voice reaching towards the heaven as if to receive an answer from the almighty one. It was the third time this week the car had given me problems. I quickly opened the screeching door heading for the hammer in the back of my dads truck. After a few minutes of scrambling around in the hay, cow turds and whatever else might have been in the back of that thing i found an old rusty shoe hammer. Mumbling under my breath I climbed underneath the ole velle to see if i could get a good swing at the troublesome starter. My shirt my pants were all dirty stained i was sure for the rest of the day. Tink, tink, tink, was all that was to be heard as the fourth swing busted the hammer in half. Annoyed i climbed out from under the car thankful i was not yet late and proceeded to climb into the blue shag bucket seat of the old car. I put my head down and closed my eyes, chanting over and over please start, please start. click, nothing. Click, nothing. My chest sagged. I knew there wasn't anything else i could do. My thoughts were many and my minutes were few. I knew my mother would not let me borrow her truck(for reasons unknown) and my dads vehicles if they ran were not worthy of getting on the freeway. Then a thought came to me, ride your four wheeler! Whether it was the little devil on my shoulder or the little angel giving me this idea i don't know. The idea seemed so good i couldn't stop smiling and patting myself on the back for thinking of such a plan. The trek was about fifteen miles. I using my math skills determined that it would probably take me five minutes longer to cruise the windy back road. I later remembered my grade in math wasn't too high. My pitiful little 125 started almost as good as my dads 69 Chevelle. Of course it was about ten minutes later that i realized that. It finally puttered to life, smoke for a second pouring out the exhaust pipe. I felt so bad for the little bike thinking of all the abuse it had went throughthe last two years. There wasn't a minute that i was not in school that i was not on it puttering around in the desert making new trails and hills. Excitement hit me again as i realized i was now going to use it as a transportation to school! That meant i could ride it after school! I day dreamed about the unknown hills and terrain that were in logandale where my school was located. It was finally warmed up. I cut the choke off and the exhaust cleared up. I climbed on slipping my faceless helmet that i had found in the back yard over my head. I closed my eyes aware that there was still dirt in it from its adventures with the dogs. The strap was gone having been the favorite part of my two dogs. It had no safe way to stay on my head. The straps being chewed off by obvious means. I proceeded from the back of my house in the direction of the narrows road. It was at the time the only road that i was aware of that would go from moapa to logandale. It of course took much longer than i anticipated. I finally arrived on the last stretch of highway towards the school. The church right next to the school was the safe zone. The highway was a snare with an unusual amount of cops waiting there to pull over unsafe teenagers. I held my breath and proceeded down the blind road. Going a whopping 60 miles an hour i was now only a short distance from the church. Not surprisingly i passed right by a red and blue. It was the worst kind too a highway patrol. He turned on his lights yelling through the loud speaker “pull off the road”. I froze. The realization hit me that if my parents found out i had ridden my four wheeler to school there would be painful consequences. I guess it was the little mischievous shoulder devil that had given me the idea. I knew now that if i got pulled over they would inevitably find out. I gunned it. I had that little thing screaming now going atleast 70. the cop was hot on my tail still yelling at me through the loud speaker. Pull over! Pull over! My blood ran cold i knew i couldn't out run him. I turned into the parking lot of the school. He quit yelling through the loud speaker. He knew he had me. All these thoughts were running through my head as i went round the round about at the school. After about four circles i started getting dizzy. Luckily i was late and few students stared as i was getting chased by this highway patrolman. I pulled out of the round about weaving around cars in hopes i could shake him. He followed suit. I saw a light at the end of the tunnel, right in front of me was a dirt road that led out to the hills. I steered my little baby in that direction knowing if i made it a hundred more yards i could lose him. There was no way that his car would be able to make it through the hills. My heart seemed to lurch and gain new life as i neared the entrance to the trail. Putter, putter, putter. My eyes widened, my speed slowed, the engine was losing its life. I realized GAS! I reached down to turn the petcock to reserve. My action was in vain as i realized that i had left it on reserve the previous time i had run low on gas. Without even shifting down i let the four wheeler roll to a stop knowing that my ole man was going to tan my hide with one of his rodeo belts. The officer walked up beside me. The only thing that moved on me was the veins in my hand as my white knuckles continued to clench the rubber grips of my four wheeler. Are you deaf boy!, asked the officer. There was no answer from me. The words were being processed from my brain but, were not making it to my mouth. I finally came back to the real world turning my head slightly towards the officer and said, no sir. He asked me how fast i was going. I tried my hardest to give him the puppy dog face as i turned and stated, “i dunno maybe 60 or 70 believing whole heartedly that was the speed i had been traveling. The experience seemed to happen and be over it would have been more appropriate to say as the speed of light. I knew he would not understand that statement. With a half grin he said, you were going 35 miles an hour. He then asked me who my parents were. i replied proudly Bill and Susan Pulsipher. With a chuckle he said, i have never experienced or seen anything like what just happened. My terrified puppy face then turned to a puzzled look. He said, in the 22 years i have been a police officer never has anyone ever tried to run from me on a 1986 Honda 125! that has got to be the funniest thing that has ever happened to me he said almost falling on the ground laughing his gray mustache twitching with his upper lip. I thought to my self that the experience was more terrifying then funny. What were you thinking anyway? he said finally getting it back together. I explained the whole morning and the reasoning behind me riding my four wheeler to school. He then with a little bit of pity,(which never happens) asked me if i had any experience working on my get away vehicles. I replied that i had just applied for a job at off road extreme, the ATV shop down the road. But my knowledge was limited to the small motors that moved our wheel lines. Randomly he said I know your old man. He delivered firewood to me some years back and i still remember how he had all you kids helping unload and stack it at my house. I believe that he has raised you well but for some reason or other you have left the beaten path today for reasons only a teenager would understand. The rest of his speech was good I'm sure but i quit listening about there. Blah blah blah and I'm going to let you go with a warning if you promise to never drive another unlicensed vehicle on a county maintained road if there is another way. i agreed knowing whole heartedly that this was not the last time that i was going to be riding on the roads. It was for sure the last time that i was going to be caught. He then said that there was another catch. I have a couple ATVS that have been sitting in my garage for some time. I would like you to come over and get them running for me. I will even be more than happy to pay you for your labors. A little hesitant, i replied that i would. groaning in my mind knowing that i would have to see him again with this obligation. I asked for directions, receiving some redneck directions. He drove off leaving me there by the road to push my four wheeler to the church. I arrived into class right before i was truant. As i walked in the whole class went quiet. I then remembered what an awful sight i must have been after that long morning. The teacher had to almost take her hand and move her jaw back up three inches to ask for my tardy pass. Looking at me with her usual hateful grin she then said Billy you are the next one to give the oration in front of the class. I reactively reached for my back pack that i didn't have, and at that point not really caring knowing i hadn't prepared anyway. I stood up in the front of the class. My head hung low. I exerted all my strength to bring it up to the teachers eye level. She some years back had a run in with my older brother Kolby. From then on us pulsipher kids were on her hit list. No matter what i did i could not please her so at this point i decided that i would give up and not try. What would it matter anyway? I proceeded to give an account of how an internal combustion engine works going into detail of the swirl that fuel and air make as they enter the cylinder which had nothing to do with what i was supposed to be speaking on. No one in there had any idea what i was talking about. I sat down laying my head on the desk to get back the sleep i had missed to come to school. The rest of school was much the same. It hadn't always been like that i thought as i started my walk to the gas station to get some gas for my bike. My mind pondered the reasoning for the way things had been going in my life. Today wasn't really any different than the last 3 years. I reasoned within my self the words that came from my father how life isnt going to stay in spongebob land you will be expected to gain some responsibility. I felt like i had done a fairly good job of living up to that statement. i nearly reached the gas station when i concluded that something was missing something wasn't whole and that i needed to find out what exactly that was. I stepped into the gas station pulled out a couple dollars to pay for a couple powerades and 50 cents on pump two. I went outside hurriedly downing the first powerade. I stuffed the other one in my pocket. I then took the empty bottle that i had downed and filled it with the fifty cents worth of gas for my little four wheeler. The walk back to the church wasn't near as long as the walk to the gas station. The song superman by five for fighting occupied my thoughts. I cant stand to fly I'm not that naive men weren't meant to ride with clouds between there knees I'm more than a bird I'm more than a plane I'm more than some pretty face beside a train and its not easy to be me. Repeating the same process as i did that morning i was again ready to ride. I did not forget this time to fill up at the gas station knowing full well what the consequences of such actions are. I headed off into the hills. The ride was rough since my little 125 did not have any suspension. I found a good spot of soft sand. Slinging sand every which way i went i finally came to the top of the hill where i stopped to look at the beauties of the mountains and the small towns of Logandale and Overton. From up here the world seemed so big. The cars looked like toys as they toured the squared off streets. Below i could see dust as an extremely loud quad came from one of the down town streets. It seemed to sail on the ground as it glided across the roughest section of the trail. The rider was majestic as he would become the four wheeler with every corner. He eventually passed right below where i was at. I watched eagerly hoping he would come and talk to me. His chariot was a Yamaha yfz 450 that like a deer jumped from one hill to the next. The horses thundered as it ripped the trails to shreds. As fast as it had appeared it had faded away leaving only the dust lingering in the air behind it. I stared into the direction it had come from then looked down at the trustful mule that i was riding. The words of my father again echoed in my head “what you have is good enough”. That promise seemed empty as i looked at the faded plastics that had over the years turned pink from exposure from the sun. the switches no longer worked, they long since had frozen up due to being left in the rain. The motor leaked oil where someone had used silicone as a gasket which in most cases never works fully like it should. The tires were bald so traction was little. The motor was weak from years of hard use. The inscriptions Honda on the handlebars still read strong. I was proud to be the owner of the little bike but lingering in my mind was the wonder of what it is like to ride a race bike. A bike that was built to go fast. I put the thought aside making a course for home. I had not thought too much about it in the morning but the narrows had an eerie feeling to it. It was called the narrows because there was a river that ran through two cliffs that made a narrow passage. Legend has it that there is an old indian burial ground around there so sometimes late at night you can hear war chants along with drums. The thought sent chills up my spine. From then on i looked directly in front of me paying no attention to anything but the road. I made a quick stop to my buddy Robert at the junkyard. As i slid into my usual parking spot(because i was a regular) i looked around for my buddy. I heard a cry from underneath his truck nearby. He made me look good as he crawled out from under that thing having grease all the way up to his elbows. Dude what ya doing under there i exclaimed. Oh ya know busted another motor mount jumping my truck he answered. I asked why ya underneath the truck then? Well ya know when the motor mount busted it broke the mounts to my transmission also so I'm having to weld some new ones in. >

Elder Billy Paul's Address

3100 Lorna Road, Ste 102
Birmingham, AL 35216

06/24/2009 letter

its been another week in the life of a missionary. this whole typing thing is getting a little bit easier since i can almost not look at the keyboard anymore. i am now located in locust fork and am currently serving with elder russell. we raced the lawnmowers last wednesday and to my dissappointment i lost but it was all good. i think i still smell like smoke from that thing. thursday morning we got up at four thirty and proceeded on our way to birmingham leaving behing the home we had known for six weeks desolate and empty. we hope that the people we were working with continues to have a prompting from the spirit of the truthfulness of the church and the standards we are to live up to. the drive was long and quiet as we contemplated our new areas and the mystery of the companions we were going to be with for the next part of our lives. we arrived at base and began to unload our stuff and say our hellos to our fellow moissionaries that had been working so hard in the mission field to bring those lost sheep that are wandering in the wilderness back into the warmth of our saviors loving arms. i pondered for a moment recognizing two familiar faces starigng at me piercing me to the very soul with those longing for home eyes. i went and greeted my two home town friends and tole them that this was a good place and that they were going to enjoy it then parted ways from them wondering how well they would do. i finally met up with my copmpanion after being swithched up with a few companions and finding my self on the way to locust fork. we stepped into the quiet warm apartment. with my first breath i took in the smell of cigarettes that quenched the air because of the warm day. the apartment was homely but messy with a few of the last missionaries things still lying around there. this was no surprise since most of the misiionaries forget or leave stuff in almost every area. i lost no time getting my stuff together and putting it away getting ready for the rest of the day while wondering if the people would be warm towards me. we received several shallow hellos as we traveled around doing our business. the spiritual thoughts that we hand out only seem to bring joy half of the time but with that joy i know they have gives me that feeling of success that every elder looks forward to. we work our way into one of our antique shops and find ourselves looking at an old skinny man with a bright smile welcoming us and telling us to go and get a free ice cream. the smile on my face could not have been any bigger as i took my time enjoying the ice cream the store owner had so generously awarded to us for walking around in the heat of the day. as we fellowshipped there with a few of trhe people that worked there on of there husbands came in. he was a large man wearing sweat pants and a really large shirt as if it were a dress. he talked with him and he exclaimned how he ahd been in the woods all day taking pictures of some people. iwas a little confused. he later explained that he was a private investigator. i didnt ask him what happened if he got caught because i knew there was no way that he could run from anybody but he was a nice fellow. we then proceeded to a less active partmember family. when we pulled up there was surprise in his eyes as he threw his cigarrette to the ground. there was a little shame in his eyes as we greeted him. soon after he warmed up after he realized that we seen him as a child of god and would not condem him for such things. he invited us in and we fellow shipped with the kids and the woman that he had there with him. as russell played a card game with him (hes kind of a geek) i taught the importance of having a prophet and the book of mormon and how without those things we would be just the same as any of the other churches. they didnt come to church but we made a difference that day. we even as just members of the church have a responsibility to the ones that have fallen away hence the home and visiting teaching program that we have. we must hold strong to our callings in the church or be held accountible for the peopkle we did not lift up with the spirit that has been so abundantly portrayed in our lives. we concluded the day by shopping walking past the dirtwheels magazine to see the front cover lol and then doing our nightly planning then going to bed. friday we woke up did some weekly planning then proceeded to one of our investigators houses. i was semi hungry since we left right at lunch and did not eat anything. my comp didnt say anything so i figured we were going to eat at whereever we were going. we arrived in our service clothes ready to work. my comp not saying anything to me grabs the weed eater and starts weed eating. i look around what to do since the lady wasnt even there? after a while she showed uo and asked me to take the shovel and level out the furrows so she could drive over them with her lawnmower. i took the shovel with all my might taking one mighty blow into the dirt only to have it bounce off and hardly make a dent. i looked up at the rest of the garden i was to do. i thought to myself that there is no way that i will get this done all today. i continued with the shovel wipng the sweat from my eyes from time to tim as i moved from row to rom. finally i was halfway done again thinking to myself there was no way i could finish this project as my stomache started to growl. the blisters on my hand were starting to swell my hands being soft from the riggors of missionary life. the longer i threw the shovel the more of them were starting to appear then pop leaving a painful grip with every blow with the shovel. i finished and i looked over and dinner was ready. being weak from hunger i made my way to the table giving thanks to my heavenly father for the blessing of food i had received after a good long hard days work. saturday we cruised up to birmingham to have a meeting with elder gonzalez with the quorum of the seventy. it was good. it could have been better but i had forgotten my suit coat and had to borrow one from one of the missionaries we had picked up on the way there. it was a different color than my pants and like three sizes too big. i sat with uneasiness through mnost of the meetingwondering if anyone had notice kicking my self for not bringing my suit. no one said nothing. i was able to see my trainer who warmly hugged ma and was glad to see that i was soing well. sunday i had to give a talk. the branch president who the first time i had met was shaving a goat had asked me to speak since one of the speakers wasnt going to be there that day. i accepted and nervously went up to give my talk to a crowd of strangers. i did fairly well and even incorporated dumont into my talk and to me anything with dumont in it is good. that night we stopped by one of our investigators. and as we were talking to them they told us that they had not had power for nine days since there bill was outrageous and could not pay it. it was sad. we sat on the back as they cooked there dinner on a grill talking about different things trying to keep the spirits high. the night was beautiful and peaceful. fireflys roaed the air lighting up every few feet. we set up a return appointment with them to fix the lawn mower so they could cut the grass. monday we started out the morning by going and doing service when we arrived there we moved some things and prepareed to paint a room. seeing that the job was not big enough for 4 people i looked outside seeing that the grass was almost a foot high i asked if i could mow the lawn for him. he told me that i could if i could fix the lawnmower. faster than superman himself i was outside and had that thing on its back end analyzing what the problem was. i soon found that one of the belts had slipped off. with a little persuasion and a hammer..... that thing was back into commision. my comp said he had never seen anyone with such a grinmowing grass...? closest thing i got to a fourwheeler lol. tuesday we did some more service. we do that alot here haha. i tried to teach the lady after we were finished. so i asked her what she knew about the mormon religion as a conversation starter. she went off to some wild and random tangent about the bible and then went into her childhood and some things that had happened to her.............i concluded that she wasnt teachable unless she asked the questions lol. this morning i took a good nap and it was very nice lol love you all have a happy and blessed day.

elder pulsipher

billy's letter 7/1/2009

i decided i would start posting billy's letters, he is so poetic. you'll have to figure out for yourself when to start and stop.

wednesday evening. the young men slowly poured into the church around 6:30 that evening. they were anxious to get the wednesday night activity. i stepped outside into the hot and muggy air stepping out of the sub zero temperatures that had caused me to step outside and warm my hands. the young men asked me as i finished up my last letter if i had wanted to play some soccer with them. as you all know i was no soccer star but knew how to play none the less. i no sooner had started to play that i realized that no one here had ever played soccer before atleast not an intense one with screaming mexicans! i easily every time i went down the field scored a goal setting our lead at eight to nothing. the refreshments afterwards would have had to of been the best part about the whole deal since they had krispy cream donuts and a liberal amont of donuts. the cool milk felt good as i felt it cool my innards from the humidity that had so stubbornly held it in. thursday morning. i heard the beeps of my six thirty alarm on my watch quietly beckoning me to get up and get going. i walk by the fan and flipped it off giving it relief from its all night adventure of keeping me cool enough to sleep. the light hurt my eyes as i stumbled down the hallway to the living room to start my daily exercises. the six pack i had been working for the whole time i had been out seemed so far away as i continued to do my ab wheel. i thought about the doughnuts i had had the night before and how they were like satan trying to take me away from my goal of happiness and eternal life. the doughnuts though too were keeping me away from being conceided so six and one half does the other right? my companion lay there on the couch not having slept in his bed the whole time i had been there. his mouth was wide open with a snore coming out every once in a while. he had told me it was too hot to sleep in the back. i suppose if it werent for my circumstances throughout my childhodd i would probly not be able to sleep in the heat like that. haha the feud of the ac and heat still lives on today as madre and padre still argue over whether the ac should be on or off. breakfast as usual was bland as i poured a little sugar into my oatmeal. the warm cereal seemed to do the opposite of the milk that i had had the night before as it seemed to just feel a void rather than a sensation. at eight i proceeded to go about my studies reading in the gospel of john. my heart burned inside me as i feel the story come to life blending everything i had heard in my life to paint a picture of what was going on in the words i was reading. my comp was just now stirring. he rolled over on the couch flipped on the light and began to read temples and cosmos bu hugh nibley. the book was off the plan but i said nothing since i came on my mission to work not to baby sit. if i had wanted to do that i would have stayed home with justin and dakota. after studies we planned. i flipped open the area book which is like a missionaries brain since it has down everything the missionaries in the past had done. every time i open it i shake my head looking at the last entries made. feb. 12 2009. the book was so underupdated. every time i would ask my companion who someone was he would do the jacob shrug stating that he had no idea. it was almost like being flushed again. im starting to figure out why i was brought here as senior companion. i feel thought that the president has way more confidence in me than he should being as im still the same kid who would shrug his shoulders stating the reason i hadnt done something like i forgot or i dont remember somewhere along those lines. that evening we went into hayden to do some stop bys. i really dont like stop bys since really all you are doing is bothering someone at the most inconvenient time when you could have called and set something up with them. it was not all lost though as we stopped by an old ladys house who had been seeing the missionaries for quite a while. she smiled and invited us in and we sang some songs for her and taught her a second lesson going over what our heavenly father has in store for us after we die. the house wa hot and she too had a fan that seemed to skip a beat everyonce in a while getting tired of getting no comfort and giving comfort to everyone who will stand in its path. if only that fan ere eternal like christ then it would be joy ful for the soul it was able to give rest from the heat of the day instead of eventually wearing out never to work again. chrsists love will never cease. we sang a couple more songs then proceeded on our way. as we were driving down the road there was a couple of i would say thirteen year olds stuck a maybe ten percent grade tring to get his fourwheeler to go up it but being in experienced with the clutch would kill it everytime. we stopped and i proceeded to tell him to get off and that i would turn it around for him. my comp said both their mouths dropped as they seen me immediately get it going and turned around wearing my white shirt and tie. they thanked me and were on there way. on the way home after unsuccessful stop byes. we stopped at a fruit stand. as i bargained with the owner i came away with some peaches and a yellow meat watermelon. friday morning we went down to the nursing home to sing some songs and watch the other side of heaven. as we fiddled around with the dvd player we found that the movie was not going to play. it would skip leaving the screen to what looked like utter destruction. we gave up and proceeded to talk with the manager of the nursing home. she has been reading the book of mormon. she calls it her mormon bible. she has not been to church in a good while since she can tleave the nursing home which looked more like a house. it was a cozy place and the people were friendly. a couple of them everytime we come ask who we are and introduce themselves again. i think of grandma everytime we go in there. saturday was a good day. long story shory since i have a short attention span i ended up talking to a guy in a card shop for over three hours. i explained and answered every question that he had. it was funny to think of the look on his face everytime he had a question that would totally stump me but as i flipped to my quad where we had the answer in scripture he wpuld blow that off and think of something else instead of seeing the truth that was so plainly layed before him. but as we see in the bible it is not miracles or a knowledge that converts people it is the testimony that they receive from the holy ghost. may he read the book of mormon i gave hima nd find that testimony he is so hungrily looking for. sunday was the same as every sunday except during gospel principles i was called out to teach the young men. i had absolutely nothing to start out with and using the theme of fathers day i built upon that always looking at my goal of seeing these young missionaries learn something that will be of value for the rest of their lives. i started off by having them tell me something that they had learned from there father and each one gave a pretty good description of something good they had learned from there dads. i smiled as it came to be my turn to tell about my father. i felt special having about a million childhood memories to share with them about all the things i had learned from my father. i proceeded to tell them about rhe last bale dad had baled up. he may have pounded on the steeriong wheel as he had to turn aroun and bale up the last bale agian but i figured i had learned patience and perseverance from that moment he had with the bailer. that night we had dinner with some less actives and some non members. it was quite the shin dig. i chowed down on some ribs and a pepsi enjoying missionary life thinking to my self that this is way better than college. i get three good meals a day lol!! monday we went over to michael kings house. as we were talking to him he told us how his ac was out and he couldnt afford another one. we then realized that we had an extra one in the house. it was originally going to be for the back room so i wouldnt have to sleep in the heat but we figgered it was better that they atleast had something to cool the house down. he was quite the story teller after we had gotten the ac in we were relaxing.in the suttle breeze of the little ac that could. he told us about a shark fisherman that had went and gotten from all the animals shelters the little kittens to use for bait. well that year he won the competition for the largest shark. the animal shelters also sent him a plaque for being such a good citizen for adopting all those kittens.......so he hung that under is shark award lol!!! tuesday we went to church of god where for the first time we heard singing in tongues. we were there for three hours i sware it was even more boring than our church i liked of died!!! or got up and started preaching in my own tongues or in other words the hardy would have come out of me hahaha thats pretty much it for the week keep in touch

elder p

new transfer

billy is getting transferred again. my mom just sent a package and seems to be just missing him with each one. she commented to me that she hopes whoever opens it enjoys it. i don't know, but i am sure they transfer them to his next address through the mission office, right? anyway, he sounded good in his latest email. here is a quote from his email, "i cant believe it took you five months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! to send me them freaking pictures now i know what blake is talking about!!!! its going to be interesting coming home and seeing anna and avery growed up. i cant believe shes the age of raising an animal it seems just like yesterday when i was trying to get her to quit crying...it never worked. and avery he had those little black boy lips." it is true, he had pretty big lips when he was first born. blake looked at me and said, "those are going to go down, right"? to this day i remind him how shallow he was. here i was thinking my baby was beautiful and he was wondering if he was his.

Mississippi

Billy wrote, "I read your letter again andyou talked about Blake, the farmer, and I pictured him in overalls, a straw hat, and missing teeth. I've been here too long. I asked my companion what was wrong with the people here and he said Mississippi is the poorest, fattest, and dumbest state. Were still laughing about it cuz it's so true. The people are awesome, don't get me wrong. One of our best friends here has no teeth. He's gonna take us fishin." He sounds good.

November update

I got a letter from Billy yesterday. He sounds like he is doing really well. I sent him a box of pomegranates and I wrote on the box, "Whose your favorite sister, now?" I guess he told Sandra that she was because she has sent him the most packages. We haven't received any pictures in a while because his camera card got sucked out by the envelope machine.