Hey Everyone,

By far, the most exciting thing that happened this week was that Elder Parkinson and I did a back to back exchange with the Inner Harbor 2 Elders, Elder Mendez and Elder Rose. My exchange with Elder Mendez was especially fun, not only because we had already been on two exchanges a year ago, so we were able to see how each other has grown, but he is also in the process of setting up an organ concert for the community, under the direction of President Mutombo. When I was with him, we had the opportunity of going to a massive Catholic cathedral in Northern Baltimore. I was a little wary of going, mostly because of a story Elder Moffett told me about when he went into a Catholic church that the Spirit left at the door. So I was a bit nervous as I pulled open the huge metal doors to the cathedral and followed Elder Mendez inside. We walked in and I immediately started looking around at the beautiful architecture and amazing carvings in the limestone. Once I got about halfway down the isle in the main chapel, a chapel that could fit about 1200-1500 people, I realized that not only did I still feel the Spirit, but I actually felt a little stronger, I felt like I needed to stand a little taller, I didn't need to shuffle around with my eyes to the ground. Now it took me a second to figure out why I felt like that, cause it was the opposite of what I was expecting, then I realized, the cathedral was beautiful and magnificently built, but at the end of the day, it was just a building. There was nothing special about it, it was just a beautiful building. But the most striking thing happened when Elder Mendez started playing the organ. I'l say this, the Catholics know how to pick an organ, and under Elder Mendez's skilled hands, it sounded incredible. The coolest part was that when he started playing some of our hymns, the atmosphere changed and I could feel my mind equalize, as if the Spirit entered the building and my mind didn't have to fight for it so much. Then that night we had a normal East Coast rain storm, which I've come to define as we're miles from the apartment and the clouds roll in in less than 10 minutes before the Flood starts. And it only last for about 20-30 minutes, then we're just soaked for the rest of the night. 

Since we had two exchanges, we were still in exchanges when Thursday morning rolled around, Elder Parkinson and I were still with other Elders. The Inner Harbor Ward was having a pancake breakfast for Fourth of July, so we just decided to exchange back at that. When we got there, no one even questioned why we were there, and it was really fun to see all the old members again.

Sorry for the short email and that some of the pictures are blurry, 

Love you all,
Elder Howell

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