Week 24: Not Feeling Great

So Andrea didn't end up being baptized because something popped up and she couldn't work it into her schedule. She is also busy next weekend, so it will be June 4.

We had multizone conference with another zone in Huehue; it was pretty good. It was pretty much sitting and listening to President Smith talk for 7 hours... but we learned a lot.

Other than that, the week has been very uneventful. Something made Elder Ward and I sick so we were sick for the better part of the week. That's pretty much it for the week. :)

Sorry for the super short email. I just don't feel great and can't really think of much to say.

Love you guys, talk to you next week.

Week 23: Happy Birthday Elder Lee!

Hi Mom,

My birthday was pretty cool. We didn't really do anything too special but a member here invited us to lunch and bought us cake. My companion also bought cake that morning. I got a few calls from some members and other elders which was cool. My companion got me an awesome birthday present though. He had some really cool corte from an area of the mission called Toto, and took it to a tailor and got me a vest made!

Today we have some fun plans. We get to go to Pies again, which is good because I need a new backpack, a dog finished off the last of it a few days ago, haha!

Then we set up a family home evening tonight with a member here from El Salvador who cooks and vends papusas. Papusas are a traditional Salvadorian food. It's like a tortilla, but before they cook it they fill it with meat, beans, and cheese, and then serve it topped with something called curtido, which is kind of a cabbage relish. We are going to teach them how to make hamburgers, and they are going to teach us how to make papusas, I'm super excited for that.

We still haven't gotten much rain, so we still only get water every once in awhile. It's kinda funny you asked about it beacuse I'm literally staring right at a protest in front of the city building about the water right now. The ward hasn't taken any action, such as fasting, as far as the water goes. I think they all just know it will come eventually and know the city is doing what they're supposed to with it I haven't heard anything about wildfires. A lot of the mountains are clear of trees from people cutting them down for firewood, and the mountains get burned down by farmers clearing fields all the time anyway.

We are finding a lot of investigators all of the time, and having to drop them just as fast, because when we contact people they invite us in and want to hear from us, but that's all. They think we're just walking around to give people personal sermons. so when we want them to go to church, or read a little bit or something, they don't want to. So we're starting to be a little more direct about what our purpose is here, so that we don't waste too much more time with people who really don't want to progress. So yeah, we're going through people super fast. But besides that, we do have a few promising people who we stick with. Andrea, the investigator whose boyfriend is an RM will be baptized this week hopefully. We also have a few baptismal dates set for June, but I don't know if I'll still be here then. 

We are having multizone conference this Thursday, I haven't been to one yet, so I don't really know what to expect. From what I hear they are usually pretty long, and President Smith just machetes people the whole time, haha. But I'm exctied and hope I learn something from it, and I think we get lunch too, which should be cool.

That's pretty much all I've got for this week. Thanks for the email. Love you!

Week 17: MACHETE FREE BABY!

Hi Everyone!

So we had interviews on Wednesday last week. They went pretty well. As I've mentioned before, President Smith is what we call a machetero, he likes to hand out machetes (chastisements) at every chance he gets. I've heard horror stories about Elder's interviews lasting an hour, and coming out crying, after being macheted for something extremely minor. But, I am proud to say, I am more than 3 months in MACHETE FREE BABY!

We also had divisions in the last week. I stayed here, and the ZL's comp, Elder Diaz, from Honduras, who only has one more change in the field than I do, came with me in my area. It was cool. I'd consider Elder Diaz one of my better friends in the mission. He's pretty buena onda. Anyway, we were actually pretty successful, we found a family outside of the town, we taught the first lesson, and they accepted baptismal dates.

Conference was awesome. I realize that I really took it for granted back home. I should've payed attention better, haha. But I am already looking forward so much to the next one. It is such an amazing thing that we can hear modern day revelation from a prophet, and his apostles. It did also make me super baggy for a little bit though, remembering watching it at home, knowing my family was watching the same thing.

Here, there are quite a few members (probably a little less than half of them) who can watch conference from their homes. They show conference on a projector at the chapel, and its kind of a thing here to come to the chapel to watch during the Sunday session, so most of the members came for the Sunday sessions. A lot of the members work Saturdays, or watched at home, so there weren't many at the chapel on Saturday. As missionaries, we are encouraged to watch the session in English, because it is more powerful not coming through translators, even latinos are encouraged to do so if they have been studying English with their companions. Elder Van and I were able to watch it in English on Saturday, on the computer in the secretaries office. On Sunday though, it wouldn't work, because there were so many people in the building, and all of their phones connect to the wifi, and the internet frankly sucks here in the first place. 

I liked President Uchtdorf's talk during priesthood a lot, and I also like the idea of family council. It didn't seem like a suggestion either, like I think it's about Family Home Evening level of importance. As always, Elder Holland's talk was great too.

Today we went to The Mirador as a zone activity. It is a kind of monument, on a mountain peak where you can see all of Huehue, and 4 different vocanoes. It's pretty cool. But it's right above Chiantla, in my area, so Elder Van and I have already been, so it was a little boring. After that though, we all went as a zone to a place caled la Escondida steak house. I ate some super good smoked chicken.

Q&A time:

Do people have tvs at home? There's a very wide range of people here, ranging from the top, most advanced, which would be considered a little ghetto in the US; to the bottom, living in a sheet metal hut, sleeping on the dirt. The people inside the city mostly have tvs, though in the aldeas they usually don't.

How much do they use technology? Those in the city yes, in the aldeas, no.

Phones? Cell phones? Same.

Are there stray cats? Yes. 

Are there problems with mice/rats? Sometimes there are some around.

Are there wild animals in the forests? I haven't seen much wildlife besides birds, this high up at least.

Do people hunt? Not really.

Do people raise livestock? In aldeas.

Are there open air markets for grocery shopping, or more like stores? Lots of both and everything in between.

How do people buy chickens to eat, whole, live, feathers, cleaned and cut? Take your pick.

Do you have an oven? We have a couple of stove burner things that plug into the wall.

Are ovens/baked goods common? There are tons of small bakeries around, one of the things people do from their homes, and sell on the streets.

Do people even eat treats/desserts? Yes, most common is pan dulce, or sweet bread.

Changes are on the 19th of April. I'm not too worried about it. You really have no idea until you get the call from the district leader the night before changes saying whether you or your companion have changes or not. There are a few rules of thumb though. If you've only been in an area for one change, you can probably count on staying, but it's not really that uncomon to only be in an area for one change. After two changes, that's where it's up in the air. If someone goes, it will most likely be the one who has more time in the area, both companions almost never go, so if your companion has more time in the area than you, you can count on staying. Elder Van and I opened this area; sometimes people stay together longer when they open areas, so there is even a chance that we will both stay here for a third change, then one of us go the next change. 

Love you! Talk to you next week.

P.S. For lack of other stuff to say, I've been baggy for food back in the US lately, like super baggy! Also, I have some photos from this last week, but the USB port on my computer isn't working so I'll have to upload them next week. Disclaimer: all the pictures he promised were added to this post a week later. :)