Week 18: A Gringo in Chilinko

Hi Everyone!

So this last week, as far as work goes, went pretty well. The family that I found with Elder Diaz hasn't been home all week, so I haven't even had a second visit with them. But we've been focusing on finding families, and we've been able to find a couple. They both are really positive and we're almost sure that one will baptize. There is also a referral we received of a girl who is engaged to a returned missionary and is not a member...they want to get married in the temple...so baptism is definitely her goal. But that one doesn't really count in my eyes. I'm more excited for the families, because it makes me happy that we were able to share the gospel with them.  

There is an aldea (small farming villages in the mountains outside of cities, that have mostly indigenous people, with indigenous dialects and practices) in the mountains above Chiantla, called Chilinko. I had the opportunity to attend church in a branch up there last Sunday. The people are really friendly, and love Elders. I went with Elder Diaz, so Elder Van wasn't with me. But a lot of the kids had never seen a gringo, so I was kind of a walking circus. They just met in a small shack with a tarp roof, and used folding chairs. There was an attendance of about 20. I helped teach the priesthood class. 

So Elder Van and I have had a running joke this last week about how someone must be playing Jumanji in our apartment. We had a bit of a fruitfly investation, followed by a spider infestation. We only have water for a few hours in the morning all of the sudden. And our showerhead blew up...so cold showers, as often as we can get them until we can figure this out. We made ceviche for lunch again today, It was really good.

Changes are next Tuesday, the 19th. There's not really a way to know if we'll be moved or not, so lots of suspense for me and Elder Van this week. We find out Sunday night.

I think I'll also make a shoutout to some members here that I am very grateful for. The Mauricio families. Leonel Mauricio is the 2nd Counselor. He has a sister, Emma Mauricio, who pretty much tries to be our mom out here. And another sister Jona Mauricio who is one of our best friends. I love all of them, they all do a ton of stuff for us all the time, and we can't possibly keep up returning the favors no matter how hard we try. I've just been very grateful for the members here this past week.

Today Jackson uploaded several pictures from the past two weeks: a few more from Easter, a scary long hanging bridge, watching the Saturday session of General Conference in English, divisions with Elder Diaz, and his second P-day trip to Mirador which includes some really great pictures of the scenery, the locals, and their livestock, plus a bonus of his menu at lunch. If you missed them here, go back and check them out on the posts from weeks 16 and 17. 

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. :)

Week 16: Easter All Week

This week had kind of a slow start. I had a stomach illness on Tuesday, and was starting to get better by Wednesday morning, then by lunch that same day Elder Van was sick with the same thing. He didn't start feeling well until like Friday morning. So we didn't leave the apartment much besides for important visits we had, for short times.

It did give us a good opportunity to clean up a little bit for apartment inspections which we had on Thursday, and we passed, though we didn't have to do much because we are both pretty organized. I did get a lot of time to study, which I enjoyed, and I learned a lot. But no one can study all day straight. Staying home is pretty overrated, there's nothing to do but study. It's kind of hard not to feel a little baggy when you're left to your thoughts for too long. Haha! But, thankfully, we were able to get out of the house and work by Friday.

Here they celebrate Easter all week. The celebration is called semana santa. They decorate the whole town in religious posters and colorful banners and streamers and stuff. Most of the celebrating happens on Friday. They have parades and food all week. One cool thing they do is make cool designs on the streets from colored sawdust called alfumbras, which literally translates to rugs. Here in Chiantla, they also do a really famous reenactment of the crucifixion that people from all over come to see. Elder Van and I were going to steer clear of it, but every member here said we should go see it. So we just stopped by for a second and watched a part of it from the back of the crowd. It's a little crazy, the guy that plays Christ actually has to carry his cross, and gets whipped, and has a real thorn crown and stuff.

We have interviews with President Smith coming up this week to "look forward to." I will also be going on divisions with the district leader sometime soon. Other than that, everything else is pretty much normal. Still hot, still working hard, still eating some variation of chicken and rice almost every day, and I'm still enjoying my time here no matter what.

Thanks for everything! Love you! Talk to you next week!