1-23-17

This week I worked so. dang. hard. We succesfully achieved 7 investigators with baptismal dates this week! The days are long and the work is hard, but Im having fun out here! 

We have spent a lot of time in the dentists office! My comp has a cavity and the dentist can never numb his mouth correctly, so I spend a lot of time studying haha. We also went to a surrounding area for some Hermanas, who claim their house is haunted! I dont think so, I think its all in their heads. But we have gone twice for blessings and to check stuff out. 

We have walked so much! My feet are aching as I write this email! We walk across our entire area only to find the investigator we set an appointment with, doesnt have time, or is sick or something. So we walk to the other side of the area for the same response. Its all good, people will listen or they wont, and we are going to try no matter what. However, my feet are practically numb. 

This week we had some interesting lessons! One was with Karlos, an investigator. We taught the 10 commandments. We taught about all the commandments, and he accepted all of them except 'Thou shalt not kill'. Different, right? He said that if someone killed his friends, or a member of his family, he would go kill them for revenge. So we have a little bit of work to do this week with him haha!

Another was with a less active Señora, whose husband has a severe sickness and is disabled for the rest of his life. They are super stinking rich, and everything they own is insane. Well, we set a date for Sunday, at 6. We arrived on Sunday, at 6, and she wouldnt let us enter her house because we didnt call half an hour before arriving. Eventually, through my companions smooth talk and my awkward smile, she let us in. She then scolded us for several minutes and also scolded us because we wouldnt leave our area to take a metro back to our apartment. Very different than how I envisioned the lesson would go. 

We had a lesson with the most drunken man I have ever seen. We taught about the plan of salvation, handed him a pamphlet and he staggered off. Lesson: taught. 

We ran out of Books of Mormon too! We have been handing out so many and the distribution office isnt sending us more so we are out! 

Other fun things this week: I got to ride in a micro bus! Its a bus, just... micro. Its absolutely hilarious. The drivers replace the lights with purple, green, or rainbow lights. There is always a huge spoiler on top of the bus. The bus has a crazy paint job, black rims, and is louder than 10 harley davidson choppers. Im too tall to stand and the seats arent big enough to sit, so its a good time. 

Speaking of height, literally every door, every car, bus, everything, i have to duck to fit in. I am getting a big cramp in my neck from always bending down to fit. 

Today I woke up at 3am to visit star hill, or Cerra Estrella, for a pday activity. it was super fun and the view is amazing. the city stretches in every direction as far as the eye can see. its amazing to see how many people live here!!! I got to speak English with Elder Ogden from South Jordan for the hike up, which was really nice. We returned, my comp, Rosales, and I, and ate hot dogs for breakfast (for some reason latinos think that americans eat hot dogs and hamburgers for breakfast, i cant figure it out?), and had a good time buying 48 packages of ramen. We are resting from the endless work and having a really good time together. 

My companion is really funny, he always tries to talk in English and is terrible! Im teaching him though, so hes getting a lot better. He is also fun because we pretend to fight whenever our Zone leaders are around, just for fun. We also stop by a local bakery every night because the donuts, croissants and other pastries there are only 6 pesos each! thats like 28 cents! so we eat a lot of dulce, or sweets, cause its cheap. We have a good time together, and Im glad he is my comp!

I have been hit on this week a few more times, and i wish I could say they were all girls. But the world we live in is a changing world and some times, men hit on men. We also had a lady who... does not do good things yell 'Enseñarme la palabra de Dios, muchachos!'. We left the street quickly. 

This week was a disappointment because 5 of our 7 investigators with baptismal dates fell. 2 need to get married to their gf or move out of their gfs house, and both say they want to get married at the end of this year, so unfortunately they wont be baptized for a while. Others fell from legal points, our investigator is married to another man and cant get divorced so her and her 'husband' (boyfriend) cant get baptized. The last one, just said he didnt want to be baptized. So we are a little saddened that all of our work has crumbled this week. However, LIZ, my amiga, is getting baptized THIS WEEK on Saturday and we are so so so excited for her! This will be my first baptism, so this week will be good for sure!

The one thing I love about my mission so much right now, is the juice. The juice in Mexico is different than in the USA and it is sooooooooooo sooooo good. They have so many fruits Ive never heard of, and all of them are in juice form. Its heaven. Also, people here hate normal water, so they always make water with lime, or lemon, or mango, guayana, oranges, and any fruit you can think of. it is so. dang. good. They know how to have drinks here!! 

But seriously I really love my mission, even though I miss my home. I hope everyone is having a good time! Remember, WE ARE HERE TO HAVE JOY. (2 nephi 2 25).  so enjoy yourself! Nothing brings more joy than the Family, so spend time with them! Have a good week!