¿Que Hace mí familia?                                                                              October 29, 2012

Hey everybody! What´s going on how is everyone doing?? Sounds like you´re all doing great from you email. How did you like hearing about my area? Pretty crazy huh? Sorry I didn´t have very much time to write. I have more time to write today, so I´ll try and explain what my life is like these days haha. Thanks Dad for telling me about Chandler!! Thats awesome I´m really happy for him. Mom sounds like school is goin really good I´m glad to hear. What´s Jami, Kaylee, and Tyler been up to? That´s cool it snowed Dad...I´m going to miss snowboarding, but who cares I´m on my mission I´ll go when I get back :) haha. It actually snowed on the tops of Popo and the big cool mountain right by it (called Ixztazihuatl) this week when it rained here in Atexcac. I will send you a picture of the other mountain that we live right by next week I don´t have one right now.

Anyway hmmmmm where do I start? I should probably start by explaining Atexcac and everything better. I didn´t have enough time last week, so the way I explained it was very vauge. Okay so it´s not as in the sticks as I explained it last week...at least not everywhere and everybody. Yes there are concrete huts/house things and families that don´t have very much at all, but there are also concrete houses that people have that are more, but still not much. Everybody has electricity and running water, so it´s not like 3rd world or anything, but its just a whole lot different than anything I´ve ever experienced. Most people that live here work in los campos (the fields) where they harvest corn, peas, beans, fruit, you name it. One of the reasons that the work is slow here is not only because its a small area, but people work in the fields all day long. A lot of them have big trucks going up and down the little streets where they put all of crop. It´s nuts because from morning through the afternoon they have what are called combies, like little bus things that take kids to school and others into town. They drive into town and blarrrrr on their horn letting people know that they are here. You get used to horns around here. Also people selling tamales, propane, candy, supplies, etc. will drive around throughout the day announcing their sell on a megaphone haha its weird. People just live a different lifestyle completley here. Everyone is really laid back. The community is like family in some ways. So, an average walk down the street towards an appointment I would see dogs, turkeys, chickens, donkeys, horses, trucks, combies, etc. Hopefully that helps you see a little better. Ask questions and I´ll answer them next week.

As for me I live in a concrete house with title floors which is really nice for this area. Elder Tinoco says its one of the coolest houses he has ever lived in because of how big it is (he has been out for 16 months). Its big for two people anyway. We have all the essentials kitchen, bathroom, study room and stuff (we clean our clothes at the bishops...hut ha). Its more of a house kinda style not an appt. becuase we are renting from a family that lives in a house right by it. It´s not bad at all...at first I didn´t know what to think, but with some cleaning and getting used to I actually really like it. As for hot water for showers we have a propane tank that it connected to some kind of water heater that we have to start up every morning its cool. I´ll have to take some more pictures to send you next week of different things around here.

I´ll tell you a bit about our investigators and the work here in Atexcac, and then I´ll have to sign off. 3 of our 4 investigators are a small family. Yessenia (mother) Angel (14) Mario(10) both kids boys. She is divorced I think. She is actually the dentist of the small town health clinic. They are originally from the city of Puebla and they are Catholic, but don´t practice it. They are so awesome and even though I can´t understand them all the time I really do already love and care about them. Before I got here they had been taught the first lesson. Elder Tinoco and I have had a couple more visists with them since I´ve been here and we´ve taught most of the 3rd lesson and a lot about the Book of Mormon and Faith. Angel actually doesn´t believe and God or Jesus Christ, but I think he is coming along. Actually my first real lesson with them I invited them all to be baptized ha that was scary, but it went well because of the Spirit. Yessenia timidly accepted a date to be baptized, but in a later lesson expressed that she didn´t want to commit to a specific date yet. So we are visiting and teaching regularly with them. It´s amazing to finally be invovled in real missionary work. We are teaching the most basic gospel principals, but that is what is so great about missionary work. I get the opportunity to bear testimony and try and share and even though I can´t speak very well yet, I feel the spirit working through me to touch thier lives. Our other investigator is named Margarita who has a member boyfriend and they have a small child. She wants to be baptized, and she has been taught all the lessons, but we are working with them to get married. Most of our other work is visiting less active members and doing service for members/others. We have a lot of noche de hogar which is family home evening with less active members where we get to sing hymns, share testimony and scriptures to try and uplift the family. We had  many less actives go to church this past sunday! We also organize activies to play soccer or basketball at the church so we can invite investigators or less active members. The work can be really slow at times, but that is how the area is here. We just got to do what we can.

Well I´ve got to go now. I love and miss all of you. Thank you for all of your support and prayers. I fell strenghth and I sure need it with the langauge. It´s getting better step by step. It will take time and I have to be patient. May God bless each and every one of you! I love it out here and I wouldn´t want to be anywhere else. Keep working hard and staying strong in the Gospel. Keep up the reading! It makes all the difference. We are all so blessed. Until next week,

Con Amor

Elder Kitchen