April 29th, 2013

Hey Familys

How goes it? It's good to hear that this week was yet another good one, filled with the burn pile and whatnot!. WOW Austin's going to Florida! That is so so so so sick! And speakin' that Spanglish! That is beyond amazing. I'm so proud of that boy. I'll have to be writing him a letter soon.

Well news for here this week: Nothing much, ha-ha. Really, like nothing happened this week. I was trying to think of interesting things that happened during the week but really, nothing. We are teaching this lady named Evelina. Well, she's an interesting duck. She is a sister of a recent convert and we just had our first cita with her. I’m not really sure what her situation is, if she takes medication that makes her loopy or if she was born loopy. We started out with questions like, "Who is Jesus Christ for you?" and we´d get back the answer "Oh yeah, my nephew is going to turn 16 this next month. I love birthdays!" It's an interesting situation. We are going to have to decide before the next cita what we are going do but for now we just “don’t know what to do with our hands”. Just a little awkward.

We are also teaching this kid name named Luis and he´s pretty legit. He has to stop using coke and get married but other than that he´s good to go for baptism. When I say he´s using coke its not like cocaine coke...well kinda, it's coca. The coca leaf is legal here and what a lot of men do is basically bundle up a big gob of coca leaves and lime (like the kind you mix in cement, not the fruit) put it in your mouth and use it like chewing tobacco. Its like an energy booster and makes your teeth nice and stinky and green. They pack their mouths with this stuff here so like, the majority of the people we talk to have: No teeth, big huge coca globs in their mouths, and they speak super fast. It's a bit ridiculous at times.

At church yesterday we sang all songs that nobody knew. Luckily, I wasn’t doing the leading of the hymns (I was blessing the sacrament). My comp was conducting the hymns and when we sang "Oh My Father" everyone was singing a different tune in a different time...it was nuts. I guess the branch president got tired of it and knocked my comp out of his spot and took over leading. We mostly have to sing the same songs over and over at times, I'm afraid.

Sad news: My SD cards are infected. In the words of Lloyd Christmas they've "got worms". Like, they still have the pics on them but you can't upload them onto a computer. You have to get someone to take out the viruses first. In saying that, I'm too freaked out to put photos on the computer here because I'm afraid they might get erased if I keep using the cards.

Well, that’s about it for now...?´s

• Have you had a chance to sample any of the local produce? Anything wacky?

They have this fruit here that’s like a blend of an orange and a lime. I tasted it and it's not that great, just super acidic.

• Any suggestions from Zulauf on how to work with your comp?

He said to just be patient, take charge with the kid, and stuff like that...its so hard to do just that.

• Any garage bands around? Any chances to jam?

Nope, alas, no.

• Do you see the elders from Ledesma often?

Yeah, like we see them every week. Ledesma is like a 30 or 40 minute ride. If you take the bus, it's like an hour.

• Any places to exercise?

Yeah, there’s a backyard by the pench and you can run around that. Good fun.

Well familyz that’s about it. Oh man. It's just kind of rough times right now, you know. I guess this is a trial but it's just not too fun. I'm kinda lost on what to do. It's just kinda hard to see how I am being refined through all this. Sorry for the complaining and all. I'm just kind of lost on what to do sometimes. I'm so thankful for all your great advice, help, prayers, and temple attendance. You’ll be so very blessed for that. Thanks for the letter, Mom and sharing those experiences. I'll be sure to print out the letter so I can read it with more attention. I'm gonna try and add those principles more. It´ll be all good—just keep on keeping on and let the boat do all the work. I love you guys so much. It´ll all be good, for sures. Have a most wonderful week. I'm planning on having a great week myself. 'Til later! I love you, it´s all good.

Con Amor,

Russ