Aahh mer gersh – it’s blowing my mind that Meish is home.
You guys need to go on vacation and get her away from people. I bet they
are swarming the girl.
I opened my email today and found 32 emails waiting me. I
had to take photos and read them last night. I also got letters from Brian Anderson,
Wayne Cushing, Mike Buehner, Bryan Motz, and Rachel Jones. That was very nice
of all of them.
Thanks for noticing the improved handwriting. It is getting
hard for me to write in English. I keep inserting words that should have an
accent and I forget words. But ya, my writing is better than before. I worked
on it a bit in my first area when we planned because I didn’t understand a
thing my comp or the people said so I couldn’t help much on the planning.
I got your box! The backpack is great and we have already
set up a ping pong table =). I really enjoyed the Clayton Christensen essay.
On Friday we went to Torreon to the mission home for a
conference/fiesta with President. We watched Despicable Me. Dad was
right the first one was better. This one they did more physical humor for the
younger age (and my comp who was crying laughing) but it was funny. After the
fiesta it was weird being on the curb getting ready to leave. The last time I
was there was when I first arrived in Torreon and I was standing next to my
first comp.
This past week I was on an exchange in San Pedro and we stopped
by the ward mission leader’s home because he was going with us to visit a
family. The ward mission leader makes
and sells sausage and on their kitchen table there were several large cut up
pigs. Meg would have loved it. I noticed the pig’s head apart from its body and
thought “it’s smiling at me” (Christmas Story).
His son challenged me to an arm-wrestle. Apparently no missionary has
ever beaten this lad. I was no exception.
We stayed that night with the Zone Leaders and two
other elders. The Madero ZL’s live in a large two story house which we call la
mansion de Madero. Unfortunately, there are only two beds in la mansion de
Madero so we had the privilege of sleeping on the tile. Also, there were only
two spare blankets – one for me and one for my companion. In the winter here,
the air is cold but the tile is colder. My comp was apparently not bothered by
either the tile or the cool air because at some point he opened a window and
went back to snoring. Sleep was futile so I used finished Alma by flashlight.
The next day we went caroling with the zone. I walked with
Elder Salazar (Singley’s last companion from Bolivia). We had a great
conversation. He is very humble and very real. Everything he does and says is
very genuine. We talked about Bolivia and his culture. He told me that they don’t
eat anything spicy, so his first week here, especially his first bite of food
was a complete surprise. He said he was caught off guard by “fire-food.”
We stopped by one very small house that was built out of
adobe blocks, sticks, and palm leaves. As we began singing a small boy came out
sucking his thumb. He stood staring at us – especially the white missionaries.
His family welcomed us in with warm gratitude and love. The grandmother gave us
all a gentle hug. The inside of the house was as humble as the outside. I have
been thinking about that home and wondering: “what if that was my family and my
house? And what if that was my first contact with the gospel and feeling the
spirit? I wondered what I would think.
I am super excited to hear Mom and Meg talk in Spanish
tomorrow. I have heard that the Caribbean accent is pretty tropical.
Love you all,
Speen
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