August 6, 2012

Hey Mom, It’s still raining quite a bit here, but this week went pretty well. We still haven’t been able to baptize D because he’s been in the District and isn’t coming back until Saturday. We have been working really hard though with another guy, A and he has a baptismal date for this Sunday, so we’re praying that everything goes well with him this week. He’s a police officer and has to work a lot so there are sometimes when he can’t go to church so that has kind of been the challenge with him. He’s had lots of really random questions too about the Catholic Church and everything. I’ve gotten to know the bible pretty well since I’ve been here, and we’ve been able to answer most of his questions that are important, but I still don’t think I’ll really ever understand the whole Virgen de Guadalupe thing. We were in one of the new parts of our area on Wednesday, looking for one of the houses of an investigator from the other missionaries that used to be there. It was pouring rain on us and we were super lost. My companion kept telling me that it was pointless to walk and we should just call somebody or something to find the house. I felt like we should keep walking, but then all of a sudden it started raining even harder so I ran under a tree to take cover for a second and when I looked up, on the wall there was a sign that said ´Tlaxcantitla´, which was exactly what I was looking for, the street that she lived on! It was a super cool experience, and that little miracle made my day. There are always tiny miracles happening like that in our lives, we just have to be alert and recognize them. On Monday I got the package you sent for my birthday only 10 days after you sent it! I still haven’t opened any of the things that were wrapped or the cards that were in it, I’m going to wait till my birthday. I’ll definitely be able to find somebody to bake the cake for me too. I also got another letter from you too that same day. The sister that went to Vegas called me on Saturday and we passed by their ´weekend´ house on Sunday to get my other package, and it was perfect because we were able to put an appointment with them for this next Sunday to teach. Beef jerky doesn’t exist here so shared it with everybody at church and they all loved it and pretty much the whole package was gone before I got home, it was pretty funny. The first counselor in the bishopric hunted me down when he heard I had jerky because he told me he hadn’t had it since he had a gringo companion on his mission 5 years ago. I’m really getting comfortable here in Mexico; I ate a taco with pig intestine in it the other day and actually enjoyed it. I also ate 2 chilis de arbol, the second hottest chili here in Mexico, to show off for a member the other day. Not even the Mexicans that were there ate them. I regretted it a little bit though because I was crying for a long time afterwards and my tongue felt really weird, kind of numb. The language is coming along really well, and now more than anything I’m just trying to get a better Mexican accent. I’m glad to hear that everything is going super good for you guys, tell dad to pull the trigger on a four-wheeler, that would be perfect for me when I get home! I hope you guys have a great week, take care and let me know how your camping trip goes and everything. I love you! Elder Johnson