SO I AM IN MEXICO!!! I am in a little city called Cuautla in the state of Morelos. Let me tell you first, i am suffering from some culture shock. i recognize that, however, i do love it. the people here are wonderful and as my mission president said, 'in mexico, bad people only hurt bad people.' so i haven't faced any dangerous situations as of right now.
the food is to die for. i have loved every second of that part. here, if you want water they will usually bring you a colorful drink.. its called agua fresca. its water with fruit in it. like watered down fresh fruit. it is AWESOME. so if you want regular water you have to ask for agua natural, or aqua simple. the people here are seriously awful at driving. it is scaring walking in the streets or trying to cross. i am pretty sure that there aren't traffic laws except for red means stop...unless you can make it haha. when we have to take a car somewhere we take these things called combis. they are like vans cleared out and made into like these little buses. crazy!! and people generally drive like motorcycles and dirt bikes and whatnot haha.
the people are so wonderful. the members are really helpful and my companion is the sweetest.she is a native. only spanish. that gets difficult sometimes but it makes me really world. every time you pass someone you always say hola, or buenas dias/tardes/noche to each and everyone. they are a humble people. even the nicest houses here are not like america but they love it. they are grateful for what they have. every time you greet someone (woman to woman) you shake their hand and then you go in for a hug and tough cheeks and make a kiss sound. it's precious. and the little girls actually kiss you on the cheek. i just die sometimes.
oh and the kids, they get crazy after like 730 in the night. they literally just run around the streets doing whatever they please. there's a little girl and a little boy that great us almost every night. their family is inactive so we are working on getting them back to church. but every night she runs up to us and says 'hermanas!!' and hugs us like crazy. its just wonderful.
ok. so there are dogs EVERYWHERE. AND I LOVE IT!!!! oh my gosh it just makes my days. but sometimes it makes me sad because some are really sick. one of the elders told me that the people think of them like rats unless they are worth a lot of money. its insane. and they love cats here. ew. pero. its ok. there are some pit bulls that are in the house across from us that hang out on the roof tops. this is pretty common. dogs on the roof tops. and they just bark at you because they can. most of the time the dogs are really scared of you though.
we had a little girl get baptized on saturday. i am going to leave names out from here on out because this goes on my blog and i want the people to have confidentiality. but it was wonderful. shes 10 and is just the sweetest. we are working with her mom still, so we get to see them often. we had a lesson with a man who is about 50 years old yesterday. he is inactive and we are working with him to feel that he can be forgiven of his sins. he cried with us last night, it was so spiritual. he opened up and i just loved it.
the language is tough. i can speak about gospel related stuff with my companion and i can speak it to others but often times i cant understand them. i know that i do not conjugate correctly and am not perfect. i don't talk all that often during the lessons. i just bear my testimony. something that i have seen many times though throughout this last week though is that the people will understand me, when the Lord wants them to understand me. my companion calls me 'mi compañera poderosa' which means my powerful companion. it is just the sweetest. and it helps me feel like i am doing the work of the Lord.
this is going to be a humbling experience. i have seen that a lot this week. but what i have realized in this short time is that its not about the place, its about the people. it helps to remember that. it is very different her, much like what you see on the tv. today, i did my own laundry. literally. with my own hands and a bar of soap. they are hanging to dry as we speak. they don't really have internet in homes here. i am in a little store that rents out computers. you sit on their computer and pay for the time on it. they have little stores EVERYWHERE called aborrotias, i think that's the way you spell it. they are like little convenient stores but on every street. there are usually at least 2 on a street but my street has four. they sell, chips, candy, ice cream, Coke. OH MY GOSH: i am again addicted to coke. they love it here. they sell 1.5 liters of coke and people walk around drinking those. haha it{s crazy.
on friday we got lost on our way to interview the little girl. we were with our district leader elders and a member, the ward mission leader. we were literally lost in the middle of nowhere. i am going to try and send you the video. its pretty funny.
this has been a crazy week, but family and friends, i know that i am supposed to be here. i am doing the work of the Lord so its not about me, its about them. i am grateful for this truly humbling experience. i love these people so much.
i love and miss you ALL so much. i am so grateful for your words of encouragement. they have helped me more than you know.
con todo mi corazon
hermanaut
PS shout out to mi hermana heather, it was your birthday last week. i hope you get my letter soon. and to miss whitney alger on her engagement! congrats!!
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