Hola,
Well, my first change is just about over. But… I can´t tell you the details of the transfers cause, well, we don´t have them yet. But wow, our Zone Leaders played a GREAT trick on us this morning in District Meeting. Of course everyone was all excited to hear about where people are headed and who´ll be their comps and all that, and we had to wait until the end of the meeting to find out. Then we put all of our name tags into a hat, and as we drew out two at a time, we had to arm wrestle each other, and the winner got to hear where he was headed and who his companion would be... so it was all very fun, and I was the last to do the wrestling, which I won, and found out that I would be staying in Salado (which is in actuality most likely), and that my companion would be an E. Markus… and then a free for all wrestling match occurred as we were told it was all made up and that we wouldn´t be finding out until tonight, because the President is still working on them. But we all had a good laugh, and then we went and played a match of futbol. So it won´t be until next week that I get to tell you where I´m headed and who my new companion is. Sorry. I´m still with E. Nilsen until Wednesday morning. This first change went so fast, and people always say the first change goes the slowest, so I´m afraid to find out how fast the mission passes me by.
As for my card, its just because it’s a Mastercard… apparently they don´t work down here. It even didn´t work in the ATM at the HSBC. I could have gotten money from there though, but I needed my actual passport, and the have that in the safe at the office, and I just carry around a photocopy. So that would be a bit of a hassle to go through. But I was wondering if there is a way you could get a visa card for my account and get that sent down here like you did my other card… that would be awesome, and the best way to take care of the problem for the rest of my mission rather than having to try and obtain my passport and go into Asuncion every time I want to take out money.
Today I got the pictures that Cole drew of his hermit crab, so I understood what you were talking about when you mentioned the pet store in your letter. Haha I remember our hermit crab days when we were younger. I hope he´s having fun with them. I also got my package today… I haven´t opened it yet but it doesn´t appear tampered with, but man it sure sucks to have to lug it around all day. Plus I got my shoes and clothes for playing soccer, and I have to go get my groceries after this… I just love P-days.
We had an awesome opportunity this week though. The President of this part of South America, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina, came and spent a week here. He had a Fireside for investigators and recent converts, and then we had a Zone Conference with him. They were both just spectacular. You can see him in the Presidency chart in the May Ensign, Elder Robbins. It was some great stuff, and he explained things so clearly and simply.
Anyways, a little more about Paraguay to wrap up my letter. Primero, Dad would be going crazy here haha, its very rare to see a mouth with all their teeth… and even rarer to not have their teeth decaying. Its quite disgusting… the Lord definitely helps me out, because at any other time I would probably be really queezy, but it doesn´t really bother me right now. Also, the Paraguayans like to play a lot of volleyball… but its more of a “slapball.” They just set the ball and then slap at it… they don´t play an actual game of how its supposed to be played. Its pretty funny to watch. They also like to play a lot of futbol, but in this they´re actually good. But most of the time in the evenings, everyone is out in their local soccer or volleyball field or sandpatch, drinking and playing and yeah, that’s Paraguay.
Anyways, I´m gonna use up the rest of the time I have and try and get some pictures over this stupid machine. Love you all,
E. Dennis
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
May 19, 2008
Dear familia y amigos,
Well I’ve passed my one month point here in Paraguay, which is just absolutely crazy. It definitely still feels like I just got here yesterday, despite the fact that I’m getting used to the wierd surroundings and culture. Things are going pretty good, and the work is moving along quite well, the Lord blessed us tremendously this week. But first I have a problem that needs solved quickly…
My card doesn’t work. We tried 3 different ATMs today. The first one, the nicest, told me I had no money in my account, and then the other two just said that they didn’t take it there. The reason for that is probably because its mastercard, I guess there’s big problems with that down here, Visa is apparently the way to go. But another thing that some of the Elders who are more experienced with this say that they don’t think the card is activated. I know you said you went in there and activated it with the Branch Manager, so I don’t know what the deal is. There’s a HSBC close to the temple in Asunción though, and this Thursday we have a Zone Conference down there, so we’re going to go and see if they can’t help me out or something. But if you could try and find out what’s going on with that as well, it would help a bunch if I could get to my money.
On to happier things: We had a sweet Family Home Evening with one of the members, Amada, and we made impanadas and tortillas, and they were just amazing. I love impanadas, they’re so good. And then tortillas are like the funnel cake dough without the sugar topped on it, also way good. I got plenty of pictures, and I was going to try and send them home but once again we’re using the place that doesn’t have USB drives, so no luck this week. We kind of just walk along the street and the first internet place we come to that has open computers is where we go.
In my personal study, I finished the Gospels in the New Testiment on Saturday, so that was exciting. We get an hour of personal study everyday, and so this is what I do. I start out with a chapter from the Book of Mormon, where I go into semi in depth study and take notes and stuff, because I’ve already read through it once on my mission so far, and now I’m going through again much more slowly. Right now I’m at the very end of 2 Nephi. Alter I do that, right now we’re reading through Preach My Gospel to finish it by this Thursday—the reason we’re going down to Asunción is for the visit of a 70 Area Authority, and we have to have it completely read by then. So I have my little timeline of what I need to read each day and I just follow that. Then I use the rest of the time, usually about half an hour or so, and just read from the New Testiment. I’m just reading through pretty fast right now, just to get through it. After the NT, I’ll probable move to the Old Testament, and so on with the other books of scripture. And then after I get it all done, I plan to do it all again in Spanish. I try to read a chapter a day from the Book of Mormon in Spanish, but mostly just to practice pronunciation. Thanks for the scripture sugestión, its an awesome one, they love to use it in district meetings and zone conferences alot.
Ok. Now let me just say that Guarani just kicks our trash. It is such a HUGE barrier when it comes to teaching people. Most people are pretty good with being able to understand and communicate at least in Spanish, but 2 of the families we’re teaching right now don’t understand or speak hardly any spanish whatsoever… and wow is it tough. We’re doing really good right now working with the members, and its so much better when members become involved. We’re seeing so much more success this week because of it. Also let me just say right now that if any words are in spanish or just funny, its because this stupid program is trying to correct everything I say. I’m catching most of it, but if I miss anything, just letting you know.
Haley, ¡Feliz Cumpleaños! I hope you have fun, and how does it feel to be old? You’re officially an adult, and how I wish I were just a little kid again haha. Oh well, at least you’re not entering the 20s yet, thats just weird. In another month I won’t start my age with a 1 anymore. Haha And mom, as for her computer, the 1 or 2 gigs is for the RAM, not the hard drive, and I wouldn’t think its really worth it to put in an extra gig, the one will be just fine, thats what I have.
Its hot down here, and really humid. Its probably going to rain tomorrow, but it hasn’t rained in almost 2 weeks now, so I guess its alright. Also I need one last favor from Haley. Haley, I need Katelyn’s Idaho address. So go onto Facebook today and tell her to email me her address here so that I can write her, cause it won’t be until mid June that my letter would get there and I’m pretty sure she won’t still be at school. And tell her pronto. Thanks a bunch hermana!
Alright, thats about all I got folks. I’m really tan…on my foresarms and face to halfway down my neck…so thats exciting. Oh and I’m beefing up my physique, with my daily excersizes… it feels good to be getting muscules back. I also got my scripture cases ordered today, so I’m stoked for those. I got one for my BofM and one for my Bible. The Bof M has the Picture of the vision of the Tree of Life on the front, and the one of Christ descending into the Americas on the back. The Bible has a Picture of Christ as a sheperd by Simon Dewey (don’t know how else to describe it) on the front, and then the Picture, also by Dewey, of Christ at the well with the Samaritan woman on the back. So those are going to be awesome. I’ll take pictures.
Yeah. Um. I love you all. And I can’t think of anything else.
Elder Dennis
Well I’ve passed my one month point here in Paraguay, which is just absolutely crazy. It definitely still feels like I just got here yesterday, despite the fact that I’m getting used to the wierd surroundings and culture. Things are going pretty good, and the work is moving along quite well, the Lord blessed us tremendously this week. But first I have a problem that needs solved quickly…
My card doesn’t work. We tried 3 different ATMs today. The first one, the nicest, told me I had no money in my account, and then the other two just said that they didn’t take it there. The reason for that is probably because its mastercard, I guess there’s big problems with that down here, Visa is apparently the way to go. But another thing that some of the Elders who are more experienced with this say that they don’t think the card is activated. I know you said you went in there and activated it with the Branch Manager, so I don’t know what the deal is. There’s a HSBC close to the temple in Asunción though, and this Thursday we have a Zone Conference down there, so we’re going to go and see if they can’t help me out or something. But if you could try and find out what’s going on with that as well, it would help a bunch if I could get to my money.
On to happier things: We had a sweet Family Home Evening with one of the members, Amada, and we made impanadas and tortillas, and they were just amazing. I love impanadas, they’re so good. And then tortillas are like the funnel cake dough without the sugar topped on it, also way good. I got plenty of pictures, and I was going to try and send them home but once again we’re using the place that doesn’t have USB drives, so no luck this week. We kind of just walk along the street and the first internet place we come to that has open computers is where we go.
In my personal study, I finished the Gospels in the New Testiment on Saturday, so that was exciting. We get an hour of personal study everyday, and so this is what I do. I start out with a chapter from the Book of Mormon, where I go into semi in depth study and take notes and stuff, because I’ve already read through it once on my mission so far, and now I’m going through again much more slowly. Right now I’m at the very end of 2 Nephi. Alter I do that, right now we’re reading through Preach My Gospel to finish it by this Thursday—the reason we’re going down to Asunción is for the visit of a 70 Area Authority, and we have to have it completely read by then. So I have my little timeline of what I need to read each day and I just follow that. Then I use the rest of the time, usually about half an hour or so, and just read from the New Testiment. I’m just reading through pretty fast right now, just to get through it. After the NT, I’ll probable move to the Old Testament, and so on with the other books of scripture. And then after I get it all done, I plan to do it all again in Spanish. I try to read a chapter a day from the Book of Mormon in Spanish, but mostly just to practice pronunciation. Thanks for the scripture sugestión, its an awesome one, they love to use it in district meetings and zone conferences alot.
Ok. Now let me just say that Guarani just kicks our trash. It is such a HUGE barrier when it comes to teaching people. Most people are pretty good with being able to understand and communicate at least in Spanish, but 2 of the families we’re teaching right now don’t understand or speak hardly any spanish whatsoever… and wow is it tough. We’re doing really good right now working with the members, and its so much better when members become involved. We’re seeing so much more success this week because of it. Also let me just say right now that if any words are in spanish or just funny, its because this stupid program is trying to correct everything I say. I’m catching most of it, but if I miss anything, just letting you know.
Haley, ¡Feliz Cumpleaños! I hope you have fun, and how does it feel to be old? You’re officially an adult, and how I wish I were just a little kid again haha. Oh well, at least you’re not entering the 20s yet, thats just weird. In another month I won’t start my age with a 1 anymore. Haha And mom, as for her computer, the 1 or 2 gigs is for the RAM, not the hard drive, and I wouldn’t think its really worth it to put in an extra gig, the one will be just fine, thats what I have.
Its hot down here, and really humid. Its probably going to rain tomorrow, but it hasn’t rained in almost 2 weeks now, so I guess its alright. Also I need one last favor from Haley. Haley, I need Katelyn’s Idaho address. So go onto Facebook today and tell her to email me her address here so that I can write her, cause it won’t be until mid June that my letter would get there and I’m pretty sure she won’t still be at school. And tell her pronto. Thanks a bunch hermana!
Alright, thats about all I got folks. I’m really tan…on my foresarms and face to halfway down my neck…so thats exciting. Oh and I’m beefing up my physique, with my daily excersizes… it feels good to be getting muscules back. I also got my scripture cases ordered today, so I’m stoked for those. I got one for my BofM and one for my Bible. The Bof M has the Picture of the vision of the Tree of Life on the front, and the one of Christ descending into the Americas on the back. The Bible has a Picture of Christ as a sheperd by Simon Dewey (don’t know how else to describe it) on the front, and then the Picture, also by Dewey, of Christ at the well with the Samaritan woman on the back. So those are going to be awesome. I’ll take pictures.
Yeah. Um. I love you all. And I can’t think of anything else.
Elder Dennis
Monday, May 12, 2008
May 12, 2008
Hello once again.
I’m glad we were able to get through last night, it was good to talk to everyone. Things are going well here in Paraguay, and I’m starting to get used to the culture and getting around and etc. The computer I’m using today doesn’t have any USB ports, so there’s no trying to send home pictures today, but what will most likely end up happening is that next week or in 2-3 weeks I’ll probably put them all on a CD and send it home so you can see them. I’m starting to settle in, so it’s harder to come up with things to write about now haha.
First of all, we had our first baptism last Thursday night, and that was awesome. I got to baptize him, Valeriano, so that was sweet. Getting into the water was a lot of fun though… they don’t have heated water in Paraguay. So I just had to plunge in and not think about it, to set the example for Valeriano. It was an awesome experience though, I think I felt the spirit during that than I have at any other point in my life, it was truly amazing. We took pictures (of course) so one day you’ll get to see them.
Um, I guess I’ll tell you a little bit about where Salado is, and maybe you can find it on your Google Earth. We’re between the two main cities of Limpio, to the north, and Luque, to the south. Our chapel is in Maraque, which is a little closer to Luque, while Salado is a little closer to Limpio. If you follow the main North-South road that runs down from Limpio, you’ll see our house. We live right on that principle route, about a 100 yards up from Ruta Salado, which branches off of the principle route, an is a pretty big road, though its of the stone nature which I talked about last time, and it’s a little ways passed the concha Guarani, which is on the left side of the road as you follow it Southward. And then our area is cupped by the principle route and the ruta Salado, in a little square/oval thing. So yeah, that my area. We go down to Luque on P-Days for shopping, and go into Limpio for District meeting and other ward meetings/baptisms during the week. So yeah, good luck trying to find it haha.
The mentioning of our district meetings brings me to the next thing I wanted to say. This week we don’t have our district meeting until tomorrow, because the Zone leaders had a leadership training meeting down at the mission home in Asuncion today. So I won’t know until tomorrow if your package has arrived yet or not. I hope it does though, me and Bullcreek were talking today, cause we still got together and played some futbol, about how much we miss just some good, made of sugar candy. All they have here are pastry like sweets, and its killing me. I need some good airheads or skittles or something, I’m dying here haha.
As for the last item of business, I was wondering if you could pop just 25 extra bucks in there as well, because I’m going to get some nice leather cases made for my Spanish scriptures. Yeah, 25-30 dollars and you get personalized, handmade leather scripture cases with engraved pictures on front and back… its so sweet. But other than that, what you were thinking of giving me is wonderful. And that will probably just about do it for quite awhile, if not the rest of my mission. Thank you so much mommy. I love you lots. Sorry I made you scared yesterday when you couldn’t get through. Oh and don’t worry, E. Nilsen had plenty of time to talk to his family as well. I hope all continues to go well. Tell Haley to have fun at prom and Robyn to enjoy the new school. And tell Cole to not play TOO many videojuegos.
Love you all,
Elder Dennis
I’m glad we were able to get through last night, it was good to talk to everyone. Things are going well here in Paraguay, and I’m starting to get used to the culture and getting around and etc. The computer I’m using today doesn’t have any USB ports, so there’s no trying to send home pictures today, but what will most likely end up happening is that next week or in 2-3 weeks I’ll probably put them all on a CD and send it home so you can see them. I’m starting to settle in, so it’s harder to come up with things to write about now haha.
First of all, we had our first baptism last Thursday night, and that was awesome. I got to baptize him, Valeriano, so that was sweet. Getting into the water was a lot of fun though… they don’t have heated water in Paraguay. So I just had to plunge in and not think about it, to set the example for Valeriano. It was an awesome experience though, I think I felt the spirit during that than I have at any other point in my life, it was truly amazing. We took pictures (of course) so one day you’ll get to see them.
Um, I guess I’ll tell you a little bit about where Salado is, and maybe you can find it on your Google Earth. We’re between the two main cities of Limpio, to the north, and Luque, to the south. Our chapel is in Maraque, which is a little closer to Luque, while Salado is a little closer to Limpio. If you follow the main North-South road that runs down from Limpio, you’ll see our house. We live right on that principle route, about a 100 yards up from Ruta Salado, which branches off of the principle route, an is a pretty big road, though its of the stone nature which I talked about last time, and it’s a little ways passed the concha Guarani, which is on the left side of the road as you follow it Southward. And then our area is cupped by the principle route and the ruta Salado, in a little square/oval thing. So yeah, that my area. We go down to Luque on P-Days for shopping, and go into Limpio for District meeting and other ward meetings/baptisms during the week. So yeah, good luck trying to find it haha.
The mentioning of our district meetings brings me to the next thing I wanted to say. This week we don’t have our district meeting until tomorrow, because the Zone leaders had a leadership training meeting down at the mission home in Asuncion today. So I won’t know until tomorrow if your package has arrived yet or not. I hope it does though, me and Bullcreek were talking today, cause we still got together and played some futbol, about how much we miss just some good, made of sugar candy. All they have here are pastry like sweets, and its killing me. I need some good airheads or skittles or something, I’m dying here haha.
As for the last item of business, I was wondering if you could pop just 25 extra bucks in there as well, because I’m going to get some nice leather cases made for my Spanish scriptures. Yeah, 25-30 dollars and you get personalized, handmade leather scripture cases with engraved pictures on front and back… its so sweet. But other than that, what you were thinking of giving me is wonderful. And that will probably just about do it for quite awhile, if not the rest of my mission. Thank you so much mommy. I love you lots. Sorry I made you scared yesterday when you couldn’t get through. Oh and don’t worry, E. Nilsen had plenty of time to talk to his family as well. I hope all continues to go well. Tell Haley to have fun at prom and Robyn to enjoy the new school. And tell Cole to not play TOO many videojuegos.
Love you all,
Elder Dennis
Monday, May 5, 2008
May 5, 2008
* Just a quick editorial note from Tracie -
He asked us to put some birthday $ into his account so he can buy a guitar - we knew he couldn't go 2 years without one! That's what the first paragraph is all about -
Hello again,
Well first off, its SaladO, not a. Haha, and secondly, the $ is up to you. I was thinking somewhere about $200-250 or so. And the reason I wanted to pick one up now is cause there´s an Elder here who´s looking to sell his and get a better one, but I found out this past week he´s wanting $300, and that was a little more than I was looking to spend, so I don´t think I´m going to do that anyway. But alot of Elders have them around here... just no one who´s living with me, go figure haha.
Alright, now for the exciting stuff for you: the call. Actually, I´m not going to need a phone card, because you´re actually going to be calling me. We´ll be taking the call from a member´s house, one of the few with a land line down here, and its alot easier than going to the church and fighting 10 other Elders for the phone. Call at about 6:15pm on Sunday. I´ll be there waiting, and we get an hour to chat. Make sure you call at 6:15 though, because we have to make sure we give enough time for E. Nilsen´s parents to call after our hour.
Okay, now to basically retype my letter from last week. haha. Okay, a little about Paraguay. FIrst off, about the roads. There´s three types of roads here. The 1st kind is actually paved, and these are the main arteries of the country, and in the bigger cities. The second type is this rock road thing, where its larger rocks are hand laid with sand, and they´re the roads that branch off the Ruto Principal (the paved road). And then thirdly, there´s dirt. But that brings me to the dirt. The dirt is just red sand and clay... at times it just feels like I´m walking along the beach, its awful. And then it decides to rain, and the entire landscape just turns into a mudpit, and you get home at night and your pants and shoes are just caked... okay, not caked, but there´s just mud all over them. I love it here though, it really is beautiful, and when its not raining, which isn´t too often so far, only about once a week, its just clear skies and palm trees and amazing fruit that is absolutely delicious. Although last week was FREEZING for some reason. It rained a little bit, but it was just cold. We were huddling in our blankets at night and in the morning in the apartment, and it made me really wish that I hadn´t sent my other sweaters home. But its all good, its warmed up again, and its about perfect right now.
Now for the buses, or colectivos. These things are CRAZY! The taxi drivers in NYC got nothing on these guys. First thing, they barely come to a stop, you just have to kind of hop on and off as they slow down. Second, the drivers are crazy multi-tasking. They take your money, dish out change, drive stick shift, watch for people signaling to get picked up, and for people signaling to get off, and when no one is getting on and they´re done dishing out change, they count the money they have! Its so fun to ride! haha I love em.
The ward here is so different. The kids just get up and run around during Sacrament meeting, its so funny. We have a new bishop, and he´s a somewhat recently returned missionary in his mid 20s, and he´s really trying to bring around some orginization into the church, which it desperately needs, and I think he´s doing a great job so far. And as for you question from last week, retention here is horrible. We try so hard to get these people into church, and for some reason they just don´t. And for the majority, its not like they´re doing anything bad really, they´re just not going to church. I don´t know what the deal is, Elder Nilsen and I are visiting some of them nearly everyday, and they say they´re going to church, and then they just don´t show up, and we can´t go round them up in the morning, because we´re busy rounding up our investigators. But some happier news, this week we have scheduled my first baptism! And this guy is just calidad, "quality", as they say here. Valeriano (pronounced Val-lay-dee-ano... they prounounce the r like aq d) got offered a job (he´s unemployed at the moment) to go work in Argentina, but he would have had to leave today, and he actually turned it down, because he wants to be baptized. He also quit smoking, going from a pack a day to none in just 4 days. So we´re pretty excited.
I´m trying to send pictures, but its not working very well... So if it gets through, you should be able to see. But anyways, my first thing of service was cutting down the growth along one of the "roads" or dirt paths near a members house that was getting kind of dangerous, with MACHETES! Wahahaha. It was awesome, though it definitely gave me some of the worst blisters of my life. And then this past Saturday we did a service activity with the youth that was just divisions, and we went and passed out invitations to an open house for a new chapel for a couple hours. That was pretty cool too. Oh, and as for my camera, don´t worry about that. 1, I don´t carry it with me ever, and second, I keep the memory card seperate so that if it is stolen for whatever reason, I´ll still have all the pictures. And the house is very safe, its an apartment above a store along the ruta principal thats gated, and trust me, there´s no getting in. I left the key in the house, and we came back for lunch, and we were doing all we could, and we weren´t able to get in.
As for the letters, I got them all today. I only get letters once a week at District meeting, and I got my card, so activate that as soon as you can. So yeah, there´s really no point to Dear Elder anymore, because I get them in the same amount of time as any other letter. And I also had my pants washed for the first time, and they came out fine. I was a little worried, so it was a big relief to see that. Anyways, all is awesome, I love it here, I´ll probably have an accent when I talk, and I gotta go.
Love you all,
E. Dennis
He asked us to put some birthday $ into his account so he can buy a guitar - we knew he couldn't go 2 years without one! That's what the first paragraph is all about -
Hello again,
Well first off, its SaladO, not a. Haha, and secondly, the $ is up to you. I was thinking somewhere about $200-250 or so. And the reason I wanted to pick one up now is cause there´s an Elder here who´s looking to sell his and get a better one, but I found out this past week he´s wanting $300, and that was a little more than I was looking to spend, so I don´t think I´m going to do that anyway. But alot of Elders have them around here... just no one who´s living with me, go figure haha.
Alright, now for the exciting stuff for you: the call. Actually, I´m not going to need a phone card, because you´re actually going to be calling me. We´ll be taking the call from a member´s house, one of the few with a land line down here, and its alot easier than going to the church and fighting 10 other Elders for the phone. Call at about 6:15pm on Sunday. I´ll be there waiting, and we get an hour to chat. Make sure you call at 6:15 though, because we have to make sure we give enough time for E. Nilsen´s parents to call after our hour.
Okay, now to basically retype my letter from last week. haha. Okay, a little about Paraguay. FIrst off, about the roads. There´s three types of roads here. The 1st kind is actually paved, and these are the main arteries of the country, and in the bigger cities. The second type is this rock road thing, where its larger rocks are hand laid with sand, and they´re the roads that branch off the Ruto Principal (the paved road). And then thirdly, there´s dirt. But that brings me to the dirt. The dirt is just red sand and clay... at times it just feels like I´m walking along the beach, its awful. And then it decides to rain, and the entire landscape just turns into a mudpit, and you get home at night and your pants and shoes are just caked... okay, not caked, but there´s just mud all over them. I love it here though, it really is beautiful, and when its not raining, which isn´t too often so far, only about once a week, its just clear skies and palm trees and amazing fruit that is absolutely delicious. Although last week was FREEZING for some reason. It rained a little bit, but it was just cold. We were huddling in our blankets at night and in the morning in the apartment, and it made me really wish that I hadn´t sent my other sweaters home. But its all good, its warmed up again, and its about perfect right now.
Now for the buses, or colectivos. These things are CRAZY! The taxi drivers in NYC got nothing on these guys. First thing, they barely come to a stop, you just have to kind of hop on and off as they slow down. Second, the drivers are crazy multi-tasking. They take your money, dish out change, drive stick shift, watch for people signaling to get picked up, and for people signaling to get off, and when no one is getting on and they´re done dishing out change, they count the money they have! Its so fun to ride! haha I love em.
The ward here is so different. The kids just get up and run around during Sacrament meeting, its so funny. We have a new bishop, and he´s a somewhat recently returned missionary in his mid 20s, and he´s really trying to bring around some orginization into the church, which it desperately needs, and I think he´s doing a great job so far. And as for you question from last week, retention here is horrible. We try so hard to get these people into church, and for some reason they just don´t. And for the majority, its not like they´re doing anything bad really, they´re just not going to church. I don´t know what the deal is, Elder Nilsen and I are visiting some of them nearly everyday, and they say they´re going to church, and then they just don´t show up, and we can´t go round them up in the morning, because we´re busy rounding up our investigators. But some happier news, this week we have scheduled my first baptism! And this guy is just calidad, "quality", as they say here. Valeriano (pronounced Val-lay-dee-ano... they prounounce the r like aq d) got offered a job (he´s unemployed at the moment) to go work in Argentina, but he would have had to leave today, and he actually turned it down, because he wants to be baptized. He also quit smoking, going from a pack a day to none in just 4 days. So we´re pretty excited.
I´m trying to send pictures, but its not working very well... So if it gets through, you should be able to see. But anyways, my first thing of service was cutting down the growth along one of the "roads" or dirt paths near a members house that was getting kind of dangerous, with MACHETES! Wahahaha. It was awesome, though it definitely gave me some of the worst blisters of my life. And then this past Saturday we did a service activity with the youth that was just divisions, and we went and passed out invitations to an open house for a new chapel for a couple hours. That was pretty cool too. Oh, and as for my camera, don´t worry about that. 1, I don´t carry it with me ever, and second, I keep the memory card seperate so that if it is stolen for whatever reason, I´ll still have all the pictures. And the house is very safe, its an apartment above a store along the ruta principal thats gated, and trust me, there´s no getting in. I left the key in the house, and we came back for lunch, and we were doing all we could, and we weren´t able to get in.
As for the letters, I got them all today. I only get letters once a week at District meeting, and I got my card, so activate that as soon as you can. So yeah, there´s really no point to Dear Elder anymore, because I get them in the same amount of time as any other letter. And I also had my pants washed for the first time, and they came out fine. I was a little worried, so it was a big relief to see that. Anyways, all is awesome, I love it here, I´ll probably have an accent when I talk, and I gotta go.
Love you all,
E. Dennis
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