June 9, 2008

Hola otra vez,

So first things first… the card still doesn’t work. It tells me how much I have on the card, but it won’t let me take the money out from the card, it just denies me. So I don’t know if there’s some sort of permissions thing that has to be changed or what. I also tried calling the house and your cell a couple times today, if you find a weird number on there. Well it wasn’t me, but the guys I was with at the office since I can’t talk to family. I also tried calling the Customer Service number on the back of the card, but the computer system asked for the last 4 digits of my SSN, and it wouldn’t take it. So I don’t know what the deal is with that. But that’s Paraguay for ya.

Things are going pretty good. E’ Cameron is alright, but we were having pretty big tension moments about once a day and that was really zapping my energy and desire to work. But the past day or two things have gotten a lot better, and we started to have some success and get used to one another, and there’s been a couple things that have really given me my animo back. We’re starting to have some success and find some people who can really progress, so we’re pretty excited for that. E’ Cameron was also sick last week, so it made things quite interesting. I think in the past week I’ve gone on more divisions than the entire rest of my mission. There was only one day where E’ Cameron just stayed in bed, so I didn’t get to go out and work until about 4, when we got some members to come and stay with him, and then I had to go out with E’ Ralon, who got here the same time I did, so that was kind of interesting, but I really enjoyed it. I understand just about everything, and he’s only slightly beneath me, but our teaching level is about the same, so we really learned a lot and taught really well together, and we gained a ton of experience as we had to put a baptismal fecha and things like that. So I really learned a lot this past week.

Thanks for the candy from the packages, I’m loving it. I’m making it last, and only eating a little when I really get the craving for just some good sugar. I haven’t made use of the sauces yet, but the Velveta and Shells is amazing. Today though, a couple of us went into Asuncion, and went to this fancy Chinese buffet, and oh, it was amazing. It was definitely a relief from the same flavor all the time from the Paraguayan cooking. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but it felt good to have some different types of spices on my tongue. So yeah, that was sweet.

Um, what else… I don’t think anything too exciting other than what I’ve mentioned really happened this week, just chuggin along as always. Your summer sounds crazy, but they’re always better that way. Haley is actually graduating—that’s scary! But she’s going to have a great time out in Idaho this summer, and all that stuff. Its so good to get out on your own. I’ve been thinking about that a lot this past week for some reason. How I’m 19 years old, and living in a foreign country away from family and a language I know and just immersing myself into the culture and environment. When you think of it as just a mission, its just like oh, its just a mission. But when you really think about it for what it is, its pretty crazy! I absolutely LOVE it! I’m really fitting into the way of life around here. I know how to get around, what colectivos to take and I can communicate and ask questions and teach and I’m just starting to feel comfortable here.

But yeah, I can’t really think of anything else to talk about, other than saying that I’m having a great time. So I love you all, and til next week…

E. Dennis