June 30, 2009

Hey there a todos!

Alright, so this last week was a pretty good week. Everything went great, I even made it to my birthday to open everything but the throw and the cake (I had to check out if I’d need to buy anything to make it... and good thing I did, because I needed to buy butter)! So yeah, I know, I feel good about my self control right now. But yeah, my birthday was awesome. I awoke to 10 Elders (from the office... its nice to have friends in cars) flipping on the light and jumping on me and singing happy birthday and taking us to play some basketball at 6, and then we went out and worked hard... and it was all going good until about 5.30... we show up at a poorer converts house, who we’re working with to baptize two more of the daughters, and anyways, we’re playing soccer with the kids, and the next thing I know they bring out this plate, and from afar its not looking too bad, I thought it was some tortillas fried up recently and some mandioca... but no. We get up close and its milenesa (way yummy), but you can tell that it was probably cooked up 6 hours before for lunch... and mind you, this is Paraguay... there was no fridge involved in this process. Okay, so we bite in, I’m like it can’t be that bad, thinking it would be of beef, but no. No, this was made of mondongo. That would be the stomach of a cow... or pig... or dog... we’re never quite sure which. And its all chewy and cold and absolutely nasty. Like we KNEW that we were going to get sick as we were downing this, and finally they walk away for a moment, and we shoved like half of it in our pockets. And yeah, we told them it was good and then we Sprinted. And I’m not talking none of that half-a joggin crap. We ran. To the nearest despensa, little store thing, and we downed a liter and a half of Coke to try and kill all the bad stuff we had recently consumed...

Long story short, my comp got sick and I was fine. He still has chivivi a little bit. But yeah, we went home and we made cheese cake... way good... that my comp had (also a non bake product). Then on Sunday we had a decent attendance in church, followed by throwing some of that marinera sauce that you sent me on some pre made pizza crusts and some cheese and ham on that... turned out pretty good for lunch, and I also cooked up my, and I must say, I made it pretty darn perfect, Reese’s thing. WoW. Yeah, that was just a little taste of Heaven. So yeah, that was my birthday. I also love my new sandals, those are amazing, now I don’t have to use my pink ones... don’t ask. And the ties are also spectacular, and yeah, it was all gold.

Well, I hope your little camp trip went well, and you kept control of those crazy teenage girls. And remind me about Adamson when he gets a little close to getting here. Is November when he starts, or when he’ll actually be showing up in Paraguay? Well tell him he is coming to literally the best mission in the world, as far as the people, the culture, the areas, and the numbers, so he is a lucky guy! Is Haley enjoying being at home again? Why doesn’t she write me anymore? Yeah, all of my siblings are kind of slacking in that regard. You should do something about it. But yeah, you guys don’t really exist, I’m pretty sure I’ve been in the mission all of my life... but like next week I only have 7 months left in the mission...........

Love ya lots,

Elder Dennis