08-17-09 Email...Subject: Spiritual High

Hey there> This week was pretty awesome. I can´t even explain how high my life is right now.> My stomach is doing better. IT was only those first few days of getting used to the diet change. But I love the food that I get fed here ñ it might be because I'm starving every time I eat, but it is delicious. Mostly it´s rice and beans with some kind of ensalada or salsa and maybe meat. We get a lot of good drinks too. I have only had one bad meal which was mondongo or cow stomach. Tasted like a poopy wet dog, and felt like rubber. I almost threw up. But everything else is great. We pay a member cocinera for lunch M-F and Saturday and Sunday we eat with other members. Breakfast for me is usually banana and oatmeal with maybe some bread, and we dont really usually eat dinner. Sometimes we get fed at appointments but not usually. I think I have lost weight too. Yesterday I had to cinch my belt up one more hole. Yikes.> Every Monday we take our dirty laundry to the church and we pay a family to do it. We use the computers with the missionaries in Aserri, the next district over, in a little internet shop. We buy food after using the internet, which is after going cool places in our areas. I have crazy pictures and you are going to go nuts. This place is the closest thing to heaven. My bed is awesome, I´m so exhausted at the end of the day that I sleep the whole night, no problems. The problem is the shower, ugh. Anyone who reads this, be thankful for warm water with pressure. Here its either a drizzle of hot hot water or a lot of cold water, it´s ahrd to get in between. There are a ton of bugs. I wake up with bites all over my body, most likely from mosquitoes. But I did have two huge purple yellow bug bites on my left calf for a few days. I´ll send pictures of all of this.> What else. Investigators. We have a ton. People here are very christian and receptive. We have about 10 or 11 truly progressing and had 14 at church yesterday. A lot of our investigators aren´t able to come to church, but study the BoM so it´s a tough situation. We have 3 baptismal dates for the 29th of this month for 3 kids in Ramirez family with unmarried parents but a member father. The problem is that they all want to be baptized at the same time, but the mother and father need to get married and tehy don´t have any source of income. So that is tough. They have a date to get married in Sept. Also, the have a mentally challenged daughter that doesn´t need to be baptized obviously but they want her to be baptized too. So we have a lot to figure out with this family and need to talk to the President about the daughter. Hopefully the date this month will stick, and then the mother will follow suit and get baptized after the wedding.> We mostly teach families because that is who we mostly contact. We have two families that aren't really progressing much, the Godinez and the family of Roberto y Maria. They Roberto y Maria familia come to church with their kids almost every week, but dont want to be pressured into baptism. The dad is stubborn and hasn´t read or prayed or anything. Who knows what will happen. The Godinez family is absolutely messed up, but I love them so much. The mom Marcela lives alone because the Dad comes and goes. They have like 5 kids, 3 of which are hopeful. Abel, Edwin jr, and Angelica. Angelica is the cutest kid I have ever seen. And I taught her to say I love you in English and it´s soul melting. They problem is that they know they need to change, they like us a lot, but haven't read or prayed yet.> We also have another family that is similar with a single mom, but she has 6 kids, 3 girls and 3 boys. One of the girls is 20 and drop dead gorgeous. They have problems with sin and all that but are really receptive and love us as well. The mother is interested and the son want to get baptized. we taught our first lesson with them yesterday and are going back tonight for noche de hogar. They are a referral we got from our cocinera and hopefully she comes tonight too. They would be awesome members.> We also are teaching a guy who lives in our little complex place. One floor down. His name is Ever and read the Book of Mormon and hasnt prayed. He is sincerely interested and asked a lot of questions about the BoM. He is a DJ and has a nice sound system and frequently plays popular rap of hip hop music. It´s distracting but I dont complain. :) > So, we have a ton of people ready and needing, all we have to do is help them along. It´s awesome to see how much Christ can change people and how the Spirit really works through us and touches their lifes. We have more investigators but I dont want to bore you.> As for pday´s, we pretty much just hike in the jungle. It´s insanely green. Last week we hiked up to a giant cross in Aserri. This week we bussed to Acosta and went to some rivers and waterfalls. Oh yeah, to get the the little waterfalls we had to pay Jose to take us there. HE had an old school Toyota Land cruiser, and we had to walk through a farm like place. An old Tico in all khaki with a machete and kakhi hat helped us out and showed us where to go. He was so tuanis. Also, he farmed sugar cane and when we were leaving he cut some canes and had us run them through his manual press to make the sugar juice and we drank it right there. So good. Everywhere there are just lime, lemon, and orange trees. So we stopped on the side of the road and got some oragnes and lemons too. It´s also common to see wild parrots. There were a ton today by the house of the elders in Aserri.> > Anyway. The work is awesome. The Spanish is slowly coming. I´m really having a great time teaching and sharing what I know.> Love you. Thanks Chelsea for doing the blog!> > Elder Esmeet