March 7, 2011

Heya! Another week of magic in the ol´land of Mapimi. Except right now, I am actually not in Mapimi, I am in the slightly less magical land of Beremijjou. Say that ten times fast. I am pretty sure I spelled that wrong, but thats okay, people rarely spell things right in Mexico, but you get the idea. So as I am writing this letter, they are actually playing Rush. That´s right, not even kidding. Who knew that people totally loved Rush down here too, Mexico surprises me every single day. Each day is seriously do much different than the day before, sure we visit some of the ol´eternagators (investigators who take forever), but also we end up in some of the random places with the most random people every day! This is such an adventure man, in fact, you just might say it´s the.....Greatest Adventure, the one that lies ahead! I can´t remember how the rest of that song goes from the Hobbit, but I am sure it applies perfectly. That´s actually one of the ways I practice my Spanish, I just tell my Mexican companions the whole stories of movies and books from America totally in Spanish, I am currently on Harry Potter 6 with my companion, but I don´t know what is Spanish for snogging. Actually, that´s probably for the best I guess. Speaking of which, Mexico has some seriously problems with PDA (Public Displays of Affection, just so you know Mom and Dad), just very little shame here. But few things are more fun than trying to break it up and give them a pass along card, I am convinced a baptism will come through this.

So things are good for ol´ Tyler in Mexico. Is it getting to that point where Tyler being on his mission is kinda old news, and no one really cares anymore? See, that´s what you´d think would be going down by now, but not with my family. Last District Meeting we had, the Zone Leaders came too and they had letters! Literally 20 were for me, and like 2 for other elders in the district, don´t worry I wasn´t lame about it and showing them off, but it´s nice to know I have the coolest family ever. Thanks so much for all the letters, all the emails, and everything for me, you have no idea how much you guys help me out when things get tough. Occasionally when I didn´t have the best day, I´ll break out in old letter from Brett or Mark or something, and suddenly everything is all good times again. I love all of you guys, and miss all of you, but people feel the same way about their families too, and they deserve to be together forever as well, so I´m here. But anyways, life is going good in Mapimi, whose current president is actually named Moroni. Who would have figured. Even though Mapimi is kinda notoriously hard, we´re finding little bits of success here and there. Either way, you just gotta keep going and finding more people, there´s never really a times to take a break during the mission. We´re respondible for a lot of souls around here, so we do our best. Even if half the Country is drunk, but to be honest, there usually more willing to talk to missionaries after they drank a few, there always nice enough to offer us some as well. Gotta love that Hispanic Hospitality. Don´t get me wrong, but I can kinda see how modern day Latino´s fit the description for Lamanites. Like if you were to read about how the Lamanites were, and translated that into modern day times, it would fit perfectly. Just a whole different style that what I grew up with, but I like it and I am learning more about the culture everyday. I´m also eating a ton.

It´s crazy hot here by the way, and it´s only supposed to get hotter from this point on. I am getting closer and closer everyday to looking like a natural Mexican, and I am able to fool some people sometimes. Until they realize I am really not that good at Spanish, and the eyes are kind of a dead give a way. But Mom, you should be proud, people will believe me when I tell them I am half Mexican, and half Asian, how many of your kids can say that. Well, nothing too crazy happened this week that I can remember. We were going to have a baptizm last Sunday, but Valente was called out of town for work, so we should be having it next Sunday. Baptizms are really hard to come by in Mapimi, so having 2 in a transfer is actually a really good job, so I´m happy with the way thing are going. I am learning a lot about people, my companion probably wouldn´t be my first choice of companions, but I am learning how to be work better with people and get along. That´s huge for the mission, if it´s bad times with your companion, everything just becomes so much worse. I have had to show a lot of patience, but things are pretty good.

How is everything going for everyone back at home? With all of your working plumbing, and kitchens, and air conditioning, and cars, and all of those things that would be really nice to have. Just think about me every time your not taking a bucket shower. Fropm what it sounds like, everything is going well back at home, and Lakers are on a 4 game winning streak. A couple of nights ago we were visiting an inactive family, and guess what they were watching, Magic versus Bulls! I got to watch the last 30 seconds of it, and it was fantastic. How good is Derick Rose these days? Does he miss the opening layup of All Star stuff like Chris Paul does? Oh and hey, this is for you Jackson and Jacob. Guess what I ate two days ago? How delicious does breaking your fast with a little Cow stomach and Cow feet sound! It was just terrible, no getting around it. Thankfully I bought cereal the day before, because I was starving after a 24 hour fast. Those are especially difficult out here, you exhert a lot of energy walking like 10 miles in the desert every day. But that´s okay, I ate a cow´s foot, how cool is that?

Well, I am super interested in everything everyone wants to write to me. Getting letters from any of you pump me up so much, so that includes all of you Neices and Nephews! Hey Miles, whats your problem foo? Write me! Anyways, if you ever feel like making your Uncle Tyler happy, or your brother Tyler, or your son Tyler, keep the letters coming. Oh and by the way, playing basketball with Mexicans is one of the single most scary things of my life. It´s not very hard for me to get to the basket, but when I do, It´s almost a guaranteed punch in the face, or just ramming me like a Bull. Every time! But that´s okay, I am still playing some of the best ball of my life. Soccer too! We had a zone conference activity thing today, and guess who scored 3 goals? Yo! That´s how you say ¨me¨in Spanish. Just hoping my knee doesn´t explode again anytime soon.

Okay, family, I think that´s all I´ve got for you guys this week. Besides, you guys are probably getting tired of reading this things every week anyways. But I want you all to know that I know the church is true. If have you the time, read what King Benjamin said in Mosiah, those are just awesome. The Book of Mormon is without a doubt true, which means everything else is true too. Keep up the good work in the States, and remember how good you have it. I love all of you, but I try my best to not think about the day when I walk of that airplane and get to see everyone again too much, but man can it be tempting. Keep on trucking family!

Love,

Elder Abbott