June 20, 2011

It's been a pretty action-packed week family, lots o' stuff going on my desert of Mexico. Well, exciting stuff in my mind, hopefully you guys can get pumped for this kinda stuff too. As missionaries we definitely think differently than the rest of the world, different stuff pump us up. For example, I am super pumped for the food we are going to eat this Saturday, and that will help me push through those incredibly hot afternoons. Don't get me wrong, I do have a desire to share with my Mexican hermanos the Gospel thats made me happy my entire life, but little goals like delicious food can definitely be a motivator. Looking forward to food is something that runs in our family, isn't it? I remember being happy every single Saturday of my life simply because I knew that I would be eating Pizza later that night. Gotta appreciate the simple things in life, who needs fancy cars when you can just buy Pizza. Some wisdom from Elder Abbott. Okay family, so today is Cambio day, which means transfers, and.....I have another change in La Rosa! I am way excited about it, this area is so awesome. Also I have another change with Elder Rivera, which also I am very excited about. I don't know, I just kinda feel at home here for some reason. I haven't quite reached my status like in the 3rd Ward, but "I've got a good thing going here." That last sentence was a shoutout to Mike by the way, hopefully he is still reading my letters. It's weird, I am slowly finding more and more Mexican equivalents from people I knew before. For example, one of my best buddies in the ward is the Mexican equivalent of Miles Joseph, his name is Aldo. My buddy Hector who is about 17 years totally reminds me of Rick. And Hermano Gabriel is perfectly the Mexican version of Greg. I'll try to get pictures of everyone so you can see the connection. Maybe I'm crazy, I do spend a lot of time under the sun, but I totally see a resemblence. Also, I have been eating like a king this week. 3 Carne Asadas! Three! We actually ate with Hermano Gabriel a couple of days ago and we did something I never ever thought I would do in Mexico, we went out to eat! We ate at this super good barbeque type place, I ate so much, and it was so good. Had some more Carne Asada yesterday for Dia de los Padres, and it also was fantastic. I did Cactis this week too though, not so good.

So anyways, Happy Fathers Day Dad! I would send you something, but the chance of it getting to Yorbi Dorbi is one in a thousand, so I might have to hold off tell Fathers Day 2013. And what a Fathers Day it will be! So what did you do Dad, and did you get any cool presents? Mainly, what book did you get? I would be willing to bet 100 pesos that book Dad got for Fathers Day has someting to do with a War, a Sport, or Seabiscuit. Hope you had an awesome Fathers Day Dad, you totally deserve it. We actually had a cool little activity here with our Ward for Fathers Day. IT started out with a kind of testimony type thing about how much we appreciate our Fathers. It got pretty emotional actually, Mexican Men are way more emotional than they seem. After that I actually got to play some serious hoops, and I am convinced I am just an all-around better Basketball player in Mexico. I was feeling it. Oh and another cool member here is named Charly, and he totally reminds me of Brett. We talked about NBA for like half an hour, and it was so great. I really do hope I have a lot of time in this area, I've gotten really close with the people here, it would be really tough to leave. So remember last week me talking about Tanya and her family, and about how her Dad passed away last week? Well we've been working pretty closly with them lately, considering Tanya is the only member in her family. We actually got special permission yesterday to go to a Catholic Mass! Is that how you spell it, "Mass?" I have no idea, but it was really, really interesting. We went because the family wanted us to be there, and so we could understand where they were coming from a little more in order to help them out. Mainly is was really awkward, because we were there in our white shirts and ties and everything, and the Padre was watching us the entire time during his sermon. I actually learned something though, it reinforced my testimony and understanding of what exactly is the Holy Ghost. Me, my companion, and Tanya (the only three that received the gift of the Holy Ghost), all of us felt really weird the whole time, like we shouldn't be there. That's how the Holy Ghost works. That's why we always feel good when were at Church or at a Ward Activity or whatever, the Holy Ghost testifies to us through good feelings thats what we should be doing. That's why we are just generally happier people in the Gospel. And like-wise, that's why I felt all weird in the Catholic Church, the Holy Ghost can also testimony of things that aren't true. It was a weird experience, but a cool one non the less. We still haven't gotten Tanya's family in church yet, but we don't want to give up on them.

So another crazy thing happened this week. The tale of the Key. So me and my companion get back to our house at around 9:30 or so, and then he asks me if I have the keys, which I definitely didn't. I hate being asked that question. So turns out we lost the key at some point in the day, and had no way into our house. We tried visiting our land lady but she wasn't around, so we tried figuring out all sorts of ways we could get in. Definitely more than our near death experience I had trying to climb to the top of our roof. Eventually we figured out there was no way in, but eventually our land ladys grandaughter showed up and helped us get into our garage. So we got into the garage, she locked the door behind her, and when we tried to open the back door, it was locked too! We were locked in the garage. After a while, we eventually had to break the window to get in, which we did. Once we finally got into our house we tried to open our front door, and it was locked from both sides! We were literally locked in the house with no way out. We just decided to sleep on it because we were super tired, and in the morning we called the Zone Leaders to tell them we were locked in the house, and we couldn't get out. They thought we were making it up. So they showed up and basically slammed the door open after a while, and we were free! 100 pesos later we were actually able to fix the door, get a new key, and now all is well. Gosh the things that happen in the mission, such a nuts two years of my life.

So life is pretty good these days, can't really complain. Nothings perfect, but everything keeps on going. Our investigadores aren't really progressing right now, so I am feeling a nice, enjoyable week of knocking doors. It can be more fun that it sounds actually, people react to us in a lot of different ways, and sometimes it's really funny. I have already successfully contacted 2 "Brujas" or Witches, or at least they said they were. One of the things I am lacking I feel like, is in my studies. For me, I have always just liked reading the Book of Mormon, but never really got into studying the Book of Mormon. They tell us that we should study, but I don't think I really know how, I just know how to read. If anyone has any ideas on how to make better use of my morning study time, let me know. Also, right now I am trying to improve on just having a little more enthuesiasm when we are knocking doors. I am still definitely working-progress of a missionary, but I am pretty optimistic for the future.

I hope everyone is doing great on up on the other side, and enjoying life. Sounds like everyone had a good Fathers day which is always good times. Keep the letters and what not coming, and keep on going on doing what you all do. I do believe Marvelous's birthday is just around the corner, June 20th! I always remember that Birthday because I think it's the perfect birthday, perfect kick-off for Summer. Mine and Greg's is pretty good too, as long as I doesn't land on the first day of School, it's a good finale for the Summer. Anyways, happy birthday Marvelous, you the man, man. Alright family, better get going, but keep on being happy, and stay cool!

Love,
Elder Abbott