Letter #7

I'm in an area called Vega de Alatorre and I really like the place. It's a humble area and the people are super nice. My companion and I are learning each other's language a little at a time. I learn a lot when he speaks English because the grammar mistakes he makes are the ones that show me how to say things grammatically in Spanish most of the time. I think I'm making a lot of progress with the language, but it's hard sometimes to not fully be able to contribute to conversations with people yet. That being said, I know the Lord is helping me figure things out bit by bit. I know I don't address a lot of things in these emails because I forget what to write about while I'm at the keyboard so if any of you ever have questions you are more than welcome to write and I will answer. 

Christmas Skype summary:
Before Elder Finlinson left the CCM (MTC) he and two other missionaries sang, Lord I Would Follow Thee in a devotional. (Other missionaries were Elder Mardo and Elder Morgan).
He was able to see Coco and loved it. The area Presidency asked that all missionaries serving in Mexico see it and see what they could use with their investigators and to do Family History.
He had no idea where he was serving for the first few days. He said, "No one told me." So I asked him why he said El Campo blanco. To which he replied, "I was in the mission field, and referenced D&C 4, The field is white...". He now knows where he is but had no idea it was on the coast. He thought he was more inland. But later said, "That makes sense because we were invited to eat steaks on the beach for New Years, I was wondering how we were going to get there." 
He also said his area is in the boondocks. He is only in a small branch. They did have 30 people come to church but he said half of them were late and 5 of them were visitors. Not a Walmart in sight! :)
He is getting along with his companion but hasn't developed the close friendship like his first two companions in the CCM. But he thinks that will come in time. His other companions just set the bar really high.
He said the Zone Leaders were quite the partier's and was pretty sure they didn't keep all the mission rules. He feels like it is pretty lax in his zone. If they make it to an appointment great if not they will catch them tomorrow kind of mentality. (He was prepared and I think hoping for a little more structure.)
Elder Finlinson loves the food so far and feels like he actually may gain some weight instead of lose it. (We can hope!) He said he was weighing in at 69 kilos which is 152 pounds. He has had mostly chicken but someone fed them crab. He said it was an interesting experience trying to get it open but it was good. 
He said it is hard to feel clean because of the humidity and they shower using buckets of water. He also has to hand wash his clothes which has been an interesting experience. He said he had no idea what to do because we had never taught him how to hand wash. So he just put some soap on it , scrubbed, rinsed and hung it up to dry. He is learning lots of new skills! 
The Branch has been very sweet to the missionaries, one of the ladies bought them some cereal and sandwich stuff so they had food for the week, other than the member meals. The milk isn't like ours but he said it isn't as bad as every warned him it would be. 
He said the singing in church is horrible. They don't have a piano and everyone just picks their own key to sing it in and goes for it. 
He also teaches an English class on Tuesdays. 

Elder Marquez and Elder Finlinson