March 19th, 2018 Letter #19

I will be staying with Elder Alor in Xanath this change. I heard a rumor that the President expects a lot from our companionship, which is both encouraging and frightening (pressure). Elder Alor heard the rumor from Elder Lovaas (Assistant of Teaching).


The area is indeed hills on hills and it also happens to be one of the biggest areas in the mission (At one point it was 3 areas I heard). It is a pretty area though. There's a real shower now, but the water is cold so I sometimes still go for the bucket because we can heat it. 

I typically think in English to myself because it's natural, but I think in Spanish a fair amount for the sake of practice and I also think in Spanish when I've been talking for a while.

We baptized Sara this weekend and I got to confirm her as well so that was neat. . She's 10 and her sister was baptized a few weeks ago. Her dad was an inactive member, but is starting to come again now.That being said, we have almost no investigators right now, so we gotta focus on finding this week. Elder Alor and I had been planning on using hymns to get into houses. Something like, "hey can we sing a hymn and say a prayer to bless your house?" then teach a little and reschedule an appointment. But then we got sick Friday/Saturday and so we've decided against singing until we're healthy again.

The ward is really nice and fairly well organized. We eat with members and the food is pretty similar. Although there is a Chinese restaraunt here that a member owns so we go there a decent amount.The guys that spin from the sky are more of a seasonal thing, but I have seen one of the towers for it. We kinda just relaxed for P-day because Elder Alor and I are both sick (just a cold). 

The homes around here are pretty similar to Vega. There are a lot of banana farms here. I like almost everything about Xanath, but the hills make for a long day toward the end. It's said kinda like "Shannut". 

Also some interesting thoughts from Elder Alor:

He says I look like Chase Matthews from Zoey 101, but with different hair.

When we pass young women they often stare and once he told me, "you're like a Jonas Brother" because I catch a lot of looks.

One time I was standing in front of him and so with his broken English he said, "your butt is my face" He missed a crucial "in".

The Lord answers prayers when our desires are truly in line with his. Like Moroni says, we need to pray with real intent and a sincere heart. If we're asking him for things that we want simply because we want them then it's not so likely we'll be answered. If we ask because we honestly know that what we're asking for is something that lines up with His plan then it's a lot easier to recognize an answer just around the corner.

Sara doesn't smile unless she has a reason. Pictures weren't a sufficient reason for her.

The two in back are family members and the little boy in red just jumped in because he saw an opportunity. We figured we'd let him in.