MEXICO!!!!! #4 with pics!
¿¡Bosh Onda Familia!?
(¨¿Qué Pasa?¨ en Mayan or ¨Whats up?¨ in English... haha)
Holy Cow... where to start-- ok first off, I did have a moment of silence on Sunday morning for Sept 11... my companion didn't give respect...¨nobody cares....¨ wow... messed. I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!!!!
anyways, about me, this week included ALOT!! (aside from THE WORK itself)
- I got like 7 dearelder letters last Monday night! It was awesome! And like 4 of them were written back in June and were waiting for me to get them haha. One from Kate- said like 'RICH! you made it to the MTC! Awesome! Was the first night just like Eris´s story in the white bricked room??" hahahaha it was awesome.
- Oh, by the way, Dearelder letters to Mexico are FREE! and to answer your Q mom, they are printed off in Provo, then sent here in a box with everyone's together then distributed, and it takes 2 weeks to get them here.
- no electricity for about 36 hours, really the only downfall was no fridge, and planning at night... other than that, it wasn't too bad
- we got locked out of our house the whole day Sunday, my comp locked the keys in the house, and it wasn't until about 11:15pm (about an hour and half of trying) until we were able to make a device to pick the lock.... haha we should of just paid the 50 Pesos to get it opened. but it was Sunday... :)
- the hardest thing I had to do this week was eat a rotten tomato....wow! tomatoes and onions are always the first thing I eat at meals so I can get the hard stuff out of the way first then enjoy the good stuff, welllllll I somehow got it down through my gagging without letting the member hear me, then after my comp went to eat his, he said they were rotten....and he didn't have to eat his. wowwww!! solo mi suerte.....
- with sooo much rain, the mosquitoes are really bad, I've gotten used to about 100 new ones every day, and I'm not joking. Pray I don't get west nile or whatever they have...
- I got 3 new ties :)
- I GOT A NEW HAMMOCK!!!! YEAHHHHH WHOOOO!!! it´ll due for now, it's way better, not the colors and stuff I wanted, but I really don't care anymore
- I'll be in BRISAS for 3 more transfers, so like until February or something
- I've learned a ton of Mayan, I love it! I love the Mayan people, you can pick them out of the group really easily, they have a distinct people and their clothes are all handmade, they are awesome- like 20% of my ward is Mayan, it's awesome.
Ok mom, I transferred money from my savings to my checking, it got denied today shopping at
Walmart, I had like a dollar in it haha. I had to use it because
- electricity late fee bill
- I bought more missionary badges
- bought my hammock
- and we take the bus too much
all adds up to about 80% of my money for the month and still have about 18 days until I get more.... soo I used my credit card- I can pay it off online banking next week, or you can do it, whichev.
OKKK onto the work!
Well it was a GREAT week this week
We´ll start at church, we had 5 people in our gospel doctrine class this week (which means that they came to church), only 2 of them were investigators, 3 less active members.
Mayra- we set a compromised baptismal date on October 3rd? I believe, so that´ll be the first baptism!
The family of 3 we´ve been teaching- I don't know what's happening with them- they haven't been very open to us teaching them this past week and made it very difficult for us to set an appointment with all sorts of excuses, but we´re still working with them. It's sad, I want them sooooo bad to come to church and be baptized! I'm trying my best!
Orlando- we found this guy! He's cool, but we found him Saturday and actually haven't taught him yet-I hope all goes well with him this week!
Sandra Reyes- she is the most animated little ball of energy I have ever seem!!-especially for a 32 year old woman! haha. She is crazy awesome though, she got baptized a few weeks before I got here, and is a primary teacher. We are working on her son who is 9 and boy friend hopefully- we´ll see.
Sandra Luna- She is amazing! She was baptized a week before I got here, and she is sooo strong, She´ll be the Relief Society president someday ha. She has a REALLY cool conversion story- I wish I had time to tell you all but its kinda long. Long story short, she works in Compeche, 3 hours away, every day! She works VERY HARD for her family- the definition of a Mom. And since she's hardly home, the missionaries found her husband, taught him for 1.5 months before they taught her. One time, she was home when the missionaries came, she saw them and knew the church was true, just a overwhelming feeling. She had a baby die that only lived a few hours about 4 months ago, and every night she would cry herself to sleep because she´d have dreams of it. But since she saw the missionaries, and she knows that families are eternal, she has been soooo strong. There are a lot of cool details missing, but you get the gist of it. Her husband and family aren't members, and we visit them at least 2 or 3 times a week, still working on them.
My spiritual experience: is from Sandra Luna ha!-- She is AWESOME! So every Sunday, the missionaries (me) talk to the primary. The primary is awesome here, and they teach missionary work and going to the temple EVERY SUNDAY without fail, for the first half of the hour. They all know from the time they are 3 that serving a mission is the goal. Anyway, we walked in 3rd hour, and the teachers asked Sandra to share her conversion story to the primary. With tears in her eyes as she told her story (the one above plus more), the spirit was sooo strong, and it actually was a testimony builder to me. I've learned that hearing peoples testimony and sharing your own strenthens your own, probably more than anything else sometimes, so anyways, it was amazing. I challenge you all to share your testimony today!
1. I want to figure out how long it takes to get mail--compare Dear Elder with regular mail--how many letters have you gotten? Have you received any Dear Elders?
Probably about the same, I don't know. They send the dearelders from Utah in a package, they take 2 weeks to get here, so I don't know
2. updates on how Spanish is coming
wow It is frustrating, but it's coming along, I talked to some other gringos who have been here long.
3. Have you been sick since that one time and do you take those Phillips tablets?
Yeah, I was sick this morning.... I'm sick alot haha..... soo its normal.
4. THIS IS BIG: DID YOU GET YOUR LARGER HAMMOCK????? I HOPE SO!
YESSSS, I LOVVVVVVE ITTTTT!!!
5. Any spiritual experiences this week?
yeah, the one above was the best
Dave- So do you remember the Oaxaca Cheese?? haha its like THE CHEESE to buy-- in the store haha, like over half the cheese options are ¨Oaxaca Style Cheese¨ and its kinda like string cheese. It's pretty good. and I met a guy from Oaxaca, and he was the branch pres while you were on your miss I think! President Mision Flores was your Mish Pres right? Then his name was HMO Santiago, in the Rama Mitla from 1994-97. Is that after you were there?
Speaking of Cheese, I have learned the way of the QUESADILLA haha- bought stuff for it last week and was out by like Friday! I had 15 in 3 days... so today I stocked up again ha. It is definitely gonna be the food to keep my weight, which I weighed myself at the mail yesterday, I'M GAINING!!! I'm not losing! yeahhooo! 75 KILOS!!
Speaking of food, I had my first Hamburger in Mexico, and WOW, just like American-Mex is nothing like authentic mexican food, Mex-American food is NOTHING like authentic American food. I can't wait to have a Five Guys Burger again....
I´ve learned to be ALOT bolder here, It's something I've always been bad at. I learned toooo well from Dad and Mom that contention is of the devil. I never thought any of the Connolly kids would make good lawyers and argue for a living...... :) haha. but it's something about having this Badge on that gives you power with authority to challenge people and invite them to make commitments, change their lives and come unto Christ. Just somethin´ I have notice this week.
And I heard all about Bri´s concert! Sounded awesome! I so wish I could have been there! Mom said that it's the 2nd and LAST BIG event I´ve missed.... and wedding and this... NO MORE!!! haha just kidding,-- just be sure to send pics if i miss anymore! I can't get worse than Teej, who missed 3 weddings!
AND DANNY and 1ST PLACE IN THE MARATHON!!! Are you kidding me!? haha wow!!! GO DAN! You are amazing! I've been running a 5k almost every morning here, first marathon when I get back, ITS ON!!! haha
Well FAM, I finally found a computer that accepts my camera, so I am sending pictures! Enjoy!
LOVE YOU ALL. ¨¡¡Teen Be´aan!!¨ - Mayan for ¨¡Hasta Luego!¨ or ¨See ya!¨ ha
-Elder Connolly
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