Week 16: We Baptised Her 3 Weeks Ago and We'll Baptise Him Soon

(From 5/27/13 email)

And we're talking soon.

Also, like half our investigators are over 50 years old. And they're all going to get baptised.

One of them has 83 years, the other 93.

We're going to do this.

We're making this happen.

Alright, that's all I've got. Later!

Week 15: Not much‏

May 20, 2013

Okay, I don't have much time and the uploads are being slow. SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? It means no pictures.

This week went by pretty slow, and we did a lot of walking and things are pretty good and we're going to begin teaching a 93 year old whose name I need to remember. Also, we're teaching two families and I really can't think of much to type here for some reason. We had no baptisms yesterday, unfortunately, but we did get some less-active members returning! So that's good.

Also it's ALMOST rainy season. ALMOST. I'm waiting impatiently.

HASTA LUEGO, MIS AMIGOS!

Week 14: The 30-Minute Hill‏

May 13, 2013

So there's a hill in the area. That's very steep. And it was hot. And it was huge. And it took us 30 minutes to climb, using all my strength. So that wasn't terribly fun, but it built character, so what do I care? So long as I never climb that hill again.

Also, no pictures right now because this area is a little shady.

We had a baptism this week, and three investigators came to church yesterday as well. So this Sunday: TRIPLE BAPTISM TIME if all goes according to plan.

In other news, I got the most magnificent clock in the world a couple of days ago. It's called "Dome Backwards" and it ticks counterclockwise. Basically, it's a mirrored clock. That's amazing. It is precious to me, and shall be an heirloom in my family. Even if it doesn't work 100 years from now.

What else happened, you might ask? Well, that's a good question. I reaffirmed my desire to vacation in Kansas (although Treasure Valley's probably flat enough). I was also prohibited from eating spicy foods.

...that saddens me. But, I did get to go on the Metro here - and let me say, that place is amazingly cool and fun. I can't wait to go on it again.

Someday.

A ver... I'm typing to fast, and quiero disfrutar todo del tiempo que tengo. Oh wait, that was Spanish.

...Well, I guess that's all I've got for y'all right now. I'll have stories after the mission.

Elder N

Week 13: 3 Months in the Field‏

May 6, 2013
I baptized again last night:

Poor positioning brought to you by a broken LCD screen. The hermano to my right (your left) also enjoys drawing. And then the younger hermano, during his baptism, interrupted me in the middle of it because he didn't like the fact that I had my eyes closed. And then other things went wrong with the other two, but hey, everything ended up well.

SO IN OTHER NEWS the e-mail rule has changed. I can now send more than one each week, which, to be completely honest, something I've been hoping for since the beginning. It's much nicer this way and now I can bug my brothers for not e-mailing me.

I'm not going to mention names. *cough*each of you*cough*

So, since I've been on the mission for three months as of today (that means 1/8 of my time is completed. I can do that 7 more times), Elder W and I are planning something pretty amazing - we're going to make "licaudos", or in other words, mixed juices. We've got peach, grape, and orange, and we'll be buying some Sprite along with some mangos and possibly kiwis and strawberries. We've also got ice cream to go with it.

I. Am. Excited. For. This. Development. They're gonna taste great.

...I hope.

SO IN OTHER NEWS AGAIN... A lot has happened, like me walking a lot faster now and being more resistant to thirst. ...until I get Access to any non-prohibited liquid, that is.

I'm pretty sure I drank at least 2 liters of water yesterday during the comida. It was great.

AND THAT'S MORE OR LESS IT other than... no, that's about it.

LATER EVERYONE WHY AM I TYPING IN CAPS WITHOUT CAPS LOCK ON.

Elder N

Week 12: PHOTOBOMB AWAY‏

I don't think I have any photobomb pictures, but I call it that because, well, I've got a lot of pictures today.

I mentioned these two in week 10. The hermano is an honest miracle, as well as his daughter. They make baptisms two and three for me!

A "Libro de Recuerdos" that I put together. Other missionaries write in it or I put stuff I find in it. It will be fun to look through after the mission.

SO WE GOT TRANSFERS TODAY!

And my new compa is Elder W. He's got 15 or so months to his name, and speaks really good Spanish. Basically, we'll be speaking very little English.

Life is feeling a lot more normal for me now, and now that I've completed the first transfer (got myself an achievement for doing so!), I'm feeling pretty confident. I'm still in N, if anyone was wondering if I'd gone somewhere new or anything like that. Nope. That'll happen next time.

And I completely forgot all the questions that everyone had. BUT that's okay - the pictures should keep you all occupied long enough in order for y'all to forgive me.

Especially the one with the ghost in it.

Pues... well, we had no baptisms on Sunday - but we did have 5 possibles by the end of the week. By which I mean we started with three, got two more, then all 5 more or less fell flat, which, to be honest, was quite disappointing.

Especially since I had to carry around all the baptismal things all around the N area yesterday.

Oh well.

SO THAT'S ABOUT IT. Unless your a part of my nuclear family.

LATER.

Week 11: This is Way Too Short‏

District Box: Well, we're almost done with our first Transfer. Good job, all!
-----

Okay, I'll have to send y'all the pictures next week, because today, we are way to pressed for time. It just means that you'll have a lot of pictures to admire.

Also, we saw two baptisms this week - which, to be completely honest, was great and proof of the power of the Gospel. I'll tell y'all why later.

And also, evidently today is my Birthday. Or at least, the people at Chili's thought so. So I got cake.

...Yeah...

Alright, that's it for this week. Sorry!

Elder N

Week 10: Why That's Impossible and the Box That Everyone From District 62B Ought to Read‏

Not really a box, but if you're from my MTC District, read this 'cause this is the only way I can respond to y'all.

I've been entertaining myself in harder times (like when I have to wake up at 5:30 to prepare to help other Elders in the Zone to bring their investigators to Church) by remembering all of your terrified faces and comments during my evil and maniacal laughs. I'm surpressing one right now.

But continuing in seriousness, I think that we all need to meet with each other after the mission.

In Kansas. In winter.

This concludes your District Box for the week. Keep up the good work!

--------------

Now to the regularly scheduled E-Mail.

Okay, so I've got one or two pictures for y'all this week 'cause there weren't any baptisms yesterday - just five confirmations.

IT'S THE BATHROOM. Also, side note: Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies, and The Simpsons are more or less everywhere around here. And I mean EVERYWHERE.

IT'S THE MAIN ROOM! Specifically, my desk. ...Yup. ...Huh.

So anyways, the significance behind the title of "Why That's Impossible." E. V thinks I'll be married two months after the mission - 2 weeks to look for a girlfriend, two weeks to date her, one month to plan the Temple sealing and the other things that marriage involves (like cake. I hear there's cake involved in marriage), and at the end of that second month, I'm sealed. But, as we all know, that's impossible, and there's a reason for that: I can still count on two hands how many dates I've been on.

IN MY LIFE.

That and President Hinckley said "Marry in haste, have a lifetime to repent" or something like that.

MOVING ON BECAUSE THAT IS A WEIRD SUBJECT...

Regarding the deletion of my Tumblr, DESTROY IT ALL and just leave a message for 24 hours or so that says I'm loving the mission, everyone should call up their local Missionaries and get baptized, and that each blog will be viciously destroyed by 1000 Angry Suns from Super Mario Bros. 3. You know the ones I'm talking about. Also you don't need to say that specifically, but either way, just let whatever followers I have left know that their favorite blog will soon be nothing but reset binary code and human memories.

Flawed. Human. Memories.

Also my (insert clothing article here) is doing fine, but some of my white shirts are already stained. Turns out, suncscreen stains white.

I've also been blessed to see the power of the Gospel in a person's life this week - and I feel as if any attempt to describe it in the limited time I have left will do it no justice. So I"ll talk about it during a General Conference talk or something like that. If I'm ever a General Authority, that is.

Speaking of which, we got a lot of investigators this week - one of them being a guy named D who lived in the States for 12 years and is back here. So, naturally, he knows pretty good English and Spanish (since he was born in Mexico), so we taught him the Billingual Version of the Plan of Salvation. We taught him about the Fall, and he said - without us needing to tell him - that it seemed like it was necessary for the Fall to happen.

Astonishment from both Elder V (who, I think I failed to mention, hails from T and likes sports) followed.

Let's see... what else... I think I might've accidentally permanently redesigned the Jij, literal familial brothers. Oops. I'll probably send a letter with their new design. Don't hate me. Also I saw a little statue today that reminded me of the little baby Weeping Angels in that one Doctor Who episode. I was a little creeped out.

SOOOOOOOOO I think that's more or less it for this week - although it's hard to believe that I'm more or less already 10% done with the Mission - not exactly, as it's 104 weeks long and not 100 weeks long, but still - It's practically 9.5% or something like that (no I didn't do the math - but you can't sue me for laziness. At least, not in regards to that).

Also, I don't need to buy as much water any more, so that's good.

Okay, I'm going to write the Family-Only part of the e-mail now.

LATER, Y'ALL.