Hey Family!
Well the highlight of this week was being able to go the temple as a zone and actually being able to do a session. The day was really good and peaceful. That was my first time doing a full session in Spanish. The last time we went to the temple was 7 months ago so I used a translator headset, but this time no.
The rest of the week had some good things happen but also some things not so awesome. First off, Rafael told us this last week that he has decided to stay with his church, but that just because he is in a different church he still wants to friends. It’s kinda like breakin’ up with somebody. "I don't want to be with you but we can still be friends!" That news was unfortunate but we honestly saw it coming with the way that he had been putting a little bit more distance between him and us. I guess that agency thing is still in play! :) But a couple of good things happened, we are totally ready to have the baptism for Henry this next Saturday! And we moved the baptismal date for Axel from this Saturday until the tenth of November. This will allow him two more church attendances, which he needs to be baptized according to a new rule for kids under the age 14. This will also allow us a little bit more time to work with his mom so that she can start going to the church again.
We have changes this next week. Things between my comp and I are really good but it is always exciting to see what the changes are. Sunday we will find out what we have as changes and then Tuesday we will make the changes. Something that we do already know is that three of the four areas in this district are going to be split: Porvenir, Minerva, and Chipilapa. The motive behind it is to be able to have more baptisms in this area, to be able to split this stake into two different stakes. So we will see what happens. I am excited to see what the future has for us.
That was actually really nice to get an update from home with all of those things that I never hear when I'm here. Although I did hear that Trump’s grandma is a refugee. :) I'm happy hear that football is going well and that the Steelers are doing well. I was also happy to see the picture of you and mom at the pumpkin patch and Dad had on his Steelers sweatshirt. I miss playing and watching football, I miss making knives and cool things out of wood, and watching TV, I suppose there is plenty of time to do all of those things after the mission. But it is really nice to get an update. We should send a box of gum to good ol’ Pete.
I think that I am to the point of fluency in Spanish and can always say what I want to say, but sometimes I have to use different words then normal because there is still so much to learn. The food here is good but really nothing special like I was thinking before my mission. Almost everyday for lunch we eat some type of meat or liver (which is terrible) with rice and either a salad with just lettuce or cucumber. But we also eat a fair amount of beans and eggs, and a bunch of chicken. We always have to buy water, There is a really good chance that if we drink the water out of the tap we would get sick so we always just have water in the fridge. And when we do not have water we have really good filter water bottles that we use.
We always walk, nobody in the mission has bikes because they would get robbed. We don't do our own laundry but we do pay a member to wash it, she actually has a washing machine also that that's fairly spiffy.
The workout thing definitely is tough on the mission, almost none of the houses have workout things, only if missionaries decide to do their own out of concrete. I bought a fitness band that I use sometime and then some pushups and that type of stuff, but it really is hard to even maintain, my arms and legs are already so much smaller, it is sad. But I will be getting a gym membership for sure when I get home. I always am trying to work on my posture but it is nice to get a reminder. I don't want to come home like the hunchback of Notre Dame!
I sure love you all and loved getting all of your email this week!
Love, your brother and son
Elder Marks
Well the highlight of this week was being able to go the temple as a zone and actually being able to do a session. The day was really good and peaceful. That was my first time doing a full session in Spanish. The last time we went to the temple was 7 months ago so I used a translator headset, but this time no.
The rest of the week had some good things happen but also some things not so awesome. First off, Rafael told us this last week that he has decided to stay with his church, but that just because he is in a different church he still wants to friends. It’s kinda like breakin’ up with somebody. "I don't want to be with you but we can still be friends!" That news was unfortunate but we honestly saw it coming with the way that he had been putting a little bit more distance between him and us. I guess that agency thing is still in play! :) But a couple of good things happened, we are totally ready to have the baptism for Henry this next Saturday! And we moved the baptismal date for Axel from this Saturday until the tenth of November. This will allow him two more church attendances, which he needs to be baptized according to a new rule for kids under the age 14. This will also allow us a little bit more time to work with his mom so that she can start going to the church again.
We have changes this next week. Things between my comp and I are really good but it is always exciting to see what the changes are. Sunday we will find out what we have as changes and then Tuesday we will make the changes. Something that we do already know is that three of the four areas in this district are going to be split: Porvenir, Minerva, and Chipilapa. The motive behind it is to be able to have more baptisms in this area, to be able to split this stake into two different stakes. So we will see what happens. I am excited to see what the future has for us.
That was actually really nice to get an update from home with all of those things that I never hear when I'm here. Although I did hear that Trump’s grandma is a refugee. :) I'm happy hear that football is going well and that the Steelers are doing well. I was also happy to see the picture of you and mom at the pumpkin patch and Dad had on his Steelers sweatshirt. I miss playing and watching football, I miss making knives and cool things out of wood, and watching TV, I suppose there is plenty of time to do all of those things after the mission. But it is really nice to get an update. We should send a box of gum to good ol’ Pete.
I think that I am to the point of fluency in Spanish and can always say what I want to say, but sometimes I have to use different words then normal because there is still so much to learn. The food here is good but really nothing special like I was thinking before my mission. Almost everyday for lunch we eat some type of meat or liver (which is terrible) with rice and either a salad with just lettuce or cucumber. But we also eat a fair amount of beans and eggs, and a bunch of chicken. We always have to buy water, There is a really good chance that if we drink the water out of the tap we would get sick so we always just have water in the fridge. And when we do not have water we have really good filter water bottles that we use.
We always walk, nobody in the mission has bikes because they would get robbed. We don't do our own laundry but we do pay a member to wash it, she actually has a washing machine also that that's fairly spiffy.
The workout thing definitely is tough on the mission, almost none of the houses have workout things, only if missionaries decide to do their own out of concrete. I bought a fitness band that I use sometime and then some pushups and that type of stuff, but it really is hard to even maintain, my arms and legs are already so much smaller, it is sad. But I will be getting a gym membership for sure when I get home. I always am trying to work on my posture but it is nice to get a reminder. I don't want to come home like the hunchback of Notre Dame!
I sure love you all and loved getting all of your email this week!
Love, your brother and son
Elder Marks