Sunday, March 16, 2014

Written January 20th, 2014

Family!

Well, I took some pictures, actually during my personal study time, to send you, but this stupid computer won't let me load them, so I will have to try again next week. They are of the hillside across from our house (which isn't actually our stake, but good enough) and also the community area inside our apartments. Sorry.

It helps a lot to read your letters when there are frequent paragraph breaks and line spaces. 

I don't have a lot of time because of the dumb photos. But it is always good to read your letters. Exciting that Mackenzie basically talks now. Josh's life makes me want to get an easier degree, but I guess I'll see once I get home. Ben, (and Josh) I had a half-awake dream about an adventure time movie. I still haven't gotten the packages, but maybe today if we have time to go to the zone activity. They sent an email saying not to send packages to mexico, so I probably won't ever get that one. What was in it?

I tried a diablito last week, which is like a cheap sorbet (called nieve) in a cup then chipped ice with salty chili liquid then more nieve on top. I will never get used to chili in desserts, but the lime icy part was good. As for that recipe, the sour cream here is a little different, more like cream almost, so you can experiment, and the chicken should be cut, but not small pieces, more like a fajita. Also, I don't know actually if it was chipotle or just red salsa. but it was that brand. I don't actually know anything about re-fried beans, that was just a guess.

We had a really good meal which was chicken with zucchini in salsa verde that was just a little bit spicy and also rice and beans and flour tortillas, which are really good here. Also, a guyaba smoothy, juice thing. Then cherry pie, but the rest really was really really good.

 I heard that the black zapote isn't bitter, but they don't really have it in this part of the country.

They just call Facebook, "Face" here. Haha

There is a doctor in our ward and my companion is always saying if we don't feel good we can go to him, but a sister had salmonella and he told here to drink her pee and she did it for a month and then felt better. But it sounds to me like it just passed on its own. I probably won't go to him. 

I discovered you can bake a carrot in the microwave similarly to a potato, also I make toast in a dry saucepan now. Which is funny

We had a drink which was like soy milk + juice+ sugar, which was really sweet and good, at first, but I hate it now. Because it is too sweet.

I'll be glad when I have a companion that doesn't think superstitiously and am in a place where every third house doesn't have a spirit or something haunting it. The superstition sometimes gives me the willies, but no one believes me when I say that sound was just a cat or a draft or anything. But seriously, people tell us like sometimes twice a day about experiences with their houses and curses and weird stuff. Like we went to some peoples house and they were like "it suddenly got cold and we saw zombie pumas outside, after we opened a wallet we found with a curse and a bunch of money in it. And now there is a face on the wall that wasn't there before" (three damp spots, or rather dark spots). But they live in a cement house built into the hillside so, the walls always have shapes on them and it is always cold. I don't know though.

The missionary manual doesn't say anything about teachers preparing the sacrament, just blessing and distributing, is that really something you need the priesthood for, or is it just a responsibility, like setting up chairs?

According to my companion specialty stores like sweet stores or office stores are cheaper than the supermarket, we will see.

I had a really terrible day this week because I was afraid to talk to people on the street because I am so timid and I felt like I was a terrible missionary, because how can I invite people to come unto Christ if I don't talk and it was just a horrible discouraging day and wanted to go home. But then the next day I read my mission and patriarchal blessings and a scripture about not being afraid of people in Helaman 10:4, and the next day was better and also prayed a lot. I'll have to keep working on it though. I had 4 contacts, and even though they didn't result in anything and were terrible, I am still glad about them.

I finally bought some bread to use the creamed honey josh sent me. Hopefully I will be able to use it all before it expires in 2018, three years after my mission ends.

I found a jump rope in our apartment, which is a lot better than jumping jacks. I can sometimes do 50 jumps in a row, but sometimes less than 1, so that is something to work on.

We still count our lessons creatively. Like we counted a lesson with less actives and a member present and their daughter who came and laid on the couch at the very end as a lesson to less actives, another lesson to an investigator with a member present, and then also a lesson to the member that was there with us...

They have a food here called milanesa, which is almost chicken fried steak exactly, except no gravy, and the meat is a lot more tender and better. Also, we squeezed a lime on our salad instead of dressing and it was really good. I thought maybe mom would like it since she doesn't like dressing. But it almost tasted like vinegar and oil even though the salad just had onion and tomato and lettuce and half a lime juice.

Mission culture is unfortunate in that it uses shame as a motivator. I can feel really bad about them chastising me, but almost can't do anything for terrible numbers, but as long as I don't break any big rules... So if I become invulnerable to shame, I will be invincible to anything the leaders do to try and take away my agency or that of the people in my area.

I bought malt o'meal raisin bran because I wanted something more hearty and I thought it was healthy, and I really like it. But is has 24 g of sugar per cup and the ingredients are: whole wheat, raisins, bran, but then sugar and corn syrup and later molasses. And for some reason the raisins are covered in sugar, so I don't know. We will see if I can find a better alternative, maybe the more expensive name brand kind without raisins.

Will i have diabetes if I easily eat between 100 and 200 g of sugar (or more on days with a lot of soda) every day for two years?

I had a dream that I was home and I was like "Wow, that really did go fast." But really everyone says it goes faster after a year. We will see. but it isn't horrible, just hard sometimes, so don't worry.

I don't think the food has tax here, but everything else does, like soap. Which is actually nice, kind of .

A member from the other ward was telling me about a vision he had, of an angel of God or something and no wonder you aren't supposed to share spiritual experiences lightly because even me as a missionary thought he sounded crazy and he was like "You haven't ever had a vision?" Haha

My companion says his family sometimes doesn't even write him and sometimes only a couple lines, but I have more confidence in you guys, especially mom and dad, because you were always consistent (and probably everyone else) with josh. But don't worry if you are too busy sometimes. I will survive.

I will try and send the photos next week. And I love you and yes mom the bold helps and thanks for your letters dad and lindsay and auntie and ben and mom. And eternal family and I love you and see you soon. And hopefully this next week goes fast so that I can write you soon. 

Kaden



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