Family,

I think that for one knee that was the problem, because it isn't hurting as much, but I think the other knee might be that plus a different problem with the joint. I wear the knee things mom sent me when I jump rope now, so hopefully that is the magic cure (the one that doesn't exist for anything). 

Ben,  Please get really good at swimming so that you can teach me how to do it better. I thought that you quit piano lessons for a while? Ben and Josh, now I have two adventure time things, but they are marceline and ice king which I really wanted BMO, oh well.

Mom, we didn't get our microwave, but they sent us an electric burner, which is good because we could disconnect the gas and close the window. The dumb thing is that one of the two burners already broke, also, it gets really hot all over. Josh says that shoes melting is a lie, because he once tried to melt his shoes in the fire and it didn't work. But allegedly August is the hottest month. 

Dad, I don't think I will get sick of Mexican food, because I really like it. I just get sick of the American food they give me and other stuff, but I like Mexican food a lot. I'll start putting Aaron in my prayers again, (darn pride cycle, but at least he is doing alright) Thanks for working hard to save everything for me. 

We fixed our bicycles (or I bought a new tire and had my tube repaired) and now we ride them. And I thought mine was the crappy one, because it can't change gears (because it is broken) until I found out the irritating way that my companion rides his is because his doesn't have brakes. The worst thing is that he refuses to buckle his helmet, so that isn't a great combination, but I am fine. I want to ride bikes with you guys again when I get home, now that I know how (from college and the mission) more or less decent.

Right now I am happy.

One of my favorite drinks they make is water of cucumber (which is just lemonade with cucumbers instead of lemons and some lime). You guys can make it in the blender if you want.

Allegedly, Mexicali is the drunkest city in the world and has the dirtiest air in the republic, including Mexico City, and is the hottest inhabited part of the world (because the Sahara doesn't have people) but its not that bad yet.

Did I seem older or different or better to you guys in the call?

Cockroaches run so fast. Is it true that they poop out eggs when you crush them? I don't know, but we always clean with bleach after killing one anyways. In my mission, I have seen 4 in our apartment, but never in our food, so we just try to be careful and put our trash in the freezer and stuff like that.

Also, I have a lot more fear of getting ticks here than before when we were camping, I have seen so many more here than I ever did in Colorado, maybe because of all the dogs, but at least I don't have to be scared anymore, like when I was little, of whatever bug was on the trampoline, because I know what they look like now.

I was reading when Ammon and his brother part ways and it said that they had faith that the Lord would bring them together again, and I think that is like the mission and life, because I have a lot of companions that I like and you guys and other people, and there are things that I can do, but ultimately I just have to have faith in the people I love that they will live their lives well, which is hard sometimes. But it is cool when Alma sees them again and he is really happy because they were still his brothers in the Lord.

The people sometimes fish in the canal here and my companion said that they probably only catch "cacadrillos" which is a combination word of cocodrillos (crocodiles). But we met a guy who did catch a fish and it turned out he used to be a traveling clown and has been to Asia and Europe and Africa and Patagonia, but now he is retired from the circus, (he didn't want to talk about religion).

I tried a new fruit that I think is called Mochi or something (which I guess it kind of looks like rice mush dough, but not really). It grows on a tree and looks like a soy bean pod and when it turns red it opens and there is fruit inside that is white and in spheres. It is kind of dry and has a similar flavor to jicama, but dry. It isn't good at all, but it is pretty when it turns red.

It is hot here, and it is going to get a lot hotter, but it doesn't help when people complain about it. The missionaries here fall right into the peoples hands when they say stuff like "The air burnt me!", exaggerating and things like that, because the people here just want to tell us we don't know heat and say stuff like that. Because they love it. Which it is hot, like we opened the windows in the car, and just hot air entered and dried us, but made us hotter, like an oven or something. We might be able to use sombreros in a little while, we don't know still. We have air conditioning but it is in the other room from our bedroom and is really expensive (which can be reimbursed but only to a certain point) so i don't know how much we are going to use it at this point, even though my companion already wants to.

Also, a friend of mine (but not me) wants to know if sitting on a hot bicycle seat really gives you hemorrhoids? I...or rather my friend heard that from his companion. 

Dad, guess what? They use the word otaku in Mexico. (Japanese word)

Also, I was reading in Alma 26:25-26 when it talks about how a lot of the Nephites wanted to destroy the Lamanites because of their sin but Ammon and his brothers went to the desert and converted a lot of them. It is the same here in Mexicali, in the desert, with union libre (no one being married) so I marked those verses in my scriptures with just the note of Mexicali and union libre.

An investigator had a doubt (that the Book of Mormon wasn't true) because she didn't recognize any of the names of the prophets, even after we explained that it was in a different place. But she said she thought maybe those were the false prophets the bible talks about because they had weird names. But really, I would have more doubts if they only had names that were found in the Bible.

I am happy here and the heat doesn't bother me, just the sweat right now. My companion sometimes bugs me, but like I said he always has good intentions and we are being more obedient than I have been with whichever other companion, so all those complaints I wrote in my journal were just to vent. I am still trying to be better like that.

Love you guys, eternal families, don't give me diarrhea, love your faces, telepathic hugs, shut up..... the atonement!