Week 52 (58) January 19, 2014

Another week gone by! And a long one at that! This week we have been really focusing on helping our converts continue to progress. We've been able to teach them about temples and about family history work and they love it. It doesn't end with baptism!!! Now they have a new goal: enter the temple. In their prayers they even ask for help to prepare to enter the temple one day to have an eternal family. It's hard to understand without being in my position but it makes you cry to see them with that desire to progress.

 

Monday we woke up, got ready, cleaned a little. Earlier in the week Blanca and Rafael (converts) told us that we could stop by and ride their bikes to the grocery store so we had been looking forward to it all week. My companion was SO excited. We headed out the door, knocked on Blanca and Rafael's door, and took the bikes out for a spin. We thanked them, waved goodbye and of we went. It felt sooo good to be on a bike again! I headed out first and a few seconds later turned my head around to make sure my comp. was coming too... You know how it is when a child is first learning to ride a bike...they get on with all the confidence in the world, they get going with dad running by their side, everything's great until dad lets go...all confidence that was once there quickly gets crushed as they start to fall. And they fall as if both hands are superglued to the handle bars and both feet to the pedals. That's what I turned around to see. Turns out my comp didn't know how to ride a bike. So, both disappointed, we returned the bikes. My poor comp..she was devastated...but it made for a good story!

Culture note: Let me tell ya....Mexicans eat anything and everything. They don't waste a single thing. If it's edible, they eat it. They eat cow, pig, rabbit, snake, goat, shark, iguana, sheep, monkey, etc. Not a part of any animal is wasted: heart, liver, kidney, stomach, intestine, brain, ovaries, lung, pancreas, testicles, you name it, they eat it. Eye balls, ear, tongue, feet, snout, tendon, nerve, vertebrae, bone marrow, EVERYTHING. And on the streets here you can find just about all of it. Some of the local favorites are brain quesadillas, intestine tacos, and tongue soup...YUMMY!! Oh and intestine filled with boiled blood...even more delicious. Bugs are also a part of Mexico's menu: crickets, grasshoppers, ant larvae, etc. My motto: DON'T ASK WHAT IT IS YOU'RE EATING. Trust me...it's best not to know.

Yes...those are chicken heads.

Things have been going really well here in my area. I absolutely love this area...the members, converts, everything. Blanca and Rafael are probably progressing the fastest...and if I could predict the future...Rafael is a future bishop ;) They're super hip people! In their prime time they were total hard core rockers. I always knew they were part of a band (they still are) but it wasn't until this week that they told us just what type of band. I'm talking ACDC, Led Zeplin, Kiss type band here...and pictures too!

Rafael in his glory days

Culture note: There is a type of food here called a "gordita" which translated means "little fatty". It's a fried thick tortilla which they cut into and stuff with meat, cheese, lettuce, salsa, etc. There's a reason it's called a gordita. They other day we were talking bout how weird the name was. Can you imagine? "Um, can I get a chicken fatty please?" There's no way I would buy that in the states!!

Thursday we had interviews with the President. It's always a great experience. We have the best President in the world!

Friday we planned a big ward movie night and we made movie ticket invitations and everything. We even provided drinks and popped about a kilo of popcorn (that's a TON). We watched the movie "Ephraim's rescue" and a lot of people ended up showing up. What a success!