To start off, this week really didn't have a whole lot that was super noteworthy in terms of the work. We just contacted and knocked on doors... And no one was home. That's always how it seems to be here... It's rough.
INVESTIGATORS
Joellen - She's a nice old lady from California that contacted us. She is living here in Mexico because it's cheaper. It's kinda weird because she says she's had a personal visitation from Jesus Christ, so... We're kinda working on that. The good news is that she believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and she says that she believes almost all we tell her because she knows "we are of the order of Melchizedek." Kinda weird, but she came to church. That was the coolest part. Really really kind lady.
We have a lot of potential investigators, but we just can't seem to find them at home. We put a lot of appointments, but when we show up at the mera hora (spanish for something like EXACT HOUR) they aren't there.
EXPERIENCES
1.) Well, first, THEY ANNOUNCED THE DEDICATION OF THE TIJUANA TEMPLE! The open house will be from the 13th of November to the 28th of november (something like that. At least two weeks). The actual day of the dedication is scheduled to be the 12th of December. So there it is. Finally on it's way to finishing.
2.) Second, we were visiting a lady and when we finished, we went and waited by a road for a taxi. As we were waiting by this road, not even joking, there were HUNDREDS of mosquitos. They started eating us alive. It was crazy. I started just rubbing my arms and neck to keep them from landing long enough to eat me alive. I got bit twice. My companion was bitten probably 25-30 times. It was nuts.
3.) I'm getting fat. I've gone up 10 pounds. I used to be at 140, and now I'm at 150. I have some serious weight loss to do when I get home.
4.) I've been showing a family, the Pech family, some magic tricks, and I've managed to convince Angela that I'm good enough at magic to get paid as a street magician. Pretty cool. I really like doing card tricks for people. Makes me feel like a boss.
5.) I really hate translating.
At first, I thought it was pretty cool to translate from Spanish to English. Made me feel really cool. Now, the problem I have is that it's just SO HARD. I'm really sick of listening to people, saying what they say, and then listening again. My companion hates it more because he gets nervous in front of people. I'm not really nervous in front of people as much as I am nervous about translating the whole talk wrong. Seems like people understand what I'm saying anyways, so I guess I must not be saying anything wrong.
6.) My Spanish is pretty sub-par. I thought I was doing pretty good, but just the other day, there were 2 teenagers that got in our taxi together and I just couldn't understand them. I got a few things, but only around like, 20%. They just talked WAY too fast. I need to still study some more... And try to learn more mexicanisms...
Thanks for everything. The Support, packages, and love. I feel like I've been really supported a lot by a lot of good people. I'm so happy to know that I've got so much support.
Elder Carter
