Villahermosa: Week 2

So I tried to look up a picture of a Pochi but I didn't find anything by that name...maybe he spelled it wrong? Anyways, I will ask for clarification but I'm guessing it's like a rickshaw-type thing. Read on!

25 Novembre 2013

 

Hello Family and Friends,

 

Wow it feels so weird to type in English when everything else is in Spanish. It is a good break.

Anywho, This week was so busy!

 

Started off by going to a conference that nearly took all day. It was with our Mission President and his wife and a ton of other elders. We heard them speak and we also did practices on teaching. One of the assistants to the President noticed I was struggling teaching part of the lesson. He stopped me and then told me that if I am struggling and it looks like they are not understanding that I should just bear testimony. There is nothing stronger than that. So I resumed and bore my testimony and the spirit was definitely there. I brought the sister I was teaching to tears. Whoops. That afternoon the President paid for us to eat at McDonalds. Que chido.

 

On Thurday we went to a members house and taught a lesson, and they gave us agua de papaya. It literally tasted like vomit. The consistency was the exact same. I swear. That is mostly the kind of refreshment we get. Water mixed with something. No one just gives out straight up water. I have had agua de papaya, watermelon, chocolate, melon, strawberry, etc. One of my favorites is agua de mica which is a type of flower. what they do is take a piece of fruit and blend it up and add sugar and water and then they hand it out as a refreshment. Chunks and all. Some of it is good and some not so much.

 

So when I had gotten to Villa, I found out that we were having a baptizm in a couple weeks so I was like cool. It was a middle aged couple with a little girl named Camilla. The parents were Maricela and Donato Rangel. And then this past Saturday after we had visited them a couple times, I was asked to baptize the mom! Whaaaaaattttt?? So I had a day and a half to memorize the prayer and such because the baptism was Saturday.

 

The day of the baptism, we had a stake activity in the morning at the stake center in Villa. It was for the jovenes. They were training to become missionaries. So we heard several talks and then we all went out to teach some of the members. We watched them as they taught the restoration of the gospel. Some of them taught it better than me. haha.

 

Later that day was the baptism. There were about 20 in attendance. That is pretty decent here. The baptism of Donato was perfect and then I messed up the prayer 4 times before I was able to baptize Maricella. And they do not believe in hot water down here, so we were both in freezing water. It was so cold. But it worked out perfect!

 

Also I wanted to tell you how we get around. We travel mostly on foot. But we have a super big area. So we take these things called Pochi´s. They are super tiny and it is hard for me to fit. Look them up. Also if we are going a long distance we take either Convi or Transbus. Convi are just big vans without seats in the back. and Transbus is just a bus. They are not very comfortable but that is how we get around.

 

Well I will send some pictures and I just wanted to let you all know I am having the time of my life and I am so glad to be here! I love and miss you all! 

 

Con Amor

Elder George

This is the group of YM we worked with. And below top row from left to right: Elder Lott, Me, Donato, Maricela, cant remember his name. Bottom: Elder Villena, Elder Martinez

 

 

 

Villahermosa: Week 1 (continued) "Mi Primera Semana"

More on Elder George's first week as a missionary. And we finally have a picture :)

 

18 Novembre 2013

 

Where to begin?

 

How about as soon as I stepped off the airplane. I started sweating something fierce. It is so humid. But I went through security there. Did not understand a word anyone was saying to me. They had to act out what I had to do for me to understand. It was super embarrassing. But oh well. As soon as I past security, there was the Mission President standing there with a video camera taping us as we came out. It was hysterical. But I met him and his family and some members that came with him. We packed our things up in his van and left for some taco place in Villa. We got there and this place was considered nice. It was not in Americas standards. But we ate tacos. I was like ok. I like tacos. They were called tacos al pastor. It is like beef. They had an array of things to put on it. I decided to go all out. I put everything on it they had. BIG MISTAKE. The president told me that this green sauce was bien pecante. I did not know what that meant. I thought he said it was good but that means pretty hot. I took my first bite and my face immediately turned bright red and I started sweating profusely. I did not want to finish but the president said I needed to finish it so I did. I still cant feel my mouth....

 

That night we stayed at the house of some missionaries that lived in Villa. They both slept in hammocks while the four gringos slept on the floor. Their living conditions were pretty poor.

That next day we started by eating Choco Krispis. (Mexican Version of chocolate rice krispies) We went to the missionary head quarters and had a couple meetings. One of which was where we would meet our new companions. They called me up on the stand and the Mission President chose our trainer. My new companion is Elder Lott, from Utah. Also a Gringo. He has been out for 15 months. We get along really well.

 

We are assigned to serve in a small little town called Mercedes. Our living conditions are considered a lot better than most. I will send a picture.

 

The people here speak so darn fast. I am getting better at understanding but I am struggling most with speaking. It is coming along though. My companion is like an expert at Spanish.

The food is so good. I have had mostly chicken and tacos but I have also had a lot of beans and salad and platanos fritos. Nothing too bizarre yet.

 

Let me send some pictures. I am strained on time this week. Sorry.

 

I love everyone so much and I hope everyone is doing well!

 

Con Amor

Elder George

 

Guess how old she is.

 Sidenote: Steven never says how old the lady in the picture is.

Villahermosa, Mexico: Week 1 "Mi Primer Dia"

My little bro is in Mexico (I just teared up as I wrote that, I am a big softie)! To preface the short little email he sent out today to assure us that he arrived safely, I shall share with you some of the experience our mama had yesterday.

Mama writes:

I was pretty sure I would receive a call from Steven yesterday.  I had a huge Veteran's Day Celebration I was in charge of so I kept my phone with me and kept the ringer up. After the celebration I sat down at my desk, pulled the phone out of my pocket and started working.  Moments later the phone rang and I saw it was an 801 area code. My excitement was audible to all my co-workers as I answered the phone.
 
"Hello!...Steven?"

"Hi Mom!"
"I'm so glad to hear from you.  I knew you were going to call."

"So you were expecting me to call?"
"Yup, where are you?  Are you on your way to Mexico?"
"I'm in the Salt Lake Airport, we fly 5 hours to Houston then 3 hours to Villahermosa.  I should get there about 8:30 tonight."

We spoke for about 45 minutes. He was traveling with his MTC companion and one other going to Mexico. All the others were going to Norway, Guatemala, Argentina, and other South American countries. You all read about his fiasco getting his Visa.  Well after the failed attempt on Tuesday they tried again on Wednesday. Same routine; bus to SLC airport, catch a flight to Las Vegas.  He has never flown through Vegas and he was shocked to walk off the airplane into what seemed to be a casino. " Sin City" was his words.  He was amazed at all of that but yet there is a temple there. They go to the Mexican Consolat and they take his picture, finger print him (he called it something else. Could tell he has never seen the inside of a jail) and asked them a lot of question.  He said it was intimidating because here he was a tall white person all dressed up and they were all Hispanic and they looked at them intently the whole time, but he got his visa. He said the week was busy, two days in the airport.  A day of review of all they had learned in the MTC.  Packing, saying goodbyes. He was tired but excited and scared all rolled together. The days were long in the MTC and the weeks short and he couldn't believe that time was over.

They were instructed about money.  They are to live off the 'wages' they receive from the church and not to use their debit cards.  He will more than likely have a native companion most of the time and Americans are very rich to them.  The 'wage' the church gives them, is in many instances, more than what the companion would make in a six months at a job. They don't want the Americans flaunting wealth. So when you think about sending a box, he said to please think about his companions as well.  That sounds like Steven, always thinking of others. After he gets to Mexico he will go to the Mission Home and meet the president.  He wasn't sure if he would go out directly or not.  I will wait for his Pday email.  He asked about the baby alpaca and wanted to know more about it.  He requested that we have one ready to deliver a baby around his return date or shortly after. He tried to place calls into other family members but was not successful.  He called me back later before he boarded the plane to tell me.  He wanted you all to know that he is doing well and loves you all. His final words...."Love you Mommy."

So now he is in Mexico and I wait in anticipation to hear from him or his mission president.

PS. If you are sending Christmas packages and sending US mail it will take six weeks.  I'm looking in to mymissionaryshipping.com which is through DHL.  They can get it there quicker.  I will let you know.  If you send a package US postal now he probably won't get it till after Christmas [bummer!].

Now here is the email that Steven sent out some time this morning:

November 12th, 2013

So they are letting me email and tell you that I made it here ok. The second I got off the plane, I started sweating. The process to go through security and all the visa stuff took forever. But as soon as we got out of security, the mission president was waiting. It was pretty funny because he recorded the whole thing. We went to a taco place and I decided to go all out and put everything on my tacos. But I did not realize I put some of the hottest hot sauce in the country on it. I about died. Then they took us back to the place we were to sleep. It was very small, and was considered nice, but it was just mattresses on the floor. No blankets or pillows. But it was alright. Today we are hanging out at the church building and I will find out who my companion is. 

Con Amor

Elder George

Hooray!

Now a little note about sending care packages to Mexico. First off, I think there is a different address for that but I will check with my sources and let you all know. HERE is a link to the stipulations according to the USPS. Keep in mind that it could take up to 6 weeks for a package to reach Elder George if sent through the USPS. Other helpful hints I have found online and heard from Mom include:

-Don't make the package look too flashy! The simpler and plainer, and SMALLER you package it, the less likely that someone will open it and go through it and steal stuff.

-Don't hide surprises all up in it! Mom was telling me about a missionary mom blog she read in which a mother told how she sent a package and hid money in items throughout the box, like inside a package of poptarts, so that her son would have fun discovering the random money. HA! They scanned the box in customs and saw all the hidden money and her missionary son was brought in for questioning. Inconspicuous is key, people!

-Don't send valuables! As you probably have gathered so far, the Mexican mailing system is more towards the unreliable side. And again, there seems to always be a chance someone will open it and go through it at some point before it reaches Steven.

I will update with more mailing tips as we learn more from trying to send stuff to a different country. In the meantime, write Steven letters! You can go to your local post office and purchase some international stamps OR you can use dearelder.com's pouch system. You can also email him, but that is lame because you know he wants real mail. Come on. Be considerate.

Peace out, fans of Elder George.

MTC: Week 5-6

Ooh, this is a nice long email. Read on!

November 5th, 2013

Hola familia y amigos,

This week was one of the biggest tests of my faith here in the MTC. It started off with our zone getting 12 hermanas y 4 elders that formed two new districts. That Wednesday when I got to greet them was crazy. First off, I needed to find a pair of sisters that were experienced enough to answer some of the personal girl problems the new sisters would have, and to help me explain some important things about the MTC. Turns out that Hermana Scarlett was perfect! :) The Lord truly did answer my prayer with this task. That night was a success.

There was also some problems coming from my district this pass week. There are some elders that just do not want to be obedient. And the disobedience was reflecting on the whole zone, especially the new districts. This is not the example that they needed. I guess someone outside of our district noticed and told our teachers and we all got talked to. But that did not seem to help. The next night during our language study hour, an elder from our district and my companion drew a chess board on our white board and were looking for people to play chess. You all know how I am. It is very hard for me to speak up in times like these. A couple members from other zones came over and started playing and started causing a raucous. I was sitting right in front of them trying to study. It disgusted me to see them doing this. I had the strongest feeling inside me to speak up. My chest was burning so bad. I could not take it anymore so I stood up and asked my companion if he had not learned anything in that discussion we had that day. I raised my voice louder than I should have but it definitely affected everyone in that room. The room was silent for about a solid 20 seconds before I said if we want to be the best missionaries we can be, we should be doing the things that the Lord wants. Everyone went back to studying and we haven't had a problem since. I could tell there were some people who did not agree and were a little frustrated but I had the greatest feeling of peace after. My companion apologized later and he said that when I said those words, I did not sound like myself. Let's just say it was a growing experience for me.

About my visa. I got a notification in the mail Thursday that my visa came in and I had an appointment at the Mexican Consulate in Las Vegas on Monday. I was so excited. I had to get up at 3:30 Monday morning and get on a bus with some other people who were traveling to Vegas to get their Visas. We got to the airport in Salt Lake and went to get our tickets which were pre-paid. The lady at the ticket desk said our tickets were there but our flights were cancelled! No one could figure out why this was going on. So the travel leader in the group called the MTC travel office and after about two hours of trying to figure out what happened, we got an answer. The Mexican Consulate had called the MTC and cancelled our appointment on that last Friday. No one knows why. I am still waiting to find out if I am going back this week, or if I am getting reassigned. I have no idea. But we had to wait another two hours after that to get a bus to take us back. So we spent like 5 to 6 hours in the airport for nothing. It is all good though. We got McDonalds and caffeinated beverages. And slept. I just hope and pray I can get my visa. 

I only have like 5 days left of MTC. 22 and a half months left of my mission. Time is flying by. But I am having the best time. There have been many trials of faith but in none of them have I questioned my God and His power. Through him I have come to be a better missionary and a better person. I have gained a firm testimony and I am becoming more and more converted every hour of every day. There have been are there are people being prepared to hear the word of the Lord through my mouth and through my unique testimony. For this, I cannot wait. I love all of you and wish you the best, 

Con Amor,

Elder George 

UPDATE! A little while after Steven sent this email, he followed up with this one:

Tell all that today after I emailed the big email, I got a notification that I am going to Vegas tomorrow at 4:30 to get my visa so I should leave the MTC on time!

Con amor

Elder George