October 20, 2014
Dear
All:
This
week was pretty productive. I feel like so much goes on here I can’t
communicate all the thousands of hilarious or weird stories I’ve experienced.
For about every story I’ve shared with you there are like 10 more just like it.
ahah. So I get kinda frustrated writing letters because I want to tell
everything but it’s basically impossible.
So I got my first
ingrown toenail this week. It was gross. I’ve never had one before so we went
to an investigator’s house and I told her about it and she said she could take
it out. So stupid me decides it’s a good idea. She had me soak my foot for like
20 minutes in water and there were like some small swimming worms in it but she
said it doesn’t matter. Then she like stabbed me in the toe for 20 minutes with
nail clippers, like really deep under my toenail to get it all out. It was
hilarious because my comp almost puked. ahahah. Then she poured alcohol on it
and today it’s like inflamed and I don’t know. If it’s worse tomorrow I’ll go
to the doctor.
The people are pretty
fond of me here, especially our investigators. We have a few that always tell me
they hope I don’t leave this transfer, which makes me feel bad because my companion
never really talks, so I feel like he doesn’t care about them as much, which
kinda hinders our progress. I’m sure he does, he just doesn’t talk so it’s hard
for people to get to know him.
Also we’re totally poor
because the elders we were with wasted all of their money and so did my comp. I
had like 2000 pesos yesterday but I had to pay their bills and all this crap. I’m
getting a reimbursement for it, but it’s annoying because now I have like 200
pesos to my name. ahah. It was funny because I went to a little store (which
are like all over Mexico). They’re called tiendas. Anywho, I went there to buy
breakfast and my comp tried to buy something and I kinda grilled him in front
of the clerk. Ahah. I like yelled at him in Spanish telling him he’s poor and
wasted his money so he doesn’t get to eat. ahhah. It was kinda mean, but I’ve
paid all the bills and all transportation this change, so I feel like I’m
justified in it. ahah.
I also gave my first
talk in sacrament meeting, and I told a really cheesy joke in Spanish. And I
told this joke before in a baptism and everyone laughed so I figured I’d try it
in a different ward. ahah. It didn’t work. Everyone was silent.... Then I said
in Spanish, “It’s funny. Laugh.” Ahha. Then people started cracking up so that
was hilarious. But I spoke about diligence, and I talked about the Savior’s
life and how he spent 3 days walking to be baptized and a bunch of other
stories and how he told Peter to feed his sheep 3 times. I think it went pretty
good.
I’ll write about our
investigators when they’re approaching baptism. We have like 2 baptismal dates
right now, but we teach a lot of people and I don’t wanna describe all of them.
ahah. There’s nothing I really need for Christmas. More ties maybe, and new
boots. I wear my boots like every day here because the streets are horrible and
the hills are really steep so it’s kinda impossible to wear normal shoes.
Ben wrote me. Ryan hasn’t
for a while I’ll write him today again. Things are good here. I’m just nervous
about my toe. I feel like it might keep me from working. Also president just
put a rule that we can’t play any sports until he says anything further. But
that’s okay because it’s impossible to play sports in this heat. But yeah,
Elder Blodgett (other missionary) and I found us a house and we’re gonna move
in this week. So well finally have some space. The district leaders told me I’ll
probably train someone this next transfer so well see.
I feel like the missions
in the states are like a whole different world from the pictures I see from
Jordan and Jared and Josh. But things are really good here. Too bad about the
Hawks and BYU (football). Kinda disappointing.
Love you all!
Elder Latimer
October 27, 2014
My feet
are totally fine now! Thank goodness! I went downtown with the mission doctor
and we saw some podiatrist, I think. But yeah she like cut my toes open with a
scalpel and took out two pretty huge nails from inside my foot. It really didn’t
hurt that much, so that was awesome. Then I could walk perfectly immediately
afterwards so that was awesome.
I was poor for so long,
because my companion blew all his money like the first 3 weeks. Then he always
says he doesn’t have money and randomly takes out 50 pesos when were in the
store, which makes me mad because I’m pretty sure he’s got like a secret stash
of money and made me pay for a bunch of stuff I didn’t have to. It’s kinda hard
working here right now, and I’m definitely passing through some trials right
now. Because the area is new, we don’t have any materials, a fridge, and I had
to buy an iron and toilet paper with my own money this week because we moved
into the new house even though it basically doesn’t have anything. But the
mission is gonna pay me back.
It’s hard working with
Elder Z. because he told me he doesn’t wanna be here. So he doesn’t have a lot
of desire to help people or help me. Like when we teach lessons it’s basically
me, and I have to verbally ask him to help me in the lesson or to testify. But
I’m trying to help him get excited about the work, but he’s kinda a buzz kill.
But I’m staying positive. Also he like never responds when I try to start
conversations with him. He just grumbles or says, “uh.”
But the district leaders
told me that they think he will probably leave the area and I’ll train someone
new so well see about that. I hope I get to train Kaleb Decker. That would be
amazing! These P-days have sucked
because were not allowed to play sports for a while because a missionary broke his
leg and got sent home so president is paranoid for us. So we literally just sit
inside eat candy sleep and study. It sucks because I can’t to the gym either
because they don’t open early enough in the morning.
Investigators:
Marco, Darían, David: Awesome
family of a less active member. David is only 6 though, but he’s hilarious and
Marco is like 11, so they remind me a lot of Jonathan and Jace. They have very
similar personalities. They always ask me about when were gonna have transfers
cuz they don’t want me to leave. ahah. We have cool handshakes and everything.
Marco is on track to get baptized in a few weeks, and Darían is too, except for
she always says I don’t wanna get baptized because then I’ll have to read the
scriptures and go to church. She’s so freaking lazy. But she’s awesome because
she still does all that anyways.
Obdulia: She was a
street contact and she adores us. We brought her to church this last week, and
she loved it and wants to keep going, and she has a baptismal date in November
as well. Her family loves us too, but they don’t really listen when we teach,
they just love to talk. They’re really friendly and stuff so it’s hard to get
them to listen to a lesson. But yeah, they invited us to a theme park and to go
to the beach with them, which sucked because we had to explain to them we
couldn’t. Also we got invited to the birthday party of her niece so that was
pretty fun too. Ahah. The whole family loves us so they’re very fun.
We’re not teaching a
whole lot of people cuz the area is still really new, but these are the
investigators who are really promising.
The joke (in Spanish) doesn’t
really translate, but I was talking about Jesus walking from Galilea to Jordan
to be baptized, and how it’s a really big distance, and we know that John was
called John the Baptist not John the Taxi Driver! It makes more sense in
Spanish, I’ll write it below.
Jesucristo caminaba desde Galilea hasta Jordán
para ser bautizado, la cual es una distancia muy grande, casi igual de Culiacan
hasta Mazatlan, y sabemos que el hombre que bautizó a Jesucristo, se llamaba
Juan el Bautista, y no Juan el taxista.
But yeah things are
going pretty decent, I guess. Time’s passing really fast. I really miss going
camping, that’s what I would say to missionaries who are about to hit the
field. Go camping before you leave. ahah.
I miss Halloween! It’s
like my favorite holiday, but “dia de los muertos” is pretty big here. It’s like
bigger than Christmas. Ahah. Also in my next package could you guys print out
like a lot of pictures from like my whole life or at least cool moments with
the family, vacations and stuff like that and sports? Because like all the Elders
have like their life stories in pictures, and I’d like to have that too.
ahah.
Love you all! Miss you!
November 3, 2014
Things
are going better. I’m kinda forcing my companion to talk more. Ahah. I kinda
have to straight up say, "hey, it’s your turn to talk now." Haha.
But some days are better than others. People keep telling me I’m gonna start
training soon, so I’m kinda hoping we have changes. But I’ve definitely learned
patience, and how to be humble with my comp. Because he’s the senior comp, but
I literally do everything. All he does is carry the phone, and I tell him who
to call. haha. But he’s getting better.
This week was pretty
average. Drunk people really like to talk to us. We taught like 3 super drunk
dudes who were crying. One got really mad at Elder Z. because he interrupted
him, then he told Elder Z. that hes’ not a representative of Jesus Christ. Then
Elder Z. got super mad and actually started to talk but I had to cut him off
and tell the guy he misunderstood because he’s super drunk and stuff. Ahha. I
thought they were gonna start throwing fists in the street!
We had some really good
lessons this week and Obdulia came to a baptism with us because she wasn’t gonna
be able to go church. We’re finishing up the lessons with Marco and Darihan, so
they should get baptized this next week! I feel like I have a really good
relationship with all our investigators and all the members so I’m pretty
content in this area.
The only thing that
sucks is that we basically have nothing to do here because we can’t play sports,
and we need permission to leave the area, so for the past like 3 weeks we haven’t
done anything.
Not a whole lot of
interesting stuff happened this week. I’m about to finish all of the standard
works in Spanish. I finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish a month ago, and I’m
almost done with the D&C. I’m pretty proud of myself because I understand
all of it too! And I’m like half way through Saint Luke in the Bible. I’ve read
Jesus The Christ, Our Brief History, and Our Search for Happiness. I just
have to read the Old Testament. That’s gonna be a doozy . That’s crazy Josh is
coming home soon! The time really passes quickly. I’ll be home before I know it
the time literally flies by.
I had a random thought
last night about Calvin Song. I want to write him if you c ould get his email
that would be great! And just post a general thing on FB to write me cuz I’d
like to see letters from random friends I haven’t talked to in a while.
For Christmas I’d just
like some ties, cologne, new boots, a straight razor like James Bond. I
wanna learn to shave with one and I almost bought one today ahha. ALSO WE
HAVE MONEY NOW! So that’s awesome. No more being poor for me! I’ll see
Kaleb Decker in a few weeks then! Ahah. I’m pretty stoked for that. I’m gonna
go to the offices to see him when he gets here. ahah.
Everything here is
pretty great. My comp doesn’t really talk, even in the house. Well he
does a little bit, but I basically talk to myself and babble, and say
random stuff like I always do. I’m writing a “Corrido,” which is like one
of those cheesy Mexican songs you hear in La Palmera. I’ll have to sing it at Christmas.
OH, I want a t-shirt with Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson on it for Christmas.
ahah.
Hope everything is going
well! I’ll write Joe right now! And also Tyler to see what’s up! Tell
him to check his email!
Also these pictures are
from Halloween and the day after ahah.That’s the toilet in the middle of our
street – only in mexico... The members are super tight! There’s this one family
I’ll have to write you about next week, but they’re hilarious, and I’m getting
the accent down! The other day I got told that I don’t have a gringo
accent at all, so that’s an improvement!
Love Elder Latimer
November 10, 2014
IM
TRAINING A GRINGO! I’m gonna go get him tomorrow from the offices. Needless to
say I’m beyond stoked. President Velez capacitated us today on our
responsibilities as trainers it was pretty awesome. He really stressed the
importance of being a trainer, and when all the missionaries go home they
always say that their trainer affected them the most.
But I’m super excited to
train. I feel like it will be super awesome and amazingly fun! We had a great
day we found some super awesome people who all want to be baptized! I want to
explain more but I don’t have a lot of time to write and my freaking keyboard
is retarded so it’s like 1000 times harder to type. And I’m kinda bummed
because our investigators who were all ready to be baptized had to move because
their lights got cut off, and we kinda lost contact with them. But it all
happens for a reason, I suppose.
I have awesome pictures
to send and this computer sucks monkey butt so I’m bummed about that too. I don’t
know what to really write right now. I usually write a lot. My ingrown toenail is
growing back but that’s okay because I’m going back to the offices tomorrow, so
I’ll ask the doctor. I was supposed to go get my fingerprints today for my
visa, and I freaking called the offices to find out what time like 5 times, and
they never answered. I figured it was for the transfers. I’m just bummed about
the pictures. But I’m super stoked to train so everything is great. Everything
right now is just like disorganized.
I’m glad everything is
going great with you guys! People start Christmas here really early people
already have lights up. The time here is passing so fast. JOSH COMES HOME SOON!
That’s cray. It seems like he just left. I feel sorry for dad cuz he’ll have to
edit this email. Ahah. Miss you all hope everything is going good. I really
wish I could explain more from this week, but oh well there’s always next week.
LOVE YOU ALL
TAKECARE!
P.S. I’ve lost like 20 pounds since I got to Mexico because
there’s nowhere to work out, and we walk for like 10 hours a day up hills in
super hot weather. Ahah
November 17, 2014
This week was pretty great. My companion and I get along
great. He’s a good guy and a hard worker. We have a lot of fun together
especially with the other missionaries. I feel likes its crazy how much Spanish
I speak now compared to when I got here. I wouldn’t consider myself fluent, but
I’m very, very comfortable now so I consider that a huge blessing from the Lord
to be able to speak comfortable and express myself clearly.
I’ll talk about some of
our investigators this week:
Rigo: Teenager who is 18 years old. He’s super awesome and wants to be
baptized and serve a mission. The only thing is we can only teach him like once
a week, but he learns really fast. We took him to a fireside for recent
converts where the stake presidency talked and so did President Velez. He loved
it. He got a picture of the temple in Hermosillo. He said he wants to share his
testimony with everyone after he gets baptized so he’s super awesome
Edwin y Alma: A young couple sort of. They’re super awesome. They’ve been
getting to know the church for a while now. They know a lot of missionaries,
and Edwin wants to get baptized but his wife isn’t sure yet, but we have had a
couple very spiritual lessons with them recently. I’m sure she’ll get an answer
to her prayers very soon.
Obdulia: Shes pretty awesome and is like 46 or something like that. She’s
super friendly and cool but has a tough time coming to church. She’s gone
before and came with us to a baptism, but she doesn’t have like really strong
desires to go. She wants to go but has a lot of reasons not to, like work and
visiting with her family and stuff.
All the people here are
super nice an stuff though. We’re visiting with a less active named Edgar, and
he’s super friendly and wants to take us fishing! So that would be really cool
to do because theres not a lot of cool stuff to do in our area.
Things are going great
with my companion Elder M. He’s from Utah. It’s really fun training, and I get
to see all the progress he’s making. It’s weird to think I just finished my
training, and now I’m training someone. Time goes by so fast. This time we have
to serve is very short. I also finished D&C in Spanish the other day! So that
was a milestone too. Now I just got to read the Bible. ahah. Old Testament is
gonna be a bugger to read in Spanish.
I feel like I have
gotten a huge testimony and knowledge of the scriptures from my mission. I’d
share some spiritual insights, but I don’t know which one to pick. I love
teaching people because I can apply scriptures I learn every day to different
people so that’s a huge blessing, and it also helps me to really learn the
scriptures when I teach with them.
Things are great here. Not
a lot of crazy stuff happened this week, just getting settled in, and we have
furniture and food and all the stuff you need to live now so that’s great.
Elder M. is pretty cool. He’s one of those missionaries that I feel like wed be
friends outside of the mission too so that’s awesome. I just feel bad because
the other Elders are both Mexican so he kinda feels left out when we talk
because he doesn’t quite speak Spanish yet. I remember feeling that way, but I
think it will help him learn faster.
That’s so sad about
Oliver! I thought his leg to cut off at
first! I almost freaked out, also I’m super bummed again right now because this
computer almost erased my photos, and it won’t let me send any again. So be
expecting a lot of photos next week. Next week give me like a question to
answer in Spanish so I can think of something to write in Spanish for you guys!
Miss you all! I’m excited for Christmas though even though it doesn’t get cold
here. The weather is pretty awesome now though, but still not cold at all. Just
refreshing.
Love you all take care!
