Email from Monday, 24 May 2010

Hey family! Thanks for your letters. I am in Jesus de Otoro. Jesus de Otoro is about 30 minutes away from my old area. I really like it. It is really not a city. They call it a pueblo. It doesn't have much. It does have an ATM, so we have to take out money when we are in my old area. It is really green here and all of the streets are dirt. I am probably the only white person in Jesus de Otoro. I am rooming with 2 other missionaries. Their names are Elder Laura and Elder Nasio. Elder Nasio is from Utah. He is Tongan. Elder Laura is from Peru. My companion's name is Elder Chuquimia. He is from Bolivia. He is a way awesome companion. He is really funny, and it's really refreshing. My old companion was kind of quiet. He is the district leader. The branch that I am in has about 120 members and about 30 of them showed up this Sunday. I was a little disappointed. The branch has a lot of problems with the word of wisdom. I gave a talk Sunday about the word of wisdom. I chose the topic because the leaders of our branch are drinking. The first day I came, we made a plan for the members to overcome their addictions. We used it and it seemed to work. The man we taught it to came to church. My Spanish is coming along. It's getting a lot better. My companion and I are teaching this lady named Salumé. When I teach a lesson to an investigator for the first time, I like to ask them to be baptized, so that they understand why we are here. My companion was a little nervous about that but when we taught Salume the first lesson and I asked her to be baptized, she was so enthusiastic that we placed a baptism date. Nobody tells me no that they don't want to be baptized. It's actually kind of funny. The hard part is getting them to pray and to attend church. Elder Clark is a seventy and he came to our mission to teach us last week. Its was interesting. I applied a few things that he taught us. We put on a family home evening the other day, and we invited all of the neighbors to attend with us. We bought chocolates and soda and we watched the resturacion. Only one of the neighbors showed up, but we had a lot of fun! We bore our testimonies after and we played hot potato, and when the potato stopped on someone, they had to stand up and dance the chicken dance. We had a lot of fun. I'm really enjoying the my area. It feels good to start over. Every transfer feels like a new beginning. It sounds like you guys are having to much fun! I wish I could go to the temple. Its been a while for me since I went to the temple last. You guys are lucky you can go to the temple when ever you want. If I was you, I would go to the temple as much as I could. My Spanish is getting better. Ok, don't worry about the flood. I'm am perfectly fine. I didn't even know there was a problem. Ok, thanks for everything family. I love you all and miss you. Keep on writing me!