Hola Familia!
Things are going really great here in Guadalajara. The people in the ward here in Buenos Aires are really, really nice. Along with the kindness of the members I have also eaten so much here. Every visit we have
they all offer us food... its super good food too. I definitely am not starving down here in Mexico so everyone can stop worrying about that ;) My companion is a pretty cool guy. His name is Elder Reyes and he is from the state of Puebla, Mexico. He has 3 months in the mission and is still a newbie. I am the Senior Companion but really I just rely on him for everything because I have no idea where I am going here. So last Monday we (Elder Hernandez and I) took a 1 hour bus ride from Tepatitlán to Guadalajara to meet my knew companion in the Central. From there Elder Reyes, Elder Hamblin, and I took a 20 minute taxi ride to Buenos Aires. Elder Hamblin left for his house this last week after having finished his 2 years so he just chilled with us for a few days. It was really hard for Elder Reyes at first because it has been his first time away from his missionary trainer, Elder Mejicanos (who is actually from Guatemala). Elder Reyes has been having a lot of stress trying to run the area without Elder Mejicanos there to help him out. It probably didn't help him feel at home because Elder Hamblin was there with us and he and I were speaking English together... it's been a while since I have spoken English and it was good to talk to someone from the states. Anyways now that Elder Hamblin has returned home things have gotten better for Elder Reyes and he has opened up to me more. He's a good missionary and we have had some pretty cool experiences together already.
Things are going really great here in Guadalajara. The people in the ward here in Buenos Aires are really, really nice. Along with the kindness of the members I have also eaten so much here. Every visit we have
they all offer us food... its super good food too. I definitely am not starving down here in Mexico so everyone can stop worrying about that ;) My companion is a pretty cool guy. His name is Elder Reyes and he is from the state of Puebla, Mexico. He has 3 months in the mission and is still a newbie. I am the Senior Companion but really I just rely on him for everything because I have no idea where I am going here. So last Monday we (Elder Hernandez and I) took a 1 hour bus ride from Tepatitlán to Guadalajara to meet my knew companion in the Central. From there Elder Reyes, Elder Hamblin, and I took a 20 minute taxi ride to Buenos Aires. Elder Hamblin left for his house this last week after having finished his 2 years so he just chilled with us for a few days. It was really hard for Elder Reyes at first because it has been his first time away from his missionary trainer, Elder Mejicanos (who is actually from Guatemala). Elder Reyes has been having a lot of stress trying to run the area without Elder Mejicanos there to help him out. It probably didn't help him feel at home because Elder Hamblin was there with us and he and I were speaking English together... it's been a while since I have spoken English and it was good to talk to someone from the states. Anyways now that Elder Hamblin has returned home things have gotten better for Elder Reyes and he has opened up to me more. He's a good missionary and we have had some pretty cool experiences together already.
A comment about the delicious plate of menudo in the pic on the right... Okay, the important thing here is that it's really not delicious. Menudo around here is just cow stomach in a beef broth with some spices. It was pretty funny when we were talking with Elder Hamblin and he was telling us that he hated menudo... about a half an hour later we stopped by to visit a member family and they gave us menudo to eat... 1 day before he left for his house he had menudo again! Oh the things I eat in México.
I'll be honest... I didn't even know that it was Thanksgiving this last week. Nobody celebrated it down here and I didn't realize it was Thanksgiving until a member asked me about the holiday that they are celebrating in the United States... sad right? But it was fine.
Okay so here in México the cities are all separated into colonias (the word translates as colony but the meaning roughly translates as neighborhood). So I am in the city of Guadalajara but in the colonia of Buenos Aires. Our ward here is called the Buenos Aires Ward because the church building is in the colonia of Buenos Aires. I went to church this last week and it was soo good! I haven't been in an actual church in a long time for Sacrament meeting. There was sooo many people there than what I am used to. Last week in Tepatitlán we had 34 people in the house of prayer. In church here in Buenos Aires we had 140 people
attend. Although this is pretty small compared to the churches in Utah... it was crazy for me how many people were there. So something else that is pretty cool in our ward is that in our ward alone we have 3 sets of missionaries. Our area is called Buenos Aires 2 because there are 2 other Buenos Aires areas in this ward. I love the ward here and I have been loving my time here. Although it was a little sad to leave my first area. I feel right at home here in Buenos Aires 2. The people are really nice and really want to improve... we have already had some good lessons with investigadores and I feel that I am actually helping people to come unto Christ. It's wonderful!
Well, got to get going but I'll talk to you all next week!
Con Amor,
Elder Summers
P.S. It's also really good to hear about Austin and his engagement. It sounds like she's a really good girl and will help him live a happy life. I hope everything works out for them.
So what's up with Xochitl? I thought she was going to be in Provo for 9 weeks? But now she's headed to Madrid next week?
I'll be honest... I didn't even know that it was Thanksgiving this last week. Nobody celebrated it down here and I didn't realize it was Thanksgiving until a member asked me about the holiday that they are celebrating in the United States... sad right? But it was fine.
Okay so here in México the cities are all separated into colonias (the word translates as colony but the meaning roughly translates as neighborhood). So I am in the city of Guadalajara but in the colonia of Buenos Aires. Our ward here is called the Buenos Aires Ward because the church building is in the colonia of Buenos Aires. I went to church this last week and it was soo good! I haven't been in an actual church in a long time for Sacrament meeting. There was sooo many people there than what I am used to. Last week in Tepatitlán we had 34 people in the house of prayer. In church here in Buenos Aires we had 140 people
attend. Although this is pretty small compared to the churches in Utah... it was crazy for me how many people were there. So something else that is pretty cool in our ward is that in our ward alone we have 3 sets of missionaries. Our area is called Buenos Aires 2 because there are 2 other Buenos Aires areas in this ward. I love the ward here and I have been loving my time here. Although it was a little sad to leave my first area. I feel right at home here in Buenos Aires 2. The people are really nice and really want to improve... we have already had some good lessons with investigadores and I feel that I am actually helping people to come unto Christ. It's wonderful!
Well, got to get going but I'll talk to you all next week!
Con Amor,
Elder Summers
P.S. It's also really good to hear about Austin and his engagement. It sounds like she's a really good girl and will help him live a happy life. I hope everything works out for them.
So what's up with Xochitl? I thought she was going to be in Provo for 9 weeks? But now she's headed to Madrid next week?