First 4th without fireworks...

Hey everyone!

Another week down! This one went pretty fast for me.

Well, we had a baptism on the 4th. His name is Antonio. He was the first person I invited to be baptized here in Mexico. He has been working with the missionaries for a year and has had some health issues that kind of pushed him back a little. He was also the first person to be baptized that I've taught here in Mexico and it was on the 4th of July. I guess that makes up for not having fireworks.

It was a pretty crazy day. I had gone on exchanges again in San Cristobal. Elder Hernia came that day. We had our district meeting ate lunch with the mission leader and got the font going. We then left back to Teopisca to get Antonio. We got everything ready that we needed and headed back. No members came to the baptism. Antonio's daughter came which was really good. She has been supporting him through this whole thing cause she wanted him to change his life. She's Christian but is now going to talk with the missionaries there in San Cristobal. There were some women sewing some things at the church so we asked them to join us for the baptism. Elder Hernia asked one of them to give a talk and a guy that was there as well. He baptized Antonio. He didn't know Antonio had trouble with his respiratory system. When he pulled him up Antonio took a loud breath of air and scared Elder Hernia pretty good. He thought it was his other health problems with his heart and didn't know what was happening. Everything is all good though.

Antonio was really excited to finally be baptized. After that we ran through San Cristobal to grab our clothes we had cleaned there and headed back to Teopisca. We have found out we´re the missionaries of the old people. There's about 3 or 4 that have said they would like to be baptized. It's pretty crazy. Hopefully they understand what we teach, at least a little. Sometimes I don't know if they really do.

This week I saw a truck with probably ten cow heads in the back of it. Man that smelt wonderful.

We were in a taxi a few days ago, a guy jumped out of a store and we were about an inch from hitting him. Pretty sure he was drunk. Speaking of drunks, I now have a friend here that's a drunk, Fransisco (Paco). Every time he sees me he walks up to me and shakes my hand and says ´Güero! Mi amigo!´

Once again I ate a ton of Tuna (cactus fruit). I had about ten. There's a guy that has a huge field of trees and cacti that doesn't sell it or anything. We´ll probably go there again sometime. Well, I cant really think of much else. I guess I better go.

I miss and love you all!

Aaron

Three weeks...

Hey everyone!

I'm trying to think of what happened this week.

I was in San Cristobal for a day on exchanges. Elder Hernandez had to go to a conference for trainers in Tuxtla. It was kind of nice to be in another town. Elder Casas said we were going to eat rat. I was actually kind of excited but wasnt sure if he was joking or not. It turned out he was and we just had some cauliflower with an egg batter around it and cheese. It wasn't actually too bad and was different from what I usually get here in Teopisca. Usually it's chicken and vegetables or some chicken slathered in some sort of sauce that I still don't really know what it is. It's not too great but at least it's not bad. I've been pretty lucky with the food here. Nothing has ever really been disgusting. I'm sure that time will come though.

Hmmm... Some funny experiences this week. We were tracting some doors and I just decided to look across the street. I see a 3 year old boy just peeing all over and his mom just waiting for him to finish so they could go back inside. We laughed pretty good at that and I'm just glad it wasn't some of the grown men here that do the same thing.

We have had 4 days in a row with a ton of rain. Probably more than I've ever seen. We helped some people bring in their shoes into their store cause the "river" was just about taking their shelves and everything away. I went in their store and took my shoes off so I could just go in the water. I took one step outside and slipped immediately. I was able to catch myself before smacking my back and only got a little wet at the bottom of my shirt. I really can't think of much else that happened. We have a baptism on the fourth. That will probably be the extent of my Fourth of July. Maybe a firecracker or two if I can find one.

We went to church in San Cristobal and no investigators showed up. Oh, I think I forgot to tell you. Last week I gave my first talk in Spanish. It actually went pretty well. It was about 10 to 15 min, about three times longer than my farewell and I just planned it in the morning in about a half hour. It was on the sacrament and was actually pretty easy.

Uhhh, not really sure what else. I might write home if I think of anything else.

I miss and love you all!

Aaron

Two weeks in Mexico.

Hey everyone! Well, this week was pretty good. It went pretty fast as well. Last P-day wasn't too great cause we went and did laundry at a members house. She has a washer and a spin drier attached. It took a while and just has a thing on the bottom that kind of pushes the clothes one way then the other. The water just drains out of a hose out the back and down their walkway. Then we wanted to clean our apt. really good and only had about 20 min. to ourselves. It rained quite a bit this week. Tuesday was the worst. I think I'm really going to have to buy some irrigation boots. That's what Elder Hernandez has. By the end, my shoes were soaked and had a half an inch of water in them. Oh, a few things I forgot last week. Elder Hernandez said Jalapenos were really hot but I didn't really think they were that hot. He took me to some recent converts home and they had a big orchard. He picked a ¨jalapeno¨ for me. It was bigger and orange, kind of like a Habenero. I guess there's two kinds. I took the first bite and it was like a bell pepper. I thought it was a joke for a little bit. The members and him were all looking at me kind of amazed. It wasn't hot at all. I took 3 more bites and nothing. And then...It started. The back of my throat was burning pretty good. I kept eating and it just kept getting worse. I started sweating and my nose was going like crazy. They then said the next part I was going to eat was the worst. Its the very bottom of it. I bit it and man was it ever. By now I was crying and everything. I ate all of it except the seeds. Then I made a mistake. I didn't think of what I had just done and wiped my forehead and mouth with my hand. It just got worse from there. I was in pain for quite awhile. I ate a lime but that didn't really help at all. We then went into the orchard and the sun just made my face hurt more. They picked Tuna for me to try. Its the fruit on cactus. It is really good. That pretty much instantly took the pain away. At least I was able to eat it all. I guess Hernandez can eat two like that to have the same result I had. Ive had quite a lot of different fruits here and I'm loving that. I tried my first real coconut and it wasn't too good. I guess in Tepachula they're better. I threw away most of it. Oh, you can buy ten mangoes, the smaller orange ones for a dollar. I don't know the price over there but I'm sure its not that low. This week we talked to a bunch of drunk people. Yesterday we talked with four. There are always a lot on Saturday and Sunday We had a couple miracles yesterday. This week we had found a lady named Fransisca. She is awesome. It was the first house Ive been in with a dirt floor. I guess she had talked with missionaries about 15 years ago. She said we are always really kind. Elder  Hernandez had me take the lead for the first time. I didn't know what to teach so I prayed and figured the plan of salvation was good. The lesson went really well and she didn't really know where we came from or things like that. Well, this Sunday we invited her to church about a half hour before it started. It took a little work but in the end she said she would go. Then we went and picked up Emiliano. He's 85 yrs. old and has cancer. Its amazing that he was even able to go. He usually is in pretty bad shape. Yesterday he was as well but really wanted to go. He really wants to get baptized but wont be able to go to church the next few weeks cause its in San Cristobal. He needs to go twice to church to be baptized. We are going to talk to the Mission President to see if we can do it sooner. We don't know how much time he has left. Well we were a little late to church and its just in a members house. We didn't see Fransisca and weren't sure if she had already passed by and couldn't find it or what. We stayed out looking down the street but she wasn't there. we were pretty bummed. We said some silent prayers. I asked for her to be able to come and for God to help guide her to this house. We went in around 10:20. A member whistled at us and pointed outside a little later. She was there! We were really happy. It felt really good to see her there. It was a pretty good day yesterday. OK I have to go. I love and miss you all! Aaron

A whole week in Mexico...

Well, I´m finally here!

I was never able to meet up with Ngatu and Nelson. They got there late the next day.

It was a pretty crazy trip and for most of it, I didn´t really feel like I had left the US. We did get stuck in Mexico City for awhile. We had problems with our bags and missed our flight. But they changed it for 9:30 that night. Then we had to try to get a hold of the president and tell him everything, which took forever! The stupid phones in the airport only use their cards so we had to go buy one and then figure out how it worked.

We met up with an elder from Peru. Elder Cerna. It was nice having a native Spanish speaker with us. I think that was the hardest part of the language so far. Airport language. It's completely different than anything else. That was pretty rough.

We finally got to Tuxtla at about 11:00 PM and then had to drive to the mission office another 40 min. We didn´t get to bed till probably about 12:30 AM. Then I had to try and sleep in the burning night with no fan cause everyone else was there for transfers, sweating like crazy.

We had to wake up as normal, at 6:30 AM. Pretty fun. We had breakfast with the president and his wife and then got our new companion. Mine is Elder Hernandez... again. He is from Mexico, Mexico. So far we have gotten along really well. I´m really glad he´s the one I got. He´s a native speaker of course, which really helps. So far I think the language is coming along pretty well. I still have problems with regular language but that will come.

This week has been pretty sweet. Oh, however all of us have to do 3 months of training all over again. We had just finished there in Utah and thought we could just come out and work. Nope. The 3 month thing is an extra hour of study in the morning. We don´t get out until 12. I was pretty mad we have to do that again but its going good since we get along.

I am serving in Teopisca. I´m pretty lucky for getting that. It´s the coldest place in the mission. It´s pretty high up in the mountains. There are a ton of houses here that are really run down. A lot are just wood and sheet metal put in the form of a house. We had to take a bus ride an hour outside of Tuxtla and then another hour out of San Cristobal. Man do they drive crazy here! I got some good pics for examples. Lines don´t mean a thing. If they think they can pass they do it. I think I´m used to it now though. I have only seen one crash since I´ve been here and it was a car that had gone off the road. I´m not sure if it hit another car or not.

Everyone here is very nice and no one can say Draper. I tell them Draper in the English way and they just look shocked or something. There are a ton of drunks here too on the weekends. We talked with one the other day and we swayed back and forth like Michael said he did and the guy just about took a fall. It was pretty funny. Oh, one was peeing on the side of the road as we passed by. A little later he came up to us and tried to shake our hands. NOPE! Elder Hernandez said we were dirty so we didn´t have to.

Its pretty interesting here. Our house is La Casa  Blanca. Its owned by the mayor here. Teopisca is voting right now so its pretty crazy. There is propaganda everywhere and cars that drive around blasting speeches and songs about the candidates. Its loud here all the time. At night it quiets down quite a bit except for my first night here. They were lighting off fireworks all night, people were yelling, and cars were honking. Welcome to Mexico! The fireworks sounded like they were in the apartment below us. This house is like a microphone. You can hear everything happening around us. Its pretty good though. The shower is warm, sometimes, and my bed is pretty comfortable. We don´t have a kitchen so we just wash dishes in our bathroom... I know.

We have had some really good lessons this week and got 5 new investigators. Sunday none of our investigators showed up to church. We have to drive to San Cristobal every other Sunday for church so most people can´t pay to get there.

Oh, I had my first breastfeeding experience on Thursday. We were just teaching and BAM! She just started feeding her baby. That has happened twice since I´ve been here. Another time we were just talking to a lady and out of nowhere she kind of slipped out of her shirt. Man was that gross.

Well, that's a little of all that has happened this week. I better go.
I love and miss you all!
Aaron

PS  Also they might close this area. We don´t know for sure but I hope not. 

Mexico

Aaron is finally headed to Mexico today! Both mom and dad were able to talk with him when he was at the airport for awhile! We are so excited to hear from him once he is in Mexico!!!!

Hit on by Mercedes and one week to go.

Hey family!

Well, Elder Thibert is now gone. He got his visa and left today! I really think it would have been good for him to have to stay here longer though. He just needs to figure certain things out. Well, maybe he will in Argentina. Oh, he is in the Rosario Mission. Hopefully Terik will be able to get his visa. If not then he will probably come to this mission for awhile. They are splitting it into 2 missions and a ton of new missionaries are coming here. Who knows but hopefully he'll get it.


Can't really remember too much from this week. A couple days ago we went to Mercedes, one of our investigators, house. She is the one that wants help to stop drinking, not sure if I told you that. Well, she is probably around 80 years old. She is crazy. She's super hyper and last time she climbed up on the couch and all sorts of stuff. Well, she was drunk this time. She was outside with a couple friends and looked at "Bean" and said "Quiero un nuevo novio. (I want a new boyfriend)" and smooched at him. She then looked at me and Elder Thibert and did the same thing and made a fairly vulgar movement. It was weird but really funny at the same time. This should be interesting to help her work through it.


The other day it was about 8:45 and we couldn't think of anything to do. We decided to pray. When we were done I felt like there was an apartment behind me somewhere we needed to go to. I don't know if that's because most of them were behind me or what. "Bean" looked behind me and said "Who is that?" A guy just came outside and stood there. So, we went and talked with him. He seems pretty open to taking the lessons and we have an appointment this week. However, he doesn't have a schedule, like everyone else out here! No one knows when they will be working!


Also, we were talking with some people and a guy came out and told "Bean" he was a liar for not coming back. "Bean" had gone back but someone there told him he didn't live there. Well, we went and talked with him and it went really well. He has some things he really wants to change about his life and wants our help.


This week we found 6 new investigators. We also had a baptism yesterday for Manuel. It went really well. He was supposed to have it last week but didn't go to church cause he found out one of his friends just died and was taking care of things with that. Well, I'll write home if I think of anything else.

Love you all!

Aaron

Hey Dad!

I have started to have a taste of the heat here. Yesterday was pretty hot. I am really excited to get to Mexico. I still have a whole week here though. Hopefully that will go fast.


I will definitely have to check out that transit thing. (explanation:  Venus passing in front of the Sun. Won't happen again for 105 years) It's the only chance I have.


Glad to hear the goats aren't still getting out. Are you thinking more about getting rid of some? The older ones are the biggest problem makers.


I don't know my travel plans yet so just be ready for a call, possibly early in the morning even. Not sure. I will find out tomorrow so I will write home with that.


I love getting your letters and hearing about what is going on back home. It sounds like not too much has changed with the motorcycle, goats, Sadie, and everything else.


I love you Dad and I wouldn't be out here if it wasn't for you. Love you tons!

Aaron

May 30th 2012 (handwritten)

Hey Mom & Dad!

Another week & P-day gone! P-day is never long enough for me. I'm thinking I'll like them better in Mexico. I'll be seeing different things probably everyday for the rest of my mission. 

I'm really glad to finally know I'm able to go there. These next 2 weeks are going to be pretty tough now, but the last three days have gone fairly fast so we'll see.

I'm going to pray for you to get a job mom. It really is too bad you can't take care of Ciana as much. But I guess she will have a lot more time with her parents. Tell her how much I love her & can't wait to see her again. No matter what, she better be at the airport when I come home!

I can't believe this P-day is almost over. Once again we pretty much ran around all day. Oh, the insoles on my shoes broke. The gel part came off halfway. I don't know if you can talk to Petersen's again or what. Maybe see if they'll give some insoles or something. They didn't even last walking around here in America! I do have some insoles in some shoes in my closet. The "Converse" type ones. At least if you could send those that would be great!

We are going to have to figure out where I'm leaving the stuff I'm sending home, or if Joy is going to grab them here or what. I should have more info next Monday. I took a little half hour or 20 min. nap just before writing now. That was nice to have but I wish it could have been longer. Hopefully something awesome will happen tonight or this week. We did find a Snow Shack that gives us free cones so that will be nice. Today I had Guava & Mango.

Oh, luckily with the Menudo I had yesterday, I had some juice to get it down with. It wasn't awful but it wasn't good. I'll have to get to the point where I can at least eat it fine. I think that's what Michael said he got to.

I don't know how much I weigh right now. We don't have a scale here. I'm trying to put more on. I have a lot of food here for the next 2 weeks so hopefully I will.

Well, tonight I did get asked if I wanted a cigarette. We were passing a smoke shop & a guy had just bought some new ones. He yelled & asked if I wanted one. We had already passed so I just laughed & yelled back "I'm good!"

Oh, the more I'm with Elder Hernandez the more I see he is like "Mr Bean." He's nerdy, looks funny in a shirt & tie, isn't athletic, rides a bike weird, makes weird facial movements, & many other things. Sometimes he rides with no hands & I swear he is going to kill himself doing that. He goes good for a while & all of a sudden the bike whips one way & he almost crashes.

I read great, great, great Grandpa Draper's biography today. I never knew a lot of that stuff. He had a pretty crazy amazing life. Well, I better get ready for bed.

LOVE YOU!
Aaron

If Michael still hasn't sent the SD card I would also like any Disney that he has or other soundtracks like Lord of the Rings. If he has, then I guess don't worry about it.

Oh, it might be easier if Joy picked the stuff up here. I don't have her phone number so if you could get me that. I guess we can figure this all out on Monday.

We had a pretty cool experience last night. I was feeling like I was just going through the motions. We were at some apartments & trying to find people. We finally went to Juan's house. We had talked with him & 3 others in that apartment quite a few times. He let us right in this time. Elder Hernandez began teaching & was talking a lot. I finally jumped in. There was Juan, his wife & his friend there all listening. His brother came after he got out of the shower. We then had 4, 30-40 yr old's listening to what we were saying, pretty intently. My heart was pounding quite a bit during this. I felt like we should share the first vision. I told Elder Hernandez to do it cause I don't have it memorized as well as before. He said we were going to skip that & he already passed that. I told him to do it. He still said no. I told him, 2 more times, & he did. I then asked them if they wanted to be baptized. They all said they wanted to know more before accepting. Juan said he had studied many religions but this is the one he feels most comfortable with. I think they will accept next time. Oh, & in their house they had 29 30 bottle, boxes of beer stacked on each other.

OK, I just thought I'd share that. Got to go.

Love you!
Aaron