Happy Father's Day

The finances are fine. I would like more, but then I would eat more. I would like to think that I would eat more healthy foods, but let's be honest. I would buy cookies.

Sofa: Yes, we got a new sofa and it's cool, but it's leather so I sweat when I sleep on it.

Missing: Yes. It's not like I want to come home or not be here, but I want to be home. It's nothing to worry about, just my feelings. I am still working hard.

 

It's definitely warm enough, and we have a tiny little fan that doesn't do anyrthing. But the nights are cool enough.

For clothes I'm good, but I would have liked that I only had 2 long sleeve shirts and more short sleeved. My ties are multiplying. I have more than 2 times more ties now than I had when I arrived. (15)

Flor and Miguel finally accepted to be baptized!  I'm really excited. I hope they can progress and change their lives to be ready to be baptized.  Flor and Miguel are investigadors that have had like 4 sets of elders, and I am really glad that they could accept our invitation to be baptized.

So my first 12 weeks in the mission are over and I have a new companion: Elder Villanueva. It's kinda weird but kinda refeshing. I haven't gotten used to him yet so we´ll see how it goes. Also Elder Te, who I was with in the CCM, is training! it's crazy. One weird thing that our mission president did is that now we don't have the meeting for cambios we just go to our new area. Alone. What?! It was really weird to walk alone to meet my new companion.

So... um I got assaulted yesterday. It was interesting and I didn't have that much fear. And even weirder, they didn't take anything. They just kind of patted our pockets and saw our phone and that it sucks, and left. They were high and I believe God helped them to want to leave. Because I happened to be carrying my camera, and that would have sucked. I am grateful we are under God´s protection.   

Transfer, Cycle, 6 Weeks

I don't have much this week. One of our investigators is getting married and baptized this weekend, and it is pretty exciting to be a part of it. For one thing, he is getting baptized which is exciting. And then getting married as well, and I get to be a part of it. It's not like a big wedding just a legal wedding but still it's exciting. We got to help this family be complete, and in a year, to be sealed in the temple for eternity. 

I don't know if it means anything but I have been dreaming about different apocalypses all week; plagues of locusts, bats, and dinosaurs. It's just my rambling mind.  Pay no attention.

I am almost at the end of my in-field training, and it is likely I will be in a different area next cycle, (in a week and a half) and also that our area will be closed next cycle. 

​Went bowling today. I would have won but I messed up the last frame.

It was clear so I could take a picture of the two volcanoes. 

Right is a dormant volcano and left is Popocatépetl, a very active volcano.​

News from the Mission Field

Have I always had this mole under my eye?

For a person who is deceased and maybe doesn't have family, what needs to be done so that a person can do their temple work? A member wants to do the work for a deceased neighbor.  (Mom comment: We usually only do work for relatives. You would need permission from the nearest living relative.  You need a birthdate and place, death date and place.)

(Mom comment:  A friend Kyle Yano was over and threw in a quick line to Ryan on my email.  Ryan's friend Josh is at the Mexico City CCM right now.)
Sup Yano. I was just thinking about Josh, and that If I stand on our roof I can almost see the CCM.

(Mom comment:  Ryan must be doing well and staying busy.  His emails are getting shorter and shorter!)

Photos

From the week with no power:

​Elder Hernandez needed to iron his shirt.

​My oil "lamp." The glass is a soap dish that fell, from the shower.

​Proof that Mexico does it right.

​Los Misioneros del Barrio Valle (The ward I´m in: Valle)

front row: Elder Boyle and Elder Medina

back row: Elder Haggard and Elder Hernandez

Panque

Microwave Bread (quick bread)

​Panqué: Everything mixed together, put in the tupperware, then in the microwave.

Flan

​In an 8 inch glass round: Put caramelized sugar (pretty much burnt sugar. Put a cup of sugar and a tbs of butter in a pan until it browns) in the bottom of the 8 in round (It's ok if the carmelo hardens it will soften) then the rest is blended and poured on top. (Marias are almost like graham crackers, so a pack of graham crackers would suffice)

This week was pretty normal.

We went to the doctor like four times. 

Elder Hernandez has a little problem with his ankle so we went to the mission doctor. She sent us to get an xray and it turns out he has an extra little bone in his foot. 

As well another elder in our district (three guesses for his name. hint: hes from Utahuacan (Utah) yes his name is Smith) has a similar problem but he can't work because he can't walk. He had an ingrown toenail. o_o well they took out the toenail, but still... dude. So I went on divisions with him to go to the doctor.

As well Hernandez y yo went to to the dentist. On the way there we were contacted by some Testigos (mom comment: Jehovah's Witnesses). Apparently getting contacted doesn't happen much, but it's already happened to me twice in three months. They gave us a little TJ magazine that said, "Are you prepared for The End?"  When we were reading it on the way to the dentist, we came across a part that said, "Did you know the second coming of Christ has a time and date?" Dang they know when! then we read it and it pretty much said yes it has a time and date. 0-0 Thanks Sherlock. 

In other TJ news: Our investigator that was a TJ accepted a baptismal date! We want him to ask about his doubts because we know there are a lot of conflicts with what TJs believe.

​I was bored while Elder Hernandez was reporting, so I balanced my pens.

Snake Oil

We have power again. But at the moment we don't have any food.

Oh and Por Su Luz is not By the Light of the Silvery Moon.  It's a hymn. I don't know which though.

Today we went to try out some massage beds that cure all sorts of problems. O_O... ok Hernandez. For any of you who know what snake oil is, well yeah, this bed is snake oil. First of all, they have you sit waiting for your turn, listening to testimonies of people who have been "cured", and explaining the magical properties of the stones in the bed, that you can also buy as all sorts of jewelry. The "precious stones that can only be found deep in the earth", happen to be stones that are found on the surface. Well, at least four of the five, because I don't know what the fifth was. Then after all this hyping up, you go and lie on a bed that heats up almost to the point of burning with a cheap rolling massage. Yeah, so today I wasted 2 hours for that.

What happened with the power was that the electric company is changing from subterranean wires to overhead. And they cut the power and then started working on putting up the wires. O.o After a week without power we have power again. I was able to use my oil lamp for a day and then we bought candles. Since we had no power to our fridge, we were buying food day to day. We were walking home after buying some food and we passed a dog and the dog attacked Elder Hernandez. Luckily it didn't bite him, but it did bite his milk. The milk exploded and was lost. Elder Hernandez literally just bought milk and some pan and now only had pan without milk to drink with it. It was sad.

One thing America, that you need to learn from Mexico: Trix has fruit shapes.