First letter from Mexico

December 2nd 2013     First letter from Mexico

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Sorry for my bad typing. This keyboard is Spanish and it is a lot different. I´m glad that you all are doing well and that you had a fun time for Thanksgiving. It was basically just a normal day for us. We had a training and some interviews at the chapel so we all ate there. It wasn't a traditional Thanksgiving, but it was still pretty good. Uncle Paul needs to send the package to the mission home if he hasn't sent it already. Everything needs to be sent to the mission home. Thanks for the pillowcases mom. My companion was thrilled to get a package. His name is Elder Patey. He's from Portugal, but his family lives in the United States right now. He speaks English, Portuguese, and Spanish. He´s been out for 4 months. He's lived in Portugal, Africa, the US, and Costa Rica. His dad was a negotiator. He's a good guy and a hard worker. He´s taught me a lot already. He's helped me feel a lot more at ease about being here. There are a lot of really really nice people that are very generous and then there are a lot of crazy people. Overall though I really like the food that I've had so far and the people that I have met. It is a little bit scary here at times though. I think that I´ll get used to it though. We have been tasked to reopen an area that has been closed for a while. It´s a big job and it's a big area so navigate on foot. We've been lost several times. There are a lot of great members that have been helpful though. They are so giving. Sometimes we ride around in these little crappy busses that are totally crammed with people. It´s kinda fun. They always blast American music. We currently don't have an apartment. We are sharing with another set of elders in the Culhuacan area. We work in Cafetales. We also don't have beds so we have been sleeping on the floor for the last week. It's a good thing that I'm so tired every night or I probably wouldn't sleep much.

The first day I got here we did exchanges because our district leader needed to go with my companion to show him our area. I don't remember where I was.    My companion for the day had been out for like a month and then we had a ward misisonary. I got to ask a woman to be baptized and she said yes. It felt really, really good but it was still kind of a hard day due to all of the adjustments.

I guess our area is pretty nice compared to a lot of the other areas, and much of our area is very rundown. We have so much to be grateful for! It´s amazing how giving some of the people are considering how little they have. I'm also really glad that I didn't start my mission in one of the more sketchy areas of the city.

We met a really awesome family a couple of nights ago while we were walking around looking for someone to teach. They fed us and let us teach them. The wife is an inactive member and her husband is not a member they have 2 kids. I don't remember their names right now but please pray for them, the Gonzales family, and the Patiño family. We need to have 5 baptisms this month and they are all great people.

My Spanish is terrible. I understand basically nothing and I speak terribly but it will come with time. I just need to open my mouth. It´s already been a week. Before we all know it I´ll be back home. I really need to take advantage of my time out here.

Oh and the airplane was pretty cool. I liked looking at the window. I got to sit by Sister Robison, the temple girl, (This is s sister missionary that happened to go through the temple the same day as Britton in Idaho Falls) and another Elder both times. I´m glad it wasn't some random person. It so much faster than a car. Well, I need to go. Thanks for everything. I love you all so much.

Adios, Elder Schow