One year in Mexico!

Hola mi familia!

Hope that it was another great week for you guys. It is weird to think that it was only one year ago that I was introduced to the heat of the Istmo and I realized that Spanish and Zapoteca aren´t the same. Time is flying, I now have 14 months in the mission! That number seems so big. Yet it was only a year ago that I arrived, when I say it like that it doesn't sound as scary. This week has been really interesting and lots of unexpected things happened, but all is well down here. Hope that your finger starts healing up soon. Elder Nunton also had some hand problems this week. On Thursday and Friday we went to go help out an hermano do some work in his house. It turned out to be more difficult than we thought, but it was nice to be able to do something different, I enjoy service. I don't have pics, hopefully I will remember to take some of the work we did for next week, but we dug a hole and put it a big metal post, the family wants to put up a roof before the rainy season comes so that they have another area to stay dry in. The hole we dug was deep and where we put it, there was once the foundation of a house, so there was lots of huge rocks in the ground that we had to dig up and remove. Elder Nunton ended up with a whole bunch of blisters on his hands, I did too, but my comp honestly had about 10 on each hand, two for each finger, I'm not sure how he pulled it off. But it was hard work, and the family kindly shared some delicious breakfasts with us these two days, we may go back this week to help finish it, we only got the pole put and cemented into the hole. So it still is missing the whole roof part. But that was one of the weeks highlights, I´ll move onto the questions for now and hopefully will have some time to say some more afterwards. Hermana Leyva wants me to send her some pictures, I saw her yesterday after church. So I will maybe appear on Facebook.

(How was the week?  Did you end up having the baptisms?)

1. The week was good, like I said we got to do some service and we did actually have the baptisms. We almost had to cancel it, and sadly Elder Nunton couldn't be there, (that is the crazy part of the week, I´ll explain it after the questions, nothing to worry about, just highly unexpected). But we were able to arrive on time and have the baptism, sadly we had to move the time back and so not alot of people came to the baptism, but it was a beautiful service, even though font problems made the water really cold (hopefully I can stand the Bear Lake water when I get back) We had to empty the water from the font on Friday with buckets and throwing the water into the toilets, the water was left in there from a different baptism and was dirty. Then the water didn't come on Saturday and we only managed to fill the font with cold water. Anyway, that is the unimportant part of the baptism. It was a neat spiritual experience. In the picture from left to right is, the bishop of the ward, bishop Rasiel, in front of him is Wendy, who I baptized, then me, Luis, who the bishop baptized, Paula(their older sister who is already a member), and their mom, Marina (also member).

(Have you heard of Mitla?  Do missionaries ever get to visit there?)

2. Ive heard a lot about Mitla, one of the stakes/zones is called Mitla, but Ive always been in the same side of the city, in Monte Alban. I´ve heard of a few lucky Elders who have been able to visit it, but not too many. I don't know if I´ll ever get the chance, but I hope so.

(I saw a white sister missionary in your last pictures.  I didn't think that there were white sisters in Oaxaca.  Where is she from?)

3. Yes she is white, no she is not gringo, jaja. One thing that I´ve learned here in Oaxaca, is that there are white Mexicans as well. I think the missionary that you mean... wait, I remember the picture that you mean now. The really white one, Isn't a missionary, she is a member from the sister´s ward that came with us to Monte Alban. I thought that you meant Hermana Adan, who is also "white" but is from D.F. (known to us gringos as Mexico City). But the hermana is from Oaxaca. There aren't any American sisters in the mission, but I saw on Saturday that recently the mission received another couple, and they are from Georgia, I think they are in the coast. So I guess there is one.

(Any word on the Mother's Day call yet?)

4. No word yet, Im not sure yet if I will still be here or not when Mothers Day comes around, its just a little time after the next cambios. We have two weeks left in this cambio. I know that there is an hermana that is way pilas (pilas is a missionary term, in this case it will translate to awesome... mas o menos) who has a telephone in her house and will definitely be willing to let us use it. If I'm moved, who knows, but ti will all work out. Hopefully we can skype, I haven't found an internet with skype yet, but I'm sure there is one here. We haven't received any info about how the calls will work.

(Have you been taking the vitamins that I sent?  Do you need more or any other medicines or sunscreen etc.?)

5.  I took the vitamins for the first few cambios, but I haven't recently, there is still about a quarter of the bottle left. I don't have any needs for more medicines or anything right now. I still have sunscreen, though I forgot to put it on Friday, my neck got burnt while doing service digging the hole. But its all better now, I actually haven't had a real sunburn for my whole mission until Friday, my nose went a little red at first and for some time I think, but it never was really burnt. Anyway, just to worry you a little bit, I think I may have an infection in my big toe, hopefully I can get it checked out sometime. It just hurts a little bit when I kick a rock in the road (the roads aren't paved in many parts of the area and are really uneven and rocky), and its to the side of the toenail, its just a little bit swollen and red. I already know that its not an ingrown toenail, that was my worry, but you know me, I'm a great toenail cutter, so you don't need to worry about that. jaja

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(Tell us something special that happened this week.)

6. This week I can't really say that there was one great spiritual moment, but yesterday, a lot of members didn't come to church, especially a lot of the ward´s leaders. The stake presidency and a lot of members from the High Council visited our ward and we divided up and went out on divisions with them to visit these leaders and members. I went with hermano Martin, I met him before, he is from Etla. We visited a family, some of the kids aren't members, but the parents are, and they have come to church a little bit, we have been working with them in this change. Anyway, we went to visit them and we were talking with them about how they were doing and all sorts of things. And a big worry (queja) that they have. The hermano was talking about how it is that he has been offended by various members and has seen some bad examples of members and how it is that he was looking for work (the family lives in a humble house high on the hill) and how some members have let him down in their attempts to help him find a good job, and how it is that the Elders that baptized him and his wife about a year ago promised that so many blessings would come into their lives if they decided to follow Jesus Christ and come into the church. And he believes that he hasn´t been receiving blessings.

I could just feel how it was that he was kind of hopeless. He has an honest desire to help provide for his family and be good. The family is in a huge trial right now, one that many have here in Oaxaca, the economic problems and the doubts that it brings. And I remember a quote in Preach my Gospel, that we as members of the church need to reach out and help lift the hands hanging down because of the loss of hope. My eyes have already been opened many times by the uncountable quantity of blessings that have flooded my life and the lives of all of us as a family, but I was able to testify about where the true blessings lie, and where it is that we as the 6 billion persons here on this planet really can find what we are all looking for, happiness. Maybe I don´t know or understand fully what it is like to be without all of the simple and complex blessings that we have received as a family who lives in such a wonderful place like Utah and with all that we have, but I have learned that that isn´t what happiness really is, and they really aren´t the important blessings. The greatest blessings we have received lie in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and within our own families. I hope that we all can realize that those are the only blessings that we need, and that while we can expect more, Heavenly Father really does love us and will take care of us, whether we are taken care of in the way that we want or not. Anyway, it was really spiritual, and I hope that as they were touched by the spirit in our visit, they opened their eyes to the blessings they do have, even though they appear to be few, and that they can have the "hope of a better world" that will drive their family to be strengthened in the Gospel and receive the blessings that our Heavenly Father has in store for them. The important ones.

Its hard for me sometimes here, because as I get to know so many people, I feel like I cant help them too much because I hardly understand how hard it is to live without the blessings that we have in Utah.

I don't have much more time, I also wont be able to send the pics to Hermana Leyva, hopefully she doesn't get too mad at me. Because she really wanted me to send a few. I hope that Aunt Chris can read this letter, I saw the money that she gave me. I want to tell her thank you for thinking of me and for the love that I can feel from her. Thanks so much Aunt Chris for all of your support and love, I hope that our Heavenly Father will keep blessing you and helping you in all that you need. I want you to know that I love you and really am grateful.

Anyway, I guess I have to tell you the crazy part of the week. On Friday at about 11:30 in the night we got a call from the LZs, we had cambios especiales. And at 12.00 on Saturday Elder Nunton had to leave for Independencia, and I received a new comp at about 7 Saturday night, this augmented the baptismal font problems and also the scheduling of the baptism. It was really unexpected and caught us by surprise, there were a lot of cambios suddenly that affected quite a few missionaries. So now I am with Elder Rodriguez. He is from Ecuador, and has 22 months in the mission, he will be headed home at the end of the next cambio. I'm senior comp. And we are going to see how things go. Anyway, I'm sure you weren't expecting that news, I wasn't either. Sorry that that is all that I have time to say, but I will talk to you next week. Que Dios les bendiga en todo. Les agradezco por todo su apoyo, amor, y oraciónes. Love you all so much.

Love,

Jordan