July 12, 2010

Wow, that sounds like a really busy week! It all sounds really fun though too. Mine was really crazy too. I did get changes and it was a little frustrating for me because it was extremely haphazardly done, probably because of all the crazy stuff going on in the coast.

So, first of all, Monday they didn't tell us our changes, so when we did shopping, we only bought food for two days, something that has changed for me now. I may just get extremely thin this change. In my old area, the ward members made us lunches for free and then I still used all my food money. Now we either have to pay for a cociñera, or learn how to cook ourselves with only a two burner electric stove and a pot and maybe a pan if we decide to buy one, but we´ve already spent a ton on stuff. I guess I should really explain now.

Tuesday we were doing the usual, getting really excited for all the families that we were teaching, Dionicio Chajchalac and his family and José with his two little kids Alfredo and Jony. They are most likely getting baptized. That night, though, we got a call at 9:30 telling us that we had changes and to be at the terminal at 8 in the morning. So we spent all night packing ang getting ready to go. We did get pictures with Hyrum, a recently returned missionary that was kind of like our best friend while we were in the area. (he can speak English too so there wasn´t that barrier).

We went to the terminal and got herded around. I got on a bus with my new comp that I knew nothing about, Elder Solórsono, and rode for 5 hours to huehuetenango. I had to go to the bathroom for 3 hours on the bus before we got there, then we got all of our stuff (after searching for a place to go to the bathroom and having to pay to go) and found out that we are, once again, opening up an area that has been closed for more than a year, and that we didn´t have a house yet. So, we stayed the night in another house in the area Victoria. The next day, we did a ton of going around with the zone leaders, first to get to know the wives of the Branch President and first counselor, and then split up and I went to work in the Zone leader's area. I stayed that night in the zone leader's house.

That morning, the other elders came to the house and the four of us had breakfast. There was a crazy dog in their house that we had to run away from every time we went in and out of the house. After that, we went to our house that was finally ready with beds, desks, and such. Since then, we´ve been buying stuff we need, planning and doing our best to get to know the area to figure out what to do. It´s been a long week.

I don´t have any pictures of the house or my companion yet but we´re going to play futbol (not to be confused with foot ball) today, and I´ll try to get some pictures. The name of my area is Tojocas and has two branches in it. I´ve only been to one but we plan to start visiting the other one in a few weeks when we get to know the place better.

In my new area, we don´t get mail unless we have a conference, so I won´t get letters for who knows how long... one month maybe.

I love you and I´ll write next week. Thanks for the pictures. You´re right, I do like the color of the flower and I really like the new look of the flower beds. It makes me super happy to see that the thorny little devil bushes are finally gone.

Love,

-Elder Landon James Crapo