HOLY COW IT'S HOT! haha this place is hot, really hot, but I'm here!
My companion is Elder Juarez and he is from Guatemala City and hes around 5 ft! We live in a tiny house and there are four of us! The other two are Elder Permann who is about 6' 3 and big in tubbines and his companion Elder Chanchavac is about 4 ft 10inch! It's ALL pretty shocking actually! I never understood the standards of living my dad talked about on his mission but now I know!! The houses are tiny and basically, they are ovens! It's so hot inside... but its all good because I walk around with a hanky! Its cool because all the missionaries have them. We are dripping wet from sweat at the end of the day and our washer is a wash board! Just like the movie Far and Away (Tom Cruise & Nicole K) I get to "plunge and scrub" ha ha!!!
It's crazy how poor this place is!
AND THE DOGS! Watch out for the dogs, a saying here is (about dogs) "Tiene hambre por el Hombre!" (Hungry for Man!) I am telling you people I almost died from this vicious dog!!! LOL...ha ha It's actually gonna be a great mission story someday but I had about a 64.3 second, death defying bout with this crazy dog! So me and my companion had found this magazine of temples and were showing them to recent converts and there familys and told them about the covenants and blessings available and such and as we would walk from house to house I rolled it up and used it as a baton because USUALLY with the dogs if they come close all you do is reach down like your grabbing a rock or in my case lift up whatever is in your hand as if you were about to strike at them and they just scurry away. But ... today I met the Alpha Male in San Pedro Sula (SPS) and he spotted the gringo, (me, new little white boy) about 60ft before I got to him and he was all crouched down and slowly inchin toward me but I thought nothing of it. And so the routine goes on I lift up my magazine like I'm gonna hit him and he just GOES FOR IT! He Shot straight at me, jaws opened wide and I was able to tap him on the nose and move out of the way. And so the legendary bout began! Time after time I dodge and in time he lost interest but we couldn't really move away because there are literally probably 6 or seven dogs for every road and so once one goes beserk they all do! Me and Juarez were back to back with the words of the prophets raised in our defense (A Book of Mormon and the temple Ensign magazine). We must have looked too scary because they slowly all backed away and man my blood was FLOWIN... biggest adrenaline rush of my life!!! I thought I was gonna get bitten to pieces! ha ha
But our lessons have been good! I was able to share my thoughts and my testimony effectively! For a gringo people say my Spanish is good, which is great for my first week here! :) I hope I'm slowly progressing but in the mornings I have no idea whats going on cause I'm just waking up and pretty tired ...and I never imagined Spanish could be spoken this fast and be the normal pace, haha they just blahblahblah all day! It's funny because in the morning I have NO idea what's going on but by night I can talk to anyone under 40. Past forty its too quick and mumbly jumbly! haha What's worse is old women! They speak twice as much haha!! but I'm getting by and I hope people like me here because I'm trying my hardest to just love them all!
I'm actually doing great now! This is really where the mission begins. The ccm was a piece of cake compared to this... we walk probably at least 8 miles a day and sweat about 4 gallonsa day as well. Everyone here wears usa shirts like 'I love NY' shirts and they love Pepsi and Coca Cola and what not haha. but sadly I cant send pics because there was so much writing and reading going on :) but next week I'll send it I got to "plunge and scrub" and walk a ton... ughhhh, I feel like dad!!! The houses are TINY! and the people aren't as small as I thought but still pretty darn cute and small... haha this place is the PROMISED LAND! We watched the movie "The Testaments" last night and everyone was saying that it takes place in Guatemala and in Honduras! A fun fact is in the famous picture of King Noah and his court with Abinidi in it, right above Noahs throne there's a sign of Guatemala Elder Juarez loves that stuff!!! :)
How beautiful was conference! My favorite speaker was Edward Dube! I could feel every word coming out of his mouth in my soul. I was crying the whole time! This conference was so centered on doing the LITTLE THINGS! Memorizing the thirteen articles of faith, loving the women in our lives and honor the priesthood, read the scriptures daily and so on! It was also pretty cool to have the old BYU quarterback and the Australian Seventy ...haha that was a great way to mix it up! The best thought for me was from our prophet, Pres Monson's thoughts and feelings over recently losing his wife. He is such an inspiration to us all! Every word that comes out of his mouth is scripture! HOW BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!! When we talk to people about the purpose of the prophet today in our lives they all light up and quickly agree! These people know truth when they hear it, the question is can they follow their heart with being lost in the mist of darkness of poor choices! And boy is that mist thick! HOLD FAST TO THE ROD, THE WORD OF GOD EVERYONE!
Please pray for me and my companion! We need the support!
I love you all and I hope you know how lucky and incredibly blessed you all are to be in the US and live where you do!
Have an amazing week :)
Get off your booty, on your knees, then on your feet and DO!
Love,
Elder Toolson the 4th
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