Elder Facer Q & A

Susan caught Brigham on the computer this morning, so this week’s letter is mostly in Q & A format. J

everything is going well, because we have time to write today! im really sorry about last week, the interviews with president and shopping for food and trying to get a haircut, which i didnt...., took up our whole day. By the way, when elder snyder comes home in 5 weeks (25 august), he has offered to bring home my gifts for you all, and my photo memory card. so if you can wait, he will get them to you. i cannot use my blog, and yes i did get the package last monday! thank you so much! it was just what i needed. last week was not zone conference, just interviews. president spannaus decided to only make them every 3 months instead of every change, but my interview was really good. i talked with him for a long time about gaining true and pure love, more sincere prayers like the examples in the book of mormon, enos, alma etc and how to pray with all energy of heart. he told me that everyone prays differently. for them, it may have been all energy of heart, but for me it may be different. i have to just pray, ponder, pray some more, and listen some more to find out how the spirit will talk directly to me in my prayers. ya i have heard a little from rusty. he is doing pretty well, but if ever you see him, please tell him i expect him to be at church with his dad!

Q: Wow, that’s a quick turnaround for Elder Snyder! ok, so what progress are you making with your testimony, and with the language?

A: im not sure on the exact date for conference, but it is the 20-30 of august. either right before snyder leaves, or just after. he has your contact info, and will call you when he gets home. ya he wants to get home and study right away. he is still doing really well he pushes forward like a champ still! testimony is hard to graph, but im definately making progress. elder snyder is so good at thinking things through down to the very center, and i dont do that, so he helps me pick things apart. language is definatley improving. i gave a talk in church two weeks ago on the retention of members, and as you noticed, i didnt have to call or write you to do my talk for me! how wonderful for us both! haha a lot of people say my accent is improving, and i can definately see it because there are other elders that have a whole change more than me, and still talk lilke they just came from the mtc.....

ya finally a baptism this week. its a little 9 yr old girl who is just dying to get baptized, but her parents are lazy and wont take her to church. its not like at home, where they can carpool with another member, or walk to church, she lives in a big pueblo, her family is the only members there, and its a 30 minute combi drive to the church... hey i love you so much, but i do have to get off now. sorry. i will try to get more in next week. i would love to get a fresh treat! by the way, the singles packets were a very good idea. if you could, when you send a next package, put a date on something, so i know the date you sent it, and i can track how long it will take for stuff to get to me. thanks love you!!!!

elder facer

A Quick One This Week

hey Im really Sorry i dont haVE much Time At All Today to write... i Got A Lot of letteRs and spent A Lot of Time REAding.  also Sorry About THe RAndom Caps, the COmputeR Is going nuts on me...

wEll AnotheR hard week.  wE worked our buns off eveRy Day trying To find nuevos, and wE Actually did.  wE found 17, but not Many stayed Strong.  wE only ended up with 1 in sacrament meeting Which waS A huge bummer, because anyone wE put with Fecha, means They got Bumped Back, And WE cOuldnt COunt Them for fecHa This Week.  so wE only had tWo keep Their FechaS.  veRy rough.  WE ARE tring to ReAlize anything WE ARE DOing wrong And trying To change That, so wE Can be REAdy to REceive The blessings of The lord.  but man is it hard not To get frustrated and discouraged! when i started in The mtc, i Thought eveRything WOuld Be hard, but STill almost A Walk in The paRk.  but Man waS i wrong!  I Cant believe how haRd Satan wOrks to discourage missionaries.  but WE ARE Trying To keep up. 

did you All Get To Watch The World cup? how waS it from There?  shockingly most STorES Didnt close Down, but becausE they had a Tv In Their tienda.  but The streets wERe Almost COmpletely empty.  most women dont like SocceR here, BecausE it is so addicting For Their men, and is a huge distraction for The Family.  wE didnt haVE people stay home From cHurch, BecausE WE ARE eaRlier.  actually i DOnt dO MucH in cHurch, just help my inveSTigators.  once in A While wE help Teach A class.  i actually got Told By The bishop on wEdnesday ThaT i WaS giving A Talk on The REtention of recent converts and less actives; And it turned out pretty wEll i think.  it waS VeRy haRd Though, becuaSe i couldnt look At Anyone, i Really did have to REad it, Becuase i was talking aBout SOme thing i kneW nothing ABout, and In a diffeRent language.  But Everyone that talked to me ab out it said thaT my accent is getting betteR.  i should Be aBle to Speak pretty WEll within The Next month i hear...

WEll im Sorry For THis week, and not HaVing A ton to write About, or much Time.   thanks For The updates, And taRa i am sorry i didnt write aBout your Birthday last Week, but happy Birthday! and i love you

I Love you all, and keep praying For You!

i LovE yo0u

eldeR FAceR

Change 2

what a frustrating week! for some reason our numbers of nuevos, con miembro, and reunion sacramental dropped to an all time low.... it has been really hard to see this, and realize that it could have been our fault. no baptisms this week, but we are preparing one family to be baptized this week. its a mom and her two kids that are old enough. she cant read, never went to school, and has 9 kids.... the husband is a member, but drinks and isnt married to his wife, breaking the law of chastity. so we are going to try to go to tasco this week, in guerrero, to get them married and baptized this saturday. elder snyder has had an ingrown toenail for about a year now, and was going to wait it out for the last nine weeks, but it just got too bad. so we went to a doctor, and he numbed him and pulled it all off! gross but way cool. it reminded me of alyssa when the piano dropped on her toe. but this is super inflamed already. haha.

well since you want to know a little more about mexico, i will see if i can help with that. a two liter of pop, cost 10 pesos, and a 1.5 liter of water costs 9 pesos. its sad that we buy pop, because it is cheaper that water. everyone drinks about a 2 liter of coca cola every day. if we dont see more that three kids under 6 carrying at least one 2 liter back to their house every day, it was very rare.

all food have three esential ingredients, salt, chiles or peppers, and lime or limón. i love the food here so much. it took a little time to adjust to, but it was definately worth it. sadly some people think we are huge gringos, and cant eat spicy, so they make this wierd chicken stuff that is pretty good, and mexican spaghetti, or noodles with crema which they call sopa. i think it will be even harder to come back home, and try to adjust to american food because americans dont have a specific type of food. when you think mexican food, it is always tortillas, frijoles, chiles, y pollo. we have those things in about every meal with a side of crema which is sour cream. they eat it like we eat frysauce. also here, everything is 100% fresh. fruit, chicken, tortillas, everything is freshly made. but in america, its all preservatives and junk. haha. but i still love it! haha.

everyone owns a volkswagon bug. and so many people in the morning need a push start. haha! here it is almost ok to shop on sundays, because that is their way of life. they dont go to a big convenience store and stock up. they only buy just what they need for that specific meal or to prepare for dinner. so if we eat at someones house on sunday, and they run out of drink, they go buy another, even the bishop sent his wife to do that last week..... but our bishop is still a great leader, it has just become very common here...

i sleep pretty well, the weather still too humid and hot. but its fine. elder snyder will never be trunky! he is a champ and such a gread dad. thats what they call an elder who picks up a brand new missionary. i know my geneology for 3 generations! its funny how nice everyone is here. if you turn down food, you are pretty much the devil and they dont forgive super easily haha. so we eat a ton! even the poorest people will buy us a 500 ml of coke if we only taught them a lesson, it is their way of saying thanks. if some busy store owner is working, and we ask him for direcciones, he will gladly stop what he is doing and help us to the best he can. even though addresses are pretty much worthless in anenecuilco.... the house numbers dont mean a thing, and most people dont even know the name of the street just above or below them. only their street.... also we have a huge area to cover. so it can be very hard some times. haha well this is about all the info i have time for today, and hopefully next week i can give you a good weekly report. i love you all!!

elder facer