Lessons from the Chilango

wow, first off, i just want to say what a great week we have had! i have never been so tested in my life. and most of that test was just with spanish. haha. it has been an incredible experience to be forced to speak spanish. the only times i get english, is when i am reading the book of mormon/ensigns, or when i am writing in my journal. but to me, that is good, i need to be fully involved in the language. before with elder snyder, i didnt have a good grasp on the language, so i thought, and also he did a good load of the teaching, but now since both me and elder leyva are new at this, we both have about an equal share on the teaching. it is fun to teach and to get to know the person for myself, instead of just listening to what they say to my companion.
elder leyva is great. he is very patient with me, and wants to help me improve. and also he has big desires to learn english, so i help him with what i can. luckily its all basics and i can teach those. turns out that english classes werent important to help others or learn english! haha jk complete lie. but neither one of us has been mad at the other for any reason all week, and that has been a blessing. not even one arguement. he is very calm and is good to take a step back and look at the situation. he really helped me understand how to make our monthly poster for our goals. before, it was just numbers that we put up, but now i understand how to make reasonable goals for the month. he has been a very good and positive influence on me, and we are still working hard.
we really struggled to find people this week, and it has been even harder to keep people committed. that is the hardest thing for mexicans i think, is just committing to something and following through. we talked with a member of 65 years or so, and he has really strayed from the path, it was hard to see why he did it, and we told him whats up and what he needs to change, but he still refused. he figured he knew all the basics of the gospel, so he doesnt find any reason to go to church, also he started to get deeper into gospel stuff and got lead away by some other thing, and tried to bring it back in to the gospel and was teaching really bad and wierd stuff at church. so he figured he was better to stay at home and have god with him there only. poor guy...
well the food is still treating me good, and we ate so good friday! a guy from the state of mexico is a relative of one of our members, and he is a professional seafood cook. he came to this ladys house and cooked for all of us. it was incredible!!!!!! im so sad i didnt get a picture with him. he also served a mission and is still involved in his ward. way cool. i sadly broke my bed a few months ago, and so i havent slept good for a while, we ordered in a new bed frame, but who knows when that will come. its not safe to work out on the floor, because of bacteria, and we dont have supplies to clean, so we workout on our beds. after doing pushups one morning, i just dropped on my bed and it broke.... but its all still fine, at least i sleep. my back has been hurting me because of it though.
well that is all the time i have for today my friends, but there will be more coming your way in one week. until then.... stay strong in callings, do what the parents tell you, and love the gospel. we rarely realize how much we actually have. cherish it. i love you!!!
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