In the Heat of Things

wow a ton of questions... i hope i can get to them all, and no one gets mad if i accidently leave one out. first of all, everything is going really good! elder zazueta and i havent had many problems, and have been working a lot harder, the only problem is the heat now. its about 32 celcius or 90 farinheit with a ton of humidity. we really dont eat much, because the heat just takes the hunger away, but we drink a ton of water. sadly we only had one baptism this last week, and it was for ramon! he is so great, and is slowly gaining more and more friends in the church, and also they are slowly reaching out to help him. he went to all 5 sessions of conference, and every time pushing through his diabetes and swollen legs, gave a big toothy(well mostly toothy) grin of pure happiness. what a man. his baptism went really great, except that he got nervous and opened his mouth and swallowed some water. haha but once again, left the water laughing about it with that same grin. acapulco is dangerous, but we really havent had any problems in the zone. especially in my area, it is the calmest of all acapulco, everyday we see the paper in the street and there are about 10 dead people(grandmothers, parents children other drug dealers etc) it has gotten pretty bad, but we dont see anything thankfully. just as you said mom, if we are obedient to get home on time and not do what we shouldnt, the lord protects us, but president and hermana spannaus have asked us to tell the zone about preparing an emergency box, just in case of an earthquake etc. not because he feels it is coming, but because we have to be prepared, and if we are, we shall not fear. i thought it was interesting that in all the earthquakes in chile, japan, and haiti, not one missionary has been hurt or killed. you can tell everyone not to worry, the lord protects his missionaries.
well the reason i couldnt write last week was because of zone leader council that happens the first week of every month. to answer one question, we travel always by bus, which costs alot... but the mission resupplies us. this was my first real zlc, because other things happened the other two months, and they were special meetings. we talked about making splits better, and a time to teach and be taught, to uplift and edify. also we talked about the goals for each zone and how they look to complete them. we have a goal of 20 between 6 companionships. it looks pretty reasonable, especially because we had the same goal last month, and almost completed it. we dont do a whole lot of interaction with other missionaries, because we are supposed to work through the district leaders, and once in a while(once a month) we do splits with them. or more frequently if necessary for a baptismal interview. as of right now there are no sister missionaries in our zone, but when i first got here, there was a companionship. everyone is doing pretty well, are getting along.
by the way mom, because you mentioned about byu baseball. the pitcher (or ex pitcher) is here in the mission. i dont remember his first name, but his last name is miller. he is a greast missionary and a zone leader in cuernavaca. he could have gone pro, but decided not to because he wanted to go on a mission, and stayed at byu for a time. i still havent heard how josephs concert went last saturday, but im sure he did good. also i encourage him to read preach my gospel when finals are over, especially chapter 3,4, and 10. i have learned a ton from those, and they will really help you to be a powerful teacher and leader.
also speaking about leaders, i thoroughly enjoyed conference! especially elder oaks, elder christofferson, and elder holland. they were great! we had to hear a few sessions in spanish, and it is really hard to stay awake, becaue he puts absolutely no feeling into it. its hard to stay awake and get the good message. also i loved listening to president monson, i really felt like he was Gods messenger saying exactly what God wants us to hear. it was a cool feeling.
well sorry, my time is running out, and i still have to write president. ill try to get some pics in also. by the way there are changes next monday, so if i write late, or am not able to write dont worry, ill be alright, just that there wasnt enough time. love you all. happy birthday canyon!!!!!
elder facer