November 30, 2009
Family! Friends!
Hey family! How are you? I got a letter from you this last Tuesday and it sounds like you guys are doing great! Thanks for the pics and the letters. I don’t remember if I told you this, but thanks for the CD’s. I love them! Thanks for everything. Hey mom so guess what? I met Elder Holiday today! Anyway, so to answer some of your questions. So my new roommate is a gringo, or is white and speaks English. But he has over 17 months in the mission. Even though he speaks English we never talk in English with each other. For I think two reasons- first, I need to learn Spanish, and second, he says his English is not too good now. Which I don’t blame him because I found out that it’s so hard to say a prayer in English now, because everything I do is in Spanish, even my personal prayers. It’s probably the worst Spanish ever, but I still try .lol. I wrote you guys a letter today and sent it out. In the letter is a letter for Cody S, Taylor W, and Justin Michado. I also sent out a letter for Lili. Hey, I have a question, when does Jake Storm enter the MTC? I know you already told me, but I forgot… ok Thanksgiving, actually they don’t celebrate it here and also no Halloween. It's weird because I don’t even know when they are and if they passed here in Ecuador. Right now it just feels like a really long summer. I think my whole mission is going to feel that way. It is getting so hot here it is crazy. Really almost the entire day we sweat. The only nice time of the day is in the evenings. The evenings are always so nice. Actually, the air here is always really nice and cool, it’s just the sun that kills you. Oh, so I had an intercombio for one day this week with the new roommate. So me and Elder Gale went to my district. And the thing about Elder Gale is, he is way quiet and doesn’t hardly talk. He is way nice, just really shy. But so when we went to the member’s houses and our investigators, pretty much I had to do all the talking beforehand. Which was way hard, because really my Spanish is so bad. Lol I tried to carry on conversations but it was so difficult. So with my lack of Spanish and Elder Gale’s lack of wanting to talk, it was kind of awkward. Lol but overall, I think it was pretty good because I had the opportunity to talk a lot. Normally my comp does most of the talking, and I sit in the back trying to follow the conversation. Lol ok, so dad asked my in the last letter if I was doing things to stay in shape. So dad just wanted to tell you that I am still doing pushups, sit-ups, and bicep workouts every other day. We don’t have a lot of time to run or anything like that, but I think I walk like 100 miles a day, so my legs are feeling pretty strong. Also I think that I am eating the healthiest I have in my whole life. Lol no really every morning for 2 months now I have 2 or 3 eggs and like five little loaves of bread. For lunch we have rice and some kind of meat. Also, I think I have had every kind of homemade juice you could ever have. Really they have so many different kinds of juices and they make them with so many different kinds of fruit. We eat bananas and mangos all the time! I cannot tell you how many bananas I have eaten since being here. Probably 3 a day, and so many other fruits. As much as I love the food, it never adds up to mom’s cooking. Oh how I miss your cooking, Mom. Hey so a few nights ago I had another cockroach crawl on my face in the middle of the night. Lol I hate bugs. Lol Ryan thanks for the letter that you sent me, I really enjoyed it and don’t worry about your handwriting because its ten times better than mine. O and I love the name Rencer! Melissa tambien thanks for the letter. It is so good to hear from you and hear how things are going in your life. Mom I laughed so hard when you told me about Ryan saying we have had some good times in the Jetta, and I totally remember wanting to drive down the street with his feet hanging out the window. Ryan we will do it when I get back, I promise. lol Ok so I told you about the baptism that we had set up for this last sat. Well once again José never showed up to church, so we couldn’t have it. Yesterday we had church again and we told José that he had to go to church this time or we couldn’t have the baptism. So we showed up to church and he wasn’t there. All through Sacrament Meeting he never showed up. Me and my comp were feeling really discouraged because this would have been the third time we couldn’t have the baptism, but in the second hour of church he showed up. We watched a movie with him and another investigator. For the third hour we had a lesson with him about the Family Proclamation. I think I have not felt the Spirit more in any other lesson. I forgot to tell you that José is in his late 20’s and has two kids. After the lesson, all three of us were in tears. With tears rolling down his face José said he knows without a doubt that the things we have taught him are true. He said that he always feel so happy when he is with us, and when he does the things we ask him to do. I wish I could tell you all the things that he said, because it was really an amazing testimony. I wrote it in my journal. I’ll have to share it with you sometime. But Jose is doing really well now. We are going to have to baptism this Sat. I think I get to perform it too, so I am way excited. It’s amazing to see the difference in José from the time we first met with him to right now. I can’t wait for the baptism. Oh, and we have another baptism set up for the 12 of December. Her name is Carmon Cortes, and she is 18 I think. We have two weeks for the baptism and we still have to teach so much, almost all the lessons. So I’ll tell you more about José and Carmon next week. Anyway I gotta go now, I hope that this letter makes since, I think my English is getting worse as my Spanish is slowly getting better. I hope all is well with you guys. I love you all so very much and miss you all so very much!!! Oh and mom I’ll find out about the phone call. Wow I cant believe I get to talk to you guys in 25 days! Yahhh!!!! Love you all!
Love,
Elder Keables
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
A fun picture for Spencer from the Machete (did I spell that right?) Boys
The signs they are holding say, "WE MISS YOU CHRIS BROWN"
For those of you who don't know, Spencer's nickname at Hamilton High was "Chris Brown". I think he slipped in the shower after a basketball practice while trying to do some fancy dance moves. After that, he was "Chris Brown". Anyway, Miquel, David, Omar, Allan, Michael, Oscar, and Benjie (I'm missing one name) are some of his favorite people on earth! He will LOVE this picture!!
I have to say that the baptism made up for every single hard thing that I have gone through...
November 23, 2009
Hey family or mom! lol
Ok this is probably going to be the shortest message you will ever get from me. Because of the rain here in Ecuador, or the lack of, we don’t have electricity in the nights after 6 o clock. No rain, no light- that’s how it’s been this last week. It’s been hard to teach because we aren’t allowed to be out when there are no lights, because it’s not safe. But ya I just wanted to tell you that I’m safe. We had a baptism this last Sat 22nd. I’m going to send this and then try and write a longer one. If the lights turn off then this is all I can send this week. I love you all and miss you all very much. Oh and one of my roommates got transferred today.
Con Amor,
Elder Keables
Hey Family again.
Lol I hope I can send this-
OK- so yes we had a baptism this week for Rafael Barre. It was on Sat at 8pm. It went great! I took a video and some pics and I will send those to you later. I have to say that the baptism made up for every single hard thing that I have gone through in the mission. It makes up for the homesickness , spending 24/7 with a companion, falling down the stairs, lol, all the rejections, pretty much it was the most amazing experience ever! It’s so cool to be a part of something that will change this Rafael’s life and his family’s for this life and for eternity. At the baptism, I felt the Spirit so strongly, and I think everyone else did, too. I think that Rafael’s wife will accept baptism in a matter of time. The baptism was quick, me and another member of the ward gave quick messages, we sang a few hymns, and my comp performed the baptism. We watched the Restoration movie, which was nice because a lot of his family was there and they aren’t members. Anyway, I really gotta send this. It’s six o’clock and the lights are supposed to go out right now. We have another baptism this week on Sat, I hope. I’m still in the same sector and have the same comp, but we have a new roommate. Oh and I gave a 10 minute talk in church yesterday. Lol I don’t think they understood I thing I said. Anyway, I miss you all and love you all.
Very much.
Elder Keables
Hey Family,
OK, so I was writing and the lights went out and I lost my third letter to you guys. Me and my comp walked out of the place and looked across the street and saw that they have lights . We than realized that they never lose lighting, and that we could of just walked across the street and not worried about the time. Anyway so I got your letters on Tues with the CD’s in it. Mom thank you so much, I love the music. Ryan and Melissa thanks for the letters, I loved them. Ryan your handwriting is really good, don’t worry about it. Yours is probably better than mine. Anyway I gotta go, but thank you for the letters I loved them. I am doing great. It’s the beginning of the second change today. I had my first baptism on Sat, so things couldn’t be better. I promise next week’s letter will be longer. I love you all and miss you for the third time lol, but really I couldn’t say it enough. Love you all!
Con Amor,
Elder Keables
Hey family or mom! lol
Ok this is probably going to be the shortest message you will ever get from me. Because of the rain here in Ecuador, or the lack of, we don’t have electricity in the nights after 6 o clock. No rain, no light- that’s how it’s been this last week. It’s been hard to teach because we aren’t allowed to be out when there are no lights, because it’s not safe. But ya I just wanted to tell you that I’m safe. We had a baptism this last Sat 22nd. I’m going to send this and then try and write a longer one. If the lights turn off then this is all I can send this week. I love you all and miss you all very much. Oh and one of my roommates got transferred today.
Con Amor,
Elder Keables
Hey Family again.
Lol I hope I can send this-
OK- so yes we had a baptism this week for Rafael Barre. It was on Sat at 8pm. It went great! I took a video and some pics and I will send those to you later. I have to say that the baptism made up for every single hard thing that I have gone through in the mission. It makes up for the homesickness , spending 24/7 with a companion, falling down the stairs, lol, all the rejections, pretty much it was the most amazing experience ever! It’s so cool to be a part of something that will change this Rafael’s life and his family’s for this life and for eternity. At the baptism, I felt the Spirit so strongly, and I think everyone else did, too. I think that Rafael’s wife will accept baptism in a matter of time. The baptism was quick, me and another member of the ward gave quick messages, we sang a few hymns, and my comp performed the baptism. We watched the Restoration movie, which was nice because a lot of his family was there and they aren’t members. Anyway, I really gotta send this. It’s six o’clock and the lights are supposed to go out right now. We have another baptism this week on Sat, I hope. I’m still in the same sector and have the same comp, but we have a new roommate. Oh and I gave a 10 minute talk in church yesterday. Lol I don’t think they understood I thing I said. Anyway, I miss you all and love you all.
Very much.
Elder Keables
Hey Family,
OK, so I was writing and the lights went out and I lost my third letter to you guys. Me and my comp walked out of the place and looked across the street and saw that they have lights . We than realized that they never lose lighting, and that we could of just walked across the street and not worried about the time. Anyway so I got your letters on Tues with the CD’s in it. Mom thank you so much, I love the music. Ryan and Melissa thanks for the letters, I loved them. Ryan your handwriting is really good, don’t worry about it. Yours is probably better than mine. Anyway I gotta go, but thank you for the letters I loved them. I am doing great. It’s the beginning of the second change today. I had my first baptism on Sat, so things couldn’t be better. I promise next week’s letter will be longer. I love you all and miss you for the third time lol, but really I couldn’t say it enough. Love you all!
Con Amor,
Elder Keables
Monday, November 16, 2009
It’s so cool to see the change in the people’s lives as they follow through with their commitments with us and with the Lord...
November 16, 2009
Hola Family!
Hey family- how are you all? It sounds like you are all doing great from the email. I am really looking forward to reading Julia and Janae’s blessings. Anyway so I had a really interesting week. Lol First I’ll tell you about the good things, such as our investigators and their progress! First, Jose Madina. Jose is doing great, ok so after church last Sunday he has been doing a lot better. We visited him on Tues, I think it was, and asked him how is reading was going. He told us that he read everything that we asked. He showed us his scriptures, and they were marked all over the place. He pulled out this marker that he bought that had 10 different colors. He marked all of his favorite scriptures, and that was more than half. It was cool because he was so excited. Really he had this big smile on his face as he read all the scriptures that he really likes. He sister who is already a member was sitting there just so happy. We visited him a few more times this week and he has been reading and he loves it. His baptism is still on the 28th. Then there is Rafeal Barre, and he is also doing great. I forgot to tell you this, but he has a daughter that is a member. Actually, she is on a mission. So she is a member, but she is the only one in the family, but after this Sat. her dad we be baptized. On Sunday he will receive the Holy Ghost and be the second in his family. We are still working on the mom. Like I said, she is really Catholic, but I think it is just a matter of time. Rafeal is so excited also for his baptism, he wrote his daughter and told her and she couldn’t be any happier. He is so excited, it is awesome. I am also excited, am not going to lie about it. It’s so cool to see the change in the people’s lives as they follow through with their commitments with us and with the Lord. They are always so happy and full of joy. So really it was a good week. Ok, so I gotta tell you about a few funny or cool things that happened to me this week. So the other day I woke up with a fat headache. I felt weak and I didn’t feel like going out. We took my temperature and I was fine to go out. So I took some pain reliever and we started out. The first place we went was this guy’s house who we have been trying to talk to forever. He is never home though and when he is he is always drunk. Anyway so he wasn’t home this time, so we turned to leave. The thing about his house is that he has stairs that are way steep. Like, the steepest ones I have ever seen. Anyway I started down the stairs and I got about halfway down when my foot slipped and I fell the rest of the way down. I fell like 10 steps and I did it with a lot of finesse, if you know what I mean. I made it look like I was snowboarding. Well lucky for me there was a fat metal door half open and half shut that stopped me. I slammed my head my arm and my knee into it. I had a fat bump on my head for like 5 days, I think it is finally gone. We went to a member’s house and they bandaged me up, but it was a good day. I had twice the headache that I did when I started the day and I felt like I was going to die. But I’m good now and I feel fine. When I get done with the mission I will either have a very hard head or be half retarded. Honestly, I have hit my head like 30 times in the buses. They are always packed and I run to get in there and I would say every other time I slam my head into the bar that runs along the top. It’s normally for people to hold on to, but for me its something to watch out for. Ok so I have another funny story. Ok so the other day me and my comp bought a lot of bread. We left it out over night on the table. When I got up in the morning I was so hungry so I went to eat the bread. I reached into the bag grabbed a little loaf and started eating. I took one bite when I felt something crawling on my hand. I looked down and there was like 20 little bug like things all over the bread and inside too. At first I was like ok that’s sick I just at like probably 10 in one bite. So I spit it out and threw the bread in the garbage. Then I realized that we didn’t have anymore food. So lol I picked up a new loaf with less bugs, picked them off and started eating. Lol after I had eaten I realized how sick that was, but it’s funny because you kind of get used to it. Lol there has been a lot of times that we see little bugs in our drinks or in our food and normally you just push them to the side. Then you say another blessing in your mind for the food to give you strength. Lol ok one more cool story. So I think it was two days ago all four of us woke up to like 5 or 6 gun shots in a row, right below our apartment. We heard people yelling outside and a car drive off. We never did find out what happened and it was kind of scary. But the scariest part for me was after the shots when I was trying to go back to sleep I was lying in my bed. I was lying there when I felt something crawl up my arm. I swiped at it and sat up in bed. I started looking for whatever it was when I felt it crawl up my neck and across my face. I practically knocked myself out trying to hit it off my face. I hate bugs, so I freaked out. I stood up and started shaking out my sheets. I found out that it was a cockroach about the size of my thumb. I tried smashing it, but it was way dark and they are way fast. It’s funny because you know after you have something like that happen to you in bed, every little itch or movement, you freak out. It was hard to fall asleep after that, but I think I eventually did. But ya those are the three things that I wanted to write to you about, that I thought were kind of different. Oh, so I had another comp exchange for one day and night. My comp for the time period was actually was one of the Zone Leaders. At first I was way scared because I thought it was a test and because he knows like 2 words in English. But I was able to actually communicate pretty well and I found out that he was way cool. It was funny because I was talking to him, asking what kind of music he liked and he pretty much liked all the stuff I did. Back at his apartment he had the soundtrack for Tarzan, and I forgot how good the music is. Hint hint- mom! Lol we were rockin out to Disney music. It was pretty funny. But ya some Disney music would by nice. But ya, so his sector was the same one that my companion got robbed in. It’s called the Izal or something like that. It was amazing, every single person practically that lived in the part of the town was black. They all live in huts made out of this bamboo stuff. Dad you know those metal sheets we would make forts out of? Those were the roofs over eveyone’s house there. A lot of them had no floors, just dirt. It was pretty amazing. If I ever go back or if I get called to a sector like that, I’ll buy a disposable camera and get some pics. It was really crazy, I wish you guys could see it. I still haven’t received the music- maybe tomorrow. I am really looking forward to that- thank you mom. Oh mom I found a place where I can burn my pics on to a CD for really cheap. Actually one of our investigators who works in a store said he could to it, so I’m thinking maybe this week or the next. Anyway I should probably rap this up. Mom I sent Lili another letter today, so if you could let her know that would be great. Anyway I am doing great here. I miss you guys all very much, like very much. I do have my first change this Sunday which is crazy. You are right time does go by quick. Lol Mom, Dad and everyone else, I love you more than ever and miss you even more. I’m looking forward to talking to you in a little over a month. LOVE YOU ALL!
With Love,
Elder Keables
To Taylor,
Taylor what’s up? So my mom told me that you are turning in your Eagle papers! That is way cool, congratulations! So it’s your birthday tomorrow- the big 18! I just want to write a quick letter to say Happy Birthday. That’s crazy man- Less that one year and you are going to have a mission call! Hey so I started writing a letter for you today and I’ll probably send it out next week or the one after, so you can be expecting that. Taylor, Happy Birthday again. I miss you, and I love you man! N.H. lol
Con Amor, Elder Keables
Hola Family!
Hey family- how are you all? It sounds like you are all doing great from the email. I am really looking forward to reading Julia and Janae’s blessings. Anyway so I had a really interesting week. Lol First I’ll tell you about the good things, such as our investigators and their progress! First, Jose Madina. Jose is doing great, ok so after church last Sunday he has been doing a lot better. We visited him on Tues, I think it was, and asked him how is reading was going. He told us that he read everything that we asked. He showed us his scriptures, and they were marked all over the place. He pulled out this marker that he bought that had 10 different colors. He marked all of his favorite scriptures, and that was more than half. It was cool because he was so excited. Really he had this big smile on his face as he read all the scriptures that he really likes. He sister who is already a member was sitting there just so happy. We visited him a few more times this week and he has been reading and he loves it. His baptism is still on the 28th. Then there is Rafeal Barre, and he is also doing great. I forgot to tell you this, but he has a daughter that is a member. Actually, she is on a mission. So she is a member, but she is the only one in the family, but after this Sat. her dad we be baptized. On Sunday he will receive the Holy Ghost and be the second in his family. We are still working on the mom. Like I said, she is really Catholic, but I think it is just a matter of time. Rafeal is so excited also for his baptism, he wrote his daughter and told her and she couldn’t be any happier. He is so excited, it is awesome. I am also excited, am not going to lie about it. It’s so cool to see the change in the people’s lives as they follow through with their commitments with us and with the Lord. They are always so happy and full of joy. So really it was a good week. Ok, so I gotta tell you about a few funny or cool things that happened to me this week. So the other day I woke up with a fat headache. I felt weak and I didn’t feel like going out. We took my temperature and I was fine to go out. So I took some pain reliever and we started out. The first place we went was this guy’s house who we have been trying to talk to forever. He is never home though and when he is he is always drunk. Anyway so he wasn’t home this time, so we turned to leave. The thing about his house is that he has stairs that are way steep. Like, the steepest ones I have ever seen. Anyway I started down the stairs and I got about halfway down when my foot slipped and I fell the rest of the way down. I fell like 10 steps and I did it with a lot of finesse, if you know what I mean. I made it look like I was snowboarding. Well lucky for me there was a fat metal door half open and half shut that stopped me. I slammed my head my arm and my knee into it. I had a fat bump on my head for like 5 days, I think it is finally gone. We went to a member’s house and they bandaged me up, but it was a good day. I had twice the headache that I did when I started the day and I felt like I was going to die. But I’m good now and I feel fine. When I get done with the mission I will either have a very hard head or be half retarded. Honestly, I have hit my head like 30 times in the buses. They are always packed and I run to get in there and I would say every other time I slam my head into the bar that runs along the top. It’s normally for people to hold on to, but for me its something to watch out for. Ok so I have another funny story. Ok so the other day me and my comp bought a lot of bread. We left it out over night on the table. When I got up in the morning I was so hungry so I went to eat the bread. I reached into the bag grabbed a little loaf and started eating. I took one bite when I felt something crawling on my hand. I looked down and there was like 20 little bug like things all over the bread and inside too. At first I was like ok that’s sick I just at like probably 10 in one bite. So I spit it out and threw the bread in the garbage. Then I realized that we didn’t have anymore food. So lol I picked up a new loaf with less bugs, picked them off and started eating. Lol after I had eaten I realized how sick that was, but it’s funny because you kind of get used to it. Lol there has been a lot of times that we see little bugs in our drinks or in our food and normally you just push them to the side. Then you say another blessing in your mind for the food to give you strength. Lol ok one more cool story. So I think it was two days ago all four of us woke up to like 5 or 6 gun shots in a row, right below our apartment. We heard people yelling outside and a car drive off. We never did find out what happened and it was kind of scary. But the scariest part for me was after the shots when I was trying to go back to sleep I was lying in my bed. I was lying there when I felt something crawl up my arm. I swiped at it and sat up in bed. I started looking for whatever it was when I felt it crawl up my neck and across my face. I practically knocked myself out trying to hit it off my face. I hate bugs, so I freaked out. I stood up and started shaking out my sheets. I found out that it was a cockroach about the size of my thumb. I tried smashing it, but it was way dark and they are way fast. It’s funny because you know after you have something like that happen to you in bed, every little itch or movement, you freak out. It was hard to fall asleep after that, but I think I eventually did. But ya those are the three things that I wanted to write to you about, that I thought were kind of different. Oh, so I had another comp exchange for one day and night. My comp for the time period was actually was one of the Zone Leaders. At first I was way scared because I thought it was a test and because he knows like 2 words in English. But I was able to actually communicate pretty well and I found out that he was way cool. It was funny because I was talking to him, asking what kind of music he liked and he pretty much liked all the stuff I did. Back at his apartment he had the soundtrack for Tarzan, and I forgot how good the music is. Hint hint- mom! Lol we were rockin out to Disney music. It was pretty funny. But ya some Disney music would by nice. But ya, so his sector was the same one that my companion got robbed in. It’s called the Izal or something like that. It was amazing, every single person practically that lived in the part of the town was black. They all live in huts made out of this bamboo stuff. Dad you know those metal sheets we would make forts out of? Those were the roofs over eveyone’s house there. A lot of them had no floors, just dirt. It was pretty amazing. If I ever go back or if I get called to a sector like that, I’ll buy a disposable camera and get some pics. It was really crazy, I wish you guys could see it. I still haven’t received the music- maybe tomorrow. I am really looking forward to that- thank you mom. Oh mom I found a place where I can burn my pics on to a CD for really cheap. Actually one of our investigators who works in a store said he could to it, so I’m thinking maybe this week or the next. Anyway I should probably rap this up. Mom I sent Lili another letter today, so if you could let her know that would be great. Anyway I am doing great here. I miss you guys all very much, like very much. I do have my first change this Sunday which is crazy. You are right time does go by quick. Lol Mom, Dad and everyone else, I love you more than ever and miss you even more. I’m looking forward to talking to you in a little over a month. LOVE YOU ALL!
With Love,
Elder Keables
To Taylor,
Taylor what’s up? So my mom told me that you are turning in your Eagle papers! That is way cool, congratulations! So it’s your birthday tomorrow- the big 18! I just want to write a quick letter to say Happy Birthday. That’s crazy man- Less that one year and you are going to have a mission call! Hey so I started writing a letter for you today and I’ll probably send it out next week or the one after, so you can be expecting that. Taylor, Happy Birthday again. I miss you, and I love you man! N.H. lol
Con Amor, Elder Keables
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Elder Keables’ Missionary Training Center Survey
1. What was your favorite thing about the MTC?
My favorite thing, by far, was the teachers and the people that I met. The teachers were so cool and all of the Elders in my district. Hermano Bradley, Hermano Young, and Hermana Penaflora.
2. What was your least favorite thing?
My least favorite thing was always being inside; always being behind desks was horrible. After two months, I looked like a ghost! Oh! Another one of my favorite things was going outside for P.E. Sand volleyball was amazing!
3. Name someone you met in the MTC that you will never forget and why-
Hermano Bradley! He was the best teacher in the world. He had so much patience when we had interviews. I felt like I could tell him anything. He was way understanding, and always put in the extra time with us. His testimony and love for the church was so inspiring for me.
4. Write your three most spiritual experiences from the MTC.
~ I told you about the time Hermana Penaflora took us to that picture and read my favorite scriptures and sang my favorite song. Well, that was one of the most spiritual experiences that I had.
~ Second experience actually happened a few days after getting there. We as a district had the opportunity to teach a person who was having some hard times. This is what I wrote in my journal 2 hours after, on 8-19-09, “For the first time I saw us teach by the Spirit. It wasn’t just going through the doctrine; it was more than that. Every single person felt the Spirit and I know that. It’s the hardest thing to describe. All I know is what I heard is true. I felt peace inside and I felt joy. I know God gives us trials so that we can exercise faith in God and overcome these trials. So we can gain a stronger testimony and eventually return to live with him someday.” That was part of my journal. I don’t have room for all. Mom, I think you would be happy to hear I have over 80 pages.
~ I have no room [on the paper], but I would say it would be going to the temple. I learned so much, and I wrote some of it in my journal.
5. Who was the favorite Elder you met in the MTC?
ELDER HICKS! He was way cool. After the mish he is coming to Chico, so you will meet him. lol Coming to see me.
6. What was the most difficult thing you had to deal with?
Having patience was one of the hardest things. Not with just my companion, but with everyone. It’s hard to share a room with four guys. Also, the other four guys from our district always wanted to be in our room. The hardest thing was having no time by yourself, no privacy.
7. What was your favorite part of each day?
MAIL!! I loved getting mail. No joke- we would check the box like ten times a day. It’s funny; I thought it was hard when I didn’t get mail for one day. Here in Ecuador I haven’t had any for two weeks.
8. What was your favorite part of each week?
Temple was what I looked forward to all week. The feeling of peace that I got every time I went made me love the temple. It’s like every worry, every doubt I had went away while I was in there. I think it was everyone’s favorite part of the week.
9. Name something about yourself that has changed, strengthened, or improved because of your experience at the MTC-
Being able to express myself about how I feel. For the first few weeks I didn’t really tell my companion what was bothering me, but after getting some tips from President Shumway, I was able to work things out. After that, I kind of just expressed the way I was feeling, but in a nice way; a way which helped things out.
10. Who were your favorite devotional speakers? Can you remember something that one of them said that impacted you?
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Ok- here are some of the things he said, and if you know Elder Holland, then you know these are his words, “You go out there and embrace your mission. You go out there and get everything out of it. Do not come home with regrets. Wherever you are going, just go out there and love the people. We have been your age and you haven’t been ours. I pray you’re the kind of missionaries my grandchildren think that you are. Don’t go home and get a tattoo and grow a beard; don’t be an idiot! In 24 months you’re going to sob, wishing you could serve the Lord all your life."
My favorite thing, by far, was the teachers and the people that I met. The teachers were so cool and all of the Elders in my district. Hermano Bradley, Hermano Young, and Hermana Penaflora.
2. What was your least favorite thing?
My least favorite thing was always being inside; always being behind desks was horrible. After two months, I looked like a ghost! Oh! Another one of my favorite things was going outside for P.E. Sand volleyball was amazing!
3. Name someone you met in the MTC that you will never forget and why-
Hermano Bradley! He was the best teacher in the world. He had so much patience when we had interviews. I felt like I could tell him anything. He was way understanding, and always put in the extra time with us. His testimony and love for the church was so inspiring for me.
4. Write your three most spiritual experiences from the MTC.
~ I told you about the time Hermana Penaflora took us to that picture and read my favorite scriptures and sang my favorite song. Well, that was one of the most spiritual experiences that I had.
~ Second experience actually happened a few days after getting there. We as a district had the opportunity to teach a person who was having some hard times. This is what I wrote in my journal 2 hours after, on 8-19-09, “For the first time I saw us teach by the Spirit. It wasn’t just going through the doctrine; it was more than that. Every single person felt the Spirit and I know that. It’s the hardest thing to describe. All I know is what I heard is true. I felt peace inside and I felt joy. I know God gives us trials so that we can exercise faith in God and overcome these trials. So we can gain a stronger testimony and eventually return to live with him someday.” That was part of my journal. I don’t have room for all. Mom, I think you would be happy to hear I have over 80 pages.
~ I have no room [on the paper], but I would say it would be going to the temple. I learned so much, and I wrote some of it in my journal.
5. Who was the favorite Elder you met in the MTC?
ELDER HICKS! He was way cool. After the mish he is coming to Chico, so you will meet him. lol Coming to see me.
6. What was the most difficult thing you had to deal with?
Having patience was one of the hardest things. Not with just my companion, but with everyone. It’s hard to share a room with four guys. Also, the other four guys from our district always wanted to be in our room. The hardest thing was having no time by yourself, no privacy.
7. What was your favorite part of each day?
MAIL!! I loved getting mail. No joke- we would check the box like ten times a day. It’s funny; I thought it was hard when I didn’t get mail for one day. Here in Ecuador I haven’t had any for two weeks.
8. What was your favorite part of each week?
Temple was what I looked forward to all week. The feeling of peace that I got every time I went made me love the temple. It’s like every worry, every doubt I had went away while I was in there. I think it was everyone’s favorite part of the week.
9. Name something about yourself that has changed, strengthened, or improved because of your experience at the MTC-
Being able to express myself about how I feel. For the first few weeks I didn’t really tell my companion what was bothering me, but after getting some tips from President Shumway, I was able to work things out. After that, I kind of just expressed the way I was feeling, but in a nice way; a way which helped things out.
10. Who were your favorite devotional speakers? Can you remember something that one of them said that impacted you?
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Ok- here are some of the things he said, and if you know Elder Holland, then you know these are his words, “You go out there and embrace your mission. You go out there and get everything out of it. Do not come home with regrets. Wherever you are going, just go out there and love the people. We have been your age and you haven’t been ours. I pray you’re the kind of missionaries my grandchildren think that you are. Don’t go home and get a tattoo and grow a beard; don’t be an idiot! In 24 months you’re going to sob, wishing you could serve the Lord all your life."
Monday, November 9, 2009
Step by step, day by day, I can understand things a lot more...
November 9, 2009
Hey family!
Hey everyone, I now have officially one month in Ecuador! That is so weird, this last month went by so fast, it’s crazy! No joke- it feels like I got here last week. Ok, so I have some cool stuff to tell you guys about, but first I will answer your questions. Ok, yes I am probably one of the tallest people in the mission. Actually, since I have been here I don’t believe that I have seen anyone taller than me. I definitely get a lot of people looking at me. Some of the first Spanish words that I learned while being here are “alto” and how many “cuantos meters tenie”? Which is tall and how tall are you? But ya, I hear that a lot. Ok, second yes i have pics with my comp and all my roommates. I took my first video yesterday of the top of our house at night, it’s got a pretty cool view. Anyway, so I do have a good amount of pics, and I’ll try to send those some time soon. Ok, I’ll tell you how my week went. First, best thing of all, both of our investigators went to church yesterday, so that means that they are both able to get baptized. We have Rafeal Barre’s baptism on the 21st of this month and Jose Madina on the 28th. So this change we have one baptism, and me or my companion could get transferred to a new a new sector. Our transfer date is on the 22nd, so we will see. Can you believe that I have been here for almost one transfer? Ok, so I gotta tell you about my first meeting with the president. So first, actually I met with Sister Johns and she tested me on this month’s scripture masteries. I memorized one and not the other. I also knew the “our purpose” in Spanish and I told her that. But ya, it went pretty good. She is a way nice lady and completely boosted my confidence about learning Spanish, so did President Johns. Anyway, so then I met with President Johns and he is amazing- nice and relaxed. We talked for awhile and he was just asking how things are going and how I like things. Oh, I forgot to tell you that when we got here the first day we were asked to read the Book of Mormon in three months, and we are supposed to read it in Spanish. Anyway he asked me how that was going, and I told him that I was two days behind. At the time I was in Mosiah 2, I think. When I told him that, he was so excited. Like honestly, he was WAY EXCITED, he didn’t believe me. I showed him my scriptures, which were marked in four different colors because we were asked to mark all the referencias about 1 Christ, 2 his attributes, 3 doctrines, 4 words of Christ. It is crazy how many things we mark in the book, it looks so colorful. It’s really cool, actually. Anyway when I showed him, he was way excited. He told me that I was the furthest along in my reading than any other North Americano or gringo. He told me that I was further than some of the Spanish speaking elders, and that some of the elder that have 2 months aren’t even this far. He also told me how much that was going to help my Spanish. And it’s crazy because when I first started reading I couldn’t understand even one thing. Now, I can understand more, but still not too much. Also, I can read a lot faster. So the interview went pretty good. Lol Anyway I had to brag about that because I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty proud of myself. Lol anyway so I gotta tell you about p-days, they are pretty nice. Today we got the go to the temple and clean the grounds, which was pretty cool. We also went to this mall which is way rich. Everything was so expensive. Last week I don’t know if I told you about this, but we went to a haunted house thing for Halloween. Actually, they really don’t celebrate Halloween here. I only saw like 10 people dressed up and there were like to decorations. But ya, we were in the middle of this scary house thing, like it’s a show and you walk through it. Anyway, so we were walking through it and this one girl dressed up as a dead person got up and started screaming trying to scare us, and as soon as she saw it was the elders, she was like, “oh elders I’m so sorry pardon, and she was way embarrassed. It was pretty funny. I’m pretty sure she was a member. But ya, we do a lot of cool things on p-days. Today we went to this all-you-can-eat buffet thing, and I am so stuffed right now and we ate like 5 hours ago. Really it was way good. I had squid for the first time and a lot of shrimp. I think I also eat some lamb. Oh it was so nice! Ok, so we were eating lunch when a few more missionaries came into the restaurant. One of the missionaries was this new sister missionary who has one week in the mission. It was so cool my comp asked her a question in Spanish, and she just looked so lost. But the cool thing was I knew exactly what he said and I was able to tell her in English. Most the time that is me, but for the first time I was the one who understood the question, and oh did it feel nice. I am doing better, but it’s still way hard. But step by step, day by day, I can understand things a lot more. Anywho, that’s enough about me. I really want to know how things are going back at home. That’s cool that you were able to go see Jordan. I bet he loved that. Did you guys watch a game? Well I hope that I get a letter from you guys tomorrow. We get mail every Tuesday, I think. Oh mom, I got your letter that you sent they day after I left the MTC this last Tuesday, so it took about three weeks. But I think that they should take a little bit shorter now that I’m in the mission because I think it was at the MTC for a while. I also got that one from Sis Storm and it was way funny. Actually, I got 2 letters from her. Anyway I gotta go because I still need to write the president and also answer that question of Mari’s. I just want you all to know that I love you all very much and miss to soooooooooo much. I hope all is well and I look forward to hearing and writing you again. Love you!
Love, Elder Keables
Hey family!
Hey everyone, I now have officially one month in Ecuador! That is so weird, this last month went by so fast, it’s crazy! No joke- it feels like I got here last week. Ok, so I have some cool stuff to tell you guys about, but first I will answer your questions. Ok, yes I am probably one of the tallest people in the mission. Actually, since I have been here I don’t believe that I have seen anyone taller than me. I definitely get a lot of people looking at me. Some of the first Spanish words that I learned while being here are “alto” and how many “cuantos meters tenie”? Which is tall and how tall are you? But ya, I hear that a lot. Ok, second yes i have pics with my comp and all my roommates. I took my first video yesterday of the top of our house at night, it’s got a pretty cool view. Anyway, so I do have a good amount of pics, and I’ll try to send those some time soon. Ok, I’ll tell you how my week went. First, best thing of all, both of our investigators went to church yesterday, so that means that they are both able to get baptized. We have Rafeal Barre’s baptism on the 21st of this month and Jose Madina on the 28th. So this change we have one baptism, and me or my companion could get transferred to a new a new sector. Our transfer date is on the 22nd, so we will see. Can you believe that I have been here for almost one transfer? Ok, so I gotta tell you about my first meeting with the president. So first, actually I met with Sister Johns and she tested me on this month’s scripture masteries. I memorized one and not the other. I also knew the “our purpose” in Spanish and I told her that. But ya, it went pretty good. She is a way nice lady and completely boosted my confidence about learning Spanish, so did President Johns. Anyway, so then I met with President Johns and he is amazing- nice and relaxed. We talked for awhile and he was just asking how things are going and how I like things. Oh, I forgot to tell you that when we got here the first day we were asked to read the Book of Mormon in three months, and we are supposed to read it in Spanish. Anyway he asked me how that was going, and I told him that I was two days behind. At the time I was in Mosiah 2, I think. When I told him that, he was so excited. Like honestly, he was WAY EXCITED, he didn’t believe me. I showed him my scriptures, which were marked in four different colors because we were asked to mark all the referencias about 1 Christ, 2 his attributes, 3 doctrines, 4 words of Christ. It is crazy how many things we mark in the book, it looks so colorful. It’s really cool, actually. Anyway when I showed him, he was way excited. He told me that I was the furthest along in my reading than any other North Americano or gringo. He told me that I was further than some of the Spanish speaking elders, and that some of the elder that have 2 months aren’t even this far. He also told me how much that was going to help my Spanish. And it’s crazy because when I first started reading I couldn’t understand even one thing. Now, I can understand more, but still not too much. Also, I can read a lot faster. So the interview went pretty good. Lol Anyway I had to brag about that because I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty proud of myself. Lol anyway so I gotta tell you about p-days, they are pretty nice. Today we got the go to the temple and clean the grounds, which was pretty cool. We also went to this mall which is way rich. Everything was so expensive. Last week I don’t know if I told you about this, but we went to a haunted house thing for Halloween. Actually, they really don’t celebrate Halloween here. I only saw like 10 people dressed up and there were like to decorations. But ya, we were in the middle of this scary house thing, like it’s a show and you walk through it. Anyway, so we were walking through it and this one girl dressed up as a dead person got up and started screaming trying to scare us, and as soon as she saw it was the elders, she was like, “oh elders I’m so sorry pardon, and she was way embarrassed. It was pretty funny. I’m pretty sure she was a member. But ya, we do a lot of cool things on p-days. Today we went to this all-you-can-eat buffet thing, and I am so stuffed right now and we ate like 5 hours ago. Really it was way good. I had squid for the first time and a lot of shrimp. I think I also eat some lamb. Oh it was so nice! Ok, so we were eating lunch when a few more missionaries came into the restaurant. One of the missionaries was this new sister missionary who has one week in the mission. It was so cool my comp asked her a question in Spanish, and she just looked so lost. But the cool thing was I knew exactly what he said and I was able to tell her in English. Most the time that is me, but for the first time I was the one who understood the question, and oh did it feel nice. I am doing better, but it’s still way hard. But step by step, day by day, I can understand things a lot more. Anywho, that’s enough about me. I really want to know how things are going back at home. That’s cool that you were able to go see Jordan. I bet he loved that. Did you guys watch a game? Well I hope that I get a letter from you guys tomorrow. We get mail every Tuesday, I think. Oh mom, I got your letter that you sent they day after I left the MTC this last Tuesday, so it took about three weeks. But I think that they should take a little bit shorter now that I’m in the mission because I think it was at the MTC for a while. I also got that one from Sis Storm and it was way funny. Actually, I got 2 letters from her. Anyway I gotta go because I still need to write the president and also answer that question of Mari’s. I just want you all to know that I love you all very much and miss to soooooooooo much. I hope all is well and I look forward to hearing and writing you again. Love you!
Love, Elder Keables
Monday, November 2, 2009
" Thou Shalt Not Steal" :-)
November 2, 2009
Hey family how are you? Wow that was a lot of questions! Lol- ok first I did receive a letter from you guys in the mail last Tuesday. It was good to hear from you all and find out how things are going. Mom I talked to one of the English speaking guys about the picture thing, and they said there’s a lot of ways you can do it. They do have a place were I can put pictures on the CD’s, so I’ll definitely do that. I gotta say it's hard taking pictures though, because you’ve got be careful. If someone around you sees that you have a nice camera, that it not good. When we pull 20 dollars out of the bank for food and stuff we have to be really careful and make sure that we don’t draw attention to ourselves. So you just slip it into your pocket and walk off. We aren’t supposed to bring our cameras around with us because they will probably get jacked. I have gotten some pics though from the house and today we had p-day, so I got a lot of cool pics. Ok, so I’ll tell you about some of our investigators. I think I told you about Jose Madina and how we had a baptism date for him. Well, he didn’t come to church again, so we had to cancel that date. I’m really not too sure right now what’s going to happen with him. So I’ll tell you about Rafael Barre and his wife. Ok, so they are an older couple and super nice people, they really are awesome. Rafael works as a taxi driver, and I don’t think his wife works. This week we committed him to being baptized on the 21 of Nov. He said yes and his wife said no. It’s funny because his wife is Catholic and every time we have ask her to be baptized she always says, “No, I am Catholic.” But in the lessons she always sits there listening, and is always so involved. Every time we stop by she gets really excited, actually they both do. They always give us food and drinks, which makes it so nice. Lol I’m gonna get fat, no joke! Anyway, but ya I know that she has felt the Spirit in the lessons. I think is just a matter of time. I know that Rafael will be baptized and he seems pretty excited about it. We have a few others that we are teaching right know. We have asked three more people to be baptized, but they aren’t too sure about it. We had three investigators come to church with us on Sunday, so that was cool. Anyway, I’ll tell you how my first Zone Conference went. All the missionaries are way nice. I didn’t really know what was going on because it was in all Spanish. Me and three other missionaries had to share our testimonies in front of everyone, which was flippin scary. Mostly because it was in Spanish and everyone there spoke Spanish perfectly, except me. No joke, everyone else either has been out long enough to know Spanish or it’s their native language. Me, I am just lost always. Lol. No, it was great. They said by the next conference I’ll be able to understand most of everything. Anyway I’ll try to answer some of those questions now, oh and thanks mom so much sending the CD’s. I can’t wait to get them. Ok, my roommates are cool, and very nice. I think it’s going to take longer for us to be friends because it’s so hard to talk to one another. But things are going good. I’m starting to get to know them better day by day. The other day I took some of their cookies and ate them because I thought they were mine. I found out that they weren’t after I had ate all of them. I said sorry, and told him that I would buy another pack, which I did. Lol but it was funny the next day after I took them he bought another pack. When I got back to the casa I saw them sitting on the fridge. The funny thing was, in plain English it said, “thou shalt not steal”. I started laughing when I saw that. The other day Elder Santa Maria and Elder Sadan bought me a book that had 300 common use verbs in Spanish. The book is so helpful, so I was really thankful to them for doing that. Hey dad thanks for the sports updates- I love hearing about that stuff. Ok, so yes we have running water, we just can't drink it. The toilets work great except for the fact that you can’t flush the paper. I think I told you guys about that. How we put the paper in the can right next to the toilet. Well, I found one thing good about that. You never run out of toilet paper. If your roll is out there is a lot more right next to you. Just make sure you get the clean side. Lol no I’m jokin. Ok the homes of members are all different. I found out this last week that we actually have the richer part of town. I had my first companion exchange this week. I stayed in our sector and my companion went to another. My companion for the one night and day was an English speaker, so it was actually kind of nice. He told me about his sector and how it used to be the 3rd most dangerous place in the world. I have been there a few times because my comp is the district leader, so we have a meeting twice a week there. It's way ghetto, no cement road, just all dirt. When I met with my comp the next day, he and the other comp had been robbed earlier that day. I think everyone that I have talked to had been robbed once or twice since being here, and it’s always by gun. Nothing like that has happened to me yet. I have had a lot of people flip me off though. And the other day we were sitting in a member’s house when this guy came up to the window yelling a lot of stuff in English and Spanish. Hi was angry, and I thought he was going to kill someone. He ended up leaving, and it was all good. Anywho the member’s houses are nice or sometimes they are ghetto, it just depends. Like one of the member’s houses we were in the other day had maggots crawling on the ground. I was sitting there trying to understand what we were talking about when I looked down and saw that the floor was moving. There were a lot to little worms all over the place, it was kind of sick. Then we go into another member’s house and they have really nice stuff. Nice furniture and tile flours. So idk- every member’s house is different. I’ll get some videos of our house and of the outside and send them to you soon. Right now we don’t have any rain, but It’s still way humid. They say the rainy season comes in the next few weeks, and that’s when it gets really hot and humid. It’s supposed to be the worst part of the year. It’s crazy how much sun there is here. I already have a fat farmer’s tan, which I’m pretty proud of. lol but ya, its only rained once, and it was just a sprinkle. We do sleep on regular beds and they seem pretty comfortable. I don’t know because it seems like I have only spent 10 minutes on them. As soon as my head hits the pillow I’m out, and as soon as I am out, the alarm clock starts peepin. Oh ok, so I almost forgot to tell you this, I have gone through one whole bar of soap. Yup and my shoes actually look like someone has worn them. I think every day I look at the bottom of my shoes just waiting for the day when I’m not the new guy, and I don’t have new stuff and ACTUALLY KNOW THE LANGUAGE. Ok well I think that we have to go now. I’m so sorry that I wasn’t able to answer all of your questions. I have this little girl sitting next to me and she is staring me down and it's starting to freak me out. It’s funny, all the little kids here do that when I’m walking down the street. The older people too sometimes. A lot of the time when people see me and they know that I speak English, so they will say the only thing they know. Which most of the time is, “Hello mi friend , you want to buy?” But ya it’s pretty funny. I sent a letter home today and also to Lili. It was my first one because last week we didn’t have time. Mom if you could, would you let Lili know that I have sent her that letter. I feel bad because this was my first letter to her since being here. Also, I don’t know how often I’ll be able to send letters to Lili. It probably won’t be every week. The letters will be longer because I think I’ll write one every week and just add them up until I get to go to the post office. So if you could let her know that I sent a long one, and that I’ll be sending more and they should be long also. I am sorry if this letter doesn’t make so much sense. I always have so much to say and never enough time to say it. I’ll write you guys a big long regular letter and it should be better I promise. Mom in your last letter you asked if I could send letter to Taylor and also to Cody. I was wondering if maybe, because it cost so much, I could send all the letters to you in one envelope and you could send them or give them to my friends back at home. I sent 3 letters today and they cost 6 bucks. I don’t know how often I’ll be going to the post office, so I think I’ll write you guys, then I’ll write my friends over the week and put them all in one letter and send them. It’s so hard to send letters here because the closest post office is like 20 minutes away, which is way out of our sector. Anyway, I gotta run. I love you all and miss you all very much.
Con Amor,
Elder Keables
Hey family how are you? Wow that was a lot of questions! Lol- ok first I did receive a letter from you guys in the mail last Tuesday. It was good to hear from you all and find out how things are going. Mom I talked to one of the English speaking guys about the picture thing, and they said there’s a lot of ways you can do it. They do have a place were I can put pictures on the CD’s, so I’ll definitely do that. I gotta say it's hard taking pictures though, because you’ve got be careful. If someone around you sees that you have a nice camera, that it not good. When we pull 20 dollars out of the bank for food and stuff we have to be really careful and make sure that we don’t draw attention to ourselves. So you just slip it into your pocket and walk off. We aren’t supposed to bring our cameras around with us because they will probably get jacked. I have gotten some pics though from the house and today we had p-day, so I got a lot of cool pics. Ok, so I’ll tell you about some of our investigators. I think I told you about Jose Madina and how we had a baptism date for him. Well, he didn’t come to church again, so we had to cancel that date. I’m really not too sure right now what’s going to happen with him. So I’ll tell you about Rafael Barre and his wife. Ok, so they are an older couple and super nice people, they really are awesome. Rafael works as a taxi driver, and I don’t think his wife works. This week we committed him to being baptized on the 21 of Nov. He said yes and his wife said no. It’s funny because his wife is Catholic and every time we have ask her to be baptized she always says, “No, I am Catholic.” But in the lessons she always sits there listening, and is always so involved. Every time we stop by she gets really excited, actually they both do. They always give us food and drinks, which makes it so nice. Lol I’m gonna get fat, no joke! Anyway, but ya I know that she has felt the Spirit in the lessons. I think is just a matter of time. I know that Rafael will be baptized and he seems pretty excited about it. We have a few others that we are teaching right know. We have asked three more people to be baptized, but they aren’t too sure about it. We had three investigators come to church with us on Sunday, so that was cool. Anyway, I’ll tell you how my first Zone Conference went. All the missionaries are way nice. I didn’t really know what was going on because it was in all Spanish. Me and three other missionaries had to share our testimonies in front of everyone, which was flippin scary. Mostly because it was in Spanish and everyone there spoke Spanish perfectly, except me. No joke, everyone else either has been out long enough to know Spanish or it’s their native language. Me, I am just lost always. Lol. No, it was great. They said by the next conference I’ll be able to understand most of everything. Anyway I’ll try to answer some of those questions now, oh and thanks mom so much sending the CD’s. I can’t wait to get them. Ok, my roommates are cool, and very nice. I think it’s going to take longer for us to be friends because it’s so hard to talk to one another. But things are going good. I’m starting to get to know them better day by day. The other day I took some of their cookies and ate them because I thought they were mine. I found out that they weren’t after I had ate all of them. I said sorry, and told him that I would buy another pack, which I did. Lol but it was funny the next day after I took them he bought another pack. When I got back to the casa I saw them sitting on the fridge. The funny thing was, in plain English it said, “thou shalt not steal”. I started laughing when I saw that. The other day Elder Santa Maria and Elder Sadan bought me a book that had 300 common use verbs in Spanish. The book is so helpful, so I was really thankful to them for doing that. Hey dad thanks for the sports updates- I love hearing about that stuff. Ok, so yes we have running water, we just can't drink it. The toilets work great except for the fact that you can’t flush the paper. I think I told you guys about that. How we put the paper in the can right next to the toilet. Well, I found one thing good about that. You never run out of toilet paper. If your roll is out there is a lot more right next to you. Just make sure you get the clean side. Lol no I’m jokin. Ok the homes of members are all different. I found out this last week that we actually have the richer part of town. I had my first companion exchange this week. I stayed in our sector and my companion went to another. My companion for the one night and day was an English speaker, so it was actually kind of nice. He told me about his sector and how it used to be the 3rd most dangerous place in the world. I have been there a few times because my comp is the district leader, so we have a meeting twice a week there. It's way ghetto, no cement road, just all dirt. When I met with my comp the next day, he and the other comp had been robbed earlier that day. I think everyone that I have talked to had been robbed once or twice since being here, and it’s always by gun. Nothing like that has happened to me yet. I have had a lot of people flip me off though. And the other day we were sitting in a member’s house when this guy came up to the window yelling a lot of stuff in English and Spanish. Hi was angry, and I thought he was going to kill someone. He ended up leaving, and it was all good. Anywho the member’s houses are nice or sometimes they are ghetto, it just depends. Like one of the member’s houses we were in the other day had maggots crawling on the ground. I was sitting there trying to understand what we were talking about when I looked down and saw that the floor was moving. There were a lot to little worms all over the place, it was kind of sick. Then we go into another member’s house and they have really nice stuff. Nice furniture and tile flours. So idk- every member’s house is different. I’ll get some videos of our house and of the outside and send them to you soon. Right now we don’t have any rain, but It’s still way humid. They say the rainy season comes in the next few weeks, and that’s when it gets really hot and humid. It’s supposed to be the worst part of the year. It’s crazy how much sun there is here. I already have a fat farmer’s tan, which I’m pretty proud of. lol but ya, its only rained once, and it was just a sprinkle. We do sleep on regular beds and they seem pretty comfortable. I don’t know because it seems like I have only spent 10 minutes on them. As soon as my head hits the pillow I’m out, and as soon as I am out, the alarm clock starts peepin. Oh ok, so I almost forgot to tell you this, I have gone through one whole bar of soap. Yup and my shoes actually look like someone has worn them. I think every day I look at the bottom of my shoes just waiting for the day when I’m not the new guy, and I don’t have new stuff and ACTUALLY KNOW THE LANGUAGE. Ok well I think that we have to go now. I’m so sorry that I wasn’t able to answer all of your questions. I have this little girl sitting next to me and she is staring me down and it's starting to freak me out. It’s funny, all the little kids here do that when I’m walking down the street. The older people too sometimes. A lot of the time when people see me and they know that I speak English, so they will say the only thing they know. Which most of the time is, “Hello mi friend , you want to buy?” But ya it’s pretty funny. I sent a letter home today and also to Lili. It was my first one because last week we didn’t have time. Mom if you could, would you let Lili know that I have sent her that letter. I feel bad because this was my first letter to her since being here. Also, I don’t know how often I’ll be able to send letters to Lili. It probably won’t be every week. The letters will be longer because I think I’ll write one every week and just add them up until I get to go to the post office. So if you could let her know that I sent a long one, and that I’ll be sending more and they should be long also. I am sorry if this letter doesn’t make so much sense. I always have so much to say and never enough time to say it. I’ll write you guys a big long regular letter and it should be better I promise. Mom in your last letter you asked if I could send letter to Taylor and also to Cody. I was wondering if maybe, because it cost so much, I could send all the letters to you in one envelope and you could send them or give them to my friends back at home. I sent 3 letters today and they cost 6 bucks. I don’t know how often I’ll be going to the post office, so I think I’ll write you guys, then I’ll write my friends over the week and put them all in one letter and send them. It’s so hard to send letters here because the closest post office is like 20 minutes away, which is way out of our sector. Anyway, I gotta run. I love you all and miss you all very much.
Con Amor,
Elder Keables
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