Humbling Experiences

Dear Mom,

No I'm ok on money for right now don't worry. I am learning how to budget a lot more. It's kinda crazy actually. My cooking will be put to test today. I am making some of grandma's special rice today. I was a little down. But I'm doing a lot better now. I was super sad on Sunday in the morning. A whole bunch of our less actives and investigators said that they couldn't or didn't want to go to church. Me and Elder Vasquez were all like noooooo! We did pass by their houses later and tried to be as loving as possible. But after that and the rest of the day. I couldn't not be happy. I've had a headache for the past two days. I've had a whole lot of plans fall through. But I couldn't be happier. I've been put to the test super hard these past two days. It's been super humbling. And I have had to rely on the spirit a ton. I am going to get the package I believe on Wednesday. At the change meeting. Thanks for the pin. I'll do well to remember it. Love you all!

Sincerely,

Elder Medina

PS- Almost got bit by a dog. And yeah..... Kinda fun....

Mi Casa and First Baptism

                                                                      Our backyard

                                           Bedroom (Victor's is the one with the mosquito net)

                                                     Sink for washing dishes and clothes

                                                                          Kitchen

                                                                           Bathroom

                                                                  First baptism

Tough week

Dear Mom, 

Right now, this week has been toughish. My companion and I have a young man who wants to be baptized, but his father feels that he is not prepared enough. He wants him to prepare more. Last night while he was telling us this, the son looked like he was going to cry. He wants it so bad. Just please pray for this guy. He reminds me a lot of me when I was 14. I will take some pictures of where I live. Right now specifically, I live in Rio Grande, San Miguel. It's pretty calm here gang activity wise. Super hot though, I was told that this was probably the hottest area in the mission. I am eating pretty alright. Sometimes the food here makes me sick, it's only once every week or so. I really just want some Nasonex. I have a killer stuffy nose right now. Oh yeah, dad was super right about his powder stuff. It seems nasty and at times unnecessary, but, I would love to have some of that right now. Some dude stole my umbrella on the bus three days ago, so I need to search for a new one. My house isn't too bad. Sometimes, the water doesn't run during the day. We always have a guy that delivers water for us. Thank you for everything mom. I love you. Tell Diego I said happy birthday. Tell Pres. Rau that I said hi and Ms. Winsor too. 

Sincerely,

Elder Medina

Hots Temps, Spanglish and No Haloween for Us.

                                          The guy on the right has the same smile as me

                                                                Our New District

                                                                     Tiny Banana

                                                             Me and my companero

Were Blind!

Is it still hot? That's like asking me if I still like chocolate. Of course it's hot! It burns and every day I get back home, I completely have rings on my arms of sweat were my backpack is. I am not trying to sound mean in that last sentence. Just trying to add emphasis. Nobody does anything here for halloween. I felt so off. I was anticipating a bunch of 10 year olds to knock on the door for candy. Oh yeah, you know you're learning spanish when you keep going spanglish on your companion. My language is coming along better. I am still super nervous during lessons but, I am slowly getting into the flow of things. I am happy dad left you with some protection while he is at training. However it does not make me feel good that you do not know how to shoot it. Please, for the sake of my sanity, have Emilio teach you how. Believe me, that young man can help you. Ha ha. I am happy for both Katy and Tori sending in their papers soon. They are going to be so blessed and are going to be awesome missionaries! The letter that Grandma D sent to me did get here. You can use that address for letters By the way can you tell her thank you for me? Anyways, I got to go. I love you all. Tell Olivia thanks for trying. I'm in a very tough area right now and I can use all the help I can get.

Bugs, Chicken Brain and Working Hard

Dear Mom,

Yes, it is hard. It's crazy hard. I'm  hating the fact that I have bugs on me all of time. But it's all worth it. The work I'm doing right now, will make up for all the hard times I'm having. I love you guys. All of the people I'm teaching are so great. They are tough, this language is tough, translating everything is tough. But I'm starting to get a little better. Poco a poco, little by little. Cada dia, every day. Guess what I ate a few days ago, a chicken's brain. Not the best taste in the world. But not bad at the same time. Pupusas are actually pretty good. I'm going to learn how to make them and I'll show you guys sometime. I love you all, your prayers are heard all of the time. 

Sincerely,

Elder Medina

                                        My first cowboy hat

                                                   Market

The only water we are allowed to drink

First Week in El Salvador

My Companion Elder Vasquez

Dear Familia,

I have to say, this kinda stinks not knowing spanish. Half the time I can't understand what's being taught. But when I do, I feel so accomplished. I've seen more cockroaches then I'd like to and have had about half a million crawl all over me. They seem to like that they have "roommates". For example, I bought a box of cornflakes. The next day, I went to pour a bowl of them. Instead of a nice toy rolling into my bowl. A huge, nasty, fat, disgusting, flipping cockroach landed in my bowl. I was instantly feeling super sick. Because if I didn't see it, I would have eaten the bowl. Other than all of that, and my super bad stomach. I love it here. The people have a great love for the  work and the gospel. Everyone is so nice and so helpful. Even if a person isn't a member of the mormon church, everyone here has deep roots in religion. Which makes it harder to teach them sometimes. But, it helps too. Me and my companion are, at the moment, teaching a young man about 20 yrs. old about the gospel. He has already accepted the invitation of baptism. We are just working towards the baptism date. He is super excited. We have also been rejected for the invitation by others(I hope I spelled that right) for baptism.  But everyone here is pretty awesome. My companion is pretty cool. His name is Elder Vasquez. He knows predominatly spanish. A bit of english. So it's hard at times. But it's ok. I met Elder Flake, he does remember me. I like him a lot.  Congrats to Clay and Josevy! Olivia, good job on your running stuff. Just remember, work your tail off. I love you all. Do you know how hard it is to not be able to eat bacon? It really stinks. Oh and ordering food in Spanish is super hard too. The bus system here is insane. I haven't had any gang related problems yet. So that's good. Be good all of you.

                                    Flying from Mexico to El Salvador

                                                        Airport

                                         Culture shock and so tired

                                                El Salvador Temple

                                          President and Sister Glazier

                                                Home sweet home          

                                                   Sunday Lunch

                                      First night sleeping arrangements

                                              The neighborhood

                                        Looking outside our window

Hi mom! I have safely arrived in El Salvador. I slept well and had only one new bug bite. I hope all of you guys are alright and have a good day.