BASICALLY IN MEXICO

Yoooo what's up everyone!! This past week has been one of the craziest weeks I've had so far! I'm in Maryvale now and it's literally the slums and everyone speaks Spanish which is awesome! It's a pretty scary area and I'm still pretty paranoid cause anytime someone drives past me, I think to myself, "please don't shoot me, please don't shoot me." It keeps me on my toes pretty well. We play this game called "fireworks or gun shots." It's pretty self explanatory because we hear a lot of fireworks and gun shots from our house and it's a fun to try and guess which one it is. Everyone's Mexican it's literally like I'm in Mexico. It's so cool here! My companion tells me my Spanish is actually really good and it made me super happy to hear because I feel way behind. There are homeless people literally everywhere. And they're not normal homeless people either, they're nuts. I saw a homeless woman in a parking lot the other day and she was standing weird and squatting down and I was wondering what she was doing until I saw poop fall on the ground from her dress. She literally pooped in the middle of the parking lot and it was pretty funny.

Wednesday: I met my new companion and my roommates and they're so sick! They're all so lit and we live in a house right next to Grand Canyon University. I actually kinda hate being so close to the college because we ride straight through the campus everyday on our bikes with our helmets and our neon green safety vests on in front of all the girls and people my age and I feel like a freaking idiot. It's pretty embarrassing to say the least, so I just put my head down and peddle fast lol. Within my first two minutes of being out here, I was on my bike going to a visit and this stray dog started chasing me and biting at my ankles and I was so scared. It kinda set the tone for the week. We had a lesson with our on-date José who is getting baptized this week and I didn't understand a thing. I just nodded, smiled, and said "sí" anytime it got quiet. It was a good day though.

Thursday: Our neighbors have 2 Rottweilers and 2 pitbulls and they barked ALL NIGHT LONG. I literally didnt sleep because of it and neither did my roommate so we're planning on buying some Hershey chocolate bars and tossing them over the fence for the dogs to eat so it doesn't happen again. We had a lesson in the morning with our friend Claudia and again, I didn't understand hardly anything. I did explain to her the importance of repentance and I freaking killed it. Like I was actually popping off in that lesson and I bore a FIRE testimony. We saw these kids playing football in the street and I stopped and played with them and had them run some routes. They loved it and thought it was so cool and it was really fun.

Friday: We had our CDC meeting in the morning and it was really good and set some good goals for the transfer. On the way back, my roommate, Elder Cotterell, saw a homeless person on the side of the road while we were stopped at a red light. He said rolled down the window and said, "hey sir, I've got a granola bar for you." It was a woman who looked like a man. She said thank you and walked over and grabbed the granola bar and I was in the back dying of laughter. He rolls up the window and goes, "I don't wanna hear it." It was so funny and so awkward for him. There's also this street in our area called 27th Ave and it's infamously known for how many prostitutes are there. They say it's called 27th because if you bike from one end to the other, you should see 27 prostitutes. My comp and I had to ride down it and we saw 17 of them. It was pretty crazy. We had una Fiesta at the church that night as well and it was super fun and low-key, Mexican music is underrated. It's fire. We also met the pan man. Pan in Spanish means bread, and this guy drives around the city in his mini van, while playing Mexican songs and sells bread and tortillas from his truck. Its literally an ice cream truck but its bread and its in a mini van. He's pretty sick.

Saturday: We started teaching 5 new people on Saturday which was so sick! My companion, Elder Howard, got pooped on by a bird on the top of his head and it was so funny. Also, on Friday, we rode down the street right by our house and there was tons of cop cars and ambulances and we couldn't tell what happened. We rode by kn Saturday and there was a little memorial on the side of the road and some dude was shot and killed right by our house. It was pretty crazy cause we heard the gunshots too but we didn't know someone died.

Sunday: I had my first Spanish sacrament meeting and it was sick! We brought 5 of our friends to church which was awesome and we put on of them know date after church ended! There is SOOO much potential here and we're teaching some awesome people. We had dinner with a Mexican family in n our ward who's super poor but super nice. We washed our hands in a bucket in their front yard and the family made us taquitoa, chimichangas, and spaghetti and then they just watched us eat. The kids and the parents just watched us eat and I felt so awkward. They ate when we left but it was interesting. And they literally just keep putting more food on your plate which is wild. We stopped by a members house that night so my comp could pee which left me alone with a family of Mexicans and I speak basically no Spanish. I was so scared by myself. The dad came up to me and all I heard was, "blah blah blah blah chocolate." I just laughed and said "sí" cause I had no idea what he said. He came back out right when we were leaving and handed me a mug of hot chocolate and I almost said no thanks but then I realized that's what he asked me in Spanish and I had said yes, so I had to take it. I took a gulp and a huge chunk of bark went in my mouth and I was so confused and was about the spit in out in the trash but then in my head I was like, "its probably Mexican culture to put bark in hot chocolate, so I can't be rude, I need to eat it." So I did. Every gulp I took, I got a big chunk of bark and I chewed it and ate it and it was nasty. When I finished the drink. There was like 5 chunks at the bottom of the mug and I didn't want to be rude, so I started digging them out with my fingers and eating them. The dad looked at me and started laughing and said, "hey you don't have to eat the cinnamon sticks." I felt like such an idiot. I thought it was bark and that it was Mexican culture. I had eaten probably 8 cinnamon sticks at this point. There was nothing I could do but to laugh it off and leave. Laugh now, cry later.

Spiritual message: I read Mosiah 5:13 in my personal study and I felt like Joseph Smith when he read James 1:5. The scripture really hit me and its one of my favorites now. You all need to go read it right now. We can not know Jesus Christ if we don't serve him. If we are actions and thoughts don't draw us nearer to him, then we care not followers of Christ.

Anyways, that was a long email but it was such an eventful and fun week!! I love it here so much and I love the people here. I almost cried when I said goodbye to the people in my last area because I love them SO MUCH, but I love the people here too!  I miss you all and have a good week!!!!!

Pics:

1&2: FaceTime with Winnie

3: my new zone!!!!

4: the pan man!!

5: FACTS