12-20-10 email

So this week was pretty good, I really like the new area Im in, its very different than my last area in the city but I like it and Im excited for the next 6 weeks here. We didnt get a chance to really work to much this week because the area we are in hasnt had missionaries in it for over a year, so we have been looking for a house, and since we dont have a house in Espinal (our area) we have been living with out zone leaders in Juchitan, so we have to use buses and taxis each day to get to our area so that been hitting me in the wallet, especially since my companion doesnt have any money, so I have had to pay for him all week as well. He doesnt have money because he lost a phone in his last area so they take it out of his money he receives, I dont know why they do that because it just ends up screwing over the companion. Oh well I dont mind too much its just kinda annoying to have to pay for everything haha. My companion is kinda weird, he like has problems I dont know, he just always seems like he is in pain or something when we are teaching and just seems really angry when he is in lessons but then when we arent teaching and we are just like walking down the street he is like perfectly fine, infact he made a girl in our ward cry haha. We were at our meal on sunday and things were good and we were just talking and they dont really like him too much so they always just talk to me. Then they asked him what he wanted to study after his mission and he like got mad and wouldnt answer the question, then they were like why dont you like questions. Then he said how he hates talking to people and how thats why he is here to try and change who he is and just went off on a bunch of stuff, then the girl started crying, well she is like 20 so I dont know to call her a girl or a woman i dont know haha, but then she started crying and went off on him haha it was pretty awkward. So after we left he kept telling me how bad he felt and asked how he could be more like me haha, I just told him to choose to be happy, and even if things in your life arent perfect, just make the choose to make the best of what you have. I dont know if he will be able to change but I guess we will see. So let me tell you about my week,

Tuesday we went to Espinal with some other elders that knew the area kinda and they showed us around and we met some members and we just looked for houses most of the day then went to eat lunch and we had pig stomach, It didnt taste too bad just a nasty texture, but they love that stuff here so then at about 5 we met our ward mission leader then went on divisions I went with him and my comp went with another RM, and while we were out we saw a white girl so we figured she was from the US so he was like go contact her in english so I was like okay, so it turns out she was German haha she is here for a foreign exchange haha but she spoke spanish so we just talked to her in spanish, she was nice but when we started talking about our church she like got mad and left haha and it made me greatfull that im not serving in Europe and then we went and met some more members. There are really alot of less actives in our ward, there are about 300 members and only like 80 are active, so we have alot of work to do in this area. The area has been closed for ever because the last time there were elders here they got in trouble with some of the young women, so my mission president called me and told me to be care of that because there are tons of young women in this ward haha. Not to be rude or racist but apart from being a missionary Im just not attracted to the girls here, they all have like side burns and mustaches haha so I should be fine!

Wed pretty much all we did all day is look for a house we did teach a few lessons to less actives and picked up a few new investigators. So at night when we were headed back to Juchitan it was late and so there werent anymore buses so we had to get a taxi and it cost alot more so, while we were driving home the taxi driver started talking to us and it turned out that he was a member, he has just been inactive for the last 12 years haha, but now he has a wife and a son that is 9 years old and he said that he felt like something has been missing in his life and that he has been having problems with his wife and she wants him to change and he was telling us how he wants his family to get baptized and change their current way of life! So we set an appointment with him. Its really funny how the lord works, we were mad that we missed the buses and had to use a taxi, but if we wouldnt have used a taxi that night we may have not ever met him, Its just crazy to think about!

Thursday we had a Christmas mission conference, It was pretty fun! First we just had some training by the president and the zone leaders then we changes clothes and got to play some games and sports that was really fun! After that we had our christmas dinner, it was turkey and funeral potatoes, but kinda mexified haha it still tasted pretty good! After that we had a secret santa gift exchange, I bought an elder some candy and other junk, I got 2 ties I was pretty happy! Then our gift from the president and his wife was a stocking filled with mexican candy haha which im not too fond of but oh well haha! After that we went to our area and taught a lesson or 2 then headed back to our zone leaders house!

Friday, we were determined to find a house this day we had found a few before but they ended up falling through, but we did end up finding one and it seems pretty good its just really dirty, so we will just have to clean it up pretty good! It was kinda annoying looking for a house because my comp always has a really bad attitude about everything. He just is like dead and doenst want to be here. I can see why president put him with me though, he really needs someone to just cheer him up and help him find some faith and some energy! That night we had a family home evening with a family whose son is less active, so my comp wanted to teach a lesson where you get a piece of paper and put a picture of Jesus under it and you tell people to think about people that they dont like and to use a knife and cut a whole in the piece of paper. Then after everyone cuts a hole in the top piece of paper, he took out from under it a picture of Jesus and everyone like freaked out haha, I told him before that we shouldnt do it but he wanted to haha idk! So that didnt end up to well! Oh well

Saturday was a pretty good day we got to teach some good lessons, in the morning we went to yavanis house, the taxi driver, and we taught his family and it went really good, the really want to make changes in their lives and they were very accepting of the message, when we got to his house we noticed that he had a ton of roosters in his back yard, its not too uncommon here to have a ton of chickens and some roosters but to just have a ton of roosters in all sperate cages was out of the ordinary, it turns out he trains roosters to fight haha, there arent any laws against it here so alot of people do it i guess haha, My companion was able to relate because I guess he use to train dogs to fight haha, wow I have a wierd companion.

Sunday was good, we were able to speak in sacrament meeting, but my companion was giving his talk and like went off on weird stuff and the bishop got up and handed him a note and told him to sit down haha so I went up and spoke and after everyone told me they liked my talk and he felt bad beacuse no one said it to him, I felt bad too! After we went and ate lunch and he made that girl cry haha and I found out that another girl that lives in that house who is 18 and a member doesnt believe in god, that family have alot of problems right now, because about 6 months ago their mom got kidnapped, it happens alot here. She some how made it back alive though, she was very lucky. It was really sad to her that the girl her name is Mittzz, doesnt believe that there is a god, but I talked to her and by the end of the conversation she said that she ow believed that there was a god. Its hard to see people challenges in their lives but it feels really good to be able to bring the spirit into their home and help them.

Well that was my week, not too exciting not too boring just the life as a missionary in Mexico.

Love Elder Stradling