Loving Mexico

I started out this week asking Jay some specific questions:

1. What are you eating?
If you are talking about in my residence well I usually start of my day with a sausage and vegetable omelet with some milk and juice. Then for supper I have my own sub that i make. I toast the bread in the pan and then put on it some ham, lettuce, avocado, tomato, mustard, mayonnaise, and sometimes egg. Plus they have this cream stuff here that is really good. I put that on my sandwich all the time.

2. Are you having any problems with the food?
I’m not having any problems. I guess I can take the spiciness.

3. Do you eat with the members every day?
Yes I eat lunch with members every day. I’ve gotten used to the spiciness. It’s not that bad. Oh and dad doesn’t know quesadillas.

4. Tell me about where you live?
Well I live on the last house of the street. The toilet can’t take toilet paper so we have to put it in a box next to it. We have a small camping stove hooked up to a 20 gallon gas tank. We have a ten gallon water heater. We wash our clothes on a cheese grater. We have no hangers and no place to hang our clothes anyway. No drawers either. And cats are fighting all night just outside my window. (Not like I’m not used to that.) Mom here – at our house on Mesa Drive this was practically a night-time occurrence.

Jay’s email:
Well yes it has been two weeks now hasn’t it? Yes we do have a lot of baptisms. As for teaching and tracting, we have a good mix of both. Some investigators are fast paced while others are slow. And our area is huge so there is also a lot of walking and bus riding. I am not able to teach as much as I want to but when we teach we do just make it simple. For Mexican people sometimes you have to spell it out for them. It’s like teaching primary.

Sorry that life is so boring. I told you you needed to get a dog.

I’m starting to talk to people a little. All the little Mexican kids like to give me peace signs because that’s what they think Americans do. Every time I hear a little kid yell "Hey Gringo!" I’ll turn around and they will all be giving me peace signs. It’s quite funny.

It is quite amazing to me, this whole experience I mean. How God can take some American boy and have him develop so much love for people who he didn’t think anything about before his mission. I am loving every day I have out here. And I am doing everything I can to learn this language so that I can start to really teach sooner. I love this gospel and I wish for everyone to know it.

Tell grandma Happy Birthday and I will send her a letter when I get a chance.

Love you all!
Elder Whetten