April 29, 2013 Plenty of Food but the bed is too short!

Things are good here!  It’s a different world down here. There are so many people that live on close to nothing. We go to this area where we have to take our ties off so we look poor because there’s nothing but tin shacks and banana trees. But the people are very receptive to what we have to say.

Mommy, Thanks for the words of encouragement and telling me what’s going on at home. I have been spared having to speak in church so far, but I don’t know how long that will last. So for about 3 weeks now I have been trying to send pictures in the mail. Did you get the pictures I emailed?  But I will try my best to get my letters sent today. I have to ride a bus out of our way to mail stuff.

 So Mother’s day is the 10th here so it will be then and we get to skype so what is your skype address? I am super excited to talk to all of you!

Wow this week was awesome! For pday we took a nap! That was nice! But, I have been sleeping better than I ever have on my mission. Only after I stuffed Styrofoam under my matters so my feet would fit over the bar and extend over the mattress a good 6 inches. Wednesday, we had intercambious (interchanges)  I was with Elder Celis, a Salvadoreno who is came in the mission with me. But he was super good at teaching, but he left me a lot of time to teach too, so it was hard, but I learned a lot that day.

 So at the beginning of my mission I was worried I wasn’t going to eat enough food, but now i might come home at 220! jk. But the neighbor of our cocinera (who we are teaching) gives us cake, brownies, and tons of food every day. She also speaks English so she translates for me when we are teaching or talking. 

   So El Salvador has 7 million people and is tiny. So the whole country is covered in people basically. This week we have been searching for contacts in areas farther away from our house and there is so many people and houses and mango trees and shacks and crazy stuff! Farther outside our neighborhood is more fields and orchards and stuff. Generally, people are willing to listen, but not make commitments. that has been our problem with our investigators. But currently we have two people with baptismal dates, and hopefully by the end of this week we can have at least 3 more! 

  This week we had interviews with the president and it was all in Spanish! He gave me some awesome advice. He is an inspired man! I have to confess that I have only written in my journal a few times since have gotten in the field. It is really hard to have time for that because I am reading 9 pages in the LDM each day to finish it by the end of May like the president asked. I will try to do better.

     

 Thanks for the emails Dawson and mom!  Don’t forget to send your skype address.

               I’m excited to talk to you all!                Love Elder Andrew Flake