Week 65 - Using the Shwartz

Hey,

Sorry about last week.  I didn´t realized that I didn´t send the completed letter.  My bad.  Anyway this week was good.  You´ll be pleased to know that I´m in an air conditioned cyber, yet still sweating.  I don´t know how I do it - it must be a gift.  This morning I helped move a water tank off someone's roof (I thought I was going to get crushed for sure) and then played some soccer with some other missionaries.  I´m not as bad as I used to be!  That said, I´m still a shame to the Roth name when it comes to playing soccer. 

My companion and I have been visiting a ton of families in the ward recently. In fact every single one of them.  Every week it seems that a different inactive family shows up at church.  So that's good.  We also are having success with our investigators - this week I got to go for a swim :)  I feel blessed to be here.

Roy - ha not too long ago Mom and Dad saw Knuckleball as well.  I want to see it when I get home.  (btw Dick Trickle is definitely a cooler name).  I can´t believe you went to your last BYU football game as students!  That's so sad!  I don´t ever want to graduate!  I´m happy that the semester is going well.  Enjoy your Thanksgiving break.  (Remember the game we played in g&g´s house when I burned my tongue?  haha)  Things are going very, very well.  I´m grateful to be a missionary.

Dad - I been in Tapa for 6 transfers.  :) We´ll see if I get another.  I hope you´re as obsessed with GC talks as I am - they are the best.  Your new bathroom sounds like a considerably nicer place to be than mine haha.  Mine gets worse every week :)  It's still pretty hot here, buts it's way nicer than it used to be.  From March through May it was soooo hot.  I would just drip sweat - imagine the crash landing in Airplane -  haha.  From June till now it's rained every day which is pretty unpleasant as well.  I´m so tired of having wet feet.  But they say that December and January are relatively nice.  :)  From what they´ve told me the US soccer team totally saved Mexico. Whenever the national team plays here everyone stops working and they crowd around the nearest TV.  People put their TV´s out in the street so more people can watch.  It makes teaching a bit more difficult.  ha.  I hope you have a great week.  Love you Dad. 

Mom - whoa.  That sounds like a pretty packed week.  I feel like I would like LA now.  But I´m still a bigger fan of tranquility.  I wanna live on a farm! haha.  Sometimes my head hurts so bad from the constant noise here in Central.  haha Thanks for commenting on my haircut.  Pretty sweet right?  I did pay for it but it was only 20 pesos - whats that, like $1.70?  The price in insults was far higher ha.  But it's grown back now, all is well.  Love you Mom!

Steph - Hey Steph - I hope you enjoy your trip to Dallas and the house that Jerry built haha.  holy cow!  I had no idea Sebastian Vettel was killing it like that!  I´m so down to go see the race next year!  That would be so so cool. Its tough to choose a favorite scripture.  I have lots.  But one that always comes to mind is Mosiah 2:41 (not too original but who cares.) 

And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.  

Wanna be happy?  Want spiritual and temporal blessings?  Wanna dwell with God forever?  -  Keep the commandments.  Well, hope you have a fantastic week.  Love ya Steph.

Well I guess that's about all for this week.  I don´t have my camera.  Thanks for writing me and encouraging me.  I appreciate your prayers, your mail, and your faithfulness. 

I know that this church is true.  There is absolutely no doubt about it.  The Book of Mormon is true and changes lives.  If you haven´t read it, read it! 

Love you all,

Elder C. Alan Roth :)

Week 64 - From Last Week

Hi!

First of all thank you for your emails, prayers and support.  I truly love you all. 

This week was good... no; fantastic.  We had a conference with our mission president.  This time it wa just our zone, nobody else.  It was soo good!  I was feeling a bit down but President Cardenas really helped me out.  He knows what my companion and I are going though and he acknowledged our faithful service in an area that he knows is difficult.

Dad - Happy Birthday!  Sorry you didn´t get to go to California.  That's a major bummer.  I´m glad you enjoyed my letter.  I love you!  Thanks for the questions.  I don´t know what I would write if you didn´t guide me ha. 

1.  How do you think you are doing on your Mexican accent?

     -Its going well.  Foreigners almost never speak perfectly, but everyone understands me.  A lot of people comment that I speak very well.  I try to speak Spanish like President Utchdorf speaks English - with an accent, but with an awesome accent!

2.  How often do you see Americans?

    - Pretty often, since I´m downtown.  There are tourists here about once a week and there is an American that owns a book store a few blocks from me. We call him the white guy that only reads and eats, because we have never seen him doing anything else.  I honestly have no idea what he´s doing here.

3.  What is your favorite type of tortilla?  Are tortillas still a big part of your diet?

    - They are all the same really.  There is one place that makes one that tastes better but it's kinda far away and we never go.  They are still my staple.

4.  Of the 4 Gospels in the New Testament, which have you enjoyed the most recently?  Why?

     - Which of your children have you enjoyed the most recently?  haha.  It's an impossible question.  But John ought to be recognized as the most insightful on most matters of deep doctrine. Chapter 15 is my favorite.  I always remember something Elder Holland said: ´´Christ said without me ye can do nothing - I testify that that is God´s truth.´´ I love it. 

5.  Describe the cars that you see driven around your area?

     - There are a lot of VW bugs. 

 Lots of Nissan Tsuru´s (they are the taxis). 

Lots of Nissan Urvans (those are the combi´s).  

And lots of Nacho Libre style tricycles.

6.  You never commented on that parking job I sent the photo of, did you get it?

    - haha yeah.  Classic Roth.

7.  Do you ever drink sports drinks like Gatorade or Powerade or that kind of stuff?

    - Almost never but they have them.  I´m addicted to milk though.  I used to buy 3 gallons of milk a week.  I´ve cut back on it a bit, but it's still my biggest expense.

8.  How often do you speak in Sacrament meeting?

     - Not that often.  I think I´ve done it 5 times on my mission.

9.  How often are you called upon to give lessons in Sunday meetings?

     - In this ward almost never.  In Tuxtla I taught every week.  In Vista Hermosa I taught about once every other week. 

10.  Of the people you meet and teach, are they long time Chiapias residents?  People have lived down there for a long time, so I am wondering.

      - Yeah, almost everyone here is from Chiapas.  It's rare to find someone from another state ha. 

11.  Look straight ahead of you, over the top of the computer monitor.  Describe what you see.

    - The wall.  haha.  It's painted red and yellow and the paint is peeling off the concrete.  And there is a sign that says ´´all types of pornography are prohibited.´´  So that's reassuring. 

12.  Is this too many questions for one letter?

    - No.  I like questions!

I love you dad!

Steph - haha, I was going to thow in an Elf reference last week but I couldn´t remember the quote.  But in short - yes, I struggle greatly with the temptation to say Fransico like Buddy.  Unfortunatly we don´t have bikes.  We just walk.  And combis.  Which is much more physically demanding than walking ha.  I´m glad to hear that Ty and Ry are starting their mission prep early.  There is no substitute!  Love ya Steph.  Say hi to Cody for me!

Mom - to answer your question of the day -  I have never knowingly eaten Monkey in the mission - that said, I almost certainly have done it.  I´ve definitely eaten meat unfit for human consumption ha.  I´m glad you're having fun in California.  Say hola to the Mexicans for me ha.  You do not know what a bad keyboard is...you have no idea.  Have a great Friday!  Congratulations to Jake.  I love you Mom!

Carly - As I walked in to the cyber today I wondered if you were still reading my blog.  You are the best!  Also, I gotta tell you that you made me laugh out loud when you said that ´´I try´´ to make my misfortunes funny.  haha - I guess I´m not succeeding... :)  You are an awesome member missionary! Want to come to Tapachula?  We could use a family like you and Jared.  Plus they pay 30 dollars a day for the translators that help the tourists out.  haha. Who can deny an offer like that!?  I hope things go well with your neighbors! Hang in there till you get to join the best workforce!  ha.  Love you Carly! 

Roy - Things are going really well.  Stay strong this last month of the semester!  Enjoy BYU basketball for me.   LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT RIGHT, SIT DOWN!  Keep those derivatives strictly positive and increasing. 

Andee - I knew that sooner our later the delk would rub off on you.  I seem to recall warning you ha.  Doomsday Bunkers is the best, right!?  Did you see the one with the banister that doubles as a flamethrower?  That's the best one. (in case Mikele reads this, don´t use dryer 10. :))  I hope things go well with your digital mission.  You are a star!  ha.  Love you AD. 

Caleigh Oliver - Hola! Felicidades por su llamamiento. Mexico le encantará. Espero que le haya gustado mi blog. Sí , estoy en Chiapas ahorita. Termino en agosto 2014. Le darán su Visa en el MTC. Mexico es lo mejor! Usted será una de las primeras hermanas americanas que sirve en Mexico! Disfrute de su tiempo antes de empezar la mision y prepárese bien. La mision será la mejor experiencia de su vida! 

O dear family how I love you.  I love to read your emails.  They always pump me up for another week of the good life.  

Week 64 - Happy Birthday Dad!!!!

(It appears Clark hit the send button too early, since the letter just stops in the middle of answering Rick's questions, and the Oops that came as a follow up email....)

Hi!

First of all thank you for your emails, prayers and support.  I truly love you all. 

This week was good... no, fantastic.  We had a conference with our mission president.  This time it was just our zone, nobody else.  It was soo good!  I was feeling a bit down but President Cardenas really helped me out.  He knows what my companion and I are going though and he acknowledged our faithful service in an area that he knows is difficult.

Dad - Happy Birthday!  Sorry you didn´t get to go to California.  That's a major bummer. I ´m glad you enjoyed my letter.  I love you!  Thanks for the questions.  I don´t know what I would write if you didn´t guide me ha. 

1.  How do you think you are doing on your Mexican accent?

     -It's going well.  Foreigners almost never speak perfectly, but everyone understands me.  A lot of people comment that I speak very well.  I try to speak Spanish like President Utchdorf speaks English - with an accent, but with an awesome accent!

2.  How often do you see Americans?

    - Pretty often, since I´m in downtown.  There are tourists here about once a week and there is an American that owns a book store a few blocks from me. We call him the white guy that only reads and eats, because we have never seen him doing anything else.

3.  What is your favorite type of tortilla?  Are tortillas still a big part of your diet?

    - They are all the same really.  There is one place that makes one that tastes better but its kinda far away and we never go.  They are still my staple.

4.  Of the 4 Gospels in the New Testament, which have you enjoyed the most recently?  Why?

5.  Describe the cars that you see driven around your area?

6.  You never commented on that parking job I sent the photo of, did you get it?

7.  Do you ever drink sports drinks like gatorade or powerade or that kind of stuff?

8.  How often do you speak in Sacrament meeting?

9.  How often are you called upon to give lessons in Sunday meetings?

10.  Of the people you meet and teach, are they long time Chiapias residents?  People have lived down there for a long time, so I am wondering.

11.  Look straight ahead of you, over the top of the computer monitor.  Describe what you see.

12.  Is this too many questions for one letter?

Oops

Week 63 - All I Do Is Win, Win, Win, No Matter What!

Hey Fam,

What´s crackalacking?  (I taught my companion that phrase and it's super funny when he says it ha).' On that note there are a ton of other funny things my comp says in English:  ¨JUDAS¨ (whenever something bad happens), ¨are you ready to die, sinner?¨,  ¨Girl look at that body,¨  etc.  I´m glad to hear that we´ve all survived another week ha.  This week was pretty fantastic.  One of our investigators got married, so she´ll get baptized this weekend. We also were led to a cool new investigator named Francisco.  He went to church by himself and is really interested. So that's good. 

It's the end of the rainy season here in Tapa. So for the next six months my shoes will stay dry!  So stoked! ha.  It's still pretty hot, but it's really not that bad anymore.  I´ve already watched ¨Joy to the World¨ a couple times to get ready for Christmas time.  Unfortunately, that's the only Christmasy thing I have and I´m already getting bored of it.  ha. 

Thanks for the emails. 

Dad - We do indeed have daylight saving time here.  I hope you have fun in cali. 

1.  Thinking of time, how's the digital Timex running?
1. My watch is going strong. Part of the plastic on it has decroded (as Napoleon Dynamite would say) and every once in a while it cuts me.  But it's all good.

2.  You said your toilet is not working...define not working
2. I´ll try not to be too descriptive but when I say my toilet doesn´t work I mean that it doesn´t flush. You have to get creative to get it to flush. sometimes it overflows...that's not pleasant.  I´ll refrain from explaining more. 

3.  What scripture story spoke to you this week?
3. I had lots of scripture stories speak to me.  One was from David and Goliath.  I love when David says ´´who is this Philistine to defy the armies of the living God!´´  I was also reading the Book of Helaman, and you gotta love Nephi there. Baptizes a ton, they all go inactive, baptizes more, they go inactive, prays on a tower (not sure why) ticks everyone off, tells the future, despite being right people don´t repent, God tells him ´´good job sport´´, etc.  Its such a cool  story.  there are others...

4.  Tell me about your sleeping arrangements?
4. My sleeping arrangement is pretty standard.  I have a normal mattress and sleep without covers and with the fan blowing on me.

5.  Tell me something about Mexico that you did not expect.  
5. Something about Mexico that I didn´t expect...that's tough.  I remember telling you guys that being here is like being in scout camp  but I really don´t feel like that anymore.  There is no residual culture shock, everything is normal to me now.  But anyway...I didn´t expect so much wickedness.  If the Governor asked me to come up with a slogan for Tapachula it would be - ´´Tapachula - Sodom and Gomorrah got nothing on us!´´  haha.  But I love them anyway. I really do love them. 

Congrats to M Mort on the mission call.  One of my friends, John Mather (my second semester roommate in fact), is in that mission.  It will be awesome!

Mom - I´m glad you got through the week.  Sounds like you gave a pretty killer talk.  Trials are seldom pleasant but very necessary.  This week I read verse 5 of How Firm a Foundation, it's awesome. 

When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,

My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.

The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design

Thy dross to consume, thy dross to consume,

Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

All trials do is burn away the natural man in you, they won´t hurt the heavenly you.  I know what I want for Christmas!!  I want a Red Ryder... jokes.  I want a USB memory.  Please, pretty please!!  and letters from the ward ha!  I love you mom.  Enjoy your less stressful week!

Roy - Thanks for emailing me!  541 is real analysis right?  How do you feel about the math major?  Worth it?  I look forward to hearing your grad school news when it comes.  The Red Sox eh.  I think that's a sign that you belong in Boston ha.  Thanks for rubbing in the fact that I don´t have a Bishop.  haha. Be \mathbb{Q} and keep it \mathbb{N}.  (Translation per Roy: Be Rational and keep it Natural)

Might I recommend a Mormon Message for you all.  Its called Earthly Father, Heavenly Father.  It's so sick! 

Well I suppose that's all for today.  Love you all. 

Elder Roth

Week 62 - Oh Tapachula, Tapachula!

My dear family,

What´s up?  I´m not sure if I´ve told you this before but my companion and I have a tradition of saying, ´´Tapachula, Tapachula, thou that killest the missionaries, and stonest them which are sent unto thee.´´  Well, this week Tapchula truly stoned us.  But that's OK.  We´re still happy to be here and keep working.  I´ve found that the hardest weeks are the most purifying.  It's truly a pleasure to serve here.  I am convinced that there is no mission better than Mexico Tuxtla Gutierrez. 

Here´s something I learned this week that I told my Mission President in my weekly letter.  (Dang it, I just realized that I have to translate it).  OK, anyway I said: ´´I truly don´t know what else to do. The good thing is that I´ve learned to be humble.  President Packer once said, ´I know who I am, I am  a nobody´, then turning to look at Elder Anderson (then a newly called 70) said ´and you, brother Anderson, you are a nobody too.´ then he added, ´If you ever forget it, the Lord will remind you of it instantly, and it won´t be pleasant.´´  Well, just like he promised it hasn´t been pleasant, but now I know who I am and who I depend on.  It's been a lesson worth learning.

 

I am learning oh so much and trying so hard.  I feel very blessed to be here.  I´m loving life.

 

On to your emails:

 

Dad - Its always fun to hear about your projects around the house.  They always bring a smile to my face.  I still remember your talk in which you mentioned the Lord´s tender mercies and referred to one of the sago palms in the backyard.  I love it.

 

1. Tell us about the Hygiene situation in your apartment? In Tapachula Central?

1. Hygiene situation...umm questionable at best.  As you know now, the toilet doesn´t work.  Neither does the sink.  Nor the other sink where we wash our clothes.  And the trash passes by very rarely, or at least when we aren´t home.  So yeah.  The case is similar in Tapachula in general.

2.  Tell us about the most questionable thing you ate this week

2. Most questionable thing I´ve eaten - umm, nothing too bad.  The meat is always questionable, but I don´t really think about it.

3.  Tell us about the Elders Quorum Lesson this week

3. EQP lesson - My favorite member, brother Ovando, gives the lessons.  He always has some funny one-liners.

4. Tell us about an investigator you taught this week. 

4. An investigator we taught - Alejandra.  She is one of the hardest people to teach that I´ve ever seen.  It's not that she doesn´t understand or believe. It's that she believes everything!!  Without a question (and without reading or praying) she declares that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true.  She thinks anyone who is talking about God is telling the truth, and thus ends up as Paul would say, "as a child tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine."

5.  Tell us what you brought with you that you did not need or have not used.

5. what do I not need - most of my p-day clothes. that's probably about it.

 

Thanks for your email Dad! I love you!

 

Mom - Sounds like you´ve got a good week coming up :)  This week I was preparing a lesson for a group of missionaries and absolutely nothing came to mind.  I stopped for a second, said a prayer, and immediately after was able to make a decisión and form a lesson.  It turned out really well.  So don´t worry about your talk, am sure it will go very well.  Haha  Elder Walker is awesome!  I wish I got to hang out with President Monson ha.  Well Elder Torres is good too i guess. :)  I love you mom!

 

Andee Dawn - ra ra rarara ra ra rarara ra ra rarara Goooooooo Cougars!  You have no idea how jealous I am that you get to see KVN play this year.  I´ll miss him ha.  I´m glad to hear that things are going well in the Single´s Ward.  I hope Roy isn´t feeling too stressed.  Thanks for the letter.  Love you AD.

 

 

Well I guess that's all for this week.  I love you guys.  Keep it real. (haha I miss saying stuff like that - it just doesn´t exist in Spanish).

 

Elder Roth

 

 As promised long ago, pictures of my terrible haircut.

Week 61 Hey!

Hey! 

Guess what?  I had a good week.  Seems like that never changes.  How can you possibly have a bad week as a missionary? 

Unfortunately nobody got a 100% on my exam.  You did pretty well though. Dad only missed one, and mom two. (and your comments cracked me up). Here´s the answer key:

1. I like Tapachula more than Tuxtla.

- true

2. My companion is from Tamulipas.

- false, he´s from Oaxaca.

3. I have eaten over a kilo of peanut butter in the last 11 days.

- Very very true

4. Elder Torres and I missed our bus to Tuxtla this week. 

 - true (everyone got that one right) 

5. I´m the old man in my zone (the one with the most time in this zone, not total).

- true

6. I finally bought new shoes.

- false haha

7. All of my companions have been Mexicans.

- false

8. My toilet works.

- false. (obviously)

9. I haven´t been seriously ill since I left Tuxtla.

- true. I had a fever for like 12 hours a couple months ago, and diarrhea is a weekly occurrence, but nothing serious.

10. You can receive a remission of sins without baptism.

- false.  

11. A girl kissed my companion this week.

-true. haha. :) poor little guy, he felt so bad. 

11. The organ in the tabernacle is one of the 10 largest in the world.

12. The church publicates materials in more than 175 languages.

- umm, I really don´t know. I thought the organ was the 15th largest but I could be wrong. And last I checked the church publishes (haha publicate - you gotta love Spanglish) in 177 languages. 

The good news is that I wrote you a letter anyway mom and dad so we´ll see if that gets there before the second coming. 

Mom - Your email is hilarious!   Adiós mi querido M5.  I was glad to hear that the new owner came all the way from Toronto to pick her up.  That shows a dedication that I thought only Roths possessed toward their cars ha.  I hope the new owner looks forward to knowing his BMW mechanics on a first name basis like you do haha. 

I like what President Smith said about choosing to make positive assumptions about others.  It's a better way to live.  I´m a real believer in the virtue of choosing to be positive.  It's easy to see the flaws in your companion, but you can choose to forgive them and assume the best.  I also like to extend the idea to life in general.  As Joseph Wirthlin said, "come what may and love it."  There is just no reason not to be happy.  Just do it.  My mission has been very, very difficult but I decided to love it very early on.  And I do indeed love it. 

I´m jealous that you get to work in the temple!  You get to baptize all the people that slip though my fingers ha.  Thanks for your email.  I love you mom. 

Dad - The story of cutting down the loquat tree made me laugh out loud. Classic Richard Roth.  :)  I´m glad to hear my Cougars pulled it out against Houston.  And equally thrilled that the Jaguars are making history in their own special way. ha.

 1. Are there any holidays coming up that the Mexicans observe? 

- Halloween (which they pronounce with an emphasis on the first syllable)/Dia de los Muertos.  December 12th is El Dia de la Guadalupana.  What´s that you ask?  A day for worshiping maybe a bit more than usual and getting drunk a bit more than usual. 

2. You have mentioned the sad state of Church Music in meetings, how has this impacted your feelings on music in meetings?

-Music is essential.  Many defining spiritual moments in my life hae happened thanks to powerful music. 

3. Since your area is so small, do you walk it exclusively?  I have looked at YouTube videos and have seen the narrow streets and am just wondering how you get around

- Yeah we pretty much always walk. 

4. How many Books of Mormon have you given out in the last week?

-we had a tough time finding new investigators this week so not too many.  The average is about 10. 

5. What is your Ward building like?  How does it compare to the Penman building?  Are there multiple Wards meeting there?

- It's smaller.  There is no carpet.  There are no pews, just seats.  Only the chapel has a/c.  It's pretty, though.  2 wards meet there.  Vista Hermosa (the ward I was in 4 transfers ago) and Central. 

6. Is your mission growing?  the FL Jax mission now has 250 missionaries.  It used to be more like 150.

- Yes we went from about 140 to 190 missionaries.  There are a ton of new sister missionaries and now most of the wards in Tuxta Gutiérrez have 2 pairs of missionaries. 

Thanks for your email dad! I love you.

Steph - ha Ty and Ry are so cute!  You´ve got a bit over 9 months before I come home to cook up another haha.  Jokes.  I´m honored to see that my picture hangs in Tyler's room (though a bit out-sized by its frame haha). Also good to see that Tyler is being instructed in all the learning of his father (aka there is a Ferrari poster ha).  I am very very sure that Texas is not the same as Mexico, but if it makes you feel a connection to me keep thinking it.  :)  We had our primary program this week, it was awesome!  Kids are so funny.  Tom´s EQP is awesome!  haha just kidding.  I totally agree that the temple activity wins.  I´ll refrain from expressing my thoughts in this email, but you´ll hear them one day haha.  I don´t really need anything.  Some black socks would be nice.  Body-wash (don´t laugh, it doesn´t exist here. I´ve been using shampoo too long...).  Beef jerky is always welcome. (Wendy: but the customs officials will confiscate it!) and something to give my room a nice Texan accent.  :) Thanks Steph, say hi to T,T,R,C,and C for me. 

RAD - I hope all is well in beautiful Provo.  I love that place.  It's midterm time, right?  Enjoy your final year in the greatest place on earth.  Love you!

Week 60

Hi,

Well, it's been an interesting week.  We got transfer calls this week, Elder Torres and I are staying here in Central.  It's a bit of a challenge.  We get along well, the problem is the ward.  Yesterday a sweet spirit of contention filled our testimony meeting.  We are both feeling a bit worn out to be honest.  But I´m still happy.  I challenge anyone to find a happier missionary than me! :)

Oh, BTW my debit card expired. Can you send me a new one by chance? Thanks. 

To shake things up a bit I decided to add a true or false seccion to my email. If anyone gets all the answers right I´ll send them a hand written letter. 

1. I like Tapachula more than Tuxtla.

2. My companion is from Tamulipas.

3. I have eaten over a kilo of peanut butter in the last 11 days.

4. Elder Torres and I missed our bus to Tuxtla this week. 

5. I´m the old man in my zone (the one with the most time in this zone, not total).

6. I finally bought new shoes.

7. All of my companions have been Mexicans.

8. My toilet works.

9. I haven´t been seriously ill since I left Tuxtla.

10. You can recieve a remission of sins without baptism.

11. A girl kissed my companion this week.

ok, all of those are pretty easy. 2 hard ones.

11. The organ in the tabernacle is one of the 10 largest in the world.

12. The church publishes materials in more than 175 languages.

No cheating.

Ok.  I had a good spiritual experience this Saturday.  The sister missionaries in the district had a baptism and the person that was going to be baptized asked me to do it.  I was feeling a bit tired of all the problems in my area.  I´d been praying for weeks and weeks,  seemingly to no avail.  In the baptismal service the sister missionaries sang ´´A Child´s Prayer.´´  The song touched my heart, and I knew that God listened to my prayers.  I had tears in my eyes as I baptized the woman.  It was awesome!

On to your emails.  Dad sent me a ton of questions this week. 

Dad - Have you ever not overdone it clearing out the backyard? ha. 

1.  Tell us something you learned this week. 

1. Something I learned - The only common attribute I have found in every great missionary, leader of the church or member is that they never give up. Most of them struggle greatly, including some who die having seen no fruits of their labors.  But none give up.

2.  Tell us of some service you performed for someone else this week.  

2. Service - The members hardly ever let us do anything.  It's gotten to the point where we just start doing stuff without them knowing.  Like washing their dishes until they catch us and yell at us.  haha

3.  Tell us something about your companion that is unusual. 

3. Something unusual about my companion - umm... my companion.  No, just kidding he is pretty normal.  Something a bit unusual is that he is a convert of 2 years and the only member in his family.  And he eats tuna salad on cookies...

4.  Why did you go to TXG?  You said it was a Mission leadership meeting.  Are you a leader or something?

4. I went to Tuxtla for my immigration stuff.  I didn´t tell you but I´ve been illegal the last month.  ha.  Oh, and the other time we had a conference.  You could say that. :)

5.  How do you communicate with your leaders?  Cell phone?

5. Cell phone and smoke signals.

6.  Have you had the opportunity to eat anything that Andrew Zimmern would consider Bizarre?

6. Not too much.  That said, most of the time I really don´t know what I eat. ha.  But nothing that tastes like ´´pocket change´´ lately.

7.  Tell us of a success you had this week with an investigator?

7. We are teaching a woman named Bersabé.  Her husband is a member and it seems like every time we see her she is happier to see us.  It's always fun to teach her. 

8.  Where do the drunks get the money for their alcohol?

8. They walk around the streets harassing people for money.

9.  What scripture spoke to you this week?

9. Alma 38.  Shiblon gets very little attention, but he was true at all times. His father teaches him a tiny bit and tells him to go and keep serving.  I feel like Shiblon. 

10. How is your progress at rolling your R's?

10. good. I don´t have any problems with it. 

I hope things go well with the merger and with HC. I love you Dad. 

Mom - NOO! the M5! ha.  I don´t remember when the fridge was in your room, but I do remember watching Deadliest Catch with Roy under the plastic tarp in my room.  It was soo hot ha.  That was a long time ago.  I was 13 years old.  Inspired questions are indeed what its all about.  I think they are the most effective teaching skill, given that regardless of a persons knowledge and conversion level, a question can inspire self revision and repentance.  If you have to move, be sure to tell me.  I don´t want to go home to an empty house like in the RM haha.  I love you Mom.

Andee - Thanks for the Cougars update.  KVN is a senior right?  It's a bummer I won´t get to see him play.  He such a beast.  Hopefully Roy gets over the #hashmark phase soon.  haha.  What a dork.  The first lesson is pretty sweet huh?  We teach it to our members so that everyone gets to hear it.  Thanks for the email. and keep on rocking. 

Roy - I hope all is going well.  Have you already started your applications? 

Michael D enters the MTC pretty soon right?  That's awesome.  From what I´ve heard Chihuahua is pretty sweet.  Missionary work is hard.  This is without a doubt the hardest thing I've ever done.  But I love it.  It's going by so fast. 

Brethren pray for us. 

Elder Roth