Week 38---ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN LANGUAGE

According To Their Own Language

2 Nephi 31:3 "For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding."

The miracle of a God that knows us personally is His ability to connect and communicate with us according to our personal understanding and knowledge. That means that anyone, regardless of education level or language spoken, can connect with and communicate with Deity. I am a fan of education and do not discount the benefits it can bring to a person, but I take comfort in knowing that God not only can communicate with all, but desires to speak to all.

As I speak with people from various backgrounds and ponder in my own experiences, I realize that God works in clarity. An honest seeker of truth will find truth. A penitent seeker of God will find Him. Many stay confined in darkness or confusion, because they so desire.

  

Week 37---August 14, 2017---SHANKS A LOT, DUENOS, CAOS

Shanks a lot

We were leaving a park talking to one of our friends (at about sundown). Our friend says, "Don't worry. If anyone tries to mess with us, I got my shank." Never felt so protected in my life. 

Dueños

We went to check on a house that missionaries had left vacant. I had to go pay the rent and make sure the dueño (owner) was ok. We headed over there, with the intent of just making a cash drop-off, but she ended up inviting us in and giving some doughnuts and some canned peaches. I was pretty pumped about that business deal. 

Caos

My favorite word right now. Caos, (pronounced: cows): means chaos or mess. Aka traffic here in the city

Week 36---August 7, 2017---AEROPUERTO, CASTILLO, SLEEPER CELL, MEETINGS, PHOTOS

Aeropuerto

We have spent a good while at the airport here in Mexico City this week. We went 5 times. I kind of like the airport but mostly kind of don't. Sometimes our President of the mission, President Grossen, gets us a milkshake from Carl's Jr. to take an edge off of the airport trip. He is a great man and Carl's Jr. makes great shakes. 

Castillo

Last Tuesday, we visited the Castillo here in the city. There was a lot of history behind it, but when it comes to history that involves people that wore white powdered wigs I don't pay too much attention. I can't explain why, but my attention is just not grabbed. The view was my favorite part. 

Sleeper Cell

Some other missionaries moved their old things into our house this past week. I was cool with it, until I found out their old fridge was a Cucaracha sleeper cell. We came home one night and saw cockroaches scurrying all over. We opened the old fridge and found out that there was a cockroach family reunion going on that night. I couldn't sleep about it, so I had to get my shoe out about it and stomp some cockroaches about it.

Meetings

A lot of meetings transpired over the past week. I love meetings. Usually there is some good discussion that happens, but more importantly there is some good snackage that accompanies the discussion. AKA I just stay quiet, nod my head, add a couple of well-timed sarcastic comments, and focus the majority of my efforts on the snacks.  

Photos

1-3. Views of the city from the Castillo

4. Flattering picture of me viewing those views

Week 35---July 24, 2017---MOVING CASAS & CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE

Moving Casas

On Saturday we closed down a house. We close down old houses that are no longer inhabited by missionaries. The house we went to was in a place called Los Arcos. Los Arcos looks as steep as San Francisco but with roads a little less developed. We drove through in a convi ( I think he meant combi, which is a minibus) type car. The hills were so steep that we could not make it up on the first try for a lot of these hills. I was a little fearful for my life, but we made it.

Chocolate Cream Pie

It has been a good while since I have dedicated an entire section to food. On Wednesday we ate with a couple from Arizona. The wife made us the most delicious chocolate cream pie I have ever tasted. It had a chocolate cream base with a darker chocolate covering that was melted into the top. A home-made whip cream topping was graced with some pecans, chocolate chips, and shredded coconut. Super good.

Week 34---July 17, 2017---TREEZ, BODA, THE MAN WHO LOVED WITH HIS CAR

Treez

We took part in a service project for the city of Naucalpan. The project was designed to plant trees in a nature reserve of the city. Trees were planted, hands were blistered, and hearts were warmed. 

Boda

We also got to go to a boda or wedding. A member of our congregation invited us to her wedding and so we graciously accepted. The boda was pretty sweet. Lots of Mexican food and lots of Mexican sweets. Needless to say, I enjoyed myself and was happy to see a happy couple anxious for their future together.

The Man Who Loved With His Car

We were walking along bridge during a rain storm, and we were doing our best not to get soaked by the cars hitting the huge puddles. Out of nowhere, this car pulls up real slow like alongside us. We had no idea what was going to happen, but we just smiled and kept walking. This guy ended up following us for the length of the bridge so that no other car could drive right by us fastly, splashing us with the puddles. It was not just rain that ran down my cheeks that night. What a guy.

Week 33---July 10, 2017---SITIO WEB, ZOCALO, GLASSES, PHOTOS

Sitio Web

This week we decided to revamp our website for the mission. It was just super feo (ugly), and so it had to go. We spent some time and worked up a new one. Hopefully the missionaries love it and Google scouts me out here pretty soon to rework their search home page.

Zocalo

We went to Zocalo and saw the huge cathedral in the center of the city. I know, I'm awful. I did not even pay attention enough to get the real name of the cathedral. My companion just said Metropolitano. Quien sabe (Metropolitan.  Who knows?)?  But it was pretty cool. 

Glasses

Bought some glasses to add more authority to everything I say. "The numbers just don't add up." with glasses is a serious statement. "The numbers just don't add up." without glasses just makes the people you are talking to want to recheck the numbers. The things people do to get some respect around here. 

Photos

1. Calculating the future.

2. Selfie with a cartoonist that drew us a picture.

3. Elder Osorio inspiring Elder Ellsworth to look to the bright horizon.

4. Selfie on top of the cathedral.

5. Selfie in front of the President's house.

Week 32---July 3, 2017---RAIN RAIN GO AWAY, SNACKTIVITY, COMPLEX, PHOTOS

Rain rain go away

On Wednesday, it rained harder than I cried when I found out I was going to miss the opening night of the "Lego Batman Movie."   We were coming back from a meeting with a lot missionaries, and literally the streets were turned into rivers.  Some streets were too sunk to even drive on.  Also the metro was submerged in some parts of the city. It rains crazy here.  Under our taxi we could hear the water constantly splashing against the bottom. 

Snacktivity

We had an activity with all of the other missionaries that live close by.  It was a fun time to be all together and enjoy ourselves for a bit.  We learned how to make flour tortillas, make mud masks, and also took some fun photos.  We finished with a good meal of a torta. 

Complex

The complexity of human interaction boggles my mind.  We seem to work on so many assumptions when interacting with each other.  Only in times of honest, frank discussion do we even begin to see the tip of the iceberg.  If we could learn to love a little easier and communicate better I think that we would come to a much greater understanding of each other. 

Photos

1. Elder Ellsworth and me posing up for the companionship photo.

2. Possibly the most dangerous way to trim a tree I have ever seen. Both have saws shoved in the back of their pants.

3. Me when people ask me for more money.