I love you guys!
This has been the hardest week of my life. I miss the MTC. I miss home. I know I shouldn´t be complaining, but I feel like I need to vent and let you know how I feel. Dont get me wrong, I have so much to be thankful for, but this week has been a shock.
Our president is amazing. I love him. He and his wife are really cool and I feel so blessed to have them here. We had a tough time getting to the Mission Office because of strikes and riots in the streets. Nothing violent, but a lot of road blocks. But everything happened according to schedule, so it was okay.
I am serving in the Tequisate Zone, the Nueva Concepcion Area. It´s the hottest area of the mission. And it´s sooo hot. And sooo wet. Yesterday was the first day that I ended with dry feet. The first night it started pouring and I was in my suit pants. They´re moldy now. I´m trying to figure out how to wash them. We were hiking around in knee deep water, it was an interesting welcome to my first area. That night, my companion and I saw weird lights in the sky. And then all the power in the city went out. It was weird and kinda scary. We couldn´t see anything. Luckily I had packed a flashlight in my bag. That was a blessing.
My companion is named Elder Herrera. Everyone says he´s a really hard worker, but I think this past week was rather slow. I´m hoping things pick up. I´m trying to figure out how to use an Area Book. I asked one of the APs what I could do personally to improve the mission. He said to use the area book. It´s a trend I hope to start today.
I forgot to bring my camera, I think I can hook it up to the computer to send pictures. And the pictures you sent are so great! Haley, you´re beautiful!
Oh! I don´t have an address, so just go ahead and send things to the mission office. I got seven letters this week! It was so wonderful! I don´t know how well I will be able to respond to them. If you could tell Brother Teeples thank you so much for his letter, I would appreciate that. It was so great to hear from him. Also, Rita Argueta and Holli Machmer wrote me! If you could message them on facebook for me and thank them for their letters, I´m going to try to send them something when I get the chance.
Like I said, I forgot my camera. But to give you an idea, our house is very different than the luxiorious apartment I saw in one of Troy´s pictures haha :)
I shower with what looks like an outdoor spout, and the water is less than cold. But I´m getting used to that. Everything is always dirty. Today I´m going to buy cleaning supplies to give me something to do. There are lots of bugs, but that doesn´t bother me much. I sweat all the time, and I´m getting used to that too. It´s either blazing hot, or pouring. But night time is wonderful... when it isn´t raining haha.
It´s really hard to focus. I miss home and it´s mhard when I can´t relate or communicate a whole lot with anyone. I need to forget myself and realize that I´m here for other people. But I don´t know how to focus on their needs when I can hardly understand them.
General Conference was the most wonderful thing ever. Ever talk was comforting and so helpful. I nearly cried at the end of yesterday´s session because it was so great. I´m sad that it´s over.
There was a lot I learned about finding comfort during times of trial. And that has helped. Never before have I needed the comfort of Christ, the companionship of the Holy Ghost more than I do now. Constant prayer is the key. Hope and faith are the key.
Enough complaining. The people here are so poor. It´s sad, but I´m glad to be here to help them. Almost everyone is religious, which makes it tough. They think every church is true. Regardless, I think I´m in one of the most successful areas of the mission. I haven´t seen the fruits of that yet, it being my first week. But I´m excited to get working.
During the talk yesterday about parenting teenagers, I felt a bit guilty for the past. Mom and Dad, I´m sorry if I ever made it seem like I would be offended by your counsel. Now I am starting to realize how much I miss your advice and counsel. Please feel free to offer whatever advice you have.
Brock, I want to thank you for serving a mission. I realize that I am blessed to be here... so blessed. I admire your perseverance and thank you for your example. I love you.
I was able to watch Conference in English with Elder Grover, the zone leader. That was such a blessing. I was able to ask every question I wanted to ask. And he answered them all. Right now it´s hard not to think of home. And it´s hard not to think that I have two years of tedious work. But he told me to focus on the needs of the people and time will fly. I´m trying to do that, but again, it´s hard to help them when I can´t understand them. His words were comforting, and I´m thankful for the time I had with him.
I wonder how my friends from the MTC are coping. I´m going to try to email them.
Oh! It´s such a blessing to live next to a restaurant. We have our lunches (the biggest meal of the day) cooked for us. That´s soo wonderful. And costs less than two dollars each day. Also, we have our clothes washed for us. That´s a blessing too. But I don´t know how long it takes. So tonight I´ll be washing some of my own clothes because I´m running out haha!
As difficult as this time is, I´m thankful for it. I learn so much every day. I pray every day that I can feel God´s love. When I seek it I find it. I dedicate every day to the Lord, and I hope to become the best I can be.
I asked Elder Grover if everyone has a tough first week. He said yes. That´s comforting to know I´m not the only one who has a rough time. We had the opportunity to listen to the testimonies of all the elders who were going home. That made me nostalgic. But as much as I look forward to that day, I need to focus on the here and now. I have work to do. And this is such an opportunity!
My Spanish is improving, but it´s hard to go every day (except for conference :)) without English. It´s a comfort to write in my journal in English and read the scriptures in English. Despite my feelings of loneliness and depression, there are moments of joy and excitement. The little things, like food and clothing make me happy. Learning makes me happy. Understanding something that somebody says makes me happy.
The people here are impressed with my Spanish, and my height. They say I´m much farther along than the other North American greenies that come through here. I´m grateful to be able to understand the bit that I can. I think my Spanish is a lot better than I sometimes give it credit.
The women here are obsessed with us missionaries. It´s weird and annoying. By no means am I tempted to fall into the trap that so many elders fall into, it´s annoying and they are distracted from our purpose here. Nothing too weird happens. They just try to flirt and what not. It´s easy to take care of.
My companion is from Honduras and he´s a bit hard to understand sometimes. He´s the district leader and he´s a cool guy. I look forward to playing soccer with him today. He´s been a great help. He´s a lot more mature than the elders in my district in the CCM. I´m grateful for his companionship.
It is so great to hear from you guys. Dad, good luck with your trips and work. Thank you for your advice and counsel. And that was awesome to hear an update about Alex. I want to email him. Could you send me his email sometime?
Mom, I got a couple of your dear elders this past week and it was so great to read them, even though they were a bit old. Thank you for writing me.
I can feel the strength of your prayers and I thank you for them. Everything really isn´t as bad as this email makes it seem. I have so much to be grateful for. It´s just that right now I´m having a tough time. The food is great, my companion is great, my president is great, conference was amazing, I have stuff to do like cleaning the house and building the area book, and I´m loving the people. Wet feet are a small price to pay for all that.
Real quick about the people... they are easy to love, which is such a blessing. I´m so grateful to be in this area. The members are awesome. There are tons of inactives, and I look forward to bringing them back into the fold. There´s so much work to be done here. Thanks for listening to my venting. I feel better haha! I still miss you guys. And I miss my friends too. But I´m here for a great purpose.
Haley, check out the style of music Reggaton. It´s extremely popular here and I think you might like it. I don´t know how clean it is, or if they have much of it in English, but it seems like it would be fun to dance to.
Last thing, I´m running out of facewash and don´t know if i´ll be able to find anything legit down here. If you could send some next time you send a package I would appreciate it. Thanks again for everything. Thanks for your love and examples. Please tell the ward I love them and thank them for their examples. Tell Alex he´s such a stud, and the Lord needs him. And tell him I love him. Thank you guys for everything, I wish I could talk to you face to face, but email is such a blessing. Love you!
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
