Ahhh I loved all your emails! Thank you so much for the advice and
everything. This week, although by no means easier, was better. Mom,
that talk by President Hinckley was powerful, I needed that. It
sounds like your vacation was great! Mom on a jetski!?!?!? Haha
thats so awesome!
We had a little vacation of our own today, thats why my email is so
late. We were the most successful zone in the mission during October,
so we traveled to Reu (Retalhuleu) and met up with President Maravilla
and his family and the Assistants to the President and the
Secretaries. We went to this really nice resort (way cheap too!) and
played mini golf for our P Day. It was pretty awesome. Everyone kept
asking about how my Spanish is coming along and they all told me they
were impressed with my progress. So that tells me I think Im
progressing more than I think I am haha. President was really
impressed and told me to keep it up. He was pleased with our success
this past month and told us it better continue haha! We have some
great goals set, so I think it will continue.
After playing mini golf we sat around and talked until leaving to eat
lunch at BURGER KING. That was amazing. Oh and I think I overreacted
on the weight thing. I weighed myself this week and Im still at 180.
Ive been eating healthier and adjusted my work out plan every morning
and thats going well.
Dad, AA batteries are what I need most. And three AAA: Thanks!
And Mom, that sheet will work great! I dont remember all that I wrote
in my letter regarding the Plan of Salvation sheet, but I think it was
detailed enough. Im sure whatever you think will work will be just
great.
So I tried Iguana this week. That was interesting. We killed the
iguana ourselves and had a member cook it for us. Then we caught a
huge one that afternoon! Both green ones! Those are pretty rare, it
was nuts.
I also tried cow tongue. That was interesting too. Haha I dont think
it was the cause of my bu (diahrrea) but i felt a little funny after
eating it.
So a couple of really cool things happened this week. First, we took
a bus out to the trochas (toward the beach, which I still have yet to
see) and visited a family from the branch. They were so excited to
have us over. They gave me two coconuts to drink and then fed us
soup. Who knows what was in it! Haha it was weird. But we visited
with them for a bit and then we were about to leave when they informed
us that there wasnt a bus that comes by until three. It was one. My
companion was sure there was a bus that came every hour haha! The
father of the family offered to take us back on his motorcycle. Elder
Herrera said well my companion doesnt like to do that. They asked me
why. I explained that it was dangerous (rather than explaining that
we had a rule saying it was prohibited. That would have exposed an
element of disobedience and disunity in our companionship) and that I
dont like to do it haha. So Elder Herrera looked at me and asked what
we were going to do. He said, we have three options... walk the two
hour hike back to the house, wait the two hours for the bus, or take
the motorcycle. I said, well I will narrow it down to two options and
you can pick from there haha. He laughed and said, I guess we will
wait for the bus. Five minutes after we made that decision, we heard
a horn honking in the distance. It was a bus horn! We ran to the
street after saying our goodbyes and made it just in time! The bus
came out of nowhere and never comes at that time! It was such a
blessing. We got back to the house in time for Language Study and we
were on time to our appointment after that.
Another cool thing... So President told us we can use bikes if we need
them, but to be careful and not take improper advantage of his
permission. The other night we had two appointments in the Pampas,
which are pretty far. It was a situation that justified using bikes.
So we rode all the way our there. Elder Herreras bike chain kept
falling off. But we finally got to the house. The family wasnt
there. We went to the other house. That family wasnt there. UGH
haha
So we started to head back and we saw a man outside of his house
talking to his wife! A married couple! And there were kids in the
yard! It was a family just waiting for us! (we have had quite the
time trying to find actual families to teach and its a huge goal of
our zone). So we talked to the father. His wife had to go do
something and couldnt visit with us. But we talked to this guy and
realized he was very well versed in religion. He knew his stuff and
had investigated the church a bit. But the cool thing was how this
guy didnt let his knowledge turn into pride. A lot of times,
intelligent people become enslaved by their own knowledge. They let
it prevent them from seeing things from another point of view, or
understanding things in different ways. They let it get in the way of
feeling and humility. This man, Brother Garcia, was different. He
sat there and thought about each thing we said. He would then point
out how it was in agreement with something from the Bible and how he
never understand how other churches dont teach it that way, etc. It
was so cool to see him realize that there was more to the gospel of
Jesus Christ than what many churches teach. He accepted the Book of
Mormon and was eager to pray about it.
If we hadnt had those two appointments out there, and if they hadnt
fallen through, we might not have had the chance to find and teach
him. It helped see that sometimes there is a purpose to things not
working out as planned.
Awhile back, Mom asked if the place Im in is dangerous. Nueva
Concepcion is too lazy to be dangerous. Im sure stuff happens, but
the most dangerous thing for us is the street. Haha I almost got hit
by a drunk riding his bike today. Thats a pretty common thing. And
there are ten year olds driving motorcycles. We always have to be
alert when walking in the streets because its pretty crazy. But other
than that its pretty safe around here. People respect us as fellow
Christians, so we dont get any trouble.
So Ive mentioned that almost everyone here goes to church. The
churches teach some pretty interesting stuff. I dont want to get too
far into it because theyre all trying to do what they think is right.
But something that gives me weird feelings is when some of the
Evangelicos pray. They get all emotional and raise their voices and
weep and wail and chant. And everyone listening to the prayer mutters
chants and whispers and stuff. Its creepy sometimes haha and it makes
it kind of tough to teach the proper, reverent, method of prayer.
But theyre all good people and Im continuously learning to love them.
Ive learned a lot this first change and I look forward to seeing what
will happen this week. As anxious as I am to know whats going to
happen, Ive prayed to have the strength and faith to submit to what
the Lord has in store and make the best of it. Actually doing that is
harder than saying it, as is everything in the mission, but Im
determined. I was studying a lot about faith this week and learned
that faith is a gift from God, a spiritual gift. As we demonstrate
our faith through our actions and our humble desires to serve the
Lord, He is able to give us more faith. He is able to strengthen our
hope and we can partake, little by little, of the fruit of the tree of
life. Sometimes my faith is stronger than other times and I can feel
a difference in my abilities to speak Spanish and teach by the Spirit.
I have a desire to acquire more of it, and Im determined to act on
that desire.
I love you guys and hope youre all doing great! Haley, you arent a
terrible sister! But thats no excuse not to write haha I love your
letters!
Oh, funny story. Theres a house with two sisters (in their late
twenties) who live with their father. And we go there a lot to eat
dinner. And they do our laundry. But theres a drunk that lives close
by and every night he yells "PERDONEME!" at the top of his lungs.
Perdoneme means forgive me. Haha its the weirdest thing, but its
hilarious. When we walk by he tries to talk to me in english but hes
too drunk to say much. When he isnt yelling it means he has passed
out for the night. Funny, but in a sad way. People drink sooo much
here, its crazy.
Well, gotta go. Love you all and hope you have a great week! Thanks
for your advice and please continue to give it. I have so much to
learn.
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
P.S. Dad, I love the pictures, you guys look great! And I havent
gotten mail in a couple weeks, but before that I received a bunch of
letters. None from you guys yet, but Im sure theyre all in a pile at
the mission office. ill find out this week.
