Emails received on August 19, 2014

7:37am Weekly Update

  I´m gonna start this one with another scripture. This one is exactly how Elder Madsen feels right now. He´s been sick in his bed for 10 days, and we´ve all been rotating in to babysit him. He´s been throwing up, massive stomach cramps, headaches, and the worst diarrhea you could imagine. Go ahead and look up Jeremiah 4:19. And think of Elder Madsen.

     Not a lot happened this week, and I spent a good portion of it in Elder Madsen´s room making sure he doesn´t die. Elder Madsen asked me to give him a blessing one night, and I had never given a blessing before, so I had no idea what I as doing, but then once I started, and everyone was around us, the words just came to me and it was so cool. He´s slowly getting better, and he gets so excited when he passes something solid.

     We´ve had two investigators for a while now, and they´re progressing quite nicely. We teach them in one hundred percent Spanish, so at first it was a little tough, but I´m learning Spanish at a stupidly fast rate. I have a sticker on my nametag that says "Solo Español," so people are only supposed to speak to me in Spanish. It´s really crazy being completely immersed in Spanish, but it´s getting easier every day. I´ve gotten to the point where thinking in Spanish comes naturally, and when I hear someone speak, I just know what they´re saying.

     Our bathroom is still leaking, and we´ve gotten ridiculously good at squeegeeing. I think me and my friend are ready to go pro. Our ceiling looks like a war zone, because we have a daily massacre of mosquitoes with our flyswatters. They´re getting sneakier, and they hide on the ceiling right next to the carcasses of their fallen brethren. Then once we go to sleep, they begin their attack. We all have bug bites, and we think Elder Marshall´s bed may have bed bugs. It was real fun describing to Fernando what bed bugs were without knowing the word for bed bug.

     Today is the halfway point at the CCM, so in three weeks, we´ll be outta here and in Rancagua. It feels like we´ve spent three days here, but it also feels like we´ve known our district for three years. We´ve all agreed that time is bent here, because the days take years, and the weeks take days.

     I wish I had more to say, but the coolest thing that happened this week was that I killed three mosquitoes with one swing. I now hold the apartmentship record of most mosquitoes killed with one swing. I even got a chest bump for it. So yeah, I´ll respond to individual emails now.

Love,

     Elder Hamilton

Easton 8:00am

Dang dude. I totally forgot about monday night practices. The most recent person we´ve scared... Hmmm... I think it was when I hid in the closet outside of our bathroom. Elder Jones was taking a shower, and I was hiding, so when he stepped out, and the floor was all slippery, I jumped out and he almost did the splits, and he may or may not have screamed like a little girl.  And then ten seconde later, when he was in his room, Elder Marshall grabbed Elder Jones´ ankle form under his bed, and we got him super good again!

Love,

     Elder Hamilton

8:04am

Dear Jessica,

     I´m so glad I haven´t gotten sick, its a really sucky illness. Dang, I had Derr for AP Stats. But I had Long, Humphres, and Reimers for all the same classes! How was your date with that creepy kid?

     Seminary sounds fun, and Dave Ramsey? Not bad. Tell me how everything is going back in the states!

Love,

     Elder Hamilton

11:34am

Here we see the elusive Elder Marshall taking shelter from the rabid cameramen of the dormitory B laundry room. Look how he gives the impression of tranquility, but really feels threatened and unsafe.

                                                    The sun rising a few days ago.

 11:39am
In order to obtain the nutrients required for preaching the gospel, we must scavenge among the beans and rice area of the cafeteria. As you can clearly see, the main dish is oftentime unedible, as it resembles blended intestines. The missionary population in Mexico City survives only by the scavenging of bread, beans, rice, fruit loops, and the occasional blessing of nutella. Such is the life of the Elder.

                                         My sweet solo español sticker on my nametag.