Chicken for lunch....

From the camera of Elder Aigilar, who is in my district. I told you last week that he speaks English, but he showed me this photo of one day he had lunch...its probably the saddest most hilarious photo I have seen. ...

Graffiti

There is this wall maybe half a mile long, completely filled with graffiti. I love every time we walk past there. These are some of the more crazy ones.

Crazy Pupusas

My companion finished his, just barely, so I’m sending you a picture of his face afterwards. We didn’t eat lunch or dinner that day.
In comparison with a normal pupusas, there is one in the center of ours that is normal. My record for eating normal pupusas is 9, but I couldn’t finish this one...they are thicker. I had a little left.
these are called Pupusas Locas, or the crazy pupusas.... a lady makes them close to my area, and our cocinara bought them for us on Tuesday.

week 37 in El Salvador

Hey,

I have no plans to leave Alaska, just for occasional tours and vacations. And I’ll probably be staying at home for another two years at least. I have no intentions of going to Utah to study.

Thanks for the addresses...I’m going to try to write people back, I seriously haven’t had time. Once I get familiarized with my area, I should get a little more time, because it’s a lot easier with a companion that I can trust.

That’s weird to think that the class of 2010 is already heading to college. Good luck to Ed and Maddy and Panika and Karlie, and everyone else.

I want photos of Karlie’s truck. From how much that I heard the poor truck has turned into a veteran from Viet Nam.

---Don’t worry about the area. The part with the campanera is restricted to us after seven at night. And we stay out of the other areas. It’s usually really chill. The last gringo they and here was Elder Brown, who was in my MTC district. .... If you can’t find the area, maybe you can look for other, closer parts...try Los Lirios, or Bosques de Prusia, or Regalo de Dios.... it’s in the zone of Soyapango, really close to Ilopango, where I was before.

This week has been nuts. We had another baptism...Cristina.

--I’m gonna try to send photos, then I’ll tell you about the week.

--Corey

Week 36 in El Salvador

Hey,

Ok. So I had transfers. I’m in an area called the Campanera. I wasn’t really planning on coming here, but I guess, like dad says, there is a purpose for everything. It is famous as being the most dangerous colony in Central America, and the mission. It is territory of 18. And they are far more organized here. A documentary has left about the area, and I told you about it earlier. A lot of the parts in my area are restricted by the mission. My new companion is named Elder Alvarado---he’s from Guatemala, and it’s turning out to be another companionship like me and Elder Brandao. [This is a good thing] It’s a little bit of a break from being the second trainer of two starting companions, and we can work more as a team. Alvarado has 7 months in the mission.

We had a baptism this Saturday, and I talked to my old companion, and everything has been set up in my old area, and they also baptized one of my investigators this Saturday, and they have more coming, and we have more coming.

In the middle of packing, I think I left my razor somewhere, so when I came to my new area, I started shaving with an extra head of my old razor. It went all good, until I was shaving above my lip, and one of the blades slipped, and I was bleeding all over the place. I came prepared though, always have superglue in my bag (I’ve had to patch up my fingers a couple times too), and its all good now, but I’m gonna have another scar.

I had pictures of it, but somehow all my photos got erased, from the last 4 and half months. I’m going today to a Kodak shop to see if they can restore the photos. If there is something possible to do on your end, tell me, and I can send you the memory. If nothing works out, I’ll get a hold of Elder Perez and Elder Herrera, and get copies of some of the photos. Also on your end, I hope that you have made two copies of the memory cards I have sent.

A member family that we used to visit in Zacatecoluca has moved to my new ward. Its cool, cause I didn’t expect to see them after they moved.

My new zone is absolutely nuts, and we have the majority of the more crazy missionaries with us. I’m sitting next to Elder Augilar who is almost fluent in English, but learned it through watching movies and video games---it kind of shows though, because he speaks a lot of slang.

I’m working on an envelope for the family---I have a little painting in there. I was going to throw in other drawings, but right now I don’t feel like dissecting one of my more complete sketchbooks. I haven’t been able to do a whole bunch, but I have formatted tons of ideas for paintings. I’ve also got a poster of the new temple that they are building in San Salvador.

Well, uhhhh, no pictures for today. Sorry

Corey

Two little peas in a pod

Corey is known as Aleskeno in El Salvador

Exhausted missionaries!

El Salvador....

Mission life...

Tap water

My worn-out shoes

Week 35 in El Salvador

Hey,

Yah, hey, so I know about Sister Marielos tagging my facebook. She is actually doing it for you (mom); she is one of the only people I will ever meet that will talk for hours without stopping. They’re friends, and members, but honestly it is hard to leave their house. Every time I come over there, she complains, and is like “your poor mother, I can’t believe she would let you come down here for your mission.” She talks for hours about the weirdest stuff---when her dog got sick---how her house leaks---how her son broke his arm---the phone bills----and she will keep going for ever. ------The bishop also has this problem. The other day we decided to take him to a lesson----I am never doing it again----he talked in a lesson for three hours, we didn’t speak, the investigators didn’t speak, and it was just him rambling on and on. ---And things of no importance for first lesson investigators---first: the lineage of Joseph, the patriartical blessing, in the book of Job how Satan asked permission from God, the idolatry in the books of Moses, his favorite scriptures, why Satan tempts us, -----and he was going on and on, some of the stuff he said wasn’t even correct doctrine. It was terrible.

So, I didn’t answer a couple of your questions last time: Yes, that is tap water, the water bottles are mine I used in Zacatè and the other one is used from the water here---you can se the difference. The woman stirring the pot is Sister Sabina (who gave Kendra the hammock). My companion that looks like Obama is Elder Brandao---he is a new zone leader in Layco.

Changes are this Wednesday. These changes are going to be crazy, because there are like 16 gringos coming in, and nearly all the leaders are going home.

Comparatively to how it use to be, my area is doing better. It’s known to be the most difficult area in Ilopango. We have been working super hard, but still have nothing for baptisms. But we are working with far more people than the missionaries before us. We are consistently bringing around 4 people to church, which is a new thing for the area, when my first change, and the changes before I got there, the missionaries were lucky if one person came to church during the whole change. So we are slowly improving, but I am still really frustrated, because we work so hard, and are still not able to pull of the goals that are expected of us. We should see an improvement soon. I figure its like breaking the friction of a rolling stone, as soon as something little starts working, it will start rolling. Things will start happening soon.

I’m sending a picture of a couple families in the ward----

Corey

My birthday taco

My birthday party!

my birthday with the Black family, from Utah

The house I live in....

my house, since I haven’t sent a pic yet.... the one behind me that looks like a jail cell with rifle slots

Week 34 in El Salvador

Hey,

I finally got to read all the stuff you sent me in the package----and tell Kendra that I am quite impressed that her class was able to pull off “fight club” in the boy’s locker room, at least for a little while. But still nothing beats the class of ´09.

Hey, so there is this guy that lives in the neighborhood. He teaches the academy of the arts in El Salvador, and people come from all around the country to be taught by him. I’ve seen some of his work, and I really like his abstract stuff, but here is his website if you want to see---- academytonatiu.wordpress.com----his name is Joalgar. If you want, I can get you something small.

My birthday was good. I had like 3 separate parties. This family was visiting from the United States in Utah. Me and one of their daughters had the same birthday. August 4 1990, and 1998. We’ve come over to their house for dinner a couple times, and I told the mom to tell you hi, but I’m sure they are busy---she speaks English.

The work in my area is going kinda slow right now, and it turns out the whole mission is having trouble.

There have been a lot of soldiers in the area lately, and a lot of police. They are always patrolling the streets for two weeks. It’s a little overboard for their normal routine. I haven’t seen so many soldiers since I left Zacaté.

I’m glad you were finally able to get those pictures.

Hey, so did Jordan get his mission call yet? I think I remember you telling me that he sent in his papers. Has Ian turned in his papers yet? How is Karl doing in Guatemala? How is Cory doing in Chile? How is Tim doing in Korea? How is Rick doing in the Dominican Republic? ---Tell them hi.

So I’m sending pics

First one is of my house, since I haven’t sent a pic yet.... the one behind me that looks like a jail cell with rifle slots.

The second one is my birthday with the Black family, from Utah.

I’m sending more pics,

Tell Kendra, and Rachel and Jared and Katie, and Alyssa, and cloey and tk hie. I got the videos. Tell Katie to keep up the riding. And tell Alyssa that I wish I could see all the words that are running off the page when she reads.

Corey

Where's ALTO?

The following photos are of the stop signs in my area. It is a little amusing, because at first, I didn’t see any, but I found one, and started looking for others. I’m not kidding when I say that seriously every stop sign in the neighborhood (seriously like every street) is hidden. I guess it doesn’t matter if the drivers are following the laws, but at least all the trees and telephone posts have stopped for the stop signs. I showed the photos to some members in the area, and they said that they have lived here for 15 years and never seen a stop sign.

Rain

the first photo is when it rained a little bit, and stopped, and the sewers were overflowing still. Sometimes when it rains hard, the water will shoot up as high as the cars, but I haven’t pulled out my camera for the rain.

Another Week 31 letter

[Corey couldn't get this to send, so finally told me to get into his mail box to get it, so it's a few weeks late, but still worth posting.]

July 18, 2010

Hey, ----so the computer told me my last weeks’ message did not get sent, I’ll try and send it again.

So the picture is the conference issue of the Ensign, of this year.

We ran into a lot of people this week. There is a huge difference between door contacts here, and when I would go on visits with the missionaries up there. In the states, the problem seems like most people just don’t care, or don’t have time. Here, there are huge numbers of people that are completely adamant about their religion, and just want to fight with us, and in turn, a lot of the missionaries end up bible bashing with the people, trying to prove everything, which is not the point.

So, I’ll try sending photos, I’ve got a funny story...

Ok.... so the first photo is when it rained a little bit, and stopped, and the sewers were overflowing still. Sometimes when it rains hard, the water will shoot up as high as the cars, but I haven’t pulled out my camera for the rain.

The following photos are of the stop signs in my area. It is a little amusing, because at first, I didn’t see any, but I found one, and started looking for others. I’m not kidding when I say that seriously every stop sign in the neighborhood (seriously like every street) is hidden. I guess it doesn’t matter if the drivers are following the laws, but at least all the trees and telephone posts have stopped for the stop signs. I showed the photos to some members in the area, and they said that they have lived here for 15 years and never seen a stop sign.

--------So that is tight about fishing. That’s all I have to say.

Good job for Jared. Did you take a video?

Week 33 in El Salvador

August 2, 2010

Hey,

Yes, I did get your package, and I will thank you in ten years when I have diabetes, cause this stuff is so good. Thank you. Tell the Lee family that I got their package too. Tell them thanks.

So to explain the videos----the dog---when we were constructing the house for the Alvarado family, I was on the job of digging the toilets. When we got there, the toilet was dug up to the height of my head, and I think I sent you photos of the later results.... anyway, Mario (the kid holding the dog first), was like “hey guess what, the other day the dog tripped and fell in the pit, but he jumped right out.”---I looked at the newly dug hole, and just told him that if the dog tripped again, it wasn’t coming out----so he looked at me with this “you’re full of crap”- face, and got a hold of the dog---that’s about the same time I pulled out my camera, to watch a dog jump 8 1/2 feet. ---So he was just gonna push it in, and I was thinking that the dogs gonna make a sound sort of like-- ´´KeerSPLAT!´´---so I had to take the dog from him, and gently toss it in. ---in the long run, the dog couldn’t get out, and it started whining, so I looked at Mario with an “in your face” kind of look, and he decided that the hole was a bit deeper, so later I pulled the dog out.

And as for my Spanish at that point, I was nothing near fluent.

As for the shoes, I don’t remember taking a video, but if I was sticking my finger through them, then they were mine.

That’s terrible about the little girl. There’s not much to say. I’m sick of people getting killed.

As for Rachel, do not let her go driving, until I say hi, like at least let me get back first. I didn’t even give her a proper goodbye when I left. If your gonna buy her a car, get her one of those Plastic-Mate brands, with the battery powered motor, or maybe a Tonka truck would be more durable. I don’t know who has forgotten by now, but I still have her voice reeling through my head---“no, I was going really slow, but I didn’t see the telephone post in front of me”---what is it gonna be this time. Can you put a trigger limit on it, like we can with the four wheelers? Tell Louis I want a favor, if he ever gets any time---tell him to modify my car a little----just a little----put window cages, sidewalls, reinforced bumpers, and the spaceman seatbelt on it. Then when its done, spay paint it bright orange, with diagonal black stripes. That should be all. ---Wait, better idea, and ask him if he has ever seen the cars in the movie Death Race----maybe we could do something like that.

So, we have an investigator who is the same age as dad, down to the August 7th, so we are going to have a duel party, just like normal. Tell dad Happy Birthday. She’s a good person, but we kind of have problems teaching them, her name Silvia, and the person she lives with Almando, and are not married. They live together with their kids, and grandkid, but they are each married to someone different, the both of them, even though they live together. So it’s a bit difficult for us.

I just got news that Elder X is returning to the mission. He was one of the missionaries that left my district in the MTC. I just saw his picture on the new missionaries that are coming into the field this next change. It’s like he’s coming back from the dead.

Hey, I don’t have any more time to write. Tell everyone hi.

Corey