A Drama that we did

Baptism of Miguel

Baptism of Kenia

Service Project

Week 79 in El Salvador

June 27, 2011

Hey,

So, I’ve got good news and bad news....

Good news...Miguel was baptized, he was super happy about it. Not a lot of people showed up, because it was raining.... you should have seen us walking through the rain...in the last couple minutes we decided to buy a small $6 cake for the baptism...so I was carrying two bags, a cake, plastic plates and forks in one hand, and my backpack, and my umbrella and sandals in my other hand, all under heavy rain...there was enough water in the sides of the road that we probably could’ve just baptized him their haha.... anyway.... we had all his friends at the baptism, it was small, but there was a peaceful feeling there.

Also...President Perez is leaving on Wednesday.... the kind general is leaving, and a father is coming. I’ll meet him next Wednesday. It’s my hope that he will be better.

Bad news.... when I left San Miguel, I paid all my bills, but when I came here none of the bills were paid...on top of that, it was Elder B, and another companion with equally as much time as him...two baggies.... spent a ton of money and the bills are at least triple (normal electricity bill is like 12 dollars, if we are working all day, and don’t enter the house until nine, but they left the bill at close to $40.... the telephone bill is worse), because they don’t care...their attitude is “well, I’m leaving, so it won’t be my problem”....so I’m left to pay their bills, with the money I don’t have...my companion is broke too. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but for the past two weeks I’ve been living on the house money, hoping the mission will send us something, but I can’t pay the bills, and the receipts haven’t come, so I can’t turn the receipts into them, to ask for more, .....One big mess.

I hope that when Pres. Glazier comes he will change this to be like the other missions, where the mission pays for the bills, and we are only left to worry about our own costs, and not of the missions and also companions.

Also...the house flooded from the rain, it came through the roof of our two-story house, and the bottom floor is flooded, because the top floor is flooded.

Anyways that’s it for the good news and bad news.

We are teaching a man named Moises.... he’s deaf, and mute, and never went to school, so he can’t read either. He is about 40 something years old, and is just starting to study again at a first grade level...anyway, I’m learning Spanish sign language, little by little.... I teach him with drawings also. He says he wants to get baptized, but he can’t get to church until the next Sunday, because he will be working (he works as a money collector for the buses)...we taught him yesterday the whole story of the Book of Mormon, and the restoration, and he understood...we explained a little bit about ourselves, and the mission. My companion basically turned the lesson over to me...half of the family are members also, and they know an informal form of sign language (basically what I’m doing right now, but I want to learn it good).... anyway, we are hooping that we can get him to church. ...I feel weird after teaching the lesson, my mind has to be working on double time, like when I was learning Spanish, but its a cool experience.

I’m sending photos of two service project that we did on Friday...I don’t know if it’ll work...

I’m going to try to copy my memory as ASAP...

Chow for now

Corey

Blood Drive March

Week 78 in El Salvador

June 20, 2011

Hey,

Things are going better with my comp. I’ve been teaching him in the nights little by little. We’re now teaching almost fifty-fifty in the lessons, and we will be having a baptism this week.... I’ll tell you about that, because it almost fell through, funny experience...but things are going better with my comp, and we are working normal again...I’ve learned a lesson over again, something I learned biking too...a bike is better with two half full tires than with one flat tire and one good tire.... I’ve learned that teamwork is always better, that we have to be friends.... it’s a refining process for us both.

We had a talk the other day, and I’ve asked him how he has had so much success, and he told me who his companions were.... almost all of them ex-leaders; zone leaders, secretaries, assistants, his whole mission. He’s had luck with companions.

I’m sending photos...

These are from last week, at the blood drive activity

I don’t know if they will all come through, because I have a virus again.... but we can give it a shot.

----I caught a cold this week, and still have a little, but its mostly clearing up. I’ve lost some weight in this new area...I’m gonna turn out like Ian Jensen.

----Anyway, the story of Miguel, our planned baptism for this week. ...Miguel is a youth (14 years old) of a family we activated that hasn’t been baptized.... he lives most of the time with his cousins, (who are all members), but occasionally goes down the street to live with his parents (who aren’t members)...he always comes to the church, and has come now for a month or so.... we asked him if he wanted to get baptized, and he got excited. He does though, at times have a duel personality, and gets really wild, and other times he keeps all the commitments (he can pray really well now, and he’s reading).... but this Sunday was one of his off days I guess (other off days he has gotten up on busses and shouted like he was the guy collecting money, and other stuff like that to show off....). Anyway, he was going to come with his cousins, but one of his oldest cousins, José showed up with his mom, and nobody else came (they are a family of nine), so I start wondering why Miguel didn’t show up, and after sacrament meeting I talked to José, and he said that Miguel had washed his shoes, and didn’t have dry shoes to come to church with...anyway, a little afterwards Miguel comes walking in the church.... flip flops, shorts on, and he’s got a live chicken tied to a leash by the foot.... so I asked him, “hey, why didn’t you come early?”...he just looked at me and said, “I felt silly coming to church in flip flops”....so I asked him, “and it doesn’t make you feel silly to have a chicken on a leash inside the church?”---he looked at me with this look like “you’ve got a point there”.......so, Miguel went to class, and we stuffed the chicken in the janitor’s closet until the meetings ended...it all went well. I got a laugh.

Well, chow for now,

Corey