QUE HONDA MENGS!!! I got a turtle. His name is Timmy. I named him myself. And I EVEN sent you a picture of him. He’s a mini turtle I know...but I still love him.
I ditched the slingshot for squirt guns---pshhh wayyyyy sicker--works like a chaaaaaaaarm. Dogs. People. Little children. this week AVATAR--the taxi driver--was like oye guero guarde su pistola or something like that and I went up and shot him...pretty sweet...it was hilarious...all his taxi buddies were laughing hah, and dogs just RUN when I point it at them. I’ll describe the squirt gun cause I don’t have a picture. It’s smaller than my hand-futuristic-and shoots like a 9. I feel like it’s Malibu’s most wanted here---like my other gangster pic—I’ll tell you about it later. Mexicans are blessed with the WONDERFUL marathon of James Bond TOO!!!! HOW COOL IS THAT!!!! We walk into one of our investigators houses and it was on, then it went to commercials and it said it was the marathon!!! heeeeeeeeh so cool.
I ditched the slingshot for squirt guns---pshhh wayyyyy sicker--works like a chaaaaaaaarm. Dogs. People. Little children. this week AVATAR--the taxi driver--was like oye guero guarde su pistola or something like that and I went up and shot him...pretty sweet...it was hilarious...all his taxi buddies were laughing hah, and dogs just RUN when I point it at them. I’ll describe the squirt gun cause I don’t have a picture. It’s smaller than my hand-futuristic-and shoots like a 9. I feel like it’s Malibu’s most wanted here---like my other gangster pic—I’ll tell you about it later. Mexicans are blessed with the WONDERFUL marathon of James Bond TOO!!!! HOW COOL IS THAT!!!! We walk into one of our investigators houses and it was on, then it went to commercials and it said it was the marathon!!! heeeeeeeeh so cool.
So with those same investigators we had a great week. One night we did some "fellowshipping" and played some sick street soccer. 3 on 3 and my comp and I were split. We (the 2 investigators and I, one girl like 14 and a guy like 20) WRECKED hah 20-11...not gonna lie..played out of my mind, it was tight. It was like the funnest thing ever though. It was at night. Then after we played a game with them, and it was the SAME game we played in the mtc with our teachers---it had to do with words and I like dominated cause they let me use English words too, so I had a word for everything :P but it was great and we had a lesson too OF COURSE...the hermana was super sick so we were taking it easy with them that day. After they didn’t show up at church the next day, we had this hour and a half long lesson about keeping commitments and what they wanted in our visits. Everyone was crying --not us though--but they were, and there were a bunch of problems that they told us, but I’m not going to go into them all...but the spirit was so strong and we taught a bunch of stuff just to help them and set a date with them---miracle. Fact: my area hasn’t had a baptism in 7 months. Other fact: Puebla Mexico mission is the hardest baptizing mission in alllll of Mexico because of the density of Catholics-this place has more catholic churches than any other state...great right, but don’t worry, we’ll get sommmme. Oh, and that night we played soccer with the family, the little 2 year old was running around and I was squirting him with my squirt gun and he was loooooooooooving it hahah it was so hilarious -- oh and awkward moment--so I go to refill my squirt gun in this driveway and the people pull up haaaaaaaaaah I was like heyyyyyyy can I use your faucet? And they said yes---but it was awkward.
It’s cool walking in these weird places I think...like in the middle of nowhere...like knocking that door in one of the pictures. [It’s on the blog and looks like an abandoned house] We contacted this guy and it went SUPER well and he was a hard core j dub and we went to find him later at his house which took foreeeeeeever to find and we asked like 10 people after taking a combi (bus) 20 minutes into the middle of nowhere...then we found it and he lives in this space with about a 4 foot ceiling second floor and sleeps on this old mattress that is suuuper dirty with this blanket and has a small kitchen, if you can even call it that. And that’s it. We could see all of it cause he has no windows...he wasn’t home but we knocked his door and got a pic and hopefully we’ll find him this week :)
I ate this salsa that tasted like the smell of chucky cheese - dead serious - it was super good though.
We went to visit one of the members this week who is a dentist, and after talking to her for a while and answering some of her questions she had she just starts bawling and tells us it was a miracle we came cause she needed answers and stuff---it was really cool---and she also told us of a miracle that happened with her mom that was super powerful. It was like a REAL miracle—it’s kinda long so I don’t want to tell you the whole thing but basically she heard her name in church to give the prayer (cause she never wants to do it) but nobody else did, and the person that the president announced--and KNEW he announced, didn’t hear--that’s kinda a junk summary but it was way powerful. We answered some questions about Mormon Doctrine, but it’s called something else here...a lot of people think that book is scripture...its not. Guess how many people were at church...15...guess how many where there when it ended… about 12 haaaaaah crazy. The PRESIDENT left early because he had family at home. We tried to explain to him and his wife--who is the Relief Society president that they really should be there--ESPECIALLY when there are not that many people, and they are LEADERS--but they don’t listen--members don’t listen here because of past missionaries--there are a RIDICULOUS amount of problems here, you can’t even imagine. The last missionaries......uhhh wow...bad BAD..and a ton of other stuff...hah we’re working on rebuilding it now. SO...we have the new best investigator ever that hermano alejandro found!! He’s SICK!!! We gave him the first lesson and got to know him yesterday--I think he will for SURE get baptized--his dad is a convert and got converted working in the US in IDAHO...HAAAAAAH in some random city, but he told his son to listen to us and ahhhh its like perfect...and to make it even better he’s super tight, haha he’s short--and went on our adventure with us today to the waterfalls. He’s a break dancer—it’s so great---only one here--and he’s legit too!! We share the same taste in music and he played some for us and they always think it’s great that I know all the words hahaha so funny though.
We had so much fun today. We went to the waterfalls with Alejandro. He said he wants to completely change and stop mj and drinking mostly, and we were telling him about the influence of friends and he totally knows it, and wants to change...so we brought him with us to the waterfalls--so sick---HUUUUUUGE waterfall!! I thought it was going to be some dinky one like the other but NOPE it’s like 100 feet plus and the water is just BLUUUUUUUUE like reeeeally blue...a light blue and I was so temmmmmped to huck a gainer off this fat rock cause it was PERFECT but I didn’t---aren’t you proud of me? and then after the waterfalls--oh and to get there took like a combi for 20 min and then this sketch trail for 30--its like kinda a secret--like not touristy or anything and nobody knows about it...it was way legit, I took tons of pictures...oh and my national restaurant association water bottle fell out of my backpack and into the water and I thought it was a gonner but then we tried to get it and our investigator--lets just call him Chad cause I forgot his name--Chad tried to get it with this stick and DID--I have no idea how cause it was between these two rocks and kinda deep. Then when I went to hand him his shoe I bumped it and it fell into the water. I felt so dumb, but it was all good and he’s a super happy guy so he wasn’t mad or anything. On the way back we walked on the side of this aqueduct...hah so sketchy...my comp didn’t come with us when we went on it for a little...it was like a fat drop off the side, you fall and you are DEAD for SURE. It was way cool though...it’s in the pictures. It was a great adventure.
Oh I forgot. I taught priesthood on Sunday. There were 4 of us. I taught the word of wisdom. Pretty much just read scriptures and described it---pretty simple and everyone knew what it was. Oh, and I cut my hair too...looks pretty sexy if you ask me maybe I’ll take a picture of it and send it next week.
Oh and this week I had a MIRACLE HAPPEN...unlike any miracle I have seen in ALL of my mission, like it will impact me and strengthen me so much, SO, I was super sick one night this week, 102.2 fever shaking, freezing cold, felt terrible and couldn’t sleep at ALLLLL!!! I went to bed at 9 right when we got back and just rolled around and suffffffffffered till 1:30. and the whole time I was thinking, I should have my comp give me a blessing, but then I was like nahhhh I’lll wait till the morning, and if it is still bad I’ll ask for one. But, at 1:30 I was like no, I need one, and I need to demonstrate my faith cause I felt like if I didn’t ask for one I really wasn’t believing, so I woke up my comp and asked for a blessing. Right when he laid his hands on my head I just started crying, like he didn’t see me or anything cause our room was pitch black but I was just balling and I don’t even remember what he said but it was like 2 minutes long and after I laid back in my bed, EVERYTHING that I had felt 5 minutes before had left me...EVERYTHING!!!! and I was like WAY bad, like in and out of freezing in my sleeping bag and putting on sweatshirts and getting up to get water, and when he ended his blessing, it all left. It was a miracle. I just laid in my bed for the next 30 minutes looking at the ceiling and trying to really grasp what had just happened and just like balled my eyes out, and I think its the first real time I’ve cried on my mission like that...it was truly a miracle, and something I will NEVER forget. My testimony was strengthened SO much. The power of the priesthood is SO powerful and SO true and if we just have faith it works. I can’t even explain how I felt about it, like it is the most real thing ever, and we HAVE that power to work miracles. It just demonstrated to me again just how MUCH God LOVES his missionaries. The power of the priesthood is so powerful. I always knew it was real, but I had never seen it work to this extent with my own eyes, and I did this week, and it was the most amazing, spiritual and just spiritually enriching experience I have ever had. I’m so blessed and thankful to have the priesthood, and I’m so thankful my companion has it too, and I know that it can work miracles and it is so amazing. Learn the scriptures; ask to know the mysteries of god in your prayers. I love you all. Thanks for all the prayers and everything. I miss you all but I’m loving it here. :)
Love,
Elder Alex Bertha
Oh and I would like to make a shout out. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERICA HAWKINS!!!
Oh and another. Ross Pagotto is my hero.
Timmy the turtle
One of our investigators lives on the second floor.
