Hey Guys,
Life has definitely changed this week. The rules are a little different when you get to the field, so we can use an app called Google Hangouts to text on p-days. There are some things that make that complicated though. We are basically living in a farming community from the 80's, so we will need to find an Internet Cafe or McDonald's for wifi. And, we have the time difference. So I will be on from 4-6pm my time, or 8-10am your time. We can chat then or I can send you a big long email. Either way is good with me, just let me know what you want to do.
Love you guys,
Josh
Monday, September 11 at 8:25am (U.S. Mountain Standard Time)
Josh: So what do you want to know? I don't even know where to start.
Mom: Tell me everything! Just talk to me..
Josh: The rules here are way different. We had this app in the CCM, but Pres. Packer didn't want us to use it. Probably cause we would always be talking to you guys. But now we can email anytime on p days, we just need wifi. Today we just found a McDonald's and we're using their wifi. The area is really interesting. It's the biggest one in the mission as far as land covered. We don't have a ward or branch right now because there are only 2 members, so we just have Sacrament Meeting in the park. We also have 1 of the 2 cars in the mission. We rotate though. So every other week we drive down to Salamanca to go to the branch there. They meet in a small school. We just rent out two classrooms.
Mom: How many missionaries are in your area? That sounds so much like what dad experienced. Are you loving it?
Josh: Oh I'm definitely loving it. It scared me a little at first, but it's been awesome so far. It's funny how much it is like dad's stories. We just have the two of us in the area, and our district is only us and the companionship in Salamanca. The others are about 80 minutes away by car, so we only see them for district meeting. Elder Jager is awesome. He does speak English but we try to speak Spanish anytime we're not in the piso. The food is a lot better outside the CCM. I have been cooking a lot. We have a pretty sweet set up with our groceries. Once or twice a week we go work on a sheep farm taking care of the animals, and sometimes the guy gives us some fresh eggs and homemade chorizo. Oh and tons of potatoes.
Elder Jager is from Hamburg, Germany. We get tons of food from the sheep family so we don't have to buy a ton. It's amazing. I made some red beans with chorizo and rice last night. It was the bomb.
I don't know what half the stuff we eat is. Spanish is hard. Manuel, the sheep guy, isn't an investigator yet. He doesn't want to hear a ton about the church but he let's us help him. We'll get him soon.
Mom: Are you eating McDonald's while we chat? Is it cooler there than in Madrid?
Josh: It's actually pretty chilly here. It's been around 70-72 most days.
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| McDonald's meal during our chat |
People do feed us though. Our investigators are all from the Dominican Republic and Boliva and Brazil so there has been some good food.
The last baptism in Zamora was 15 years ago. It's an interesting situation.
I bought the missionary backpack and a hoodie to wear in the apartment today. We don't really have stores here to buy a sweater for proselyting so we will grab one Wednesday in Salamanca. It's been cold in the apartment in the mornings but we had a guy come fix up the heater.
Today we had a lot of cleaning to do since it was a new transfer. Next week we will probably go to Salamanca to play Risk. We play soccer in the mornings for physical activity every day.
I did get your package. It was amazing. That makes it sound like I ate everything already. I didn't.. I'm making it last.
Mom: I'm working on a birthday package for you. Maybe you'll get it by Halloween? Lol. Anything you want me to put in the package?
Josh: Idk. I actually forgot about my Bday until this morning when Elder Jager asked me about it. I can't listen to any music except for Hymns so don't send Piano Guys or anything. It's been okay - it's not like we have free time in the piso, so I don't notice there. But it would be cool to have music on our long drives.
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| Salamanca |
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| The kitchen in our Piso |
So the top pic is in Salamanca. After church we were walking to the car and there was a big festival. The second pic is of our kitchen with the washing machine - Cari was right.
Mom: Everything looks like its Ikea sized.
Josh: Oh yeah. I hit my head on the tiny door frames daily. It's getting really annoying. I think I'm the tallest person in the city.
Mom: That's funny. Are you getting every one's emails then? Do we need to switch up how we have been doing it?
Josh: I can read my emails now. We go the wifi password to the bar that's below the piso. We just have to sit down on the bench outside to read them.
I will try to get lots of pics this week. I've just been really distracted lately with the new stuff.
I have peanut butter - it was the most expensive thing I bought but it was worth it. So we drive out to the pueblos every once in a while to go door knocking (a pueblo is a small, tiny, tiny town that is usually in the middle of nowhere) And the last one we went to, they were doing one of those running of bulls things. It was crazy. The whole town was a party. We didn't accomplish much but it was a crazy experience. We are teaching a lot. We have anywhere from one to four lessons a day. Until last night Edler Jager taught most of the lessons and then I would bear my testimony or explain a small thing. But then he did exactly what dad's trainer did. He started off by telling them we wanted to talk about personal revelation, and then he looked at me and said "now Elder Johnson will teach us about that." I kinda struggled for a second and expected him to help. But, he just sat there and smiled. I got through it though and figured out how to teach a lesson. The family we are teaching is awesome though. I wish I could help them more. They are from Romania. The two kids were baptized at some point. They are our two members. The parents want to be baptized and they're ready. But they need papers to be legal before they can get married. The only thing standing in the way is a trip to Madrid to get the papers but they can't get a job because they aren't legal. So they don't have money to make the trip to Madrid. Its a stupid circle. They make good food though.
The Packs are awesome. They even made Cafe Rio for us. They have an insanely nice house too. It kinda got my hopes up for our pisos.
Mom: How's your laundry situation been? How much $ do you get for MSF?
Josh: It's good. We can do laundry anytime in the kitchen. Then we just hang it on the line outside the window. We normally get $162 a month, but this month I only got $131 because I missed the first few days. It should still be plenty though. We are going to a Chinese buffet on Wednesday with the guys in the district. BTW they are from Guatamala and West Jordan.
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| Elder Jager - knocking doors. |
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| Elder Jager & Elder Johnson (Madrid) |
The first pic is funny. That was in a pueblo on Friday. We knocked doors for over an hour and no one would talk to us so Edler Jager started messing around. That's an old house that had collapsed. The second pic is me and Edler Jager. He came and picked me up on Tuesday.
Also, I don't think you can tell but with the change of diet and adding over an hour of exercise every day, I've actually lost 13 pounds. I wish I had more fitted slim shirts. My good slimfit one is getting worn out. It is from Homecoming though. Don't worry about me though. It's a good thing. A lot of the guys gained weight in the CCM. We had two guys gain over 20 lbs. I just have been working hard because I wanted to be in shape. I still got shin splints this week from all the fast walking all over town to get to appointments. All but two of us gained weight. A lot of weight. I got some nasty blisters in the CCM. Like the bottoms of my feet were covered in blood blisters. But they are going away now. I think that was actually good cause I went to the pharmacy and bought some Dr. Scholes things that are really comfy. Those help a lot now. I wouldn't have gotten them if I didn't get the blisters in the CCM. Oh and the blisters were from crap soccer shoes, not my church shoes.
Mom: Are you using your TruSocks?
Josh: I use them a lot. They are awesome. I just wish I could wear my cool socks. They still aren't allowed. What a waste of money. Even my new black Stance ones.
So I have to give a 15 minute talk in the Salamanca branch this Sunday. That should be fun. I can choose my topic, so that part will be easy. It's just the Spanish. It's been a rough week learning where I am. I thought I knew ore than I really did coming out of the CCM. But it's coming along now. Last night was a big step.
There might be a letter in the mail for you guys this week or next. Idk how long it will take but I'm going to send it today.
We will probably need to go in a few. But, you can still send emails any time. I might even be able to email you later tonight if you need anything.
Mom: I'm sure everything has been crazy this week. I was stressing a little about not hearing from you.
Josh: Don't worry. Everything is good here. I got exactly what I asked for. I always wanted my mission to be something crazy like this.
Love you guys. Talk to you later!
Mom: Okay we will watch for your letter and you watch fore a Bday package from us. Love you! Talk to you soon.
Josh: (later) Hey this doesn't count as the later email, but could you send me meal ideas and recipes when you get some time this week. I forgot to ask earlier.
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