Monday, November 22, 2010

IT'S BLAZING DOWN HERE

Well Buenos Dias from the surface of the sun!!!!!!!!!!! Man it's hot here today! I don´t even know what that white stuff is on the ground in your pictures!! To me it looks like a dream almost. It's IMPOSSIBLE to imagine snow right now. (hahaha) I had to stare at those pictures for quite some time to realize that was frozen water from the sky!! Crazy - Man I really do want to print out some pictures to put in my little book. I´ve shown all you guys around here to all the members and investigators and all that jazz so you're pretty famous here if I do say so myself. =P Hahaha - Megan wants more snow? WAIT you said "we" would prefer 80 degrees. Are you talking about dad or who? I thought he liked the snow????


Dang it sounds like Megan is being as creative and as sporty as ever. She has to take the place of me while I'm gone. So how is Megan functioning with my cell phone? I imagine that she is doing quite well being able to be in touch with all her friend at the touch of a button. (The good old days when I could just call anyone that I wanted or text someone whenever I wanted. It feels like a century ago that I had a phone.) :( hahahahahah Let's all take a moment and cry for Derek....:(

So where is the place to eat now that all the good places are being burned down? My companion was way sick Saturday and Sunday and man we thought it was "dengay" or whatever the one that you get from mosquitoes and your bones and your joints hurt and all that.. He is deciding that today he isn't going to be sick and so far so good. Maybe it's all in the mind? We´ll see.. But still I'm in perfect health. =P ( Knock on wood for me.)

Well you seem to be working as hard as ever! You better not get all burned out by the time that I get back or I'm going to have to do all the work around the house. ( hahahah) But you´ve always been the one to work super hard. At times I want you to come here and teach some of these missionaries what you taught me!!! Maybe you could come here because it's so hot!!!!! I´ll trade you how does that sound. JUST KIDDING... I really do like being here. :)

BUT MAN!!! Thanksgiving. That's so weird. It doesn´t exist here at all... . I honestly forget about that holiday. The days kind of mush together except Wednesday because there are district meetings, Sunday because there are meetings, and Mondays because we are here (p-day). Besides that, it's all the same!!!!!!!!!! (hahahah) My companion and I are changing that. We are trying to make the very best of every day and make it memorable. Elder Winters is way better then Elder Choc. Okay, well just more friendly. Not better. =)

1 - Do you ever see any lizards or iguanas around?

Well that's the thing; I see tons of lizards and geckos here especially in our house. They make this funny sound that sounds like a bird at night. (hahahahah) I still haven´t seen iguanas around anywhere.

2 - Do you ever wear your suit coat or do you leave it in your apartment? (When Mike VanDusen went on his mission, his mission president made him leave it in the mission home until he went home.... weird)

The only time I use it is on Sunday. We all wear it to sacrament and the meetings and then after, it just stays in our closet until the next week. ( haha) That would be weird what happened to the Bishop's son. Wait, he is still our bishop right? Is there anything crazy in our ward? Anyone new?

3 - Do you miss Megan? (That is a real question she wanted to know....)

HAHAHAHAHAH oh goodness, Megan. Yes I miss you!!!!! I´m not a heartless beast like I pretended to be before my mission. I really do miss you. =) I show your pictures to the other elders and they all tell me to see if you have a boyfriend. SO - if you get letters from anyone in Spanish, just throw them away. HAHAHAH KIDDING!!!!!

4 - Is there something you have seen in El Salvador that you have never seen before in your life?

Well let's see. Lots of the fruit and like brands I've never seen before. There is this fruit called "lichas". OH MAN THEY ARE GOOD!! We call them alien brains because they come in this little red outer shell that has like tentacles all over it. It's like the size of a tangerine or smaller but really really really red and you tear off the top and suck out the middle which is kind of like a grape without the skin. It tastes so freaking good! (hahah) It's hard describing things. The food is a lot different, especially because they all have weird names!!! I´ll try and take pictures of it so you can see them.


Well this week was lots of fun and lots of stuff. We had some interviews to do for baptisms and we went traveling a lot for those but our area is still pretty dry. (Or not finding a lot of people.) I´m in the second capitol of El Salvador so people here have some money and really don´t want to listen to the gospel. But my companion and I are keeping our heads up and praying that we will be in this area for Christmas.. (hahaha) Who knows what the Lord has in store for us... Only one way to find out. Continue with a big smile. =) We have interviews with the mission president tomorrow so we´re hoping that our district isn´t in trouble. I doubt it, but you never know.

Hahahahaha - my companion almost got kissed by a topless drunk women this week!!!!!!!!! That was super hilarious and then another day he was working with the zone leaders in their area and got punched by an old guy and a box of tools!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA I literally laughed out loud when I heard that. I´m trying to make some good stories so you can all laugh and have a good time with me.

I pray for everyone of you guys and from what I can tell everything is working out there. Or maybe you´re just keeping the bad from me. =) Either way I think about you every day and one day I'll be comfortable on my mission and then I'll have to leave!

Love Elder Sutton

Monday, November 15, 2010

New Companion

Well I looked on my bill this week and I wrote down where they put it so here is exactly where our mail comes....
5 Avenida sur 19/21 OTE Lado oeste, Santa Ana
That is what it says so that should get you close if you look on Google Earth, I hope. We are kind of by the corner of the street. There is a store on the corner where we can get this stuff called pan dulce, which literally translates to sweet bread and it’s really cheap so I could live off of that for quite some time. My new companion actually is teaching me the food and such so I’m running with fire now!! And, I realized why I could hardly understand people; it’s just that they all use words called caliche. So that’s like the slang here; for instance, a dog in Spanish is perro. We all know that but they call it here a chucho. (Ha-ha) They all understand perro, but it’s like our words that really don´t make sense like “what’s up?” that doesn´t translate to Spanish. You can say “How are you” or “what are you doing”, but what’s up is different - it’s “Qué Hondas”. (ha-ha) I’m understanding a lot more thanks, in part, to my new companion. Plus he actually takes the time to sit there and explain things to me. It’s totally awesome!

So let’s see, this week was pretty crazy – I’m not going to lie. With changes and all things just were so crazy! Elder Choc was packing the night before until like 2 in the morning but I crashed long before that. Then I met this new guy that I’m going to be living with for 6 weeks again! (Ha-ha) talk about starting all over!
J This is how it is in the mission; I’m getting used to it.

1 – With your change, did you move or did your companion move into your house?

Well my change was really good. Only Elder Choc left and he actually went to San Salvador and my new companion, Elder Winters, came from Atikisia. That area is very poor. The first day in our area he told me that he saw more cars that day then he had seen his whole mission! And Santa Ana, where I’m at, is the second capitol of El Salvador. (I didn´t know that.) He also told me that there in his old area he would walk around dirt roads and everyone would listen to him and that no one would have doors but here it’s all totally different!! J

2 – Where is Elder Winters from and what is he like?

Well Elder Winters is from Mesa, Arizona, so that really is pretty sweet. He has been on his mission for 6 months here and 2 months in the MTC. He tells people that he is from Achacuapa which is a city here that actually has some white people like us and he has such good Spanish that he can almost pull it off. J He is one of those guys that just picked up Spanish and man he is pretty good at it. I think that it is awesome that I have a walking dictionary now and I don´t need to find a new one. J I´m just trying to learn as much as I can with him. He actually rides moto cross with dirt bikes kind of like Jeff, and so that really is cool. His family has a nice house and he has a girlfriend and all that... Let’s just say he isn´t hurting for money if you know what I mean. (ha-ha) He actually started a business when he was really young cleaning re-possessed houses for the bank and he got a lot of spending money from that. He definitely is a smart guy. J

3 – If your cook makes your lunch, what kind of things do you make for your dinners?

Well that’s the thing. We both are running out of money right now because he paid bills in his old house and I paid the bills for our house for this month. We´re trying to bug the members for food as much as we can. =P We don´t always, but really I’d rather bug some members and get food then not eat!!! I´m assuming you´d agree with me huh - mom? BUT, I love eating these red beans in a bag that you can just put into a pan and heat them up, make some eggs and then it’s all good! OH, I even made some home made french fries which were really awesome!!!

I think that you should send me some easy recipes so that I can cook some other stuff. I should have brought my little book of recipes - but remember that usually we have to do them from scratch so that’s the only problem. It would be amazing!!!!

4 – Have you had to get another haircut and who does it for you?

Well yes, I got a hair cut here and man was it awesome! My favorite part was when he cut my side burns down and used a literal razor and man was that a close cut. It was sooo smooth after. I might want to do it again today. It’s like $1 for a hair cut here. J Don´t you wish it was like that in the states. (Besides that one day at dollar cuts.)

OH the JAZZ. So are the play offs going on right now or what? I think the Suns are playing because my companion keeps asking the members about it. They don´t seem to be hurting too bad without Boozer. They are better off without him I think.

I took money out of my account to buy myself a pillow which is quite the investment, and I’m way happy with it. J

But really this change is already going by so fast. I think it’s my attitude because I want to be with Elder Winters because he actually talks to me and tries to be my friend and man does the time go so much better. I even feel better. We are making better friends in the ward and the bishop likes us more. It just all works out when the two missionaries are in harmony and both are trying to work hard. The ward can see the difference and they support us. We have times all this week to work with some of the members from the elders’ quorum. Things are working out. I realize that you have some good companions and some bad companions. I just have to live through the bad and cherish the time with the good.

Well I’m hoping that my family is having some fun for me. The mission is one of the best/hardest things that I’ve done in my life.

Elder Sutton

Monday, November 8, 2010

New Companion Soon

Well this week was actually really good! The funny thing is, it got really cold here and everyone is walking around in long sleeves and hoodies and pants, but it’s not cold at all!!! (HaHAHA - so funny.) I keep telling the people that back home it is ten times as cold as it is here and they told me they would die! But right now it’s supposedly the winter even though it’s hard to tell the difference. The only difference is if it’s raining or if it’s all sunny.

It sounds like you all are doing quite the work on our basement! Dang! I´m missing everything here. BUT I am taking lots of pictures and I turned up the resolution on my camera so the pictures should be a lot better than the ones at the MTC. I´m planning on sending them (memory card) in a package this time.. I'm going to like use one card each exchange if that makes sense; then I’ll send them at the end of the change. If you have any better ideas on how to do it, feel free to let me know! So have you put up more walls in the basement or have you just kept it the same and are painting the walls? (I´m kind of curious.)

Well this week we actually had a baptism which was pretty awesome even though we had so many problems get in the way! Okay I’ll relate the story:
So two Sundays ago a young boy came up to my companion (I was playing the piano for another ward, and Elder Choc was on splits) and said he wanted to be baptized so we told him this upcoming Sunday. We taught him and we got him interviewed and everything. I asked my companion 2 days before if there was anything that we had to do to get ready for it, and he said no that the ward mission leader was going to do it. So we show up at the time and guess what...... The font (Pila en Español) wasn´t full!!! There wasn´t even water so man we had to start filling it and it was supposed to take an hour to fill up.... Luckily they hadn´t shown up. Okay, so after we filled all that up and were just about ready (at this time it was like an hour past our time), the boy who was supposed to be baptized didn´t show up with his family. We couldn´t get a hold of them either. One of the members in our ward finally got a phone call and they told them that they were lost in San Salvador and didn´t have a way home so that Sunday at 8 they were going to do it... OKAY.... so we left the water in it and left to work. Sunday rolled around and we got there and the member that was going to baptize him had his clothes to baptize, but the boy didn't have any and the zone leaders weren´t answering their phone to bring some so somehow we scrunched up some clothes from a brother and finally he was baptized!!!!!!! hahahahah What did we learn from this...
1. The font takes over an hour to fill up
2. The people here are pack rats and you can find just about anything you need (including baptismal clothes)
3. Never trust your Guatemalan companion!!!! hahahahahahahahah

OHHHH!!!!! Tomorrow is our first change!!!!!! And my new companion is....
DRUMROLL PLEASE
..............................................Elder Winters!! I´m going to get a gringo companion!! I´m really excited and kind of nervous at the same time! I know I’ll be able to learn a lot from him because I can actually ask him in English and he can translate. My walking dictionary!! (SIDE STORY: I lost my dictionary that the MTC gave me on a bus and I got a new one from one of the members in the ward but some of the words you can´t read so I’m going to get a new one.) But I hear from the guys in my district and zone that he is way cool and has a lot of money. HAHAHA Most of all I hope that he wants to work like I do.
J

OH! Well I remember Emily telling me that she was practicing for the play but I didn´t know that the play was actually going on right now and it’s almost over. Some days are like months and the changes are like a week! We´ll see about this change.. (hahah) Well If your reading this Emily, I know that you did amazing even if I couldn´t see you.
J

Black ops..... UGH! Man, some days I just want to sit my big bum on the couch and watch TV. That’s what makes missionary work fun! NO REST.
J

1 – Do you have warm showers or is there not a water heater in your apartment?

Well that’s the miracle; I have a water heater which is attached to the shower head.. Weird I know, but the problem is that it only works for like 5 minutes and it’s either scolding hot or cold. J Sisters missionaries used to live in my house before so that’s why we have it. No other houses have heaters for Elders, SO I’m treasuring it for now...

2 – Is it still raining there or are you moving on to the HOT season?

The season is WINTER technically which means you only sweat a little at night. (hahaha) No, the raining season is all over. My first days in my mission it was the end of the raining season so it rained 3 or 4 days. J

3 – Are you able to find a specific address for your apartment? (Maybe there really aren’t such things…. J)

Well no I still have no idea, BUT the people here call the place I live San Miguelito. If that helps you at all find out where I’m living...

JEEZE!!! Sam’s getting married all ready. I could tell that he wanted to get married all the time I was with him. But still, why in the heck hasn´t he written me?!?!?!? Someone punch him out of his girl daze please!

Well Megan, I think that is an amazing idea to go into Spanish Club for the soccer game. (hahah) I would have done it also if I had time. Maybe you´ll learn a little in the process. J

OKAY!!! My question time.. =)

1. I need a new journal soon. No lie. I can get one here from the distribution center for like 7 bucks which isn´t terrible but it takes a while. What do you suggest I do? Look in other places for ones?

2. I want to know if someone can send me some piano music. Maybe dad or mom but like scan the John Schmidt music and send it to me and also CLAIR DE LUNE!!!!! I want to play those so bad. I have been playing my church books too don´t worry. But the members tell me they want to hear other music too and I don´t have much of it.. L If you could do that please....

Thank you for all your prayers for me - every single one of them. I really need them and trust me they help. I´m working on smiling all the time. It’s not always easy but then again what worth would anything be if it was all free?

I love you,

Elder Sutton

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

November 1, 2010

Holy cow! For real - Taco Time burned down? That is almost hard to believe! Honestly when I read that I thought that you were joking with me! No lie.... Wow, so they can give it a whole new look. (Dang talk about changes.) I have yet to see a Taco Time or an Arby´s here in El Salvador. =P It’s all good; I’m poor so I wouldn´t be able to eat there anyway. (hahahahaha)

Oh it was Great Grandma´s birthday this last week?? Dangit – Happy Birthday.... My brain is turning into mush! I´m losing English and learning Spanish. Sometimes you should hear me speak in English; I’m pretty bad! Sunday some members thought I was from Puerto Rico so that must means I’m progressing, but still it’s tough. I´m working on the language and all that jazz. Don´t worry I’m not slacking off too much - not at all actually!!!!

Well today we got up at 4:30 and went to San Salvador to play fútbol with the other elders. Apparently our zone baptized the most so we got to go play!!! WINNER!!! The president even came around, and it was fun to let loose and not have to worry about anything for a few hours. I was goalie today because they found out I could stop a ball. I think I’m probably good enough to beat Megan. I haven’t eaten yet so I could eat a cabello and drink un lago! (hahah) Basically I’m going to eat everything in sight! On the way on the bus there was traffic so it took around 2 or more hours to get there, but on the way back about 1.45 hours. There was a movie playing on the bus “2012” about the end of the world; man it was hard not to watch. I couldn’t really understand what all was said but it was crazy?

I got to see Elder Schaugaard and Elder Galvin again this week! They are still awesome! They were just a little surprised to see me this time. =P (hahaha)

Well I almost forgot that it was Halloween on Sunday! Flip! Well here they don´t celebrate Halloween; they celebrate Día de Los Muertos (that is today I believe). They go to graves of ancestors and put food and flowers and sit there all day long. There was a cemetery near the fields we played soccer today and we could see people over there playing music and eating. It’s a little different here. They call Halloween sometimes Noche de Brujas or night of witches - cool huh!

Amanda wrote me a letter and said that she partied too during Halloween just like Megan, but they both are babies. Okay maybe I’m a baby too. I´m not a fan of all the scary stuff; you know that!! Jurassic Park still scares me! One day we´re going to be eaten by dinosaurs!

1 – Do the streets have pavement or are they mostly dirt?

Well basically all the streets are dirt. The huge major ones are real streets but the huge majority is just dirt so my shoes get dirty and I have to get my brush out and clean them just about every single day! (Sad face) But at least I have shoes!

2 – Without curbs, where does all the rain end up?

Well you see that is the problem. It doesn´t end up anywhere. It just falls and stays there until it evaporates! When it pours, it just stays there and that is why I needed those huge boots to wade through the water. =) Right now I would love to have some rain. Goodness it’s blazing hot out here!

3 – Have you been in to teach anybody this week?

Well we usually try and teach like 20 lessons a week but this week we were having some problems. Our lessons and appointments fell through a lot so we went and knocked doors a lot this week. Not my favorite thing to do. =( At times it is necessary. I was thinking about how far I walk in a day and it’s a ton. I´ll look for a cheap pedometer so I can tell you how long I have walked if they exist here! (hahaha)

4 – Do people have family pets and if so what type?

There are tons of dogs here because no one spays or neuters their dog! Besides that yes people have dogs for pets too! Some have some birds and a few have cats and one had fish that I saw. =) It’s kind of funny how they have pets and cell phones and TV’s but tiny houses. =) Surprisingly they have video games and such here! But like game cube and the old consoles here! I saw a poster for Call of Duty Modern Warfare1 on a wall here, and I really kind of missed it.

5 - On a normal day, do you ride the bus or just walk?

Normal day I walk all day long. No buses. =) Our area is long and it takes like 1 hour to get from one side to the other side if we walk really fast. I don´t like to do that plus we don´t usually walk from one side to the other. We contact and teach and such. There are tons of buses here and usually they cost 20 cents to ride the bus. =) But I am saving my money. 25 cents buys me a little bottle of orange juice called del valle and that is a nice treat!

I’m grateful for the update on the sports! One of the elders from the USA asked me who won the super bowl and NBA draft and I had no idea.. I totally spaced it. J But I’m grateful for the updates. J

I ended up writing all my friends and such back this week and man that took all last p-day. Either I better write one at a time or something else because waiting a month for me to respond to everyone was a bad idea. BUT I had a good reason. I was kind of awe struck for the first few days - weeks. (Hahaha) Some people should be receiving some letters in the next decade, but if I forgot someone I’m sorry... L

We found out yesterday that we are going to have a baptism this Saturday for a man named Abillo Roca. He has been attending church for a little while and just told my companion that he wants to be baptized by his brother who is a member so we told him okay. I play the piano in church and some members roped me into playing for their ward choir practice because without it..... Poochica!!! They really don´t have much tone! Thank you again mom for the TaVaci classes.... :) :) :)

SO this is my last week with Elder Choc. I can totally communicate with him now... sort of. Yeah, I can express what I need to do and he talks to me and helps me out when necessary. I hear some different things but most likely he is going to leave and I’m going to get a new one. Some people say that he will stay but a guy in my district assures me that he is going to leave. Who knows? Only the president and God know that one. That will be weird getting used to a new companion, but don´t worry I’m easy to like. (kidding - kidding.) I try to be nice to everyone!

I also received a letter from Holly saying that she wasn´t allowed to see my posts on my blog so tell Holly my address so she can write me! Pronto por favor!!! Muchos Gracías!

Well also guess what???? In the other ward there is this little white girl who can´t be more then 1 year old! At first I thought she was from Honduras because they are a little white there but no! She is adopted from SANDY, UTAH!!! (hahaha) While I was playing the piano for a different ward´s meeting, she came up and just stared at me for a long time! I don’t know if it was because I am white or just because I was playing the piano but that was such a huge shock for me!

This week we are going to have a ward day called Missionary Sunday where the people in the ward are going to be taught a little to share their testimonies with their friends; ultimately we hope to receive referrals from them. ( man my English is bad!) But who knows, we have been planning this for quite some weeks and hopefully it will all work out.

Well I just want to say what a blessing my family is in my life and how much they mean to me. I´m thousands of miles away from them and yet they still affect my decisions here. Talk about something powerful. Even some of the world’s strongest magnets can´t do that. Families are sent to each of us for a reason. Good or bad we learn just about all we know from them and in my case I owe more then I can give to each member. I’m not going to lie; this is one of the hardest things that I’ve ever had to do in my life but at the same time it’s going to be one of the most rewarding. If nothing else, it´ll bless others’ lives. If nothing more - that is worth it. I´m forever grateful!

Elder Sutton