Monday, January 31, 2011

Transfer Day

Well let's talk about this week for me..... hum.... Well last night we went and baptized a family that are called the family Hernandez!! It really was an awesome baptismal service. We had lots of people come from the ward and even with a few bumps it turned out really good. =) =) =)

But the drum roll !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I´m leaving my area and my comp... =( =( =( It's good and bad at the same time. In this short amount of time, I've made some really good friends here and (I'm not going to lie) I'm a little depressed about leaving them all. I´m going to be with a guy called Elder Merin who is going to finish his mission with me or as they say in the mission, he is going to "die" with me. (haha) Maybe he´ll leave some cool stuff for me. But the place I'm going is called Ahuachapan. It's like really small and completely different from this city. It's super cold at night so I'll be really grateful for the pants and sweat shirt. Thanks mom!! But it's not even a ward out there. It's a branch. So we´ll work hard and hopefully we´ll find some people who are ready to baptize. Because here in this area there are going to be like 7. My comp, Elder Winters, is going to train a new missionary here in this area so that's pretty awesome!! Lucky for him.. =( Don´t worry, I'll take lots of pictures here.

1) What type of a marker do you use to mark your scriptures (pencil or marker)?

I mark mine with pencils. I use colored pencils and try to make them kind of good looking so when I ask our investigators to read them, they pay attention. =) That's just what i do.

2) What is your favorite scripture (if you have one)?

My favorite scripture..... I don´t really have one.. hahah I really do like Moroni´s promise that he makes in Moroni 10. How if anyone wants to know of the truth of these scriptures and asks with faith, God will answer your questions. Because if the book of Mormon is true then the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true. That's why we try so hard on our mission to get people to read it.

3) Have you learned yet how to make pappoosas? (we know the spelling is wrong)

Pupusas? Still no....I really want to but we just have no time.... We´re always running around doing tons of stuff and never have time to breath. But one day I'm going to - promise.

4) Are you getting a suntan on your face and lower arms? (With the right farmers' tan we can get you a job when you get home - hahaha Maybe Eric's dad will be hiring.)

Definitely I have a huge farmers tan. I´m soooooo white under my shirt. Especially my chest and my legs. They are turning into ghosts. They only see the light of day in the morning and in the night... But when I get back, I'll work on that. Until then, I'm Casper the friendly ghost. (hahaha)

But I think Megan is farther than me in her reading. I´ve been reading Jesus the Christ a lot. That book is really amazing. It talks about all Jesus and his life and the things he did and the background of it all; I definitely recommend it to anyone. =)

I really do thank you for your prayers and support. Sometimes that's all I have is a good prayer and the rest is up to me to be happy and really enjoy my mission. I really do love my mission and the people that I've met here in such a short amount of time. I can´t wait to make new friends in Ahuachapan. That's where I'm going to spend my birthday for Pete's sake!!! (But - p.s. I still don´t have my package. Who knows, I'll get it sometime. I just have to be patient. (hahahaha) If anything - I'm learning to be patient on my mission.

I also sent some more pictures so I hope you guys get those in time. My memory card is being a little stubborn, but I got it to work. =)

Love you all forever!!!

The church is true. =)

Elder Sutton

Monday, January 24, 2011

Grateful to All

Okay so I live with 1 other pair of missionaries, or a total of 4 in the house. One of them is from Guatemala and is learning English so he decided to try and teach us in English and they both struggled way super bad!! It made me laugh. We talk in the house in English sometimes but usually not in "formal English" so when he went to teach it was super hard for him! (hahah) But hey, I thought this week about the day that you guys dropped me off, and we went to Olive Garden!! That's weird. I know it wasn't on dad´s birthday, but I did think about it. Our minds are linked since you went there this week!!!

Well I'm sorry to say this but I'm pretty sure that I couldn´t take the weather in Brigham either!!!! At night when it's like 75 degrees I have my jacket on and my pajamas and all that and I kind of am cold! Oh yeah! I forgot how grandma & grandpa always went to Mexico during my birthday. But now I can speak Spanish and they can´t; one day I'll go with them and be their translator. (hahah) That would be sweet!!!!!

That's sweet how Chase Petersen is going to Mexico! The only problem, I told dad this, is that the visas take like forever to get them!!! I remember in the MTC where the elders who were waiting for a visa eventually got shipped off to missions in the states until they got their visas! I'm sure that things will work out. Chase is supposed to go there. =)

That's really nice of the Terrys. =) If anything, I know that they at least thought about me during the Christmas season even if their card didn't make it to me. =)

1 - In your new area, do you do your own laundry?

Well I kind of do my own laundry. I wash my garments (if that counts), but I do it by hand. I´m not too bad at it either. =) I´ll show you how when I get home. It's kind of time consuming but not super tough. =)

2 - What special purchases did you make last week? (I spied on your account.... hahaha)

Well I still haven´t bought anything yet. I just took it out so that you wouldn't change your mind and take the money back. =P But I'm really going to get some leather things for my Bible and Book of Mormon. =) They look so cool and help with the water.

3 - Are you letting you hair grow a little or are you still trying to sport a new do?

Well it's actually super short. (hahaha) I´m changing how I'm looking right now so that I can look a little professional. I show people how I used to look before the mission and they say that I look super weird! (hahaha) It's all good.

4 - Do you have to use chapstick or are your lips ok with the humidity?

Well I use chapstick just about every day. The humidity is pretty rough at times. Especially during the day around lunch. Talk about super hot. Walking in a dusty streets sweating isn´t fun!!!

5 - Are transfers coming soon? Are you looking forward to them?

Well transfers are actually around my birthday. I think before my birthday actually.... =/ So we´ll see if I'm still here for the next change. Who knows... I kind of am looking to a change. I´ve been with my comp a while and he is getting bored of me a little and me of him.... but he is good. One pair in my district have been together for like 4 months or more. Something crazy like that! (hahaha) So who knows.

WOW!!! $80 for my birthday between you and grandma & grandpa!!!!!! Man maybe I'll just stay out here for the rest of my life!!! (hahaha) But really - thank you guys!!!!!!! That's awesome. Maybe I'll go buy a cake (we can´t make them because we don´t have an oven) !!! =D My family is awesome. If anything, I know I have the coolest family ever. =)

I really do thank and appreciate every one of you guys - (my mom, dad and sisters and tell all the people in my ward and all my friends & family too)! Everyone has had some impact on me being here. Even though it's super hard here, it's the best thing that I can ever do. The most difficult two years. =) But salvation never was easy. If it was I wouldn´t have to serve a mission. But until then. I love you.

Elder Sutton

Monday, January 17, 2011

Rice & Beans

I think that you should all take a trip here then tell me what a heat wave is!!! I'm pretty sure that the sun is actually getting closer and closer to El Salvador every single day. I´m sure it's like a crazy natural phenomenon. But I'll be missing it during the raining season. I´m really not looking forward to getting wet all day every day.. =( Plus I was thinking that when I finish my mission, I'll come back during the raining season. =( Dangit, all my stuff will be wet; but I'll probably just end up chucking it all so I can fit cool stuff in my suitcase. I found this sweet machete here! Super cool! Maybe I'll send pictures of it. =)

I want to go and have a sleep over in Provo with Amanda, too!! That's not even cool. But how does it feel to be all alone in the house? I bet really weird. Can you imagine one day it´ll be like that?!?! OH just kidding; I´m living with you all my life. That's what you told me huh mom. =P At first I was like, "who took the girls down to Amanda's house????" OH WAIT!!! Emily can drive.... HOLY CRAZINESS, time is running by faster then I can believe.... =( It's good and bad....

Megan's ditching her own father's birthday for a date??????? Wow I can see who is more important in her life.... =P (kidding - just teasing) But who is the date with?? I also sent dad a letter in the mail so hopefully if the guy walks fast enough, the letter will get to you guys in a month. LOL

1 - Is your new area still in Santa Ana or is it more in the country?

Well it's still like a city. It's really in Santa Ana but just another part. So I'm still with big homes and such but the members are better and a little more poor so this area is way cool. =) We´re working with a partial member family so that we can baptize the parents. The kids were baptized like a year ago. =)

2 - How big is your new ward & do you get to play the piano in this ward too?

Well the attendance was like 81 yesterday. Good but not super huge, and I had to play the piano but on a FLIPPIN KEYBOARD!!!! I hate them with a dying passion from the depths of Hadies!!! I decided yesterday that if I get a house, I'm going to not eat for like a year so I can buy a REAL piano. It's worth it. (hahah)

3 - Did you find a new apartment or are you still living with the zone leaders? (what's your place like?)

Well we´re probably going to live with the zone leaders for good. It's pretty close to the top of our area but our bishop wants us closer. I don't know. Maybe we´ll move. Not sure. But it's a fairly big house; a member rents it to us for way cheap because we´re the missionaries. =P

4 - What's the best thing you ate this week?

Well defiantly pancakes with peanut butter!!! Our cook makes us like real drinks! She puts apples in a blender and mangos and all that and that's super good! Basically anything that's not Beans and rice!!!!!!!! I like it tons still but come on..... Every single day of my mission is pushin it..... hahahahahaha But its better then starving. =)

Well let's see if anything cool happened this week: OH! We went up to this area called Buena Vista - or to translate it for you gringos "good view". It's literally on a "mountain" or a giant hill here and I get such a good work out walking up that. I´m sweating and all that when we get there. And of course our investigators live at the flippin' top!!! I´ll take some pictures and all that.

Also washing clothes by hand is quite fun. Like getting the soap and scrubbing yourself and then rinsing it and hanging it up to dry. Quite the experience. So what do we learn from this??? Never complain about putting the clothes in a washing machine!! Deal? Deal!!!!

Well, I love your prayers and your support always.

Love Elder Sutton

Monday, January 10, 2011

Emergency Change

Well today we went and played soccer and football on a turf field that the stake president owns here, and it was soooooooooo hot.. hahah You guys don´t even know. I´d trade you guys in just like 3 seconds. I can just imagine how much I'm going to freeze when I get home. I just can´t even imagine how cold it is. I´m turning into a Latino. Like at night, I put on my sweatshirt and my pajamas because it drops like a few degrees and I freeze to death!!! (ha-ha) I´m going to die in the snow.. :(


Wow Box Elder actually beat Logan for once in the whole world?!?!? I hope that there was a huge party and that everyone celebrated! I remember back in the day when I was a senor and we would always lose to them, but look at us now!!!

Yeah so I heard about Amanda getting a new bed!! Lucky little girl. I still have my legs hang off the bed every night. (ha-ha) I remember my old bed (which I think Megan stole) where I could actually lay out flat!!

1 - What was your favorite thing that happened this week?

OKAY so here is the super craziest story of the week!!! SO surprise I'm in a new area. =) I moved last Friday to La Libertad. (hahah) They called us Friday in the morning about 11:30 and said pack your bags and clean your house you have emergency changes.... I was like what?????? My comp kept on asking them if we did something wrong, but we didn´t!!! Okay so the reason for the emergency changes was that the area I was in right used to be where the sisters were, and one night some gangsters came and painted gang signs on their house and knocked on their door. So the president took them out the next day and put us in there. (Hahha - I was like thanks president. Putting us with the gangsters..) But really it was just bad for the girls.. I'm still with Elder Winters and all that but we didn´t get to say goodbye to anyone!!!!! My whole mission was in that area and then they took us out in two hours!!! I only got a picture with the cook and one member and that was it.. We have to look for a new house and all that. For now we´re living with the zone leaders, (ha-ha) but it's awesome. We already have 2 baptismal dates and we've had 3 days; and we found 16 new people to teach. So opening an area isn't that bad of a thing. =)

Story number two... Okay so yesterday after church a member called us up and said, "hey you guys can speak English right?" We said yeah. Well he continued to say that he found an oriental family that could only speak Spanish so he wanted us to go with him and translate. So we went to this house and then knocked the door and a girl that was oriental came to the door and my comp said "Hey do you guys speak English?" she said not really and she brought her brother and immediately he was like "Hey guys; what's up?" So we started talking for a few seconds and then he started speaking to the member in Spanish with us and SURPRISE he could speak Spanish too. They all could!!! (ha-ha) We then were let into the house and there was a huge courtyard like in Asia and tons of people and a lady at a chalk board. They were giving Mandarin Chinese classes in Spanish! So we were like - heck yeah!! We sat through it and learned some stuff. So I can say that I was taught Mandarin Chinese in Spanish.. (hahahah) But it's so legit!! We stayed after the class and invited them to mutual - all 10 of their family. I´ll take pictures with them but most of them can speak like 4 languages and the dad like 5 or 6. It was awesome!!!! They told us about their culture too. So legit.

2 - How is your Spanish coming along?

Spanish is really improving. The only problem is I still ask a lot of questions and my comp kind of gets annoyed with them all. (ha-ha) Oh well, I'll keep doing it anyway. :)

3 - Are your nights quiet so you sleep well or are things noisy and you're always tired?

Well they are really actually quiet in this new area. We live like in front of this patriarch´s house and it's a quiet neighborhood. hahah

4 - What's your favorite part of the day?

My favorite part of the day... well that's a tough one. Probably lunch. Our new cook is so sweet and awesome! The only thing is that we need to kind of wake up this ward that we´re in. The missionaries before weren´t super excited and all of that so we´ll work this all out. But this new area is sweet! Like we´re doing way good now.

I hope this week was exciting for you guys too, and that my stories weren´t boring. (ha-ha)

Love you all,

Elder Sutton

Monday, January 3, 2011

Happy New Year

Laser tag for New Years Eve - Oh really now!?!?!? You all decide to do fun stuff now that I'm in Central America for new years!!!! I´m mad! But I can imagine you guys playing laser tag! I´m really impressed though! Running around and what not!? I hope that you took some sweet pictures!?!?! Where ever is Boondocks - is that the one by the freeway on the way to Provo?? or idunno...


Dang, Steve Darais is already back. I remember him being around and playing with Chris and I, and then once he left on his mission it felt like last year. That's cool how Chris called on New Year's so that the whole family could talk with him instead. So did he really like his mission then? Steve? I don´t know of any missionaries that return that didn´t like it but still...

So the temp here is actually good today because there is like a breeze thingy going on, but the other couple of days have been super super hot. Like just walking around the block we both would start sweating. But so is the life here in El Salvador. hahah - mom would like it though. =)
It sounds like to me Amanda is learning to be quite the handy woman. Maybe by the time I get home she will be able to make me some ice cream out of snow too!!! hahaha

1 - Did they also have fireworks for the New Year's celebration?

They hand TONS of fireworks for the New Years; I´d say almost more then there were for Christmas. The funny part was that the next day the streets were even more covered in papers from the fireworks and NO ONE was outside. Like literally NO ONE! I am in the second capital of El Salvador and the streets were bare! I was thinking that if a giant bomb went off last night and everyone got turned into zombies, that would be how the city would look. But we still had to work. SO we went out tracting and sadly no one wanted to talk to us... =( probably cause they all had hang overs still... hahahahahha That night we just hung out with a member family and played scrabble with dice... in Spanish... hahahah It really wasn´t fair, but I didn´t get last place??? haha

2 - Any sign of your new pet (rattitui)?

Well no more rats that we know of.. We put out some traps and such so that if he did come back through our drain we would get him. =P SO no rats only cockroaches. =P

3 - What is the biggest animal you have seen? (from Amanda)

Well the biggest animal.. hahaha a cow. =P Okay so we´re in the city and there are cars and tons of busses and all that jazz and some guy around here has a wagon and cows and rides though town!!! It makes me laugh every time I see him because it's this huge city and then these huge cows!!!

4 - Did you make any new year's resolution/goal?

Well I kind of did, not really any terribly serious ones but one of my goals is not to get fat. I definitely don´t want to do that. If I come home fat someone has to make me join a weight loss group or something. hahahah

5 - What kinds of food do you actually have in your refrigerator? (from Amanda)

Food in my refrigerator... Well right now not a lot because its p-day; we´re going to buy. A big pitcher of cool aid, a pound of frozen beef, some drinkable yogurt that are almost gone, some cups of water, some left over lasagna from a member, some month old onions, and some baby potatoes. =) That's our food!!!!!!

Well there weren´t any crazy cool stories this week sorry fam.. =( but New Year's fireworks kept us up way late!!! My comp started to yell at them to be quiet but it didn´t work. hahahaha

Well I'll make a poem:

Roses are red

The church is true

The mission is great

But I really want food!!!

LATERZ FAMILY!!!! (and my large fan club)

Elder Sutton