Monday, June 27, 2011

Stranded with the Elders

Bueno, like you guys, it’s started the new season here too. Every day it rains, even though this year is a bad year for the rain, supposedly it’s not a lot - but man, i sure think so. It’s some rain that I’ve never seen before in Utah. It’s like people are dumping buckets out on us! But don´t worry, I’m using my shoes well!

But Amanda actually made it up to the Brigham part??? What is this world coming to??? (haha) I’m just joking, Amanda! But really, I’ll come home back and beat you up! But guess what? Tomorrow I have 11 months in the mission?! HOW FLIPPIN CRAZY!!!! Man I’m getting old and fast. But if anything my body feels like I have 3 years!

1 – How are the twin investigators coming along?

Well that’s the thing, the twins didn´t go to church yesterday so I’m a little bit worried about them. If only they could understand how important that is.. They are really some awesome guys and would be awesome priesthood holders... But I can´t force them. There is always hope and I’m not going to lose that. Sometimes hope is the only thing we have.

2 – Did the bishop’s wife ever end up inviting you for food?

Well actually I have all this time in this area, like more than 2 months, and I’ve never even been let into their house. STILL!! We put like times to go and visit them, but they never are there or they forget and stuff like that. We are supposed to be like the best friends with the bishop and all that but if he doesn’t want to we have to do it on our own.. (hahah) It’s not fun but that’s how it has to be... =/ But it’s alright, I’m still happy, or I try and be happy and overcome my tiredness. (hahahah - don’t worry guys - You know me)

3 – Can you see the North Star from El Salvador? (or what constellations can you see)

Well right now I can´t see any stars or anything, like the clouds are always there but I can see like Mars and Venus and stuff. My comp, elder Marin in Apaneca, would show them to me. But that was in the mountains and now I’m in like a half city kind of thingy. =P

4 – Are the mangos still in season? Do you have avocados and if so do you like them any more than before?

Well the thing is that the mangos all have fallen. =( But I did eat my fair share of them! I think they came out of my eyes! (hahaha) But yeah I like avocados; I eat them like i would mangos - raw with a little of salt. I kind of can´t be picky here or else i don´t eat. I still don´t like tomatoes though, BUT I eat them. (haahahah)

5 – Do they have movie theaters in your city or other larger cities down there?

Well actually the nearest movie theatre is like 2 hours away in bus - in the capital. (Hahah) There used to be one in Santa Ana but not anymore. Everyone just buys pirated movies and all that. So it’s kind of useless here. =P

Well, it’s the goodbye of President Lopez! This Tuesday he turns over all the keys (physically and spiritually) to President Cordon! Man, so we had like a little meeting with him on Friday to say goodbye and he actually started to cry?!?! Never ever thought that he would cry.. He is one of those tough, macho guys. But it’s what has to happen. I will miss him, but change is good. If anything I’m learning to adapt with changes and just do my best. Even he said at the he hasn´t done exactly the best he could but he tried really hard and was an awesome president. It will be different to adapt to the new guy but I’m willing to do it. =)

But about the rain - STORYTIME....

On Thursday, day, before the meeting with President Lopez, I went to some other elders’ area to help them out with some stuff and work with them (Elder Hale and Elder Melgar) and it was awesome; we had a blast! Then it started to rain... And man did it rain. Then this rain caused us to slow down and before we knew it the last bus to my area had left!!!! I was stuck with them.. So we decided what the heck let’s finish working then worry about it. So after all of that (during the downpour!!!) we decided, ok... we´re wet, tired and hungry. Why not go to a restaurant in his area and buy some huge pupusas called pupusas locas! But the problem was the rain; so we went to his house and dropped off all our valuables and took off our shoes and put on sandals, rolled our pants up and took off in the rain!! By the time we got there it was relentless, the rain! Like streams in the street.. But we ate the pupusas which were really good. On our way back we decided to play in the rain and passed by a pond with frogs and ran all around. By the time we got back we were cold, shivering, and full. So at that point we had to figure out - A. how were going to get to the meeting the next day BUT have new cloths.. and B. where we were going to sleep. We solved the A. part by getting up at 3:30 in the morning, and the B. part by sleeping on 2X4´s and using leahonas (magazines). Man that was the most uncomfortable night I’ve ever experienced!!!

But there is a fun day in the life of Elder Sutton!

HOPE YOU ENJOYED:…. that’s all folks!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Rain+Mud=Shoe Trouble

Dear beloved family of mine.....

Well I did actually remember that it was father’s day! And sadly enough I didn’t get to call home and say happy father’s day like I did for mother’s day... Sorry dad, I guess maybe next year... (hahah) But at least you got to go fishing right? Did you get to go with your own boat or did you do the dock fishing?

Dang! Talk about running around like crazies for the summer games! It sounds a lot like my week here! But we did it all in the rain and mud. Officially my shoes are dying because of all the dirt/super mud. But just so you know, I’m using them well!!! Hahah They are my cars while I’m here on the mission. Hahah I think this is one of the first times I’ve actually destroyed a pair of shoes. Like before I’ve spent some shoes pretty well but now, they are dying!!!

hahahah Well don’t worry. At least I don’t have to walk around in the mud with just sandals like some people I see. But we are planning on baptizing some twins really soon - Hugo and Oscar. They are really awesome; they have been some of the coolest investigators that I have had here.

Well speaking of new haircuts, I actually got one this morning too! I got up early and studied then Elder Mendenhall (from Utah also) and I went and found a lady and cut our hair and then after decided to get breakfast of beans, eggs and fried platanos. It was a little pricy for my liking, all of that and a drink for like $1.30..... hahahah

1 – What is your new ward &/or bishop like?

Well my bishop is Bishop Morales. He is a really good guy and he is awesome..(haha) he likes to tell other people to do stuff! So he is a good boss in that aspect but he has 3 little girls all under the age of 6 and they are super cute and the wife is really nice to us too – she hasn’t given us food yet but we’re crossing our fingers this week because we’re getting low on the money.... like usual..... hahahahha

2 – Have you sent your picture memory card to us yet? (Your family wants to see what trouble you’re into….)

Well that’s the problem right now. We got our new mailing address here and the whole mail thing is messed up. Even in Atiquizaya it’s a little hard to send things out right now but I’m working on it. (hahah) I’m also putting them on my memory drive too.. BY THE WAY. that was the best idea ever sending me that huge memory!

3 – Are you using your boots since rain is probably your life right now?

I am actually using my boots! The only thing is that they are super insulated so I get hot in them but now that it’s raining harder I’m going to have to use them almost every other day. But I’ll keep you informed and all that, maybe if I get a cool fungus I’ll take pictures of it to send to you guys.

4 – Have any of the girls tried to get friendly with you lately? (Megan’s question)

HAHAHAHAHA! Great question... Okay well the first thing is that everyone here wants my eyes (Thanks mom and dad) SO that is a bonus, but no girls have directly come up to me and asked me to marry them yet…just jokes and stuff. But now that I can communicate with them it’s worse. Sometimes I give lessons and at the middle of the lesson I ask them a question and they like wake up! They were just like staring at me and thinking,,,, wow this white guy can speak Spanish and is talking to me!!!! (hahahahah) It’s kind of bad sometimes. That’s what I’m going to do. If no one wants me back home I’m going to come back here and find a wife. hahahahahah - sorry mom!

Well this week should be extra hard, especially with everything. We have people to teach; we just need people that want to progress! That’s the only thing... Pray for us always!

I love you all and I hope that everyone is happy because that is why we are here on this earth!

Elder Sutton

Monday, June 13, 2011

Derek & Hermana Betty


Hermana Betty & Family after her Baptism

New Address!!!

Man it seems like tons are still happening! I’m super glad to hear that you guys are having tons of fun too with all your partying and all that stuff - you young kids do now a days! hahah

The good old summer games; I remember doing that whole fun stuff (or at least going to see all that stuff)! But supposedly Megan will get the green light! (hahah) I’ll be sure to say a special prayer about that so she can go and play!

Well so how is this batch of freshmen this year? Any new prospects? (haha) I bet none as good as the famous Elder Sutton.... hahahahahaha kidding!!!!!!!!!

Well speaking of the temple, people are going crazy here about the temple! Like everyone is preparing to go to the open house this July and man it’s an awesome temple! Supposedly we get to go there with our investigators and all of that but who knows!? I sure hope so. As you all know, we officially changed places slash mission homes and all that jazz which doesn’t mean a whole lot to me just that i have to change where everyone is sending their letters.... hahahahah

Okay the new address is this......

Misión El Salvador Santa Ana/Belize

Edificio de la Iglesia de Jesucristo SUD

Carretera a Candelaria de la Frontera y Autopista a

San Salvador, Frente a Col. Mendez, Ctn. Portezuelo

Apartado Postal #142

Santa Ana, El Salvador, C.A.

Talk about a hard address huh? It’s kind of super long and complicated but I hope that you all understand and send me tons of letters to that address!!!!!!!

1- How’s your new companion?

Elder Feliz is awesome! He is super super super crazy kid but is a hard worker which is something awesome! Everyone loves talking to us because a white guy and a black guy aren’t something common here! But he is awesome!!!!!!!

2- Are your shoes holding out OK?

Hahah really they are dying.......hahah I’m working on saving some money to buy me some new ones because with this rain and with all walking - they are dying! But it’s all good; it’s something that comes along with the mission right!?

3- Do you know where the Dominican Republic is? We had to look it up.

It’s actually an island like not even part of the American continent, is what he told me.. haha I really am not so sure a lot about it. Just that they are all crazy like my comp is! He says that the church is really strong there like 200 members in just his ward!! So that’s kind of like ours back home.. Actually, I’m not sure anymore how many people we had in church..... okay give me a break! It’s been a year!!!! hahahahahah

4- Do you get warm showers now or are they still cold?

Well they are kind of cold, but it’s so hot here so it’s awesome! Here showers are just faucets in the wall and even my comp takes showers with a hose outside because it’s like gated (fenced) in and all that.. hahah It’s quite interesting.....but ya gotta love them! Especially because there are tons of cockroaches in the shower every day that we have killed so we take bathes with them.... okay another thing is these little baby ants here... They really are getting on my nerves and all that. They are so small but they are in everything!!! Like we have like the glade spray for the bathroom and that seems to kill them and what not but man they are pests!!!!!

5- What’s your favorite lesson to teach people?

My favorite lesson to teach would be either the first or the plan of salvation... The first lesson is like the test; if they listen and are attentive and all that then they are good to progress! It’s like the test of fire then the second (plan of salvation) because it’s something that everyone needs to know! What is the purpose of us here!? Was I sent here just to have fun and then when I die that’s it? I love teaching and luckily I am getting better every single day!

OH!!! Well also Elder Navarro who lives in the house with me and his comp Elder Mendenhall are pretty awesome too... Like Elder Navarro says that if I come back here I can stay with him in his house and then Elder Mendenhall is from Alpine, Utah, and man he is one built boy! He red shirted for BYU right before the mission and is a linebacker for them! hahaha

WELL MAKE SURE TO TELL EVERYONE THE NEW ADDRESS FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay then after that I think I’m going to get out of here and look for new shoes and maybe a new camera... hahah - I don’t know. That’s how the mission is!

Well remember to always read the scriptures and ponder about them because there we find what we need to do to become saved.

Love “Elderly Suttonly”

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

New Companion This Week?

Well today was actually quite the fun day just to let you all know. We played soccer but on a normal sized field! And yes, don´t worry, we beat them 5-1 and they only scored because our goalie decided he was bored so he left to go and change!

Also we got the changes already. Well drum roll please…. My comp is actually leaving me!!!!!!!!!!!!! =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( He is going to Santa Ana and a guy named Elder Feliz is coming to be with me. He is from the Dominican Republic so that should be something awesome. Lots of comps from lots of parts of the world!

Well what else happened today or this week - Well something that was awesome was we worked really hard this week to help out our numbers of people in the church because last week it was like 93 or less and this week it was 113 so we did some good work there! But yeah I’m super tired now. I´m just about ready to go home and die.. haha

Well on Wed. I’m going to get my new comp just so you know and guess what? Elder Winters (my second comp) is in Belize now! Crazy how he is going to die over there now.... (hahah) Who knows if I’ll get the chance to go over there. hahahaha

1 - So how many new prospect do you see per week?

Well prospects? Like new investigators? Yeah, we are finding new ones, but for some reason a lot are drunks that say that they want to change their lives. Which is a fantastic thing if they would actually mean it.. =( But we talk to a lot of them and we have to see which really are going to progress and who really don´t want anything to do with us.. hahah

2 - How water tight is your new apartment in the heavy rains?

Well actually it’s good. Like it’s one of the better houses that I’ve been in actually and no rain leaks in that I know of! But we haven´t had a lot of rain recently. I don´t know why but it’s not raining like I thought it would be.... hahah

3 - Megan wants to know what color your favorite tie is?

My favorite colored tie...... I really like them all actually. I like black, you all know that I hope, but yeah green - I’ve been liking recently too. =D

4 - How’s your new companion?

Well Elder Fox is leaving and is super funny and we always are laughing about something and making jokes about something and my new comp I’ll have to start all over again with that - which is the bad part but it’s all good. That’s how the mission is huh?

5 -Did you see the picture of the Brigham City temple in last week’s e-mail?

I actually did see the temple and man does it look super cool! I can´t wait until it gets done like the one here. Next month people are going to start going in it! But the thing is that it’s going to be raining so I don´t know how that will go.......

6 - Who writes you letters still?

Letters???? hahah Well not a lot of people actually... like I’ve gotten some from grandma and stuff but not a lot from my friends or anything. I would be mad and all that but I figure that I’m just a boring person to write. hahahahahahaHAHAHA But that’s alright because my family still loves me! =D

Well another cool news is that a guy here named Herson Castro is going on a mini mission right now (for 6 weeks) and man is that guy AWESOME! He is an example to me. He is 21, cool, all the girls like him, and smart and he has been baptized for 6 months and is going on first a mini mission then a full time one. Can you imagine being in a church for 6 months and leaving for 2 years! This guy is really amazing.

Well like we also found some money in the street like in the beginning of this change and we decided that at the end (right now) of the change we were going to buy something and share it with some kids in our ward and the other elders. So we bought some cake with it and it was super awesome!

Well one missionary advice for this week.

A… Always write your experiences of the day in a journal or something amazing because if not, you will forget it. I´m 10 months in and I’ve got every single day written down in my journals!!!! =D

Well love to you all.

Elder Sutton

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Baptism This Week...

May 30, 2011

Man so everything is starting to wind down up in Utah I guess. With all the things going on like birthday parties, graduations and just plain everyone getting older. =( Sometimes I wish that you could just all go on a pause for another year. That’s kind of rude of you all to continue as usual without your favorite son slash cousin. =( Well I´m still super glad to hear that our family is keeping the lacrosse tradition alive in Brigham City! Dinsdale family! You guys are all awesome! Maybe I´ll bring you all something back from here when I get back - if you all behave yourselves. (hahahah) And for the rest of you, I don´t hear a ton from you so if you want me to get you something - you gotta do some better sucking up... hahahahh

Hahah Megan being cranky? NO WAY??????? I never could have imagined that in my entire life!?! =P But I´m not going to lie - when I started out in the MTC my first few weeks, I was kinda cranky because I had to sit in a classroom for hours with only one hour to play sports all day... =( But if you stay broken, Megan, then you won´t be able to beat your big brother so get healed super fast!!!!

I was actually thinking about Justin Bierer this morning; I don´t know what reminded me of him but I was wondering how he was doing. That’s awesome that he is going to stick this all out. He is going to be super ripped at the end of this boot camp! Even talking about that, I still haven´t heard from Kevin. Maybe he just got captured by some bad guys or something. Lol hope not.

Well if you think it’s raining there, I´ll show you what real rain is if you come here. Man when it rains it really rains with a purpose. It’s not like back in the states when it would drizzle or rain a little. Like in a split second it’s coming down in buckets and man do we get drenched. My comp especially loves to get in the rain. But still he hasn't gotten sick.. hahha =)

1 – I’ll be trying to get your next box together to send this week – are there any special requests???

Requests.... hum... hahaha great question.... I would really love some toothpaste or deodorant becasue it’s the end of the month and I’m poor but i don´t think it´d get here in time. hahah but maybe just some more chocolate chips.... or a candy bar. =D

2 – Do you have a person who washes your clothes in your new area or do you end up doing it?

We have a lady that washes both our garments and our clothes. In the rain I don´t know how well they will dry.... =( Right now I´m a little low on clean socks but I´ll manage. Don´t worry i´m not out of ideas yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3 – Now that you’re in a bigger city, are there any stores/restaurants that we would recognize?

Haha actually in this city there aren't really any resteraunts or anything. One place called pollo campero. But its like a KFC but a little nicer in the inside and besides that pupuserias! We love to get those when we don´t have time to cook. hahah

4 – What fruit is in season and do you like it?

Fruits right now. Marañones or chacheus.. like the seeds in planters. (hahah - can´t spell that), mangoes are going crazy right now, we get tons every day! Well the oranges are almost ripe so I´ll be making lots of orange juice! =D Little fruits called talpas which are kinda sour but super good. That’s all I remember right now. haha

Dangit!!!!!!!!!! Denver lost in lacrosse! Who did they lose to?????? I wanted a west team to win for once... =( Now I´m rooting for Maryland because i think Virginia’s gunna win. hahah

But we had a baptism this week of Hermana Betty!!! She was super shy and man was that a challenge to teach her everything. She would lock herself inside her house so that we couldn't teach her... (hahah) but at the end it all worked out and she will be confirmed this week!!!!!! HAPPY DAY FOR THE MISSIONARIES!!!

This is the last week of the change so it´ll be interesting what all we´re going to do. Probably prepare for the next month so we can baptize 23394 people!!! I´ll make sure to send you pictures of that. =)

Well I´m off family. Love you all and hope you all are super happy like I am. A little tired but good!

Love Elder Sutton