HAPPY 2012!!!

Oh my dear "baggy" family - how art thou?? I hope that you are all having a great week and had a great week especially because it’s the New Year!! This is 2012 - or when the 2 Mayan calendars have come together and the world will end.... Or so they say... haha Just so my opinion is out there, I don't believe that the world is going to end. =)

So as I can see you are all remaining really busy with your 100000 things, and just so you know I’m keeping quite busy also. (Megan and her sports and school; Amanda's new job; Mom is always working and keeping the stuff down; Dad with work also and then helping mom with the Christmas and soon lacrosse!!) I sure hope that there is some family time in there! You do know that is the best time of the day!

1 – Tell us all about San Pedro Island (everything on down to the boat rides).

Well as you know I did some traveling this last week and I went to San Pedro! So just so you know a little about it. It’s a giant island here in Belize and it is very Tourist oriented. Let me just tell you that it’s one of the most beautiful places that I’ve seen in my life. The water there was clearer than the water we drink, I’m sure. But as you know I got to ride in a boat out there (like 1.5 hour boat ride). Even on the way out we saw 3 cruise ships in the port. But the island is huge and there aren't many cars just like gas powered golf carts. But like I said, it’s very “touristified”. About 3 tourists for every native person, I think. That’s what it looked like anyway. But if I were to bring you here to Belize, one of the first places I would take you would be San Pedro.

2 – What kind of wildlife do you see in Belize (we realize you’re in the city, but maybe)?

Well just today I saw some “howler monkeys”. On Sunday we saw a guy riding a bike and he had a “giant anaconda snake” in his hands. The puddles on the sides of the road are often filled with lots of little “fish”. I saw lots of beautiful fish. But yeah the biggest coral reef is in San Pedro. (haha)

3 – Does the mission president have a regularly scheduled time that he comes to visit or is it randomly every month?

Well the president has a schedule for when he comes but it’s like every 3 months or something like that. Very rare. So when he does come, he has district things he needs to do and then interviews and when it all comes down to it, we only get a few minutes with him. But don't get me wrong - they are great minutes. He is just a very busy man like ourselves.

4 – Is there something you would like for you “birthday” that you’ve been missing? (Hopefully your birthday package will get sent off within the next few weeks…..)

Well something that I would like are DVD's. I have the normal ones like The Testaments, On the Lord's Errand.... but maybe something new that I could let some of the members borrow. Or something cool like a good book written by an apostle or something spiritual would be nice!! I do have my very nice journal that I can't wait to write in... For my birthday, I don't want a lot. Maybe you could all go out and eat dinner in my honor. =)

5 – What’s the craziest and/or best thing that happened last week?

Well the craziest thing just happened TODAY!!! We went to Lamani (means sunken alligator). It’s an ancient ruin here by the city of Orange Walk. Man we had to get up at 3.30 in the morning to go there. We were afraid of the roads being bad because it was raining really hard yesterday, but at the end it was amazing. Man, some of those ruins were bigger than the buildings we have in the United States. And don't worry, I took TONS of pictures. I just don't have my camera right here with me to send you some pictures. But I really was taken back by how amazing it really was. How the people built giant buildings!!

Also on the way we, passed through a Mennonite village. They could be comparable to the Amish. But they come from Germany and they really have a lot of people living out there. But they don't use the same technology as us. No cars, cell phones, and they make their own houses - everything. It’s a very beautiful town. Very simple. Lots of horse and buggies. But they are a great people and very humble and helpful. I've learned a lot from just seeing them in town and how they treat everyone.

I even got to drive the car today!!!!! So president gave us two (me and my companion) permission to drive and man in the beginning I was definitely rusty, but I got the hang of the stick. It was different because the stick was on the dash. It wasn't "on the trunk" or whatever they call that. But I can definitely get used to driving around. Man we are really spoiled here in some aspects.. (hahaha)

Well I love you all family. I hope that you are doing great. I'm awesome - just exhausted. I'm giving it my all right now, and I hope that you are all too.

Love your son

Elder Sutton