Tuesday, June 26, 2012

No Ruins & Random Weather


Family and Friends,

So I’ll start talking about the weather here in Belize.  So it’s so random here just so you all know.  One day it’s raining all day long and we're so wet and miserable then the next day its soooooo hot that you sweat all day.  They call it "winter" here but it really isn't.  For example, we got my companion's alarm clock that has a thermometer in it and we took it outside and I put it in the shade (not the sun because he "didn't want it to melt") and after like 10 minutes it read around 105 F and this was like 11 in the morning.  It just got hotter.  So I definitely I’m feeling your pain of the heat.  Then like last Wednesday, it rained almost every day.  It was cold that day (for me at least)

So Amanda is doing the whole astronomy thing too?  I know you all remembered when I took the Astronomy class at USU and I loved it.  Plus the teacher was cool!  He was like Ron's dad from Harry Potter. But it really is interesting to take that class and I really liked it.  So basically her school paid her to go out in the middle of nowhere and stay up late? Sounds like my kinda job?!  Get me signed up for the next one!

SOOO the news about the trek.  Apparently Elder Ingersoll's dad went on the trek last week or something and he said that it was great just that he wished he would have trained a little more before because it was a lot of walking!  So get your new shoes on and get used to all the walking!  I think that we could handle it though.  In these two years I’ve walked a lot.  Plus I walked for more than a year straight in El Salvador.  I'm getting ready for my marathon..  hahahaha

Well sadly we didn't go to the ruins this week.  We were supposed to but they are planning a better day supposedly, and then we are going to take some cool pictures.  I'll send you some.  But for now here are a few.
This week wasn't that crazy and eventful. This weekend we think that there are some People from the states that are coming down to help build a school or something and Saturday and Sunday they are going to be here in Orange Walk.  The cool thing is that they are all young adults like I am but I don't think I’ll know anyone.  Maybe..  You never know.  They also are going to have a dance here on Saturday, and NO I’m not going, (haha) with all the kids here.  If anything I’ll have some cool music to show you guys when I get home though.  They listen to some different music here.  They also have like a Spanish mix of music too.  I'll show it to you all when I get back so you can see but its definitely different then the stuff we listen to.

Well there is nothing too outrageous going on here though. I'm just getting fat..  I told you that before.  Sadly I don't do enough cardio like I did before with lacrosse.  But I know that I’ll get whipped into shape when I get back.  (hahahah)  Can you imagine me fat?  Hard huh?  But it’s true!!

Well I love you all and I wish you all the best!

Elder Sutton

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Don't Get Your Feet Wet


Good afternoon everyone!!! 

So here I am in Corozal with all the rain but as of yet I haven't gotten wet today because
we timed everything great so just when it stopped for a few minutes we ran to the Cyber.

It definitely looks like Dad is becoming quite the roofing professional over there in the big Brigham City!  If he decided to start a business I’m sure everyone will come over to him to get it done!  But all I know about roofing is that it’s a hot job and lots of stuff that can stick on you.  I remember watching "dirtiest Jobs" with Mike Roe and they tarred a roof.  I know that’s not the same thing that dad is doing, but it’s the same idea though.  Changing the roof on a house in the middle of summer (winter here) is definitely hard work!

I was honestly remembering all those birthdays because I had them put on the wall in my apartment, but this month has been a little crazy for me and my companion and I’m sorry if this is late or early.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
So now Thomas is like 45 and TC and Allie are around there too right?  MAN someone needs to tell people to stop growing!!!  If one of those guys is taller than me when I get back I’m going to be UPSET!  hahah  I used to be the tallest...... =/

1 – Have you had hurricane weather lately?

Well there was supposed to be one around El Salvador this past week and man we could definitely feel it here in Belize.  I can just imagine how it was for the missionaries over there in El Salvador.  But here, just so you know, everything is wet and surprisingly cold!!!!  I haven't felt real cold in a long time! (not looking forward to snow)  But I had to do some push-ups in the morning to warm up before my cold shower.
P.S.  Just as a side note - my companion & I have started doing exercises more regularly this change and we're planning on doing them every single day!  Got to get looking good for when I go swimming... hahahah - joking.  But we really are doing exercises. haha

2 – Planning any sightseeing trips soon – maybe the ruins?

OK... so here is the deal.  We had a trip planned for TODAY to go to Lamani again BUT supposedly because of the weather we couldn't go.  Now Pres. says we have to go to places like that with an adult and the missionary couple said the roads would be too bad to do it. Better safe than sorry I guess. =/  But definitely in the weeks to come!

3 – There is some kind of test that missionaries sometimes take when they return from their foreign speaking missions that gives them foreign language college credit.  The test isn’t that much and I think is given at BYU – Would you be interested in having Amanda/Eric check the details for you?

I heard about that actually!  YES I would love to do that.  I don't honestly know how great my Spanish is but I do know that I can read and write fairly well and sometimes I correct the Spanish of my branch president here. hahah  But that would be great to get some extra credits in college! I think Sam (my roommate in college) did that with the French that he learned on his mission. I understood that he did fairly well actually...  That could be a lot of help though.

4 – How did the baptisms go last Saturday?

THEY WENT GREAT!!  So here is the thing.  Actually it was a pretty crazy day.  One of my old investigators from Belize City was going to be baptized the same Saturday but in the morning down there so she asked me to baptize her so we got up early and got everything done in my area for the baptism and then right after it was through, we ran up to my area and like we just got here in time for the one here. But in the end God had his hand in this and it all worked out smooth and I do believe that they had a great time with it all. =)

Well right now not too much is happening.  I got the changes on Sunday and my companion & I are going to stay together for the last change of my mission - which is good and bad.  Bad only because my companion is going to be in Orange Walk a LOOONNNG time but good because we can keep working really hard until the last minutes. Pretty much no one had changes on Sunday. But either way I would have worked hard no matter where they would have put me.

Well I love you all and I hope that you don't get your feet wet.  I'll try not to.

Elder Sutton

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

It's GREAT in Belize!


Well my dearly beloved family and friends - how is life?

Life here is pretty good.  I really can't complain about anything in my life because it really is great being here in Belize!  So let me tell you a little bit about here in Belize.  They love to have holidays here and I’d say just about every month there is at least 2 holidays.  So it’s very common also for the schools to have half day and for work to have some too.  I think that if I could study somewhere all over again, I'd choose here because almost every week they have something going on and no school!  haha

Well as you can see I’m not writing on Tuesday...  I know it’s a little weird but this week we have a meeting (by satellite) with Elder Maines from the Presidency of the 70!  So we just smashed all of our day’s activities here in one day and we showed up here, and I’m assuming that we're going to be here for quite a while. 

Well this week was quite fun; sadly we don't have any crazy stories that I can remember but it is going to be my companions birthday in 2 days!  That’s pretty crazy!  He is finally turning 20 and will stop being a teenager.  He says that he is happy because I tease him all the time about his age.  But we all secretly know that we want to get younger and not older. =/  Like me - man I’m old.

Also you got my itinerary for my flight back and I hope that you study it well (all except the Spanish parts at the bottom, they just talk about the baggage weight) and so that when I get there, there will be people to pick me up and I won't end up being like the RM when he got home and no one was there!  That would be a crazy story....  On the other hand, you could leave me and I could try and get home.  It’s like a game.  How long does it take for Elder Sutton to get home with all his baggage???? ( hahah)  I’m guessing like 1 day.  I'd find a way. =)

Apart from that, things are going well in the work here.  We have 2 baptisms for this Saturday; they are sisters of a guy that just got baptized last month.  But the only problem was it was raining last Sunday and not many people came to church. =/  The sad part is that not many people here have cars so when it rains they get wet!  Like us! 

But that’s true.  My bicycle stories seem to never have an end!!  This week my bike was giving me troubles too, but after some time and a nice member who helped me fix everything. I think I’m just about an expert of bicycles now though.  I might just open up a bicycle shop in town and make a few bucks!!!!

Well family, things are going well and I hope that everyone is happy and working hard always! Because that’s definitely what I’m doing here in Orange Walk!!!

Have a great week!

Elder Sutton

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Broken Bike - NO WAY!


Good afternoon family and friends! Hello from here in Belize!

So I’ve heard of that small out-break in chicken pox over in El Salvador and I heard that most are shut up in the house and are afraid of it becoming something big!  Good thing I don't have anything to worry about - 1. Because I got my vaccines and   2. I'm miles and miles away from El Salvador!  I wonder who the Elders were that all got sick?!  I hope it isn't anyone that I know.

Alright, speaking of Megan and having NO JOB.  I think she needs to do something to earn some money.  Or she can do like they do here and go from door to door and sell fruits and vegetables? Sound like fun Megan?  Or just put her to work in the house and specifically my room.  She could give it quite a good cleaning!!!!!!!! hahaha

So I asked my companion a little about Girl's State and all he could tell me was that it was for the really smart girls...  We're boys and our memories are about 3 seconds long.  I forgot what that was all about.  I want to say it has to do with girls and etiquette but I’m not sure.  All I know is that Megan is smart.  How were here grades this last year?  Is she smarter than me?  =( 

I think that the saddest part of the whole roofing project is that I'M NOT GOING TO BE THERE TO SEE IT!!!  I know that it is super-hot and sticky and fun, but sadly the house calls right?  Plus if dad is doing it then it’s going to look good!!!

1 – Now that the rain has started, are the temperatures still high or do you have a little relief from the heat?

Well so it has been raining a lot lately in Orange Walk.  But here is the best because it gets soooooo hot then rains and then right as you’re wet, it gets wayyyyy hot all over again so like it’s a giant hair dryer!  But right now I’m in Belize City for a Zone meeting and it’s soooo hot here. (Ha-ha) it’s like a pack of fun seasons here.  Yesterday we saw the clouds and heard the thunder; I looked at my companion and said that we have to RUN!!!  So we ran on our bikes and right as we got to the other house the rain and thunder and lightning crashed down on us..  (p.s. we weren’t hit by the lightening) but man we got wet!   But I swear that here the lightening is louder because the whole house shook!!!! haha

2 – Any p-day fun lately? (Loved the sugar cane factory photos)

Sadly this p-days we haven't done anything fun but I’ll tell you a funny story.  So on Sunday it started to rain and we had a lesson to go to and so my companion and I were going pretty fast on our bikes (p.s. I don't fall) and we come to this giant hill!  So usually when we go up this hill we get some speed but due to the weather we couldn't so we just had to muscle our way up it...  So as I stood up I'd pull up on the handle bars and push down with my legs hard to make it up, and right as I reached the top I broke off the left handle bar.  This thing is metal and strong stuff and I completely broke it off!!  The sad part is that now I ride around with only one-side handlebar and my other hand draped down at my side...  But to make the situation even better, I have decided to use my hand to say hi to everyone I see.  SO the moral of the story is that no matter how bad the situation seems you can always make it a “missionary moment”!   haha

Well I have to go now, but I hope that you have liked my stories and that you all have a great day!?!?!?
ELDER SUTTON