Week 53: November 4, 2019 . Dia de los Muertos

Hello family,

Tuesday we had district meeting. Nothing too special. After I on divisions with my boy Elder Jensen. We ate in mcdonalds cuz we dont have lunches in Zunil. It was rico. After we basically just had blast in Zunil. He's leaving next change so I took him to all the best corte stores and just visited all the aldeas and hidden places. He was dying and wants to end his mission there. Then we ended up going to bed at like 1130. I know so rebelde, but thats usually what happens when you go on divisions with chill people.

Wednesday was nothing special.

Thursday was halloween. But it didn't feel like it at all. I heard that in Xela there was like a huge party but here most people don't know what halloween is. It was kinda weird cuz I had a thought that while I was knocking doors all my friends and family were out partying and trick or treating.

 It was weird cuz I never really think about what people are doing at the same time as me. Honestly it didn't make me sad or miss home, it was just like there and then I realized that like its not just something that Im doing just to do or because I have to but that Im actually happy being a missionary and I like what I do. 

Anyway we went to this place called the Estancia to meet with some people I contacted with EJ. We just talked with this guy while he was chopping wood and his whole extended family just came and started talking to us because they were curious why a skinny white kid was trying to chop wood in their pueblo. But they thought it was pretty amusing so we started to talk and we met like 5 different families that were all part of the same family. 

Then we went back to Zunil. We had a lesson with a cool family. The parents are super nice but only speak quiche. The kids are pretty pilas. Then in the middle one of the kids got a phone call and told me it was for me and I was kinda like que onda because this was the first time I met this family. Then I found out it was jose. The guy chopping wood in la estancia. Turns out they're his family. So basically everyone we talked to that day was from the same family.

Friday and Saturday were pretty hard because it was my companions birthday or I mean dia de los muertos (day of the dead). Everyone was out of their houses and it was impossible to have citas. Everyone just spent the day in the cemetery. It was pretty cool though. The cemetery is up at the top of a hill and its usually pretty windy and so everyone just flies kites all day. It's pretty cool to see. Also all the graves are decorated with a monton de flowers and other stuff idk. Also all the graves are about ground and there's a lot of like tombs for the people with pisto. And all the people stand on top of them to fly their kites. I heard its way cooler in Mexico but it was still pretty cool here.

Domingo we had 1 asistencia from a little jovencito de 13 anos. Cool kid and all but honestly I was just super stressed the whole time during church. Its a pretty big deal to get him there because you have to get a flete and take like a 20 min drive to cantel. Then our meetings just are different then in other places. Babies just scream and cry and run around and the parents do nothing to stop it. Plus our meetings always go super long because the people just talk and talk without getting to the point. The worst part is nobody talked to our investigator. Nobody. I kept having to introduce him to people and they'd say hi and then walk away. I tried making the jovenes talk to him but they wouldn't and he just looked awkward the whole time. It was pretty rough. The rest of the day was pretty much the same thing we've done in the past on Sunday. 

At the end of the night I studied a lot. My companion doesn't like to do companionship study so I usually just study extra. Its' insane that I'll be reading the same things that I've read at least like 5 or 6 times and some things a lot more. But I learn new things all the time and its awesome. The scriptures really feed our soul and we need to feast on them like it says. You can't force people to gain a testimony. You can force them to read but you can't force them to learn. Most of all, you can't force people to love the scriptures. I love the scriptures.

Monday we went and shopped and then cut our hair in Xela. I had a pretty deep conversation with the guy cutting my hair about religion. I basically broke down the doctrine of the apostasy and restoration but in a way we don't do it while teaching. It was pretty cool and the guy was super buena onda about it. After I went bowling with Elder Jensen and his brazilian comp (whos also my boy) Elder silva. I scored 140 and that was pretty amazing to me.