Family,

Hey everyone what’s crack in? This week went by pretty fast not going to lie. I’m pretty sure it was due to the new area and what not. So far I’m still pretty lost and I’m doing my best to get to know the area but it’s pretty big so It'll probably be another week or two before I know it really well. My comp is a pretty good guy; he’s got a little less time than I do in the mission. Today I spent a good while cleaning the house because it was really dirty. I didn’t have time to finish so tonight will probably clean some more. 

Turns out there is a church right below us outside our window where we study... It’s been interesting to see how other churches run things. I learned this week that they run their churches off of fear. The pastor was telling the members to avoid other churches and not to listen to other pastors because the day they do they will be lost. I found it interesting because it’s completely different then how the TRUE church runs. We do everything out of love not fear. 

The other day I ate some tacos de cadenza or head tacos. They actually tasted pretty good. They people here in Juchitan are all really nice people for the most part.... ha. The members always give us food when we go to their houses and won’t let us leave until we eat. I should gain back all the weight that I lost in the coast. 

Saturday night we got a call to give talks in sacrament meeting so my first Sunday here in the branch I got to talk. It went well and I spoke about missionary work. I’m not sure if anyone liked it or not because no one here ever tells you if they liked your talk or not so it’s a little different than back at home when everyone tells you that you did well even though it wasn’t very good. We don’t have a chapel here only a house of prayer. It was pretty hot yesterday so it was kind of miserable. They also don’t have very many youth here so we bless the sacrament. I really don’t mind I actually like doing it. 

Before I forget here's Elder Lovell’s address, 21 north 4850 E Rigby Idaho 83442. Hopefully he’s called you guys by now..... 

It sounds like everyone is doing good back at home. I hope you all have fun on your trip to Boise and I hope you get there safely! I love you all so very much and I hope and wish the best for you all. Let me know if there is anything you need! 

Con Amor Elder Hope

Hey!

 Que Onda?  Thanks dad for the pic’s those were pretty fun to look at, and Josh I loved the video of Jeff falling off of the snow machine ha-ha that was funny. I just hope we will go when I get back. 

  This week was a pretty good week; once again we were able to meet most of our goals so I and Elder Adams are pretty happy. The assistants actually called us the other day to congratulate us on our key indicators so that was nice of them. Oh and before I forget this is the last week of the change so that means Sunday is CH-CH-CHANGES!! I really have had a good time working with elder Adams, he’s a good guy and this change flew by! Were excited to see what will happen on Sunday when we get the changes.

   Wednesday and Friday we worked in a threesome with one of our zone leaders named Elder Prince. I think I have told you this but I actually live with the zone leaders so there are four of us in the house. His comp Elder Aguirre had to go to Oaxaca for a meeting so we spent two days trying to work in both of our areas. It was actually kind of hard and we walked a lot. We've been walking on average 9.5 miles a day. I’m not sure if that’s a lot for a missionary but it feels like a lot when it’s 100 plus outside and hilly. But it’s alright Ill survive. I kind of like it because I’m losing weight so it’s a good thing I guess. 

   Mom congrats on your calling!!! I know that the lord will help you through your calling and as long as you look for his help he will give it to you. That’s something I really have learned her on the mission. He will help you. What a great opportunity to help the other sisters in the ward and learn at the same time. I know that this is a short letter but I have to go. Oh Ya there is an Elder her on the mission that will be going home in a week and a half he’s from Ririe. I’m going to send my iPod home with him so that it makes it safe. I’m going to give him the house phone number and I’ll also ask for his that way you can get in touch with him and next time you go up there to fish he will give it to you. I’ll keep you posted on what happens. Anyways I love you all. Until next week.

 ELDER HOPE

Heyo!

   What’s cracking family? Sounds like everyone are doing pretty good back at home these days so that’s good to hear. It also sounds like you all made it back from your trips to Utah and that’s good also! ha-ha mom and dad I can totally see you two sitting there at chucky cheese while little kids are running and flying through the air ha-ha I’m glad that you had fun though. So the Ravens won huh? To be honest yesterday while we were teaching one of our investigators her son was in their house watching it.  I couldn’t hear what was going on only a bunch of Mexican announcers screaming and what not ha but oh well next year. Jc I want to see some of your little clips so try to send me one alright.

   So to be honest it’s getting really hot here now. I just checked to see the weather and it says its 94 degrees but with the humidity it feels 100. So it’s warming up! To be honest I hope I get sent to the city here in a couple weeks because it’s a lot cooler over there than it is here in the coast. But I guess I’ll have to wait and see. This week we have been doing a lot of service for a couple investigators. Wednesday morning we went and helped a lady move between 1,700 to 2,000 little cinder blocks (as seen in pic). I was pretty sore the next day, my body really it’s used to that kind of work anymore. The funny thing is we didn’t finish the first day so we had to go back Saturday to move the rest. We found some interesting things under all those blocks. It was basically a zoo; we found three tarantulas, 1 scorpion, frogs, cockroaches... tons and tons of cockroaches and millions of ants. It was hard work but fun in the end. At one point in time I loaded up a wheel barrel with 35 of the blocks and was successful in picking it up and moving them. I'm still strong just saying ha-ha.   

   We had a little activity this week with the ward which went really well. We played something called Mormonoply. It was like the game however we rolled a dice, they answered a question about the book of Mormon or Bible and then got points for answering the question right. We also had punishments and challenges. One of which was to see who could eat a jalapeno pepper the fastest. It was fun to watch.
   We had another great week here and we have been receiving a lot of blessings. The other day we got a reference from a member so we went to check it out. Turns out the reference we got were two people who had talked with the missionary's before. Long story short there really cool and we were able to place two baptism dates with them. The work here is good, the food spicy and the weather HOT! But I love every minute of it. I hope that this email made sense and that you can read it even if it didn’t. I know that when the lord calls us to do something he does it because he knows we can. I also know that he’s always there to help us out when we need it and will answer our prayers. How blessed are we? 

   I had better get going but I want to let you all know how much I love you and hope you all have a great week!

Until next time,

Love Jake