Yesterday I went to the offices for immigration paperwork. I got to see three of the elders from my MTC district. My paperwork took a little longer because one of them had my middle initial and the other didn't. So I had to go sign a few things. On the bright side I think I can check being an illegal off my bucket list. It's all sorted now so don't worry.
We had a baptism Sunday
morning. Her name is Paola. It's a rule in the east mission that the
members of the ward baptize people. So she was baptized by a guy in our
ward who works at the CCM. I actually knew him before I started the
mission. The baptism went very well. I have a few pictures but they are
kind of a pain to send. Try and see if you can find a USB adapter for
the memory of my camera. It would be a great present and I could send
pictures a lot easier.
Spanish is coming along really well. For being in the field less than a month I actually speak pretty good. My Spanish was pretty bad in the MTC but having to speak it all day,
everyday, I'm improving pretty fast. I'm still far from comfortable talking
to people. (Not that I'm really comfortable talking to people in English.)
You always ask about my companion. I don't really know what to say
about him. He is from Guatemala. Mo mos tenanga I think. (I have no idea what that means? Anyone?) He speaks very
little English. (And not like I speak very little Spanish.) He knows a
couple of phrases. But I learn faster that way so I can only complain so
much. Next time I send pictures I'll send some with him in them. His name
is Elder Zárate. I told you that right?
My area is in Zona 5 Calle 30. It is pretty much the backbone. Just don't fly down here or
anything, they would probably get mad at me. There are a lot of churches
in my area. Guatemala is different, a lot dirtier. It's interesting though. They have tons of little markets down all the roads.
Tell
dad I've felt at least a portion of his pain. I've only gotten decently
sick once. But you don't really work quite right for a while here.
Oh, I have a thing to tell Jared. I believe his mission borders mine so I
bet they use the same weird jargon. A "pila" is a thing of water, like a
sink or a baptisimal font, it's also batteries. But when someone says "que
pilas" it's kind of like, "how smart." Sometimes they will say "bien" before
something that just means "really." So if a person is "bien pilas" they are
"really smart." It's not a perfect translation, but pretty much. Also "piñas"
(pineapples) often refers to attractive girls. And "chilero" is a guy that
sells chilies, but it also means cool as in "that's cool." You would say "eso
es chilero." It's usually "cool," they don't talk about the chili selling guy
that much. And if they did, they would probably just call him "el hombre
que vende chilis." I can't think of any weird words or what not apart from
that.
When I e-mail, spell check is in Spanish so almost
everything, but my address, is underlined in red. There are a few others
that aren't. Once is 12. He is haber congugated in yo form. and a few
others. Also the Spanish words of course. (If part of this paragraph was confusing to you, just know you aren't the only one.)
I love hearing
about what's going on at home and the pictures too. This time I e-mail in
two days less than normal. I'll talk to you all Monday.
-Elder Jarvie
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