Hey
guys I am going to write this first then another one. This is an effort to
answer some of dad's 4 billion questions, but it can go to everyone else.
The flight was
amazing. The plane was pretty small. I'm not sure what else I can tell you
about it that I haven't already. I sat next to two Guatemalan brothers in my
row. The guy was very nice to me but I could tell it was just because of pity.
The guy across the aisle that accepted a book of Mormon from elder Madero and I
was actually interested and kind. When we were flying into Guatemala, the guy
next to me smacked his brother who was in the window seat and pushed him back
then tapped me and pointed to the window. The people here are absolutely
awesome though.
The missionaries I
came with are elders: taylor-dallas texas-honduras;sligting-riverton utah-el
salvador; mattiaccio-linden utah-guat sur; neilson-indianna-honduras, lowder-spokannish
washington-honduras, thomas-syracuse utah-retauhleu guat,rock-south ogden
utah-retauehleu guat, dickson-liberty utah-honduras,gorze-kaysville utah-guat
east, deines-tsaile near lukachukai north of chinle around teec nos pos in the
navaho nation 45 minutes west of the four corners in arizona-honduras, oh gorze
says he's the best, chavez who says he's the better than gorze-el paso
texas-honduras, landgraf-nu'uanu oahu hawaii-queztaltenango guat,
madero-utah-honduras, diez-arizona-guatemala.
Hermanas:
shciess-provo utah- queztaltanango guat, stoor-gray's lake(wayan north of soda
springs(caribou county(idaho)))-el salvador santa ana, moore-layton
utah-honduras,colo irvine california-queztaltenango
guat-erickson-misnnesota-honduras(she's a nurse).
There was a man
outside the airport walking around with a pocket knife eyeballing suitcases. We
got picked up by a short little man in a coach bus. When I got to the CCM,
there were about 160 missionaries and now they have about 73. There are about
30 nortes and there were about 50. For Christmas, they will have 2 nortes.
Temple is really small. Most of the people that work in the CCM work in the
temple. Temple work here is HUGE! The people here just fall in love with it.
Every Saturday the temple has around 22 sessions. My companion is Elder Rock.
He has 3 brothers and two sisters. His only older brother served in Cabo San
Lucas Mexico. His friend is in Texas. He is a runner but hates it. He loves
swimming or just being wet. Between us a new superhero was born. Super Speed
Shower Man. He is really getting big down here. Don't be surprised if his movie
comes to the states before I do. His super power is extremely complex and
counter-intuitive: he can shower at unbelievable speeds. He even has a catchy
theme song: SPEED SPEED SPEED, SPEED Shooooowwer
MAN!! He strikes fear into the hearts of his enemies...and friends with the
utter "SUPA SPEED" of his showers. He has mastered it in such a way
that he no longer needs water on occasion. Rumor´s out that he once took a
shower in thirty two minutes FLATT!!! Criminals and all manner of sadness
struggle to exist as he yodels, "Now don't ya done be doing that! or I’ll
take a shower SUPA-FASS!"
Oh yea, my companion is super awesome. He is very emotional in
all that he does. He's good at laughing though. We finally had our first lesson
this week that we both equally talked. It was awesome! WE have an awesome
affirmation bump, Viking clash, or ¡Snickerdoodlin YEEEESSSS tap! It’s a quick
fist, elbow, foot, but we're really fast.
There’s a bit of a story behind
it, but basically we're not allowed to shake hands. My comp sleeps on the top
of the bunk and one night I just laughed as, in the crack of the bed and the
wall, I watched a fist lower and rise, followed by an elbow and a foot, but all
in the same spot. He calls me his annoying younger taller brother, so he's my
shorter older brother which makes him my shoulder brother. That being said, he
is a man. But yet a shoulder man thus he is hombro hombre o hombroe. I tried
his last name Rock in Spanish-Roca. Not all too exciting so I had to work with
what I had.
Just a quick insert, there are three ways to be successful in the
mission and in life: work, work, and work.
The food here is amazing. it's super
delicious though and I always ask the Latinos how to eat it. They love helping
and showing me how. So far 100% of my meals have been with Latinos and I intend
to keep it that way. We stand in a line, grab a tray, a knife and a fork then
the plate of food they give you. I started talking to the cooks and getting to
know them. We only talk to nonmembers if we take a field trip to the mercado or
to the temple. I say hi to everyone I see and I want to try more but I don't
know if we're allowed to. We took a picture today for the Ensign or Liahona. Keep
your eyes open. Oh! I forgot. I'm learning Qeqchi now too. I have a few pals
among the qeqchi boys and every time I see them I see how far I can get in
qeqchi. I love it because it's the concept of how algebra is crazy hard until
you get to calculus then that's crazy hard and algebra is nothing. All of the qeqchi
elders are Latino so as I ask for clarification, it's all in Español. My first
impression of Guatemala was just that it was awesome. Always busy and just
plush plush green everywhere. The people are awesome humble gun-slinging
people. There are two types of people here: big white Germans and little itty
bitty dark dark indegenous people. Every now and then, they intermix thus
making men like Hermano Abadillo. I absolutely love these people though.
President Cox is so awesome. He is the most direct person I know. With that
comes some harsh times but lots of power. This man is amazing and his wife as
well. She was one of the first people I had a conversation with and I tried to
talk Spanish. Something must have gone well because she always comes and talks
to me or just acts like she knows me. On p-day, Pres. Cox came out and played
basketball with us... and he's an old man. It was surprising that he even came
out let alone was a beast. I was the one that guarded him and him me. We had a
ton of fun. Well my duct tape on the bottom of my shoe ripped while we were
playing so I asked president if he got his shoes down here. He said yes and
asked why. Then I showed him my shoes with a two quarters wide hole. He said he'll have Hermana Cox get me some.
Then at lunch either the next day or the one after that he pulled me aside and
asked where I’d be then pulled me out of class with two of his pairs of shoes
so I could choose my favorite. My choice was the ones that I got him to say he
doesn't like, then an hour later a box of brand new shoes was delivered to me in
class. They fit better in the sense that my toes wouldn't curl in them, so I
chose those ones. Also, they had the price on them so I could pay him back.
They were 349 Q which is about $47. well he had loaned me 100Q earlier that
week for our trip to the mercado (I didn’t ask) so I tried to slip $50 in that
when I returned it, but he said with big ol' eyes "What's this?! Elder,
that's all part of the experience". P. cox is just absolutely amazing. He
and his wife are farmers from Sacramento California. I will have to tell you
the rest next time. All you have to know is that I love it here.
I am the CCM
barber. I only messed up real bad once. They have an actual barber, but the
boys don't trust them. I haven't told them yet they shouldn't trust me.
"Los Pollitos Dicen" was a huge hit down here. Everyone loves
it and I sang it to my class with the little tiny maid ladies and our handyman.
I'm sorry I’ll have to give the rest next week. Love ya!!! Sorry about the
grammar mom. This is a Spanish computer so every single word has an error.
-Love Elder Olson
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