OK, I really am sorry about not really saying anything in my letter last week. I don’t know how many of you ever saw me with computers though before the mish… lets just say it’s a really good thing I don’t feel the least bit the same about children as I do about computers, because if I felt the same I could NEVER be a mother.
As far as the humidity, I’m doing fine with the heat recently because it’s actually been kind of cool since it’s the raining season, it’s been rather stormy and foggy and stuff. The first day we got out of the car I was just thinking, NO! I’m going to DIE!! Because I literally felt like I was in one of those whate’er they’re called sanas or something… but you get used to it fast, you never like it but you get used to it.
I don’t have any idea what a pants type slip is… sorry mom. I don’t know clothes names… they’re all just shirt, skirt, pants to me…
Jerry is doing good. He went with his boys to church today, and I am having to learn how to be a translator, because the last few weeks… that’s what I’ve had to do. And I’m worried about our English speaking investigators (like Jerry) because they pretty much don’t speak a lick of English at church, sometimes someone translates in Relief society, I taught the Gospel Principles class in Spanish and English this sunday (that was hard…) translated sacrament meeting for Jerry and translated Young Women’s class too.
I don’t even know where to start with everything that’s going on. We had 14 investigators in church yesterday, but we only have about 3 firm dates, and we need to put more baptismal dates. We are hoping to help Jerry and his two boys (Jerry and Javon) and Senayda and her two boys (Jeremias and Gustavo) get prepared for this month. And we’ll be baptizing the Martinez family this Saturday… plus marrying them… and I’m very stressed because I feel like we’re not doing enough because there are people who have come to church who we’ve barely visited at all and it’s hard to visit everyone because the area is very big and a lot of the people who have gone to church don’t live close to our house.
Sister Duarte is slowly learning some English, and she said yesterday, that one thing she’s learned here is, “No, man. Yes, mehn, and Oh, mehn.” And from the Elders she’s also learned “Oh yeah…” But honestly, I’m afraid to teach in English because she can’t really help me teach… I’ve still not taught much in English and church services aren’t even IN English. One of my wishes is that we can help this branch become a ward, or that we could open an English branch because if we could open an English branch I’m sure we could baptize more English speakers… Or Creole speakers at least.
We’ve had A TON of help from the Bonilla family, they brought about 3 investigator families and a family that was inactive until yesterday the mom and her daughters came… and it was amazing. But please pray for Brother Bonilla because he and the President have huge problems, and now he’s getting discouraged again, and me and Hna Duarte are worried about that because he’s pretty much the reason we have been able to teach half the people we have to teach because he’s the one who’s been befriending them and helping us, but now he’s talking about switching wards again to get away from our branch President.
We are also going to be working a lot more with the Davis family, the Senior missionaries of Belmopan. They said they were having a hard time finding out what they should do, and so I am thinking of putting them to work because… we’ve got lots of work for them… and they were thinking they could help reactivate the English speaking members that aren’t going to church. That would be GREAT. Translating is HARD. I kind of finish the sentences by myself when I miss ’em too.
Did I tell you there is Chinese food everywhere here? Did I tell you how much I love that??
I fell down Sunday on my bike. That was awesome. Hermana Duarte was in front of me and she said, “I’m going to fall!!” and she didn’t, and about three seconds after I was floored. I told her after, Geez, I haven’t fallen on my bike since I was six years old and first learning to ride. At least I think so… Now that I think about it, I did fall once on ice in college. This time it was mud. That was really cute for me to be teaching in class with a muddy skirt… I usually throw the bike and show IT what’s what, but it won me over this time. Carolyn schooled me good. (Bike name).
Random funny story, Elder Reed tells a story about one of the Elders that was here in Belmopan before us sisters. They had to sleep over in the Belmopan house lots of times because their area (Dangringa) is a little branch far away from the rest (they only have an attendance rate of like 25 or 35 and one of the elders is the branch president). Anyways, apparently this Elder hated all North Americans and one of the mornings that Elder Reed woke up, his finger had mysteriously swollen and was bleeding, and so apparently Elder Rivas was a vampire.
Well, the food is good, that’s good news. I was pretty scared before… but so far it’s just been chinese food, rice, beans, and fried chicken and french fries (Who knew? If I could have made a country I would have made Belize. Everyone’s favorite food is fried chicken with FRENCH FRIES!!)
Uh………… I think that was informative. I miss you all, can’t believe I still have and I only have 8 months left…. It is possible that I will finish here in Belize. If I do, I won’t ever train because nobody is trained in Belize, only El Salvador.
Love,
Bek