May 21, 2012

Hey mom! Happy birthday also mom on the 23rd! I hope you have a good one and that they buy you something really speacial cause you are special mom. But its good to hear from you again. Here we are doing ok. Sounds like you are staying really busy and thats good to hear. It's crazy that school is already getting out up there. Here they get out in July because they have a bunch of holidays here and don't go to school a lot haha. But its good that you will get a little of a rest from school.

Chickens huh, that's cool. We will have to kill one to eat it. So you can try the chicken feet mom :) haha I don't know why Makelle wont try the eggs they are the same thing that you buy in the store haha. They all come from chickens. How many did they buy? I bet it was funny to see Ashton run around trying to catch a chicken. He should stick to being fast in the swimming pool.

Ben and Israel are having to speak a lot it sounds like.  But its good to hear that Ben is doing well and gives good talks. I don't think mine will be very good cause I think I am gunna mix up some words but we will see how it goes. And that's cool that we got a new patriarch. He will do a good job. I haven't heard of the other guy either. What ward is he in? That's good to hear that Connor is going on a mission. Have you heard anything about Ian?

I was gunna ask you about that about the cheerlearders. A guy here in the ward is gunna go to Utah in August and he asked me where he could look to find a truck to bring here to Mexico so I said ksl.com and I showed him it and on the side it has like the top stories or something and I read that and said, Ogden is always under the spotlight with those things haha. Dumb girls. I bet Zack was there with them. haha His mom would kill him. and yes, my nose did bleed. I'm glad we weren't that dumb to do somehting like that when we were seniors.

Here we are doing ok, we had a baptism this last week and it went well. We filled up the font with really hot water it was tight, I wanted to dunk myself under and stay there for a second haha but I didn't. We found a couple people last week, but they didn't come to church. so we will see if this week they go. And my comp they said he has Gilberts Syndrome or something like that. I have no idea what it is but the doctor said he can't fast now. But right now my buddies in the mission are my district leader he is cool. He is from North Ogden. He knows Spencer. His name is Elder Hoopes. He is chill too. And my favorite comp, man I think is my hijo, he is really cool. We are good friends. And no I didn't hear about the eclipse. Here people don't really care about those sort of things I think. Either that or it didn't happen here. I'm not sure. The lady that is gunna come to Utah is gunna come in like a couple weeks I think. I'll ask her today and tell you next week. She is the lady that let me talk on her computer. She is cool. Her son is our ward mission leader. He is cool too. He has like 4 months home from the mission. And I did get your letter today mom. We had to go to the offices with Elder Hoopes to take his comp to sign his visa. So I got your letter. You didn't tell me we were gunna do so many cool things though! haha But if we go to a Yankees game we have to see the Cubs play! Or Ashtons team, the Rays. It will be cool to go to the temples there too. That will be fun and a cool experience. And thanks for the iron rod. I thought you were going to buy me one in Spanish but English is good too.

Then today for pday we played soccer again my team lost, but it was gay cause there was nobody really good on my team. But it was still fun. I played better today. The thing that sucks here is that there really isn't anything to do. No cool places to go and see. Everything is in the Mexico City. But we can't go there to see stuff, but oh well.

And it's good to hear that you are gunna start working on your genelogy. You will find a lot of people that you didn't know before. How many generations does dad have in his family since they were members? A couple people have asked me that lately and I don't know how many. I just know a lot haha. And I tell people that you are the first member in your family mom cause you basically are. Ya it would be cool to have a family reunion with both the families dads and yours. Elder Hoopes asked me if I knew some other Malans that live in Weber territory but I don't know them, I just told him I'm sure we are cousins somewhere down the line haha. And no mom you didn't tell me that your mom would have 80 years. How many years does your dad have? About the same, no? But that's about it for this week.  I don't have my camera to send you the picture of the baptism. So this next week I'll send it to you. Oh and tomorrow we have interviews with President. So we will see how it goes. Well love you all happy b day mom I hope you have a good one. See you later!

May 14, 2012

Hey mom! Good to hear from you guys yesterday. It was a good call. I was happy to see all of you there. Thanks for letting Jeff, Ben and Dirt take some of your time mom. I appreciate it and I'm sure they do a little bit. But the best was talking to you about the chicken foot ha ha that made me laugh. When I got done talking the mom of the family where I talked at was like wow Elder Malan you are really happy ha ha. Every time I have called you guys I have enjoyed a lot the call. And no I'm not that trunky. ha ha And the call didn't make me more trunky. Don't worry about that.

My comp is doing ok, I don't think he is sick. He looks fine to me. But who knows, tomorrow we have to go do some more tests. So we will see how it goes. He says he feels sick sometimes but who knows. And no he doesn't speak English. He understands a little bit of it but not much. I have never had a Mexican comp that has understood English well. But there are some here that speak and understand it well. I'm glad that your week went by quick mom! ha ha You told me that you only have 9 more days or something like that right? that's cool. We will see who is gonna be in your classes then int he next couple of weeks. I remember when me Colton Meacham and Jacob won the math Krypto in the district, ya I was a nerd when I was little ha ha. That was cool hopefully someone from your class will be able to go and win. And about the playground job, not sure about that I will have to think about it.  I think I want to do something else. But I will pray about it and see what's up. That's weird that you won't have two recesses. Why is that? ha ha

I'm glad I don't have a girl waiting for me either cause that would just suck in every way. And question? Have you heard anything about Brandon Clark getting married?? My comp? Not sure but I heard rumors that he is gonna get married. Lemme know.

But the baptism this week should be a little girl from that less active family. They are getting better and are going to church. The mom wants her kids to start going to the activities and all that too. So that should be this week if everything goes well. Elizabeth she has to get married so I think we are gonna have to stop visiting her soon cause her husband doesn't want to get married yet. so we will have to see. And right now we have one dude that has came to church named Xavier. He is a goofy dude, he's 23 but he wants to change how he is. So we will see how it goes with him. And yes, I'm trying to find a family. It's really hard to find one that everyone wants to listen to us. But we just need to keep looking to find it so we can bring them the blessings of the gospel. And Makelle tells me Ashton is a new dude and I'm gonna be surprised when I get home how he is. That's good to hear. He has always been a cool little dude. So we will see how he is later. And get him a journal if he doesn't find his cause journals are important. I was reading mine and I laughed at some things I put. It's funny and good to remember those experiences that I have had in the mission. I'm glad I have kept a good journal through out the mission. And for the sobrino. We will see. It will come when they are ready. I'm not too worried about it.

Then today we played soccer it was fun. I'm still decent at soccer so its good to see that. All the churches here have a soccer field thing. A concrete court with some metal goals. No nets but that's fine ha ha. And lets go to Lake Powell with the Annis fam! If you guys aren't gonna go I'm gonna go ha ha. And what package? You sent me a package or what? I'll let you know though. Well that's it for this email. I hope you are all doing good. Love you all and thanks for talking to me yesterday. See you later!

May 7, 2012

Hey mom! It's good to see your email this week ha ha. Last week was a little weird. I looked and I didn't see your email. I was like that can't be possible, mom hasn't missed a week the whole mission! So I told dad that I would write him for a change. ha ha So it was good. He needed a letter I think.

So this last week was a little adventure. On Thursday we had to go to the DF, Distrito Federal cause my comp has been a little sick so we had to go to the temple to see the doctor. He checked him out and then told him he had to go get some tests done. A member took us in his taxi. It was cool. Then on Friday he went to get the tests done and we had to email them to the doctor. The doctor told us that he has to go see a specialist now cause he doesn't know whats wrong with him. So we will have to go to DF again this week I think. So it should be another adventure. But on Saturday in the morning we had an activity with the ward. We went to a Tianguis, a market in the street, and put a little stand with a bunch of pamphlets and Book of Mormons and stuff like that and we started to contact people. We had like 12 people from the ward that came and helped us contact people it was pretty cool. In the picture I sent you I was explaining the Book of Mormon to a lady. It was cool. We got quite a few references and it was a good experience for the people that came with us. It was cool. I would have never gone to something like that before the mission haha. Some teenagers came, it was cool.
Then as for Elizabeth, she is really cool and wants to get baptized but she has to get married. So that is the part that is holding her back right now. So it sucks, but we will see what we can do for her so that if her husband wants to we can marry her. But we will see. Then we brought one new guy to church. He is gay though. So we have to help him out a lot ha ha. So we will see how it goes with him too. We didn't have much time to work with all the things that we had to do in DF. This week might be the same. and I have not gotten your letter yet mom.

And about the job, how much would I make and what are the hours? I would like to go to school full time cause I want to get done with school ha ha. But we could check it out. We can talk more about it on Sunday. I will call around 6 in the afternoon up there. It will be 7 here. So tell everybody about that time and I will call on time this time ha ha. And yes we are going to use Skype. And here Mother's Day is always on the 10th of May. So he is gonna call home on Thursday.

But here we are doing OK. We are still trying to find more people to teach, that is always the hardest part to do ha ha, find the people that are ready and that want to hear about the gospel. And ya I sleep good at night. I have gotten use to the beds. I sleep on my back now. I can't sleep any other way cause the beds suck. And ya I'm used to the food now. It's good stuff. I like almost all of it. And can I see my room on Skype? Do you have a moving camera or what??ha ha And the chicken foot it tasted OK. It wasn't soo bad. I have tasted other things a lot worse. And then last night a family gave me cake for my birthday it was cool. And a nice cold coke. Man, it was good stuff ha ha. Then today we went and bowled. It was good. I saw my hijo Elder Hernandez. He told me that the kids of Noemi are gonna get baptized, the lady in my last area. So that is cool too. And today we went to Walmart and I found some good stuff, some Fruit by the Foot, a box of 6 for 5 pesos!! It was a steal ha ha I guess nobody here likes them. And I found some Goldfish. So it's good stuff. Well that's it for this week. I hope you all are there on Sunday so we can have a good talk. Ben is excited for New York, so am I. What day are we going? Well that's it. Have a good week see you on Sunday!

Second picture is our ward mission leader acting like he is giving out pamphlets ha ha. He actually got quite a few references.

April 23, 2012

Hey mom!

Thanks for the birthday wishes. But Elizabeth didnt come to church yesterday so we will have to postpone her baptism. We didn't see her that much last week cause she was never home when we passed by her house. But we finally saw her on Saturday and she said she would be ready to go but when we went to get her she wasn't there. So it was a bummer. And last week didn't go that well for us. we worked pretty hard but we didn't find anyone and everyone told us no. So thats how it is going in the area right now. Pretty difficult but we just gotta hang in there and do what we need to so that we can find those people that are ready to hear the gospel. And on the 29th, it's the last day of changes so we will see what happens with my comp, if he stays or if he goes. I think that he might get changed and that I might train again. But who knows. We will see what happens. And a lot of members have told me that they want to give me food so we will see how much I can eat. haha

And my favorite hymn right now, I really like Abide with Me, I think its called. Acompañame it is in Spanish. I really like that one and Onward Christian Soldiers. What about yours? And for talkin mom, no you wont lose your time. It will be the same as always. And its from that time you will see me in 2 months, but your the boss mom. You decide. I still dont know where I'm going to be to Skype you. I'm sure it will be in the house of a member. And about when im going to be on, not sure. I'll let you know in a litle bit. I'll try not to do it like I did last time but I'm not making any promises. And mom you make me more trunky than anybody!! haha jk, but today the hermana call told us that we needed to send where we are going to fly into and your email address to let you know about the flight plans. So I gave them moms email. And I will be fine mom. Don't worry about me. I'm more worried about you. And ya I told israel he could use my helmet. It is just collecting dust so it will be good for it to get some fresh air. 

And Israel is dope. He always writes me. He is a good dude. And I would like to go to school this next sememster in the winter. So if you could look in to that for me mom and see what I need to do or what you need to do to get me into classes. And man, a Ducati sounds sweet, not gunna lie. But I'm not worried about it. I will have a sweet bike in a year or so I  think.  Does dad still have the Harley? I hope so. Explain more about what we are going to do in New York when we talk on mothers day. And hopefully the same thing doesnt happen to Makelle what happened to me with the wisdom teeth! To have her breath smell like crap for weeks! haha Ashton wants me to go with him rock climbing but I won't be able to for a while. I'm a fat little kid now. I think I deserve the title¨fatty¨ now. It's good to hear that he is doing better in the church. He is a good kid. He will go on a mission.

 Then today we played soccer. It was fun. I like playing a lot. It's cool here playing with the Mexicans too cause most of them are decent or good playing. Almost all the white kids suck. haha But we came back home and I was sore for a little bit! haha. But now I'm good so it's all good. But this week in the Book of Mormon I have been reading in Helaman. I like a part in chapter 13, when it starts talking about Samuel the Lamanite. At first in Spanish it says Samuel un tal Lamanita. or Samuel some Lamanite, then he preaches and in the 14 first verse it says Samuel el Lamanita. It means that he was somebody speacial, not just some dude or some white boy, he was Samuel the Lamanite. Or you could put some elder, or elder and their last name. It's a cool thing,  I liked it a lot. But gotta go. Here are some pictures. I hope you like them. Thanks for the birthday wishes. Have a good week!

First, in by the river of crap in my area,

Second me and some cool grafiti thats in my area.

April 16, 2012

Hey mom! It looks like we are going to have to practice on your Spanish when I get back cause you are struggling ahah. But its all good. And you talked to the assistant. He told me that you called the offices and all that. And mom, its the 25th. I'm getting home on a Wednesday. Still not sure at what time, but we will see.

Our week went pretty well. The less active family is doing well. They have quite a few problems so we are helping them out there and they are getting better. We do do a lot of reactivation. It is a good way to find people who aren't members and that know the church already. So I like looking for less actives and to reactivate them and find people to teach, especially when we didn't have really anyone to teach when I got here. And this last week we also found a lady her name is Elizabeth. She is cool. She has two kids and her husband. Her kids are like 4 and 2 years old. We found her cause we went to look for a person we had contacted in the street and he wasn't home. So we started to know the building to see if we could find anybody there. Then we got down to the first floor and we saw her about to go into her house. So I told my comp to contact her and he contacted her and she said ok that's fine. So we passed by and taught here quick cause she didn't have that much time and she said that she would go to church. We put another appointment to visit her and we went back taught her then on Sunday we went to take her to church. It went well. We have a baptismal date with her for the 29th. so I hope she can keep that date to have a baptism on my birthday. That would be the best birthday present ever! ha ha but in the church at the end when we had finished singing the last hymn, her little boy stood up on the seat and shouted bravo bravo and clapped a couple times. I laughed pretty hard. It was funny. On Sunday I also had to speak. It was my second time in the mission speaking. It went good. It was kinda hard to prepare the talk cause the bishop told us on Saturday so we got home a little early Saturday night to prepare our talks cause our services start at 9, so we got home and there was a huge tent out. And when somebody has a huge tent that that it means that there is gonna be a party. And sure enough there was. They started at like 9 at night and finished at 6 in the morning. So needless to say I didn't sleep much and I couldn't prepare that well for my talk ha ha. But the Lord helped me and I think it went good.

This week it has also started to rain at night. It's crazy cause when it rains it a thunderstorm and it rains quite a bit. The good part is that we were already in the house when it started to rain. Then on Friday we had a zone conference from 9-5. It was pretty dang long and they didn't give us that much to eat there. But all in all it was a good conference. President got there late but it went good. The president talked about how we need to get the members more included in the work and why we need to keep doing our street contacts everyday. We did some practices and listened to our zone leaders. and to get to the offices from my house it's like 15 minutes in combi. We are really close. We go there to see president. 

And mom Spanish doesn't have other dialects. It's just different accents. ha ha I will be able to understand him. So don't worry about that. That's a cool story about his mission. It happens a lot like that. And I gave Ash the shout out for happy birthday but once again happy b day. Love you Ash. and its crazy to think that he is 19 now. Man mom and dad you two are getting old!! ha ha jk. And its good to hear that he is doing work in math. That's good to hear that. you need to get him going full time to school if he still doesn't want to go on a mission.

Here me and my comp are doing a lot better now. So that is the good thing cause I have learned one thing on the mission, if the companionship has problems like fighting and all that, they wont have success. But when they are cool with each other it is so much easier to have the spirit and be able to convert people to the gospel. That's why it is so important for any companionship to get along. Like husband and wife, mission comps, work buddies. If we have the friendship it will be a lot more smoother in the long run and we will learn more and have more fun along the way. Thanks for the email I hope you are all doing well. Here its good. We should have 2 baptisms in the next couple of weeks so we will see how it goes and how this week goes for us. Love you all and have a good week. We can use skype again for mothers day just to let you know. See if the buddies want to go and Spencer. I would like to see them. Well see ya later have a fantastic week!

Here is a picture of the birthday missionaries in April. I'll send you more next week!