Its harder than I thought, but not harder than I can handle

Hola!

Wow, Monday already? This week flew by! It was a good week. My Spanish is getting better every day, and I've learned how to share the gospel with my actions more than my words when I need to. This keyboard I'm typing on is absolutely awful so I apologize for the gazillion errors. (mom added a lot of i's to this letter before posting!) Our investigator, Brandon, who was supposed to get baptized this Saturday, is having some fear so we moved his date to the end of August to help him work through his difficulties. I know he will be baptized and I think it's better to wait so he can have a good experience. We found an awesome family, well they found us actually. We were walking to a cita (appointment) and this lady stopped us and asked us where the church was and said she would go on Sunday and that her daughter was a member and was interested. Well she didn't come to church that Sunday but we had her number so we called and she said she wants to meet with us. We met with her and her daughter and had a great lesson. We invited them to be baptized but Gloria isn't married, normal here, and Iris, her daughter, is moving in like 3 weeks. But we invited them to come to church and set up another time to meet. The next lesson they brought their friend Helena and her children, like 3 of them, and Helena is really interested. They all came to church yesterday which was awesome. Hopefully that all turns out well. We have an investigator named Itsel who is 15 and lives with her grandparents. She really wants to be baptized but she doesn't have a great relationship with her mom and we need her permission first. The letter I, you have to like punch to get to work so my I's aren't showing up sorry. But we are working on getting her moms permission and she will be baptized on the 6th of September. Another family is the Ponce Family, 2 kids Leo and Mari and the mom Celia. They all want to be baptized and we have been teaching them for a year, but the mom never got divorced from her old husband and now is living with her boyfriend who she cant marry until she divorces, and the kids cant get baptized until the parents are married. However, since they have such a desire to be baptized, we got special permission from President Jordan and the 2 kids will be baptized on the 30th of August. We are having lots of success here.  I don't really feel like a trainee much anymore-- minus the language. We both push each other to do better and we have been doing great. A few things I wrote down to tell you...

They have the 2 liter bottles of Coke that you can buy and then take to any of the stores like a block away, there's a million of them, and exchange it for a new one for a lot cheaper. They say "Retornable'''on them.  It's a great idea, but would only work in Mexico where theres a convenience store for every person in the town less than 5 steps from your door haha. 

We live next to this family that has a few little kids that call me "Señor Grande" every time we see them, which is funny.  I haven't met anyone taller than me and I am slouching down more than standing straight up when we are walking around because everything is so low haha.

There is a word here, guero, and idk if its in all of Latin America or just Mexico but it means white person. I hear it a lot, and the other day, no joke, a parrot said it to me. That was a shock haha.

Our same neighbors dog just had puppies so theres this little tiny black puppy outside our house all the time, its cute but kinda annoying haha. I took a pic.

I'm helping Elder Flores learn English and that's always a funny experience. The other day he sad "I like to eat children" instead of chicken. He is getting better though...

Apparently when I say where I'm from it's funny because if I say "Soy De Colorado" it sounds like soy Decolorado, which is like I am de-colored. Which is true here.  So everyone laughs.

As of 1 transfer before I got here, the mission is on a break from sports and other recreational activities on P Day. Which is lame. All we do is write, shop, clean, and eat. And Study. Hopefully that ends soon.

I don't have a physical address but the mission office sends all the mail to us through our zone leaders. I'm just outside Tampico so mail will probably get here faster than other places. I'm guessing I'll be here in Villa Cuahtemoc/ Pueblo Vejo for 6 months. 3 at the least.

Right now is the hottest time of the year. It's called Canicula I think. Honestly the heat isn't what bothers me, it's the humidity. The clime (A/C) is my best friend when we come home every night haha.

Did you guys hear anything about the giant fire or explosion in Tampico? We saw the smoke and heard a bit about it but not much. Look into it and let me know. I think it was an oil refinery or something.

That's all for this week. I'm doing great! Its harder than I thought, but not harder than I can handle. 

Love you all!

-Elder Skalla

First Letter from Mexico!!! And pIctures!!!

Holy cow this week has been crazy! I don´t even know where to start! These keyboards are super weird and the computer thinks all of my words are wrong haha so I guess I´ll get used to it eventually... First things first my area is Villa Cuahutemoc 1, Zona Tampico. My companion is Elder Flores, 20, from Ecuador. He is great and my area is great too! It's just across the river from Tampico (We have to cross in the lanchas) and we go to Tampico once a week for district meeting so I get to see the city a bit which is cool. So I got off the plane and waited in the customs line and when it was my turn it was taking a while because for some reason the thingy would t read my passport for a while.  I don't know why but it eventually worked. I didn't know it was a ´red light´until you mentioned it. I guess it all worked out haha. After I went through the customs stuff and went out the door, President and Sister Jordan, the assistants, Elder Strong and Elder Granda, and my companion, Elder Flores, were waiting for me. It was a friendly sight to see 3 Americans all wearing name tags haha! We went to the mission home, which was really nice, the nicest I{ve seen here and probably the nicest I will see. There, President interviewed me and talked a bit about the mission. He is really nice and I´m excited to get to know him better. After that we ate dinner, which was tacos (The Mexican Way!) which were delicious! I was wiped out from the trip and from waking up early and from the heat and just all the craziness and was super tired but I tried to hide it haha. They probably saw right through it though. After that, President drove us to the assistants apartment, which is literally right across from the temple. It was all lit up and it was really pretty. I forgot to take a picture though :(. After we got there me and Elder Flores planned for the next day, entirely in Spanish (I could understand pretty well for being almost asleep). Apparently my district that came last week was telling them how good I was at Spanish but I was so tired and I just couldn't remember how to speak Spanish, it was weird. They speak really fast here and I´m lucky to pick up a few words every once in a while. President Jordan says they slow down eventually haha. 

We woke up the next morning and went across the street to the offices and they did an orientation thing with me and then we went to this mall with a walmart to take a picture for my visa or something. Oh yah, theres armed police literally everywhere, even in walmart. It was weird at first but you get used to it. Nothing really ever happens but I think they just like to show their power. Mom, you can sleep easy, I´ve never once felt in danger or anything (well maybe in the taxis haha but that´s different). After Walmart we went to our area, went and got some groceries for the next week, and went out to teach. I couldn't understand much so I didn't really contribute which stinks. I feel like I am prepared and ready to teach people but I can´t because I can´t understand what they are saying to me. Literally everyone asks me to pray though haha. its funny we ask them who they would like to pray and it's always ´the nuevo´! We got food from a member and then went back to casa to eat it. It was good, but my stomach did not like it. I was sick for the first few days but now I am okay. Our bedroom has AC which is heaven after a long day outside. Wednesday was really hard because it was like the peak of being sick and we had to walk forever through Tampico to get to district meeting and I lost my tag in a taxi (We found it) and everything and I couldn't understand district meeting and I was so tired and hot. Theres an elder in our district called Elder George, from Utah, and we talked in English which was really, really nice haha.I started feeling a bit better after the meeting but I wasn't totally good until maybe Friday. I just had to forget about myself and get lost in the work and that helped me not concentrate on being sick and focus. On Thursday we met the Bishop, who is a taxista by day and a fitness teacher by night haha. he is a great guy though and you can definitely tell that their family has been blessed by the gospel. They have two sons, and the older one is 17 and will be serving a mission soon. He speaks English pretty well and its fun talking to him and helping him learn. He speaks french too and wants to speak 5 languages before he turns 25. OK jeez I only have 15 more minutes and I need to email president too ahh! Time is flying! 

Okay so I'm doing great, I have running (cold) water and AC so I can't ask for anything more, maybe less ants. Things are going great and every day is better than the last. The members are so great and loving and I´m having a blast! Oh and I found out that if you send me mp3 files of music I can put it on my flash drive and listen to it through our DVD player so that's cool. I have asked 3 people to be baptized and 2 said yes and 1 said maybe so that was really cool. They have to go to church 5 times in a row with only 1 miss in between before they can be baptized so it´s a bit more work on both our and their part but it helps them stay active after. We teach lots of less actives and will probably have a baptism on August 2nd if Brandon goes to church next week. Brandon is 14 and his mom is MA (menos  active) and his dad is military and not a member but we cant teach him because he doesn't live here. He went to EFY in Monterrey last week with a bunch of other member kids which was a good experience for him. He has an 8 year old brother Julio who will probably be baptized the same day. I will keep you updated. I hope I told you everything you want to know. I will check real quick after I mail president and answer short questions. Love you! Bye! 
Happy Birthday! Love you so much!

Love,

Elder Skalla

Elder Skalla and his trainer, Elder Flores

Casa, Sweet Casa

He says Coke light isn't the same as Diet Coke....he is too much like his mother! 

I love the MTC so much I decided to stay!

Hola!

So I have another week in the MTC... I guess 5 days now. That's better than being here another 6 weeks, which was a possibility if my mission president didn't want me til next transfer. So I'm glad he wants me haha. It was really hard to say goodbye to my old district. They are great missionaries and we got to be really close friends the last 6 weeks. Elder Hyde and Elder Merling are in my same mission so I will see them every once in a while, but Elder White, Allred, and Garnett, I won't. I'm sure we will keep in touch though and see each other after the mission. My new companion is Elder Dixon from Spanish Fork. He graduated high school like last month haha. He's a great kid and a great missionary and I love working with him. He got to the MTC 2 weeks after we did and is in our zone but was in a trio, so when my district left I just joined his. We teach really well together. He knows the scriptures really well and we have had lots of success teaching here at the MTC. We have 2 investigators "on date" for "baptism" haha so that's fun. 

I've been a slacker and I haven't written in my journal in forever so I can't remember a whole lot that has happened. I'm recovering really well from surgery and doing great. Super listo to go to Mexico though. Our Devotional Sunday night was way cool actually. It was Josh Wright, he is a professional piano player and a member of the church so he came and shared some stories from his mission and played some songs. He was really good. My favorite was a mix of Clair De Lune and How Great Thou Art that he wrote which was really cool. You should look him up. Tuesday was Niel L. Andersen. He spoke about the spirit and it was just an incredible talk. He talked a bit about Elder Langi, the kid who is getting flak for transferring from Utah to BYU after his mission after playing on the Utah football team. Cool story, you should look that up too. He said that before his mission he wasn't willing or able to follow the standards BYU has, but now since he changed so much on his mission he is ready to embrace the standards and wants to be in a place where the people he is around have the same standards as he does. Utah fans aren't happy.

I was called as a zone leader which is cool.I 'm excited, even though it's only a week. We are pretty involved in helping the new missionaries out and so I'm excited to do that. We have 10 new elders coming in this afternoon which is crazy. that will be fun. I feel bad I honestly can't think of anything to tell you. The MTC is the MTC... You will get a call on Monday and then probably an excitement packed email the next Monday. I'm doing great and I love hearing from you all. I got a Dear Elder from Maddy Korth which was awesome (Thanks Maddy!). I want to hear from all of you so feel free to write me! Just let me know whats going on in your life... I have gotten letters from a few of my DECA friends and those are always really fun to read. It gives me some energy to get through the rest of the day/week so keep em coming! Oh ya, on the 4th we had a devotional with some musical stuff and then a speaker about how the Lord prepared America to be the place of the restoration and then we watched 17 Miracles and it was really loud because they didn't want us to hear Carrie Underwood singing next door :(   But then afterward we got to watch the fireworks and that was cool. Weird 4th of July, but really fun.

I got a package from Jenn and Adalynn and some of the cousins which made my day. They all drew me pictures and wrote notes and it was awesome. Thanks for the Liahona magazine stuff and the Temple magazine and the CTR rings! I'm excited to give those to the little kids! Sounds like you all had an awesome 4th! I'm jealous you hiked pikes peak. I have been wanting to hike really bad lately. We are literally right at the bottom of the mountains and i want to be on them! I think they should let us hike the Y on P-Day... Did you tell Andie I saw her? Alright well I'm almost out of time and I have nothing left to say... Love you all! Keep writing and sending pictures! I love pictures too so email me pictures! 

Love you all!

-Elder Skalla

 Elder Dixon and Elder Skalla

from surgery week...Elder Garnett had his appendix out.  Then Elder Skalla had his hernia!

Surgery buddies

 In order:  Hermana Olson, Hermana Larsen, Elder Allred, Elder White, Elder Wilkey, Elder Dixon, Elder Hartvigsen, Elder Hyde, Elder Skalla, Hermana Jensen, Hermana. Wathen

Olson, Larsen, Jensen, Wathen, Wilkey, Dixon, and Hartvigsen  are in my new district 

 Elder Garnett

New District Elders

Hernia Surgery....info from Mom

On Friday Ryan discovered what appeared to be a hernia.  Having been through that before just less than 3 years ago, he knew what it was and knew that he needed to see a Dr.  The Dr. at the MTC Health Center confirmed the hernia and immediately made an appt. with a surgeon the following Monday.  They don't waste any time at the MTC and surgery was scheduled for Tuesday morning.  Today is Wednesday!  What a whirlwind!

Ryan had successful surgery.  It was repaired laparoscopically through his belly button, so the say the recovery time will be less than last time.  He returned back to the MTC around 5 pm Tuesday night.  We were able to talk with him for almost an hour while he was still in the hospital just before he went back to the MTC and he was doing well.  It took some time for him to "wake up" and get his heart rate and such back to normal, but overall everything went as planned.  I am not sure if we will get an email today which would normally be P-Day.  

I have been pretty ok with all of this up until now, but today I have been more emotional than the whole 4 days!  I keep wondering if someone is making sure he is getting his pain meds on time, who is going to do his laundry today, does he have enough ice, will someone wake up if he needs something in the middle of the night?  Stupid stuff a mom just does without thinking about it!  I think up until now I have just relied on faith that he is in good hands, where he is supposed to be.  Now I am emotional thinking of how blessed we have been and all the things that could have gone wrong, but didn't.  I am a lot tougher on the outside than I am on the inside!  It is hard just turning your child over to someone else, even if it is turning him over to Heavenly Father and those he has called to serve.  It shouldn't be, but it is.  

I am very grateful to all who have been so supportive and checking in on my and on Ryan.  He loves getting mail and DearElder letters!   Thanks for taking the time to write to him.  It means a lot to both of us!

Ryan and Elder Garnett who both had surgery this week!  Elder Garnett had his appendix removed!

On his way to surgery....