Cambio's and Pictures!!

Looks like you are all having fun in St. George. Tate and Adalynn are getting bigger and bigger and cuter and cuter. Adalynn has a ton of hair! The baptism went really well. Not as well as we wanted because there was a Relief Society broadcast in Tampico (You know, that General Women's Broadcast haha)  so there was only one sister from the relief society but Norma knew that before, so she wasn't bothered by it! 

Brad told me he was excited for when I'm a trainer or district leader or zone leader so he could send me stuff to teach the missionaries. I Say send them now because I feel like there's a ton I don't know and I need him to teach me things to me, the new missionary haha! I feel like Ive learned so much but there is still so much I have to learn to be able to be the best missionary I can be. The pen is from our Zone Leaders. They have been making them since the beginning of this transfer in the little moments of free time they have haha. The "Young Man" from the pizza is Ismael haha. He brought a pizza to the chapel when we were going to teach him.

Transfers came yesterday and they were pretty crazy. Elder Flores is going to be Zone Leader in Zona Ampliacion. He's pretty nervous, but he will be great. Before training me he was just a normal missionary, the next transfer he trained, the next district leader, and the next zone leader haha. My new companion is Elder Arcela. He is from Peru and has 2 transfers left in the mission, so I'm pretty sure I am only going to be here in Villa one more cambio because I doubt they would whitewash the area with the success we are having. I have a lot of things I still need to do here before I leave... 

Elder Arcela is district leader. This is his second time being district leader.  Everyone I have talked to that knows him says that I will have to work hard, be patient, and be obedient. We will see how it goes. When we were at the bus station waiting for transfers, Elder Flores trainer was there so I got to meet my "Grandpa" Elder Bartchi. He is from Utah and has 2 or 3 more transfers left. 

The car is pretty cool huh? Its a Renault haha. We pass by the car almost every week or more on the way to church but I have never noticed it until now!

This week was pretty interesting. On Wednesday we did Super Divisions again and I was in Barrio Union with Elder Juarez. I ate Manta Ray! No joke! Its called Salpicón. I ate that twice this week. On Friday we did divisions and I was in my area with Elder Ortega from Pueblo. On Saturday we had the baptism of Norma and on Sunday she was confirmed. She was a little late to sacrament meeting (naturally, we are in Mexico) and walked in right as they were announcing her name to be confirmed haha. We were nervous she wasn't going to come!  We had 20 less actives in church today which was great! If we can have a few more active families in this ward, it would be a miracle! Later Sunday came the transfer calls and after that we went and visited some of the families Elder Flores was close to (investigators and recent converts) and took pictures and all that. This Wednesday I will send them because its easier to do it with Wifi.  (Pics below)

Austin is already married? The punk hasn't written to me since I wrote him about being engaged haha. He was dating her when I was there but then they broke up and got back together when I got here. Weird that he's married... Mexico Independence Day was different, but nothing crazy. The whole plaza in Pueblo Viejo is decorated and there were fireworks that night but nothing super crazy....

Looks like I just have 6 weeks left here in Puebl Viejo. I have loved my time here and I will take advantage of every minute I have left here. 

Oh, I tried using my card to buy groceries today because our money doesn't come until Wednesday and I'm out (We have to spend more money on taxis with the bigger area... we are gonna call the secretaries about that...) but it didn't work.  Idk if the bank rejected it or what happened but I will find a way to buy my groceries haha, don't worry. Have fun and enjoy conference in English while I am battling to understand it in Spanish haha!

Love you!

Elder Skalla

 Ismael brought pizza to the church!

 Norma's Baptism

 New Companion, Elder Arcela from Peru

Ryan says he feels like a GIANT!

This is the Church in his area

1st package RECEIVED!

Thanks for the package! It was perfect! One thing about the clippers though... The instructions say there should be 3 attachment heads and there are only 2 and the two I have are extremely short and a bit long and the one in between didn't come... It should work but if you find the other one, send it at Christmas :) The temple pictures are PERFECT! Ill probably have you send me more of those. Elder Flores was also very grateful for the ruler and colored pencils and the temple pictures. His family doesn't send packages so he was very grateful. The watch is perfect too. And I loved the pictures! And the Book of Mormon and the Institute manual too! and the EFY CD! It got here way quick! I hope they don't charge you any more because 63 dollars is ridiculous! I'm pretty sure everything made it here okay... There weren't any nutty bars or anything and I expected there to be a note inside or something but there wasn't. But I loved it :)  (there was but apparently someone took them out!!)

I'm glad you are enjoying the random pictures every once in a while haha. Ya RC is recent convert. Ismael is a 18 y.o. that was baptized my first transfer by the other missionaries in the ward and now he is preparing to serve a mission and comes with us tons on visits. He's awesome (And he makes really good tortas!)

This week was a pretty normal week (maybe my standard of normal has changed a bit haha) We had our last meeting of new missionaries on Thursday. I got to see Elder Hyde and Elder Merling and they are doing great! On Saturday our investigator Norma was interviewed and she is going to be baptized this Saturday! She is an investigator that the missionaries in the other area had found the first week of my first transfer here but she hadn't progressed or gone to church, but we started teaching her this transfer and she hasn't missed a Sunday yet! She is gold! Her son is a member which is a big help. She has been looking for the right church for a really long time and ha been baptized 3 times in other churches but she said she was tired of looking and that's when we found her. She says that she knows that this time she wont just be taking a bath haha and yesterday in church she bore her testimony to another one of our investigators that was struggling a bit in gospel principles yesterday and it was way cool. She is going to be a real good solid member! I will send pics Saturday.

Nothing new has really happened... We had 6 investigators in church yesterday and they have lots of potential! This week is my last with Elder Flores more than likely. We are both nervous to find out who will be our new companions because we have been working so well together and having lots of success. Apparently we have good numbers, but I have no idea because this is my first area, but we will see what happens when Elder Flores is gone haha.

Sounds like everything is good there in Colorado. Dad didn't email me so I don't know if the Broncos won or not. Tell him to email me in the next 20 minutes!

Love you!

Elder Skalla

This is Ismael making Tortas!  They look yummy! 

This is the group that went out the same time as Ryan did.  This is at a training meeting.  Ryan really is tall in Mexico!!  

Crazy is the new normal...

Crazy is starting to be the new normal here haha. On Wednesday we had divisions with the Zone Leaders because Elder Flores is District Leader.  I stayed in our area with Elder Stoor. He is from Colorado too! Well right now his family lives in Utah and he has lived all over the place but he says he likes Colorado the best haha. It was weird having an American comp and we actually spoke English which was really weird. I didn't think I would have a problem with it but it was honestly really hard to do at first. I didn't realize how infrequently I was using English and how much I was accustomed to Spanish haha. The Spanish is always getting better. It's not too much of a barrier but I just have to keep growing the vocabulary to be able to understand what people are saying haha. The hardest part I think is having a personality. It sounds weird but its true. When you cant speak your own language you lose your personality! Which stinks because I feel like a robot and I can't express myself and I can't make people laugh and it's really hard, but little by little it's coming. 

My shoes are holding up awesome. I have only worn the dressy ones once because the others are just way more comfortable. With the others you feel everything under your feet which is awful here and with the giant ones you feel nothing :) We do take a taxi when we go to the other side most of the time. There is a highway that goes from the center of Pueblo Viejo to a place called el paso del humo where the boats cross the river to Tampico. There is a taxi route down this highway that we use and its just six pesos one way and they drop you wherever you want on the highway so that's how we get between the two areas. We think that this transfer they're going to put missionaries back in the other area because we are still paying rent on their house.The next transfer is the 29th of September. Every 6 weeks on Mondays we have transfers. 

Awesome that you went to the temple with James! Forward me his letters if you can and send me his email so I can write him! On Saturday we did divisions and I went to Anuahac with Elder Mendez, from Puebla, which is a town that's almost an island close to Pueblo Viejo. Its just a little fishing town and the streets are pretty much covered in oyster shells. It was an interesting experience haha. They just have a little branch and not many investigators or members. We went to an investigators house and she asked if I had tried oysters and I said no and then a few seconds later she was opening one and gave it to me to eat. They put lemon and salt and a bit of salsa on them and you just slurp um straight from the shell. It's just salty and gooey and gross haha, but not too bad. 

I'm excited to come back and be able to eat Kneaders haha. Logan emailed me to tell me that Qdoba is opening in Dixie!  haha He said he wants me to go there with him when I come back haha. I told him he should come to BYU or USU with me. 

Don´t have too much fun in Disney Land! And ya we can go to Disney World when I come back for sure haha! Send me videos of the babies! Sounds like they are doing great. If my package was delivered I SHOULD get it Wednesday but that's only if the ZLs go to the office and if the office goes to the PO box... I don't know if it goes to the office or a PO box but maybe... Ya I only have two weeks left of being a greenie and then who knows what happens. Elder Flores most likely is leaving this change. We have lots of investigators who are way potential and we are hoping to have a baptism the last Saturday of this transfer for Norma. Keep referring the missionaries to all your friends and sharing the gospel with everyone! 

Elder Flores Says "Saludos a su familia y que tienen un hijo excelente"

I don't think I have anything else to say... Love you!

Elder Skalla

P.S. It rains a ton here haha but mostly in the night. Friday there was a huge storm in the morning that was awesome but also a pain because all the streets flood and everything is wet and the roads get terrible (Because the Mexican solution to pot holes is filling them with dirt) Its raining right now actually haha. But its all fun. Rain is better in Colorado when it doesn't make everything dirty and terrible haha. But I love it! It's all part of the adventure!

P.S.S.  just heard about the changes to Seminary and qualifications for graduation! Glad I made it out before lol I never would have graduated! Its all for the better though, I wish seminary wouldn't have been so early so I could've taken advantage of it. 

Questions Answered!!

What things have you eaten?  
Yesterday a member invited us over to eat their pig that they killed for their anniversary--20 years, but they aren't even really married haha... we are working on that.Mole sometimesLots of tortas!Lots of tortillas... its like edible silverware here.lots of meat with potato chunks and rice and beansTacos are always a treat (REAL tacos... we will do it when I come home!)
Quesadillas
Fried fish and the Oyster's below

Do you eat at members homes mostly or on your own?
Monday we eat on our own
Tuesday with a recent convert family
Wednesday either the 2nd counselor gives us money or a sister brings food to our house
Thursday with the family of Mari and Leo
Friday with the family of the 1st counselor
Saturday with one of 2 less active families (it changes every other week between the 2)
Sunday with the bishop

Is there fast food or places with things you like?  
There isn't fast food haha... I'm just in a little town haha I don't really know how to explain it and I don't think google has street view but there isn't fast food. IN Tampico there is Carl's Jr., Little Caesars, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King and McDonald's but we can't go there because we can't leave the area and we pass KFC every Wednesday on the way to district meeting but we can't stop and eat because we have to go direct to our areas.

Are you losing weight??   Staying healthy?
Not sure about the weight... maybe, I am exercising and trying to get rid of my gut haha so maybe...
I think I'm staying healthy... I haven't had any problems...

Thanks for the package!
No letters yet
No regrets on the piano haha :p I know enough to learn a few hymns! Maybe for Christmas you can send a simplified him book?

First Baptisms!!!

I'm thinking maybe you want me to stop sending you pictures from the camera, right?? haha.  (I love his wifi camera!!!)   I tried to send them Saturday after the baptism but the wifi was turned off so I couldn't.  The baptisms were so awesome. On Saturday the first thing we did was go and clean the font. The last baptism they forgot to drain the font so it was filled with spiders and ants and all kinds of fun stuff :) Brandon and Leo wanted to help us so we brought them and they helped us clean their own baptismal font haha. After that we had to wait for it to fill which took forever. We left at 2 to go eat and we came back around 3 to find that the water was no longer running and it had run out and the font wasn't even halfway full! We ran out of minutes (on the cell phone) so we had to walk forever to the house of the 2nd counselor so he could call the water people. It was 3:45 and the baptism was supposed to start at 4 (But of course we are in Mexico so nobody showed up until 4:30).  But finally it came back on and we filled the font and then the people started to show up and actually a ton came.  More people come to the baptisms than to church here, its kinda ridiculous. Leo used my baptism pants because we didn't have enough clothes for everyone and so a few days before the baptism when Leo's mom was sewing them a bit shorter we found the note haha .  (I left a note in his pants for him to find on his first baptism) So don't worry, it was still nice haha! 

I'll never forget the huge smile on the face of Brandon and Leo and Mari and Julio during their baptism. Brandon was baptized last and Elder Flores and I went out to see him right after and he jumped on me and gave me a hug and got me soaked haha. On Sunday they were confirmed and Brandon asked me to confirm him which was really cool. I wasn't sure exactly how to do the confirmation in Spanish so I just listened really hard to the first three and apparently I did it right so that was a relief haha. It was fast and testimony meeting so they all bore their testimonies and their moms too and Elder Flores and I and it was really cool. 

The rest of the week was a pretty good week too. Tuesday was our first Zone Conference in Tampico which was really great. Sister Jordan taught us a bit in English and talked about how in the song "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go" that it's easy to go and say what He wants, but the hard part and the most important part is to Be what He needs us to be. In Spanish the word for "To Iron" (like clothes) is planchar but they also use it in the sense of like scolding or something, idk ironing with words haha.  It just makes sense in Spanish but nos plancho a bit about how there are missionaries who have parties for when they leave and get all this stuff and then when they have baptisms they have parties and when they go home there are tons of members in the airport seeing them off and when they go home there are a ton of people waiting and cheering for them and they have a party and tons of stuff and that really we don't deserve any of that. And shes right, we don't. Later the zone leaders spoke and then President Jordan, which was really good. It was in the stake center right next to the temple so we got to see the temple again. I think we are going to go to the temple this change. 

As we were leaving the stake center it started to rain a ton and there was a ton of wind so we waited a bit and eventually it blew over. When we got to our area a few people told us about the hurricane or the storm that was gonna come and that they closed the schools and it was raining a bit but not much. That night it rained a ton but in the morning it was fine and only spitting a bit. They say that it didn't hit nearly as hard as they were expecting. I was hoping you wouldn't hear about it so you wouldn't worry. Everything was fine and it was just a rain storm no worse than we have in Denver.  (I saw that it missed him so I didn't worry ;)

We have a few investigators that are progressing and lots of others that have lots of potential, just don't go to sacrament meeting. We need to buy a bus that goes around and picks everyone up lol. One of our investigators is Norma. She is an old investigator from the other missionaries in the other area that never was progressing and never went to church. We started teaching her as soon as the other missionaries left and she hasn't missed church or dropped a commitment since then so I don't know what the other missionaries were doing because she is golden haha. She might be baptized the 27th. We also have Elena and Iris, two of the investigators that contacted US in the street one of my first weeks here. They have been going to church on and off but they told us that they have prayed and they know that its true, they just don't feel ready to be baptized. We had a really good lesson with them about baptism and what preparation is necessary and that it's the beginning rather than the end and all that and it went really well and they feel better and we are going to try and have their baptism the 20th or the 27th. 

We think that they are going to put missionaries back in the other area soon because we are still renting the old house... we will see. We waste a lot of time travelling between the two areas. We have an investigator that it takes 30 minutes to walk to his house from the chapel which is 10 minutes from our house, and then another 40 minutes to walk back. He lives at the complete extreme of our area and there aren't any other investigators or members anywhere nearby. We also have an investigator named Emilia, the older sister of Mari and Leo from their moms previous marriage, who is progressing really well and will be baptized on the 4th if everything goes well. She was crying in sac mtg yesterday during the testimonies which was awesome. She has a son who is 7 that REALLY wants to be baptized too and LOVES going to church. 

We are having lots of success here in Villa Cuahutemoc but LOTS of hard times too. Its so much work and we are so busy always and we walk a ton and its mentally and spiritually exhausting but somehow we do it every day and love it haha. The time really has flown by...more than 3 months, and everyone says that after the first 12 weeks of training it goes by even faster which I cant imagine because it feels like yesterday the last time I was in the ciber haha. 

Thanks for your letters and updates. I love hearing about all the little things that you think are boring haha.

Love you,

Elder Skalla

Ward Pianist???

Hey!

Sounds like you are all doing great. The stories of Adalynn and Tate always make me smile :) I am glad to ear that James did well with his talk! He has been in my prayers and I am sure he will do awesome. 

 I'm so happy to hear that Amanda got baptized! Please do everything you can to support the missionaries. I never realized how much the missionary work depends on the members. We don't have time to do everything that needs to be done and if the members helped us just a bit more the work would go forward so much faster! Not just 18 year old boys are called to be missionaries, all of us are commanded and have the responsibility to share the gospel and support the missionaries. So do what you can to be a strong support for our missionaries :) 

On Monday we went all the way to the extreme of our area to visit an old investigator named Jaime. He's an interesting guy but is interested in the gospel and we actually were able to put a baptism date with him, which the other Elders never did. He has a lot of different beliefs about God and about people and how if there really was a church on the earth of God that it would be perfect, which is true, but he also expects the members of the church to be completely perfect and for these reasons he doesn't think there is a true church. He told us that when he reads the Book of Mormon, it's more like reading Harry Potter. We had a good lesson with him about how to really read the Book of Mormon and have a mindset of why it IS true more than why it's NOT true and he said that that made sense. We can't teach him very often because it takes like 2 hours total to get there, teach, and come back.

On Tuesday we had splits with 2 elders from Anahuac. I stayed in the area and worked with Elder Escobar. He is from El Salvador. I like doing divisions and meeting other elders and getting to know other areas so, so far its been good to have my companion as District Leader haha.

The rest of the week was pretty much normal. Thursday I was working in the area Union in Tampico for the morning while Elder Flores was at a training meeting for leaders. I worked with the other DLs companion in our zone. 

Saturday we had the Baptismal Interviews for Leo, Mari, and Brandon. They went really well and we are looking forward to their baptisms this Saturday! I will send pictures! 

Are you posting my letters on my facebook every week? If not you should do that so more of my friends can see them. I think I have a few friend requests too from people here. You can accept them when I leave this area. 

I forgot to tell you last week, but yes I did play Mas Cerca Dios De Ti in Sacrament meeting haha. Elder Flores and I were at church early and my goal is to learn a new hymn every transfer so I was practicing and the bishop walked in and heard me playing and the next thing I knew the opening hymn was announced with me playing the piano!  It was hard to play with other people singing, especially when they don't sing very well and don't know the real tune because they never have a piano. It's kinda funny singing here because we don't have a pianist and they just make up the tunes haha. The bishop made me play it again this Sunday to start the 3rd hour meeting and I did better that time haha.

I guess I will survive without clippers if you cant have them shipped to the mission office. I think the address you sent me is right... I have two addresses one is for the PO box and the other is the actual mission office and I think the one you sent me is the best one. My zone is really close to the mission office so it should get here fairly quickly.

Thanks for writing! 

Love you!

Elder Skalla