Missionary letter 11-7-2010

Hermana,

Hey there chica. So in random news- this week we’ve been working on loading all the home video from our little video tapes to our Mac. As we were going through them we found one that is yours. I didn’t watch the whole thing, but there was a little bit from the Haunted Mansion at the beginning, and then it looks like the rest of the tap is of some car trip or scavenger hunt with Lindsey and Hanna? I’ve got it set aside for you here, but if you want me to do something specific with it- let me know.

I’m glad to hear you had at least a couple fun surprises on Halloween. If it’s any consolation it rained all evening here- so Garrett and Racheal only took the boys to three houses before they decided to come home. We did watch Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin and do a little bobbing for apples though. The boys really weren’t too disappointed, and I didn’t have to worry about them bringing loads of candy back to the house.

So a couple of interesting notes in response to your last letter. I actually stayed in la casa de huespedes for a week or two when I first got there. That’s where we stayed until we found an apartment. It was really cool to visit with other people who were staying there while visiting the temple from far away places. To hear their stories and the sacrifices they made. And I also remember the kite flying festival. That was one of the two weekends we spent up at Lake Atitlan, and there were several kites in the sky that weekend even though it wasn’t the main city where all that goes on. Oh- and I loved you comments on the buses. I always loved riding the buses too. In fact, I recently found my Guatemala video and had it transferred to DVD (can you tell we’re trying to update our documentation processes) and there’s a section where I randomly turned it on and recorded just because I loved the crazy music, sounds, and driving, and I think even a chicken that were all part of the experience. And you probably don’t remember but the Lonely Planet book I gave you for Guate had a red bus “tipica” on the front.

I’m glad to hear Spanish is coming along. You’re so lucky that you have this chance to be so submersed in it BEFORE going out to the field. We spoke as much Spanish as possible in the MTC, but it was still a HUGE shock when I got to the field and had to jump into the work and the language all at once. And now you know why RMs will sometimes revert into their mission language when talking. We make fun of them for it, but sometimes it really is because they get SO used to expressing certain things a certain way and they just don’t always translate.

Naomi took a break from trying to walk, but today has started practicing again. She also cut her 4th tooth on top- so her smile is looking more balanced and she now has a total of 6 teeth.

Yesterday I took the boys to the BYU football game (Jake was at class, and my neighbor gave me free tickets, so we just went to the last quarter). After we decided to go visit Garrett and Racheal for a bit. The last time we’d been to there place we commented how you were right there at the MTC. This time I didn’t say anything about it, but as we drove by the MTC Josh asked if you were still there. I told him no, that now you were in Guatemala. He said, “Oh yeah. I knew that.” Which he did, but it was cute to know he was thinking of you- right? We are praying for you in our prayers, and talk of you often. Oh and BTW, apparently I have really powerful prayers. The other night I was asking Jake about how things were with all three of his businesses had gone that day and he responded saying that they were all just kinda plugging along and that he was ready for something exciting to happen with one of them. Well, the next morning he asked me to say the family prayer, and in my prayers I said, “Please bless that Jake will have a good day, and that something exciting will happen with one of his businesses”. Well, that day in fact there was some excitement. I won’t go into all the details of it, but it’s something exciting but also pretty stressful at the same time, and could change a lot of things over the next year. While we were talking about this change of events Jake said, “You do realize this is all your fault, right?” “How so?” “Because you prayed that something exciting would happen! You have to be careful what you pray for. You always do this!” His “always” is in reference to a couple other times where I prayed for things that brought on challenges, ones that were good, but challenges nonetheless (i.e. his calling as YM President, and him going back to school). We kinda laugh about it, but it really IS true. Heavenly Father DOES listen to our prayers, and he does answer them. Not always in the way/time we expect, but he DOES answer them!

So, question- the computers that you have access to- can you connect your camera and load pictures? Are you aloud to send us any? We’d love to see some pictures!!! And can we send you any digital pictures? I’m gonna send you a couple. If they’re not allowed, let me know, and I’ll repent later!

Te amo mucho mucho hermana mia.

Quidate!

Jaime