I believe in you

Wonderful to hear checkups on everyone! Glad to hear spring is on its way. We've got plenty here to go around. In fact, if you could lend us some of your cold, that would be great. Actually, I’ve adjusted completely, and I think it dropped to around 65 last night, and I shivered a little bit during one of our lessons. Crazy. I’m going to come back in the dead of winter and die. BTW, all of my Zone from last transfers says you need to start saving now to come and pick me up and take me to Machu Pichu. I have to say that I agree that would be the bomb.

Renen! Its great that youre looking to get a job early! The biggest thing I regret is not having a government official job that I can put on my résumé and whatnot until college. And combined with teaching drum lessons, that’s about as good as it gets! A piece of advice, it may seem like 40% is a lot to save for a mission sometimes, but it isn’t enough. When it came down to it, I was saving 100% for my mission for much too long, and I sacrificed more and more things that I wish I could pay for in order to pay for a mission. So my advice is save as much as you possibly can for your mission until you have it all saved up for (and some extra to buy souveneers) and then you can start spending whatever you want on whatever you want. Just a suggestion that I wish someone had told me when I was your age, ‘cause I love you and I want the best for you in the future.

Kai, swimming is tough. And swimming and singing, and playing the piano is tougher. And swimming, piano, singing, and doing homework, and having friends (especially you-know-who), and a life, and church, and a calling.....life is crazy, and sometimes you have to realize that we can only do so much. I wanted more than anything to make state in swimming my senior year and get one of those sweet banners, and be able to say that I went to the state competition, and all that cool stuff, but I began to realize that I wasn’t ever going to be a key player for the team in the pool. So I decided I needed a better way. One that I was better at naturally, and that I could become essential. That way was with administration. You have your own talents that are God-given. Some of our genes are made to swim, but a lot of them aren’t. When there is a door that is shut, sometimes there is a window that we have been trained to climb through. Just a thought. But this doesn’t mean stop trying. Just remember that you’ve got a lot more set up for you than a high school swimming career, but swimming can and should be a big part of it if you want it to. Also remember that you’re a lot like your older brother, and I may be a few thousand miles away, but I’ve got a computer to read emails, and a heart to love my family. So chin up and smack em where they weren’t expecting! I love you bro!

Sierra! You’re so awesome, I don’t know who raised you, but you've got skills. Just keep doing what you’re doing and remember the quote that I love from Marianne Williamson! You’ve got a lot of light, and the only thing you need to do is keep it shining, and find people who you can brighten up, and can brighten you up too! Keep it up, Shiner! I love you!

Lily Lily, bonanaphanafophilly, fee, fi, fophilly. LILY! You are just growing up a storm! It's so great that you are developing your talents like playing the piano and reading! You are going to be so smart when I get back! I can’t wait! Just remember that Mom is your best friend, and she will always be your best friend. Also, don’t forget that Renen loves you like crazy, and he will always be there to watch out for you and keep you safe. I love you too and I hope you are showing all of your siblings, cousins, and parents how to have fun!

Alright, so this week we had transfers! Cambios! I knew I was changing because I was paired with a Zone leader, but I didn’t want to acknowlege it, haha. So now my new companion is Elder (Jair) Perez Albela and he is waiting for a visa for Argentina, which means that once he leaves I’ll be introducing another Elder into this area. Better know it well! It's going great though! We are both mas o menos greenies, and so we work hard. He has been a member of the church for only about a year or so. We just are still learning the gospel and how to preach it (and I'm still learning Español) so imagine two Deacons trying to preach the gospel. Yep. Its a blast.

(Question from Mom: What is hard?)

Hmmm, what is hard. Hard is talking about things other than the gospel in spanish. It's supposed to be that way, but I sure wish it were easier. Today we’re at the clinic for a checkup and I don’t understand anything because its all medical terms, and I think E. Perez Albela isn’t used to the big city life. So we’re both pretty confused. Again, two deacons. It's also hard to have a companion who doesn’t understand what its like to learn a language. He doesn’t speak a lick of English (besides the days of the week, ta-da!) so I can’t ask him definitions or anything. But we do have a Zone leader from American Fork, which is great. He's awesome. Elder Eklof. We live in an apartment with 2 other sets of Elders. One is our ZL and the other is the other DL (not ours). Hmmm, other things that are hard...the toilets are not only hard, but cold. Because they don’t believe in toilet seats. Our apartment has one, probably because some American Elders bought it, but most everywhere doesn’t. I’ve seen a couple of places that have them put on wrong, but just having them is a blessing.

(Question from Mom: Can you see the stars very well from the city? Have you seen the Southern Cross?)

Stars? They’re different. We can see a ton of them, faintly. You might be able to see them in the pictures. You probably can’t see them from the city itself, because everything is lit up, because anywhere that is dark at night is saturated with satan. Literally, its gross. Southern cross? I don't know exactly, but we have one that is pretty big. You can see it in the pictures. We are on the north side of the city though.

I’ve got lots more to write, but no time to write it! I’ll write again next week!