June 5, 2012

Slumber Party -- Missionary style

Hola Familia,
Well Well Well I always knew my family was made of steel eh? hahaha Congratulations on conquering that which is known as the trek. What a feat and it sounds like you came out of it with more than just aches and pains. How awesome it is to struggle and grow not only physically but also spiritually and mentally. I am just so glad to hear it was so good!   Also sounds like we have some soon to be Broadway dancers huh? I can’t wait to get to see them when I get home. Trust me I believe you when you say they are the best! Well In all honesty this may not be another great letter because I am with about 12 other elders in a library and we are all going to play some sports and have tons of fun this pday but I don’t think they write as much as I do or read as many letters as I do hahaha! Let me tell you it is so great to be back into the midst of many an elder. I was kinda losing it there in Wauchula because we are away from everyone but now I have got 12 new guys who are tons of fun and happy to be around me. I really couldn’t ask for more. This morning we cooked about 4 dozen eggs 6 pds of sausage and 2 packs of bacon soo now we are content and juiced up for a great day hahahaahaha. Being an elder is awesome. To answer a few quick questions yes this is suppose to be a strong season for hurricanes because the heat is different and they are predicting at least one if not two as far as I can tell. ON the upside our shack of a house is located in the red zone or the most likely to be destroyed if a hurricane came. hahaha so we may have a couple of adventures coming our way. Also the Chicken turned out great! We marinated it for 24 hours and then we stuffed it with onions and ham and such and then we tossed it in tin foil and cooked it in a fire. Turned out great except for it stank of fecie. It tasted great it was just an overwhelming aroma. We think elder shields stabbed the fecal bag. hahaha yea but don’t worry we had cleaned it well and we are fine after like 4 days of eating it. As for the area things are going great. I think there is a ton of potential for this area we just are trying to figure it out and pinpoint where we need to strike. For ex we hold a sports night every week and this week there were more investigators than members there at the church playing ball. Not to mention we had a guy come to
English class and then another guy just called us but the one who actually came said he was interested in our message. So we will see how all this goes. Also my Spanish is coming back like lightning! Muscle memory or something haha because it is really getting pretty good not to be prideful or anything. Just self measurement and there is always room for improvement. Also this week we got 5 member presents which hasn’t been done in this area in a long time and we ended the week with 16 lessons. Before it was like 12 or 13 so we are on our way up and things are going great. However we did just have a man in the branch die this week. His name was Alfonzo (fonsi) and everyone loved him a lot. I met him once and I already loved him. He was very funny and just had a light about him that made you really happy hence why he got the nickname fonsi, just a goof who although his health was terrible was full of life and never complained not once. So when we heard he died we were kinda down and worried about how his less active family would take it. (They just had their grandfather die like 2 months ago also) Well All we can do is be there to support them and try to cheer them up and hope the best for them. There is just a lot going on and we are really trying our hardest to do it all. You have got to tell walker that his call is awesome! He will come back speaking BEAUTIFUL Spanish and correctly.
As for you guys might I say that these letters for some reason really kinda touched me spiritually. I just kept getting those chills as I read each and every one. It was just like a tingle of excitement and the best hope for you guys. Yes we are all getting older but I can’t wait to become like every Mexican family out here and have like 40 kids each! Hahahaha I know the lord is taking care of you guys and I am just very glad I don’t really have to worry about it. That is something that hurts many missionaries out here as they try to serve but keep getting freaky letters from back home. Some of which they have shown me that truly made me grow up and see life for what it really is.  They are all the greatest of people but they each come from such hard backgrounds. Just trust me when I say we have it easy. Anyways I love you guys and I am so happy to always hear from you. It makes the wonderful day of pday that much better and helps the week go by with a lot less worry. Sorry I also don’t have much time but I will write back next week hopefully a little bit longer of a letter.
LOVE,  ELDER OLIVER