Our ward meets in the stake center here. The other day we ran over to give the bishop some document and there was a youth event in the stake center. We turned the corner in the building and suddenly there was Damary, my convert, with some other youth from
the Jucuapa ward where I started my mission! It was fun to see her and see that she is still going strong in the church.
Some of you may remember that my all-time favorite food is Ritz crackers. Here they don't sell the cardboard boxes from the states, but they come in plastic packages with 12 little packs of 8 crackers. So anyways, these days my breakfasts almost entirely
consist of Ritz crackers. I am not sure if I should be proud or ashamed, but it is a good life.
We got our water bill for the month. It was $2.29.
This week we passed one of the trucks that drives around all the neighborhoods with the bed full of fruit and a giant speaker blasting advertisements. It went something like this: "20, 20, 20, 20 oranges, 20 oranges, one dollar! Hey, you're a gringo! The
son of Donald Trump! 20 oranges, 20 oranges!"
This week I found a little travel magnet version of Othello, the best game ever, that an elder had left behind in the house. I am definitely inheriting it. Lots of great memories of playing it with Grandma Sharon. We also found Monopoly in the house, so
we know what the plan is for next P-day.
Sometimes people compare my hair to the hairs on corn. Another time the lady that rents our house to us told the member that gives us lunch that two "Señores" were renting and one of them had really white hair. Hna. Argentina leapt to my defense and said
that my hair was yellow. NOT white. Haha.
The bishop continues giving us bread. And grape soda. And he gave us each a thing of cologne. He is super nice. People are nice.
Lots of times the mission is lots of sweat and work and stress and things that don't really go well, but there are always lots of little sea-shells in the sand, so to speak, or little good experiences that make everything worth it. Here are a couple.
We had interchanges, and I was in a little city called Jiquilisco with Elder Plowman, the DL. We were walking on a dirt road far away from everything with lots of fields and rural things. Suddenly we passed a bunch of people gathered under shade canopies
and a preacher was talking about something. There were a bunch of gringos with matching t-shirts from some organization there. The preacher gave us a shout-out, ("There's the missionaries!") and we continued along. But then we heard someone shout "Elders!"
and it was obviously the voice of someone who doesn't speak spanish. One of the gringos had run out to the road and wanted to talk to us. It was a young lady named Whitney. She told us that she was there with this organization that builds wells for people
in impoverished areas. (Like where I live! Haha) She said that she was raised in the church but had left it behind, but that this trip for her had been really spiritual and she had cried a lot. She said that she felt like she was at a fork in the road of deciding
whether to go back to the church or leave it behind forever. We talked a little bit and wanted to think of something really profound to say, but couldn't think of anything. But, she took a picture with us and said (speaking of seeing us in the middle of nowhere
in El Salvador) "If this isn't a sign, I don't know what is."
Another time we were walking and a giant bus stops. The driver pokes his head out and says, "Come here! I want to talk with you!" He said he wanted a card that said where the church is because he wanted to come. I am sure the entirety of the passengers
in the bus didn't appreciate it, but it was a fun contact.
This week we were also able to have the baptism of Allison! She is 17 and super cool. Says she wants to be a missionary. Her mom is an inactive member, but Allison started coming to church and changed a ton. She almost changed her mind at the last second,
but her baptism was on Saturday and everything went great.
This week we also had another sort of crazy experience. We got a phone call from a lady that said she is a less active member. She went on a mission but hasn't gone to church in like 20 years. She is going to move to the states in a like a week and a half,
but her son, who is 15, isn't baptized and she wanted us to teach him and baptize him in less than two weeks. This was just super crazy! Things like that never happen! We went to meet them today. Her son is named Kevin. He is a super sweet kid that can't talk,
but understands everything. So I think we will have weeks of back-to-back baptisms here! Kind of crazy.
Anyways, Elder Padilla and I are doing good here. (Haha, is that sentence improper grammar or just the missionary lifestyle?) We are teaching each other tongue twisters in the opposite language, and it is pretty fun.
Here we have pictures of Allison's baptism, a crazy spider thing that fell on my leg, some P-Day soccer, and pan dulce from the bishop!
Have a good week! If you recognize the subject line, you win!
Elder Harris
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