Mom of a Missionary...more than one e-mail in a week...what a nice surprise...

Where do I begin?

​CCM is over, if you couldn't tell from my last e-mail. No more wonky stories about things i've learned, it's time to get to work!
So, last night, I was assigned a new companion as well as my area. His name is Elder Arenalles, and he's really cool. I'll snap a picture of him later, but for now all you need to know is that he's a Latino and he's going to help train and prepare me for the mission field. Ready when you are, Elder! Basically, I've just been following him around all day. I've barely spoken a lick of English today, only for words that I don´t understand. Crazy!

Speaking of crazy experiences, here are a few from the past day and today alone.
I open my large malleta (Suitcase) to find out that my jabón (soap) had burst open during the flight and ¡Sorpresa! my camera was covered in shampoo. Yikes. Cleaned it off and, well, thank goodness it still works. Lost function in just one button, but I hardly ever use it so it's not a problem. At this point, I could care less about expo-metering and timers. 

The night of the assignments and a bit of training, we had to sleep with Missionaries in the Tampico area. A 9:00 PM crazy taxi ride through the city with a seatbelt that didn't work, squashed in between two other Elders! Que raro! How weird! Arriving at their casa, my brain was scattered. I had forgotten PJ's and sandals so I didn't bother taking a shower without them. Slept in borrowed shorts on a matress with a towel as a pillow and a small blanket to cover me. Loco!

We got up early to take a bus to Hidalgo, and then took a bus from Hidalgo to San Felipe. During the bus ride I had to use the bathroom, and ended up holding onto a railing for dear life as the bus speedily traversed bumpy Mexican roads!

San Felipe itself is a quaint little place. It's the Mexican equivalent of Bradford Vermont, except for two things. 
Okay, a lot of things.
First thing is that it's not Vermont. It's Mexico. Lets get that out of the way.
It's hot here, not necessarily humid, but hot.
The people here live in houses pretty much constructed of concrete. Myself and my companion included. We're pretty lucky because we have tiled floors. Check it out!
​¡Este es mi nueva cocina! (This is my new kitchen!) Feel free to send recipies, just nothing that needs an oven. I don´t exactly have that. I have a microwave and a burner plate! Just not an oven. I do have a freezer and fridge (and strawberry yogurt, yum).

San Felipe is so nice. We had dinner/lunch at a members house. She was so kind! There were enchiladas, frijoles, y un carne muy rico. Her house was very humble. Concrete floor, walls unpainted, laundry hanging in another room, but she was smiling! So was her son! If they can smile, I can do it too! Watch out, Mexico! There's a new Gringo in your city!

What else? Well, roosters roam the streets alongside stray dogs and squashed frogs, there's a street market in town which I'll probably be buying peaches from in the future, there's a shrine to the Virgin Mary just down the road from our house (apparently idolatry is a big problem here in Mexico), town is very nice, said hello to a lot of people and found out that I'll be in San Felipe for three months.

​Work very hard! I heard that the first week is very difficult. Bring it on! If I am to recieve joy in this work, there's only one solution, and that is to work! The Lord knows what I need, so if I ask and work hard, he'll make sure I have what is sufficient.

Spiritual experience: They finally gave me my own copy of "Adjusting to Missionary Life" (and it's about time), and there was a section on repentance that I needed to read. Your pal Elder Bowlby wants to think that he can be perfect, pero actualmente, no es posible (but actually, it's not possible). There was a section on repentance that had some words of comfort for me, and I'm glad I opened it. It seems that perhaps, in my rush to be perfect, I failed to realize that only the Savior is perfect, and that's why I have the power to do this work.

Still working on being perfect, though. Little by little and through Christ. It's nothing instantaneous.

​Until we next see each other! Outside the walls and inside a great church, Elder Bowlby, ¡trabajando con todo mi alma! (Working with all of my soul!)