August 25, 2012 [Sorry for the delay in posting!]
Hello family! I hope you guys are all doing great! I love reading your emails and hearing all about your lives and how they really are just going along normally. It is weird that my life is kind of put on hold while you guys are still chugging along in this crazy thing we call life! I love receiving letters from you guys too! I don´t know how well the mail has been working for us, because I just barely got Liz´s letter dated on august 2 yesterday, so it took a good three weeks to get here. That is the only handwritten letter I have got here, so sorry if you guys have sent more, I haven’t gotten them yet. I don’t know why it took so long for that letter, because other elders have had their letters come in and it took about a week and a half, so I don’t know. But I am still getting your emails, and they are great!
This week here was very interesting. It really had its ups and its downs. It started really good on Tuesday, because we got to go out of the MTC, right to the center of the city, and go to the market there to learn how to barter! It was so fun, and I felt like I got along pretty well with my Spanish, so it was really good! I ended up buying a keychain that says Guatemala, two hacky sacks, and a poncho that looks really cool! And I did really well bartering for the poncho! The rate here for Quetzals (the currency here) is about 8 to 1, so 8 quetzals is about 1 dollar. The guy selling the poncho started it at about 120 quetzals, which is still pretty good. But I worked my magic and ended up buying it for about 75 quetzals, or less than ten dollars! It is a really nice poncho too!
It was a great day to be out in the city! We spent about a half an hour in the city plaza place, just talking to natives there. We actually talked to this one guy on our own and got an address from him, because he wanted to know more about the gospel! It was really cool! It was so much fun just being out in the city and talking to the natives and everyone around you!
But this is where the week kind of plummets. I woke up on Wednesday with the worst fever and my stomach was killing me. So I guess I was experiencing my first of many sicknesses here on the mish! I trudged through the day up until about lunchtime, but then I just couldn’t take it anymore, so I went and talked to the doctor here, and she gave me some medicine and told me to go rest. I really didn´t want to go rest, even though I really needed it, because I felt like it was a waste of time and I could really be doing something better with my time. But eventually I went up to my room and went to sleep.
I had a plan to wake up at dinner to make sure I didn´t miss the whole day, but the next thing I remembered it was 9:30pm and all the elders were coming up for the end of the day. I remember being really disappointed, but then I went right back to sleep and slept through the whole night.
Needless to say that after about 15 straight hours of sleep, I was feeling a lot better! It was just a really bad day on Wednesday, but I got over it. I was still dealing with the residue of the sickness up until today, because today I really feel like I am totally fine finally! I hate being sick! But that’s why the week wasn’t the best. It is because I was so sick on Wednesday and throughout the rest of the week, but I am finally feeling a lot better!
We got the new batch of elders and sisters here this week, so I am officially a veteran here! It feels weird being the old guy here, but I know it won’t last long because I will definitely be the new guy again once I get into the field! To me, this group doesn’t seem as friendly as the old group, especially the Latinos. The Latinos in the last group were especially friendly! I don’t know though, I should give it some time to let us have the chance to get to know each other!
I don’t remember if I told you this or not, but when we first got here, they took our cameras away, but this week, they gave them back so I have been taking a lot of pictures! I probably am going to wait until I get into the field to send all of the pictures to you, because it is probably safer that way. But know that I am taking a lot of pictures!
Now talking about the more mundane things here (which I really am trying to do!), my teacher here is awesome! He really can joke around and relate to us a lot, but he knows when he needs to teach us what we need to know. He really is in tune with the spirit and knows how to teach with it. My district here is really cool too! Someone in our district, Elder Jacobsen, became the Assistant to the President here at the MTC, and I couldn’t think of a better guy for the job! He is from Florida and he tells all sorts of stories about him wrestling alligators and all sorts of stuff, because his dad owns the LDS ranch in Florida.
I wish I had more time to talk about my district, but I don’t really. And I don´t really have as much time as I would like, and I wish I could talk about your lives, but know that I am reading your emails and am loving every minute of it. I really wish I had more time, but I get what I get. Just know I am caring for all of you and that I miss all of you! Thank you all for your support here, it really means a lot to me! I know that I am doing the right thing here and that the Lord will bless us in ways that we don’t even know! I love this work, I love the lord with all my heart, and I love being here in Guatemala!
Until next week! I love you guys!
Elder Stuart
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