Monday, June 29, 2015

Re: Fotos con mi Amigo

Pictures of an Intercambio I did about a month ago.  I spent the day with Elder Contreras from Chile.

On Mon, Jun 29, 2015 at 2:21 PM, Austin Jarrett <austin.jarrett@myldsmail.net> wrote:


Fwd: Fotos con mi Amigo


Monday, June 15, 2015

First Dog Attack and Farewell to President

Friends!

What's up?  The Mission is Awesome!!  Me and my companion are still get along really well and time is flying by.  New missionaries are trained for 12 weeks on the mission (2 transfers).  So he is still considered my trainer.  After 12 weeks we are supposed to be fully capable missionaries to lead our own area and maybe train somebody else.  Lots of Elders have told me that I have really good Spanish and that I'd better be ready to train someone after this transfer.  But with the President leaving, they're not going to do many switches at the end of this transfer, and really, I'd be happy to stay with Elder Schow in this area.  So who knows.

This week we had our final conference with President Valadez.  The new mission president, President Meacham, arrives in two weeks.  The conference was super good and super powerful.  There was a testimony meeting and the president and his wife were crying.  President talked about working hard until the very end of your mission.  As well as obedience and all the usual things.

Let's see, new things from this week:
There are dogs everywhere here.  Today, I got attacked for the first time!  :)  Usually it's the small dogs that come and yap at your ankles, but there was a big black dog that was tied up on the sidewalk.  We walked past and he went crazy right as I was in front of him.  He jumped up and put his teeth around my hip, but I yanked my hip out of his mouth before anything happened.  I was worried my pants would be ripped, but we're good!  Now I'm like an official missionary!

Weird things I've eaten:
They take Pork Rines (dried pig skin) and put it in soup, so it gains its hydration again.  So it's similar to eating pig skin.  That's interesting.
I've eaten tripe tacos.  Tripe, apparently, is cow stomach.  I didn't know that's what the tacos were until after I'd eaten them.

Have an Awesome week y'all!

Elder Jarrett

Monday, June 8, 2015

Another Week in Mexico

Hola!

Things are Fantastic here,  I was stressed in the first transfer, but now I understand Spanish better, I understand better how to teach, I've gotten used to the schedule and rules of the mission, and I've found much peace in my live.  I'm actually enjoying the mission a lot.  :D  And Elder Schow is great!  We get along really well.

Our mission president leaves on the 30th of this month and we get our new president, President Mecham.  They say that an American president replacing our Latino president could bring some big changes, but we'll see.  Our mission is really strict on all the rules right now.  They say our mission is one of the most strict in the world, but also one of the most successful.

We went on Intercambios this week with the zone leaders.  So I had a Latino companion for 24 hours that couldn't speak English. So I talked in Spanish for a full day.  I was surprised at how much Spanish I actually know and understand.  But I feel like it's more fun to talk in English because you can express yourself better.  So I'm glad to have an American companion now. :)

Sorry, next week I want to share some spiritual insights I've gained on my mission, but I'm out of time today.  Well, have an Awesome Week!!!

Pic:  More rain!

Elder Jarrett