First off I want to talk about a Big Bite. It’s a
delicacy here in Reynosa from the local 7-11. It is a hot dog special
for 8 pesos (like 50 cents). If that isn’t a spanking hot deal I don’t
know what is. So I’ve had a lot of those and
then a lot of super spicy Mexican food.
Okay
Reynosa is great. Don’t worry it’s not dangerous here at all. The drug
lords and bad guys actually look out for us a lot. The weather has been
the hottest thing I have ever experienced.
It is like I am dripping in sweat all day. It is hot and sunny and a
little humid. More humid then Utah. We are in the San Jose area in
Reynosa, and my companion’s name is Elder Jurado. See the picture! He is
from Chihuahua. Like the dog. It is another border
state in Mexico that is to the east of Reynosa. He is super awesome. We
laugh a ton and work super hard. He can speak good enough English. I
can ask him how to say stuff and just have a simple conversation with
him. He’s been here 11 months. It is just me
and my companion, in a little tiny house. We are in a ward. There is
actually a super nice ward meeting chapel and there are 3 wards that
meet there. I baptized a girl in the other ward this Sunday. See the
picture! There are probably more than 100 members
or close to that. Everyone speaks Spanish so fast. Like it’s so crazy.
Haha I don’t really understand anything which is frustrating but that’s
alright it will come. The American missionaries told me that one day it
will just click and you will understand.
The food is awesome. We surprisingly have lots of American places to
eat like fast food. But also the members feed us the classic authentic
Mexican food. So I get the best of both worlds. I am getting plenty to
eat. voy a ser muy gordo cuando yo regreso (I
will be very fat when I return).
Day one (Labor Day for you guys). Started at 2 in
the morning at the Mexico City airport. Elder Hawley with 11 other
latino missionaries. I wish I could say that I understood more than 10
words that day in Spanish haha jk. It was super
fun, we just had meetings all day and then played soccer until like
8:30. Then we went to this huge mansion that was cool and all stayed there.
Day two. We got our
companions. I got my companion and he is super awesome he is a latino
but he speaks some English so I teach him English and he teaches me
Spanish. We went to our area the first day. Our house
is 4 rooms. A living room, bath room, kitchen and a bedroom. It is so
nice though because we have a little ac cooler thing. Which doesn’t
actually work that well anymore because we turned it too cold haha oh
well.
Day 3 wow. We are like
starting our area new so we had to find people to teach and so we hit
the streets for like 6 hours. It was super fun but we didn’t really find
anyone that wanted to listen. It was super hot.
This was when I was first introduced to the Big Bite.
Day 4. This day I went on
a split with an elder from Utah named Elder Meyers and I learned so
much Spanish. We met this guy and we taught him so much. He let us come
in and we taught his family. He wanted to go
to chuch and we were a little wary because the baptism date was so soon
but he wanted to for sure, or at least I thought so with my limited
Spanish knowledge and understanding haha.
Day 5 was the worst. Haha just a lot of things went
wrong, still a good day just hard. We had a couple of appointments and
they all fell through. So dissapointing, I know that the gosple can help
these people but they just didn’t want to
listen. A guy told us that we worship satan. The funny part is that he
literally worships satan. He is part of the Holy Dead Church which
worships a skeleton grim reaper guy haha oh man. More about this crazy
day. We had all of our plans fall through, got
yelled at and doors slammed in our faces. I didn’t understand most of
what was said but that’s okay. We got home and our fridge wasn’t working
and everything in it had gone bad or melted haha, and at this point we
were sweaty and just laughing at our misfortune.
That night I kind of wondered why I am really here. The next day made
up for it though.
Day 6 Sunday. We woke up and studied
our scriptures and I learned a lot of Spanish. Right as we were about to
leave our phone started ringing and my companion answered. He talked
for a little while and then
hung up the phone. I asked the classic question, ”What did they say?”
because I have had to ask that so many times. He says you need to grab
your baptismal clothes because the sister missionaries need someone to
baptize their
investigator. Wow. I started freaking out. I was so excited. This was
the first baptism that I had had. Then it hit me. I don’t know Spanish.
haha. I was so scared because I didn’t know the prayer and I didn’t know
how to explain to her how to do the whole
process and all that. Oh man I was freaking out. We got there and I
said a prayer to know what to say, then she walked around the corner and
guess what. She speaks English. Haha I was so relived. It was honestly so funny
and honestly such a blessing to me.
Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need and when we need it. I was
able to say the baptismal prayer in Spanish from memory no problem.
Everything was great. This is why I am here. I
want to be able to do that for anyone who wants it.
The food is great. One day we ate with this guy and
I was soooo hungry we got there and he lives in like an abandonded
warehouse place and guards it. He had nothing really. He had a couple
pans and pots and things. He welcomed us so kindly
and was so friendly. He then brought out a little pan of scrambled eggs
and beans to eat with some warm tortillas. I was so so so hungry and I
thanked him so much. Those were the best things I had ever tasted. They
were amazing. And the one bowl of food I
had filled me completely full. The Lord blesses those who give all they
have.
There
is a cool system to send packages and letters. You can send them to a
place in Texas and then my mission President drives and picks them up.
Here’s the address:
Jorge Regalado (Elder Hawley)
701 N International Blvd.
Ste. 101-1511
Hidalgo, Texas
78557
Yeah sorry this is so long but its been a long week
haha. Love you all. Hope everything is going great. I’m never coming
home by the way I like it too much here. Peace out
Elder Hawley
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