march 24, 2008

Dear Everyone,

I have arrived.....in Mexico. That is still good news. I actually have another or rather my new email address for my mission. Unfortunately, I left it at my house, but luckily I still have this one. By the end of the day I am going to send it to all of you, and I don´t think I will use the Nelben email, but don`t worry I will send it to you. This is my first P-day at the field and it is very hot. Before I get into that the flights were crazy. I kept my cool and by the second flight I was used to flying. But I won´t be flying anytime soon. I don`t know if you have already received the email from Presidente Gardner, but it shows my picture. I can´t believe it has already been a week and alot has happened. On Thursday I received my first companion in the field. His name is Elder Miranda Hernandez and he is from Mexico City. In other words he is a Chilango, that is Mexican lingo for ya. I am now confident enough to say I can understand 100% of Spanish, but there are so much "Mexican" spanish for me to learn. Luckily I am learning fast and I can speak pretty well, or at least that is what they say. Just kidding, I still have a bunch to learn. But everyone I talk to thinks I am Mexican(I wonder why) and always say I am from Utah and they are stunned. I than tell them I am Ecuadoriano (well at least my parents are ) but they say I speak pretty well. Now, I feel kind of bad because I am going to learn alot of Mexican spanish, but I want to learn Ecuadorian Spanish too. It´s in my blood and I feel obligated to do it. So please keep writing me in Spanish and tell me if you can of some sayings, words, or phrases that are from Ecuador. Contacting has been interesting, I will be doing that alot and teaching too. I have taught so much so far, but tomorrow I will teach a whole lesson by myself to a member´s sister. So, there you go. Anyway, I am glad I got many things from the MTC, the language, how to teach, contact, and alot of other things. It is so weird here, but I really feel "one with Spanish", I find myself speaking and I don´t have to think at times. The Lord has helped me a ton though, and I hope to keep progressing. Everyday I learn something new and everything is so different. This morning I had to wash my clothes by hand, it took me a while but it wasn´t too bad. I changed all my "American" money for pesos( well almost, I still have a bunch of American change) but yep, yep, yep. I have blisters on my toes, and it is sooooooooooooo hot! I hope you get this, the computers here are pretty good, but the keyboard is different. Anyway, my first area to serve is Jojutla B ( I probably should´ve mentioned that first) the B is my area as area A is for another companionship to cover. I don´t know what else to tell ya, but I do miss all of you and I know I am a servant of the Lord and I must continue ¨"adelante" and just keep my faith. Well, take care and I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely, Elder Arellano

P.S. I am not sure how fast the mail service is, but we will find out won´t we? The President says its fine, so I'll believe him. Oh, tell me if you recieved the photos and other boxes of stuff I didn't need. It looks like email will be the fastest way, but anyway, ¡Hasta Luego!