Dear Family,
So, it’s been a week in my new area. Huixtla is very different than Tapachula.
It´s kind of that area that people are like "Ahh man you´re going to
Huixtla... umm that´s really cool Elder. Good luck.” But I’m not really
sure why it has a negative connotation, because we’ve been received really well
this week. We’ve taught more lessons and have more new investigators this
week than any other week in my mission (and obviously things are going to
change a little from comp to comp but Elder Howell and I worked really hard in
San José, Tapachula and just didn´t get results like this). That being
said, it is HOT here—much hotter than Tapachula. Which is just
ridiculous. And we walk wayyyy more than we did in San José. I
think I´ve dropped like 10 pounds this week. Also, you can see on the map
that Huixtla is pretty fairly sized. Not huge, and I don´t know how many
people live here, but it is a city. And, we´re the only missionaries
here. Our area actually covers a lot of little outlying towns as well
(Escuintla, Xochil, others that have weird names too...). It´s a huge
area! Also, we only have a branch. This week 46 people showed up to
Sacrament Meeting, and that was a lot. We meet in the upstairs of a
house, but they're going to start building a chapel here toward the end of
August.
Elder Alonso is awesome. The first couple of days we didn´t
get along great, but we´ve straightened things out, and we´re getting along
fine now. We´ve been really successful in our work this week, and we´re
excited for this upcoming week, because we´ve got a ton of people that we`re
going to invite to be baptized. Also, this is his last transfer, and then
he´s going home (to Mexico City), so this is a really awesome opportunity for
me to learn from him as a missionary as well as to improve my Spanish. I
feel like I´ve really improved a lot this week, in learning to be a better
teacher and focus on people and their individual needs, and also in my
Spanish. To answer your question about Spanish, I´m really getting
it. If I´m really listening to what someone is saying, I understand everything
they say. The only exception happens if I don´t know one specific word,
but in that case I can just narrow it down to that word and ask what it
means. It´s more or less the same with my speaking now too. I can
say what I want without having to focus on it much unless there´s just one word
that I lack, and then I can just describe what that word is and someone
tells me. It´s a pretty good system :)
I forgot that I also wanted to share with you guys a couple
experiences I had this week. Being away makes me really realize how
incredibly blessed we are to be sealed as an eternal family. I miss you
all and love you so much. This week I had two different opportunities to
bear my testimony of eternal marriage, and both were very spiritual experiences
for me that made me feel very close to you guys even though I´m in a very
foreign place. All I said was (after teaching what it
is) "Hermana, tengo una familia así. Somos unidos por el
Evangelio de Jesucristo y por este convenio sagrado con Dios. Los amo a
ellos, y mientras que estoy aquí los extraño muchísimo, pero realmente vale la
pena porque sé que usted también puede recibir esta bendición si está
dispuesta a hacer cambios en su vida." It´s amazing to me how our
Heavenly Father can consecrate our simple words with power. I miss you
guys a ton and I love you!
Sorry for the late email today. Elder Alonso schedules his
p-days a little differently than Elder Howell. I´m not sure if it´ll be
the same time next week or earlier. I don´t have much more to report
right now... just wanted to say that I´m glad that Dad made it home safely and
in time for the high adventure, and that you guys have some time to spend
with him.
Con amor,
Elder Nickerl
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