Sorry I don´t have a lot to write about this week. We have been busy, but not a lot has happened. This weeks I´ll write stuff down if something happens so I can remember to put it in the letters, otherwise the letters will be pretty empty.
So this week has been awesome. A little frustrating though. We didn´t find any new investigators and we´re getting a little frustrated with some of our investigators, like Vicky and Memo.
Vicky and Memo didn´t get baptized, but we rescheduled their baptismal date for this upcoming Saturday. Then yesterday, they didn´t go to church. They say that they still have the desire to be baptized, but we feel as though they are avoiding their baptism. If they don´t get baptized this Saturday, we´re thinking we might have to drop them, as them have been investigating the church since December and still aren't progressing. We´ll see what happens.
Fatima, a nine-year old granddaughter of a member couple, got baptized this last Saturday! She didn´t want to get baptized for a while, but she finally had the desire and we attended the service. It was pretty special. Also, in my first week here Fatima and her grandparents asked me to teach her English, so I have been giving her lessons every time we visit. Right now she is saying her prayers in English (or parts in English), can count to 29 and knows the alphabet and all of its sounds.
Amadelia is really doing well. We are going to teach her the third lesson this week and invite her to be baptized. She really has been prepared to receive the gospel, and she has the desire to learn more. So far she has completed every commitment we have given her.
This week, on Thursday, I will complete 3 months in the mission! It has been going by so fast. It´s weird to think I´m an eight of the way there already.
One cool thing about Mexico is how cheap you can buy stuff. The other day, I bought a pretty awesome tie for 15 pesos (a little more than a dollar). One of these days me and Elder Lopez are gonna go to the tianguis, little tienditas/stands that sell stuff really cheap, like shoes, ties, and other stuff.
So here in Mexico, it´s pretty common to see tree/shrub art. This one was pretty cool, in the shape of a bird.
Oh, so today is P-Day. Earlier today, our entire zone met up in a Ranchito and we played Capture the Flag, but to an entirely new, extreme level. We played Cautura la Bandera in the ruins of an ancient, collapsed catholic cathedral! Pretty awesome huh? There were tunnels and caves and tons of partially crumbled walls that made it perfect to hide, and other places were perfect for prisons. It was awesome. Even with my injury, I ran and played like crazy. Honestly, it was pretty awesome. After we played for a few hours, we all ate Mexican hamburguesas and refrescas (soda). Pretty much the funnest P-Day ever. I´ll have to send photos next week if the other Elders send me some.
Oh yeah, so I mentioned my injury but I never told you. So, remember how I said we walk a lot? Like, 7 to 8 hours a day? Well on Saturday, while we were walking, my left foot just started killing a ton. I figured it was just one of those normal things that leaves the next day, so I kept walking and limping the rest of the day. Then when I woke up yesterday, it was still hurting like crazy and I couldn´t put any weight on it. So I continued to walk on it. Today, in the morning, it was even worse, but I really wanted to play Cautura la Bandera, so we went anyway. While we were playing and I was running, I didn´t feel any pain. This usually happens when I have adrenaline pumping in my blood. After the epic event, we were walking back to the bus stop and I couldn´t even walk normally, putting my foot behind my body. We ended up going to an hermana in our ward who is a doctor, and she looked and it, and said I have a Contracture in one of the ligaments or tendons (I don´t remember which) in the main ligament/tendon in the left foot, that connects behind the big toe all the way up to the top of the calf. A contracture is when a lot of weight or force or tension (in my case all three) is put on the ligament/tendon, and it tenses up and won´t stretch or relax and it stays like that permanently until treated. So she gave me a prescription for pills and a crema that I have to use a few times each day for a few weeks, and also that I have to rest it and not walk for a day. She also gave me a cane and said I need to put all my weight on the cane and almost none on my left leg until she says I don´t have to use it anymore. We are going to visit her again on Wednesday or Thursday so she can check up on me. To be honest, I look pretty hilarious with this cane. I feel like an old man haha. I´ll have to send pictures next week. We didn´t take any yet because we just left the house of Hermana Mejilla (la doctora).
Missionary work is hard, yet the fruits of the labors are so worth it. I´m so happy right know, and I don´t even know exactly why. When we work hard and forget ourselves in our labors in the Lord´s vineyard, time passes by faster than I can believe. Also, it´s getting harder and harder to speak English. I think I´m at the point now where I can speak Spanish better than I can speak English. The other day, as I was practicing English with Elder Lopez (to help him learn to speak it and understand it better, as we do every night after we return to the house), I was trying to say something in English but no words came to my head. Not even kidding, we sat there in silence for at least 3 minutes as I tried to think, but no English whatsoever was coming to me. I finally said it in Spanish and he told me in English haha! Pretty much hilarious.
Well, we gotta go out and work, so until next week, Love You all and write me people! DearElder.com applies here too, and it´s way faster than snail mail. I have sent a few letters out via snail mail, but it takes a few weeks, sometimes up to 2 months, for them to arrive in the U.S. and for snail mail from the U.S. to arrive here, entonces tengan paciencia. ¡Adios y hasta proxima semana!
-Elder Tyler M. Riggs
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