Hey family, i had another crazy week with a bunch of new experiences. The first thing is what i had for dinner these past two days. on Sunday we got invited to a members house and they fed us pigs feet. it was basically just fat but i ate it all because it is bad manners if you leave any. the next day, an inactive member we are teaching gave us some goat intestine to eat. that was actually really good, it was one of my favorite meals that i have had here from a member. she cooked it in a spicy sauce and added potatoes and carrots so it was kind of like a beef stew with goat guts instead of beef. also, where ever we go, we take the public transportation cars because we don't have bikes or cars. since there is no traffic laws here and the drivers want to make as much money as they can, we successfully fit 9 people into a cab (granted 2 of them were about 12 or so). i also saw a family of 6 on a motorcycle. cars are expensive here so they just pile everyone on a motorcycle and don't worry about it.
We had our first baptism this Saturday. we only had one because the other one's dad didn't give her permission to get baptized. we found out yesterday that her dad isn't married to her mom and he doesn't even live here so he technically isn't her guardian so we are going to baptize her this next Saturday or the week after. i love loop holes. the baptism went really well though, my comp baptized her which was special because that we the first one that he was able to baptize. every other time someone else has baptized them. me and another missionary sang for the service which was nice because everyone here is horrible at singing so we actually sounded pretty good. This last week i got my first baptism date. we started teaching this lady two days after i got here and on the 3rd lesson we asked her to be baptized on the 5th of September and she said yes. we just found out that she has a drinking problem so hopefully she can overcome it soon. she loves our lessons though and has a desire to learn.
Every morning from 9 thirty to 12 we do service, usually for an investigator or a person in the ward. on Saturday we helped build a house and we have another house to start building next week. there is always service to do here but i like it and the people are very appreciative. the only thing that i am not a big fan of here is the spiders. the last two days in our house we have found 2 spiders as big as my palm. the other missionaries in our house thought it would be funny to leave a dead one on my chair because i told them how much i hated them. it wasn't that funny... i threatened them with my 2ft long machete so it all worked out.
The biggest problem we have here with investigators and inactive members is people don't get married here. it cost too much to get married so they just live together but then they can't get baptized. we eventually have to drop them because they can only progress to a certain point and then it is either move out and get baptized or don't. i also learned this week that you can get pregnant at 13. there is a girl in our ward who got baptized a long time ago. she is 16 with a 2 year old and she will have another one in about a month. i can't tell you how many 15 and 16 years olds i have seen pregnant here in only 2 weeks. its really sad but that is just how things are here.
To answer your question, yes lunch is the big meal here. usually we just have a really small breakfast and dinner and then a huge lunch (usually just rice, beans, and chicken everyday). we have a 2.5 hour break in the middle of the day because that is when everyone is sleeping and the work is not productive so we go and eat and then study for the rest of the time. They have cereal here but it tastes a little weird and the American brands are really expensive so we just by the native stuff. i think the thing i miss the most is milk. they have milk here but it is not milk. it tastes really sweet and a little sour. (i know you can't send milk though so don't try, i will live with it). the members here are really nice. they give us some references but most of them we have to find on our own. there is just a little rama (branch) with about 70 people here in La Cienaga. we have church in a little house. their church here is a little different. they still do all the same things that we do but they might throw a pitch for a new food or product someone is making and they like to ramble on a lot. that's just the way they are though. we have a little washer (if you could call it a washer) to wash our clothes. its pretty much a tub that you fill with water and soap then put your clothes in and it spins around. the dryer is the same thing without the water and soap. it just spins the clothes so we have to hang them up for a while after. there used to be sister missionaries in our zone but not any more. there is a couple companionships in Santiago but not too many. yes i have to use the mosquito nets every night. we sleep with all of the windows open because it gets too hot if we don't and we would get eaten alive if we didn't have the nets. its not that bad though. Yes i'm pretty sure that you can send me pictures through email. i am going to by a chord for my camera sometime and see if i can send you some pictures as well. The only thing that i might need in a little bit is a good pair of work gloves. they don't have those here and since we do service everyday for a couple of hours (except sunday and wednesday) i am always getting blisters.
Oh, the other thing i was going to tell you about was the ward party we had at the chappel the other day. when i saw ward party i actaully mean a party. they had about a 2 minute spiriual thought and then the michael jackson impressionist came out and they had another performer come and sing. after that everyone started to some salsa dancing. i was definitely not expecting that. besides that i don't think i have too much more to say. i still love it here and the work that i am doing. i hope you all are doing good and i will write you next week . love you!
Love, Elder Johnson
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