J.J.'s Mission

16 February 2009

We received another great e-mail form Elder Green today. He has been transferred to a new area and notes “Well this week has been pretty good. It was tough at first but I've adjusted myself and things are going better." He says his new bed is a little better but not that great. His new house has a fridge that works and a microwave so that's a plus he says.

Elder Green and Elder Canche.

"My new area definitely has more things which is convenient. We have a Wal-Mart and tons of little shops, unlike my last area that didn't have anything big like that. They’re building a Starbucks right now which is nice, I like their non- coffee shakes. There is even a Yamaha shop that I've seen and they have dirt bikes in the show windows... ahhh. Maybe I can get a test drive in on one of the bikes. Haha, just kidding.”

He had to go buy a blanket from Wal-Mart as his new house is “cold and so I planned ahead this time. The house isn't near as nice as my last one, it's a lot smaller and it's cold.”

New Elder (J.,J. can't remember his name), Elder Nava, Elder Espinosa, Elder Shawkey and Elder Green.

His new companion is Elder Canche from Yucatan Mexico. He has about 13 months in the mission. J.J. is the senior companion now. So a new area and being a senior companion in one transfer! He says “we work together and things are going well.”

J.J. says he has too much stuff already. Funny how you collect stuff each place you live in. He thinks he is going to leave some things behind when he move again. He says he only goes through about 2 white shirts a week, so he doesn't really need 10 of them. I would council him to keep them as he has 16 more months to go! But I am just the Dad and what do I know?!

Elder Green and Elder Shawkey.

He hasn’t yet received the package we sent with Elder Sorensen who went back to the mission for a visit. I guess Elder Sorensen left the package at his last Ward and a missionary J.J. knows has it right now. The Elder forgot to bring it at the change, so he's going to hopefully get it via Pouch this week. So the package is there and he should get it soon. I wonder if the food we sent in it will still be eatable? I am sure it will be as it is mostly junk food. Does junk food ever go bad?!

The sheep they passed as they hiked in the mountains.

In his new area there are all types of transportation, buses, taxis, combis, etc. He says the zip code where he lives is 05000. That's what a member told him so we hope the member its right. The area is called Cuajimalpa he believes. His says “My area is huge!! We took a 20 minute bus ride on a freeway to visit a member and it was still the area, I was surprised at how big it was.”

He said they went on another hike last P-day and it was really really fun. It was J.J., his companion, the new Elder, and Elder Shawkey (his dirt bike buddy from Cali), and his comp. They usually wear their missionary clothes on P-days, but they didn't for the hike this time. He says “It's almost easier to wearing Elder clothes on P-day and I'm so used to it that I don't mind wearing a tie. It's easier than having to go back to the house and change again before the junta that night.

The gang above the cave.

He is happy that the Utes are doing well this year in basketball, He can't believe it's almost March Madness! He said the USA beat Mexico in soccer this past week which we knew as our whole family follows soccer, J.J said “I like to give the Mexicans all a hard time. Haha. It's funny how soccer is their favorite sport and everyone is obsessed and crazy about it, but their team isn't the best. Ha.”

He is doing his wash by hand again. His comp said that there are members that they can borrow their washer, but it's almost easier and more convenient to wash by hand in their house. He can do it early in the morning and he doesn't have to wait around for his comp or anything like that. Plus the washers take several hours sometimes, so with a little extra man labor it saves him time. J.J. says “My hands are sure feeling it though, dang ol' dang. I have red marks and almost bruises from washing. Haha.”

A cave we saw from far away and went to find it. When we got there, it was a lot smaller than it looked.

On Saturday night there was a Ward activity and he got to know some members. His Bishop is a really cool guy, he likes him a lot. He says “he's just like a teenager sometimes and he makes me laugh. He asked us to speak in church about missionary work, so I spoke yesterday. It was easy because I pretty much had the talk written from before, just added some things because my Spanish is a little stronger now than before. My comp and I spoke along with the Ward Mission Leader.”

The phone that Elder Sorensen gave him broke a while ago, actually his comp Elder Crispin accidentally put it in a bucket of water J.J. said! So he bought a new one a while ago. He says he has decided that “Mexicans are really really bad at managing their money. All the comp's I've had run out of their money way before the month is over.” But he told us not to worry, He is being smart about it and not giving them his money. He just tells them he don't have any either. Haha.

He says "That is so awesome that Amberlee wants to serve a mission!! Felicidadas Hermana!! I hope you get what you want and go Spanish speaking, then we can talk in our own secret code. Haha"

“Cheerie Oh! No se precupen! (Don't worry) Well I love you all and I'll send you some pictures today as well. Take care!"

Elder Green