Hello Family,
Yes, one year down! I guess I
am not so green anymore! It will all be downhill from here!
So like I said last week, I had
changes once again! I am now in a place called Los Lencas. It is located in the
southern area of the capital. So yes this change does mean that I am going to
stay in President Glazier´s mission. There are good and bad things about being
in either of the missions, so I am content for whatever happens!
So this week has been very
interesting for me. My new area is very different than the last ones. Just in
case you lost count I am now in my fourth area! This area in very interesting
in many ways. One of the neighborhoods that we work a lot in is called "El
Modelo", ironic, because it is not a good model of how people should be
living. Let me explain. They are some 6 story apartment buildings made out of
cinder blocks and cement. In 2001 there was a huge earthquake and the
government declared El Modelo to be uninhabitable. So after that all the people
abandoned the apartments and the govt took out all the water and electricity
lines so that people wouldn´t be tempted to live there. But, people who wanted
a home decided to enter these abandoned homes. They set up a scrambled network
of illegal water and light lines so that they could live there. So now El
Modelo is a place where a couple hundred people call home.
It gets better, El Modelo is
located in a bunch of trees and the buildings are all close together, so it is
very easy to get lost in there. We refer to it as The Labyrinth. It is one of
the most unreal things I have seen here. Have you heard of or seen pictures of
Kowloon Hong Kong?? It reminds me of that a little bit.
Right now we have a couple
investigators who live in El Modelo, and the best part is that they are deaf!
So that means I am learning some sign language to teach them! My companion
Elder Muñoz knows a little bit, and in my one week here I have learned enough
to get around. Each Saturday the investigator teaches a free sign language
class in the church so that all can learn, and be able to better communicate
with him and his wife, as they are both deaf. Last night after teaching them
about prophets, they asked me to say the prayer, or better said, do a prayer with
my hands. Probably the coolest thing ever, even though it was super short and
basic. I knew enough to do a decent prayer.
Well as I was starting this letter
the power suddenly went out so we decided to go to TGI fridays and eat real
fast. Then all of the sudden we had to take care of a few missionaries who have
visas that expire today (Elder Muñoz is the migration/travel secretary) so we
ran around for a while taking care of stuff. Fun day. But here I am now!
Oh.. the flying ants. The other
day we woke up to find a ton of huge ant like creatures with wings everywhere!
We later figured out that they are called "Sonpopos de Mayo", they
only come out in may. really freaky things. Every step we walked on the street
we crunched a couple of them.
Well that has been my week.
Sounds like all is normal back at home. And by normal I mean, not. I hope that
you have a fantastic weekend! Can´t wait to talk to you next week!!
Love Elder Vaughan
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