Answers to the Questions of the Week:

 

1. I haven't been drinking very much Dr. Pepper. For some reason, I can't find Dr. Pepper out here very much. I did have it the other day though. I think Dr. Pepper is way more common in Utah, sad. I'm not suffering on pop though. Every once in a while we'll go get a refill. I guess a lot of Mexicans love Coca-Cola, and I saw that when one member fed us one day. She bought two 2-liters of Coke. Good thing I like Coke.

 

2. We just take turns every day between companionships on who does the dishes. I get a little frustrated because no one really cares if the kitchen is clean except for me.

 

3. I think I did alright speaking in spanish. I didn't look up from my paper very much though, haha.

 

So, there's a couple interesting things about the spanish program out here. In church, there aren't very many people who are really good members. You have those really good people like the Abreu family (the Bishop's family), the Arriola family (The husband is in the bishopric), the Rodriguez (who are a faithful Elderly couple who work in the temple every week), and the Sarmiento family as well. They are all great people who really are good working members. Then there's a lot of other "Sunday Mormons". It bugs me. They could be such great members if they would just step it up. They just put other things in their lives before God. Then again, I've heard that the Church in New Jersey isn't as strong as a lot of the rest of the country. But, there are a few people that are investigators that I think are going to be some of the best members.

 

We are teaching a lady named Natalia, her daughter Ariana (9 yrs old), and her son Alberto (16 yrs old). They've been investigating before I got here, but we set them up with a baptism date. They all love church and are completely willing to change their lives to live the standards of the Gospel. One lesson we gave the Word of Wisdom. Natalia drinks coffee and tea. We asked her if she will live the Word of Wisdom at the end of the lesson and she said 'yes' without hesitation. That is what we call a 'Golden Investigator'. Another cool thing that is going on is the reactivation of Jesus and Alfredo Nunez. I think that Jesus was born in the church and was endowed and everything, but he went less active later in life. We got him to go to General Conference and he's been to the full 3 hour meetings of church the last two weeks. It's great! Alfredo isn't as responsive. They're living with a guy named Juan. We've been teaching him as well, and he came to church yesterday and really liked it. It'll be great to see them start to come back! It's great, Jesus is this tall, built Mexican guy who looks like he could totally fit in a gang. No tattos or anything, but he does look like you wouldn't want to mess with him. He's so nice though. There's a couple of other people I like, but other than that, I just get frustrated when people tell us their Catholic, but they don't know anything about God or the Bible, but think they do. That's what a lot of hispanics do.

 

Here's something random. I went to Quiznos this week. That's where I had a Dr. Pepper! It was really good. I just created something that I would always make when I worked there. The one I went to seemed to be doing pretty good. I remember asking the cashier something about how long they had a certain something (I can't remember exactly), but he said that they hadn't had it a while and he's been working there for over a year, like that was some sort of accomplishment. Ha! I told him that I worked at a Quiznos in Utah for 3 years. It brought back some good memories of Quiznos times in PG.

 

Also, could you list birthdays for me, like grandparents and stuff. I know the family's birthdays, but I want to know when other ones are too. Also, in the next package you send, could you send me my sunglasses? I could use them when driving and stuff. It'd be nice. Thanks!

 

Love you mom! I can't wait to get your letter soon! Thanks.

-Justin