Viva Mexico!

¡Que Onda Cuates!

I'm using a Mexican computer now so I can put cool upside down exclamation points. The down side is that google chrome is trying to tell me that every word I type is spelled wrong hahha.

Currently I am sitting in a little internet cafe type place (not sure what they are called yet). Sorry this is so late but you'll understand when I explain my week and day hahah. So Kohl told me my emails are too long so I'll try to summarize.

So on Monday I said goodbye to big scary Elder Kulu and got in a van to the airport with a bunch of other guys who had been waiting for visas. They are part of my generation, which is the word they use to describe a group of missionaries who enter the field together. When we got to the airport Elder Rhodes was there getting ready to fly out too. Hes the homie who caught an alley oop and 360 dunked it in the MTC. So we flew to Dallas and there I talked with the fam for a while on the phone. That was cool. Then we flew from there to Veracruz. The sad thing is that our bags did not go with us to Veracruz. The airline people just left them on the tarmack because there wasn't enough room in the plane. When we arrived in Veracruz the mission president and his wife and kids and the assistants to the president were all there. President was super nice and his wife is an angel. But president quickly turned into the biggest boss ever talking to the airline about our bags. He handles business hahah. Because we didn't have our bags we had to stay at the mission office in these dorm thingys for a couple days til they arrived.

On Tuesday I met my companion, Elder Juan Manuel Hernandez Da Silva!!! Everybody google him. Apparently he plays professional soccer for a team called Atlantico or Atlantic or something like that. Hes from Cancun and he is also a dolphin trainer.. Literally the most interesting man in the world hahah. He speaks a little English too and understands a ton of it so we communicate well hahah.

Wednesday we left with my bags to our area. I'm in the north part of this mission which means when it splits I'll be in the Xalapa Mission (pronounced Halapa).. Elder Rhodes and basically anyone else I know from SLC and the MTC will be staying down in Veracruz. Our zone is Poza Rica, which is the biggest city close to us. But our area is called Cazones.... Let me tell you about Cazones. You know the town in Nacho Libre? Well then you know Cazones. Except it's in the middle of the selva (jungle). It's this little town and there are a ton of pueblitos (smaller towns) around it. We do a lot of proselyting and teaching in the pueblitos so we take these fleteras which are flat bed trucks with two benches, and they pack about 20 people into the bed of these trucks, and just go hahaha. They also just put as many people as can fit into taxis (7 seems to be the maximum). So yeah there are tons of wild dogs roaming the streets here, and when I say tons I mean there are literally 5 or 6 on every street all day every day. They are harmless though. I've also seen luchador posters and drunks just roam the streets at night and it's just crazy. And perfect. I really really like it here. The funniest thing is that everyone's houses are super run down (including ours, no toilet seat hollerrrr) but then the whole community takes immaculate care of their campo (soccer field). It literally is perfect hahah. Mexican priorities are hilarious.

So the rest of the days since then have blended together, but thus far I've drank a ton of soda, eaten a ton of beans and rice and all manner of delicious mexican food. Ate the best tacos I've ever tasted on Saturday night from this taqueria in town. Elder Hernandez said it isn't even the best one in this little town though so I'm stoked to eat at others. I ate a fruit I've never seen in my life called guanabana. It's this spiky green thing. And I've been eating fresh lychees all day errday (they are so much better fresh, be jealous Jessica). Mexicans eat weird. They have a massive meal in the middle of the day at 2 (comida) and then a tiny one at 9 pm (cena) and a tiny one for breakfast. (desayuno) My body isn't used to it yet. So the church is super strong in this mission. There are like 4 stakes. But we just have this tiny branch here. 200 members and about 25 are active. We have a branch president and a president of the relief society and that's it really. So we dont have tons of help on the missionary work side. And I guess this area doesn't baptize very well usually because we are so far from mission headquarters (5 hours north) and missionaries come up here and be lazy... But that is gonna change. We're gonna baptize like crazy and work like crazy. The only thing that impedes me right now is the language and not understanding their culture really but Elder Hernandez is gonna train me and were gonna work hard and find people who are searching for this gospel.

So today for p day we went to Tajin where there are a bunch of ruins. I'm sending pictures of all my adventures thus far and Ill have Jessica post them on facebook.

So now for the good news bad news section of this letter.

Good news- I'm happy, I'm healthy, I'm safe. I'm excited.

Bad news- I'm sunburned, this is the second hottest area in the mission, and there is no AC anywhere except the little casa de oracion (we aren't big enough to have a chapel). 

The other bad news goes out to my friends. I'm not allowed to email anyone except family. I know its a tiny rule but im doing everything I can to be really obedient on my mission. So you'll have to hand write me. And we only get mail once every 6 weeks so I wont hear from you guys much. Really during the day on p day I have no time to write letters. I still want to hear from you guys and getting handful of letters every six weeks would be amazing, but I probably wont be able to respond. I hope you guys understand and I hope these email posts will be sufficient. But I gotta devote myself to the Lord and focus on being here in Mexico. I love you all and really hope to hear from you. Heres the address of the mission

Elder Price Dix Jarman
Misión México Veracruz
Calle Altamirano #27
Entre 1° de Mayo y Carranza
Col. Flores Magón
Veracruz, Ver 91700

So yeah mail me stuff there if you want! 

Les Amo!!

Elder Jarman