Hey, second to last full week until Xela [Mom’s note: Xela is another name for Quetzaltenango]!

Interesting week…not… it actually was not super interesting, BUT, I hear the bugs are out in Vegas now. I miss that awful noise. We have bugs here too now… and they are gross… if you wanna find out more you’ll have to write me because I don’t know if its cool to talk about these things via the blog where lots of queasy people can see. But anyway… so this week was actually pretty boring. We got to the point where we caught a fly, froze it for five minutes, took it out of the freezer, tied some floss around its neck, and after it thawed it started flying around again…but it had a leash! So we could keep track of it and hold on so it wouldn’t fly away. So we had a pet fly for about 2 hours! Yeah yeah the handbook says that we can’t have pets… but luckily flies don’t last very long anyway. So that was fun.

Breaking the rules, but gaining a little friend…

I have been getting international letters! Mom, I have your second letter, the kitchen looks great, so it certainly is possible to send international letters. And I recommend it after I go into Xela on the 31st.

So I’ve learned an interesting thing since I have been here and since the new Latinos have been swashbucklin around. You don’t necessarily have to say anything to make a good friend. Most of the time I talk to Latinos as much as a can to practice and get to know them, but some of the funnest and funniest times I’ve had with them were when neither of us had said a single word. I have made more Latino friends here than I have Nortes. Kind of an interesting fact… you don’t need to be good with words to make a friend. Just thought I’d share that. Interpret that however you want… but I have certainly learned that here.

We go out and proselyte one last time this Monday, except this time we have NO Latinos to help us. Just our companionship. I am nervous and excited… I love being outside… I love speaking Spanish… And sharing the Gospel is pretty dang cool… the only problem is
understanding what the people are saying. My vocabulary is still very low (what can you expect after 7 weeks, Spanish has 200,000 words) but I can almost say anything I want. (At least get a point across) But the people here have had their whole lives to learn big words and especially how to slur them! It is very very frustrating… but I have learned a lot, that’s for sure. I think being on a foreign speaking mission has been a blessing for me that has been manifest in many ways. I am learning to listen more intently, and am deciphering how I can best help someone else… I have not learned this yet… but am in the process. So please keep us Elders in your prayers. We want to be effective and we want to change lives, but we can’t do it on our own. And especially keep us in mind on the 31st. That has been the major conversation topic all week. Xela looks absolutely wonderful from the
pictures… and hey! next Saturday I can send pictures! (….hopefully) But we are all anxious to get there and get to work.

So good luck with Batman… I hear that didn’t have a good start. But someone please watch it and tell me how it is! Everyone have a great summer (while it lasts… luckily Summer for me has taken FOREVER! So I hope it has been the same for you all) and be safe! I love you all very much, and you are missed. Have a great week!

-Elder Aaron Jacob Snow