I usually think in Spanish now

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Ethan

EthanFor today, we only went to first and second hour for school. First hour was French class! Turns out all those Spainards are learning French AND English at the same time. After the lesson about French subjunctive, the French teacher started asking all the five Americans (including me) questions about Spain and Murica and what not. At first, when she was talking about ¨Las Vegas¨ I totally thought she was saying ¨las velas¨ which means ¨the candles¨ so I was reaaally confused at first, but I just said yes in response to that question. But! I was made the ¨spokesman¨ for us five Americans because no one really speaks Spanish too well out of those five, so I answered most of the questions. The French teacher asked what kind of tourist attractions there are in Las Vegas, I told her there´s casinos, and that Disneyland is nearby. Then some of the Spaniard boys asked me what the girls are like and… I hate to say but I told them they´re kind of like prostitutes lol (you can edit that out if you want to). So the French teacher summarized Las Vegas as having casinos, Disneyland, and prostitutes. Great. I told her I like Spain a lot better. The Spaniards in our group say they like Las Vegas better than Spain although… what the heck?

So, after school we met up to go inside the cathedral we saw yesterday, and man it is super cool and majestic. It took over 50 years to build it, and it started around the year 1250. Apparently it has some of the oldest stain glass in the world. Afterwards just the group (no teachers hehehe) stopped by a cafe. I ate crepes with nutella, churos, and hot chocolate. Pure heaven. Ivan then showed me around the city a little bit, we stopped by another really old and majestic building (San Marco I think, some kind of San) and he also took me over the river. That bridge apparently, is 2000 years old. Wow! Then we got back home and slept and ate.

The group then met up at the mall! Finally! Ivan had to do homework though, so he didn’t go. I walked there with Phoebe and Carmen. Dude, it´s almost literally right around the corner pretty much. Everything here is right around the corner! I think I spent around 200 euros on clothes, but it was so worth it. Lets see, I got two pairs of red and green shoes (that aren’t converse), a new sweater, two striped t-shirts, and a polka dot tie. Something weird, I usually think in Spanish now. But when I´m reading something in English or happening to think in English, it´s in the Spaniard English accent… anyway! I finally figured out how to put pictures on this stupid old computer, so yay! here are some pictures of today. I´ll probably send some previous pictures so my mom can put them in the other blog posts.

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Call me Justin Bieber

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Ethan

EthanWell, I guess I should tell you guys what happened for the rest of my first day! And also this second one. There´s so much to say, too, but I guess I´m going to have to record this experience somehow.

We ate this weird soup for dinner (it was good though), with some bread, salad, and fried chicken. Quite suprising for a Spanish meal! Then, we all drove over to Ivan´s grandma´s apartment, and I met the rest of his extended family. Man, they were all so nice to me! I love his family! I especially love his uncle, this guy named Jesus. Ivan´s dad, Ivan, Jesus, and I drove over to a soccer stadium to watch a soccer game! Jesus went CRAZY hahaha, well alot of people did. Jesus is that kind of guy who hits you really hard on your shoulder to show that he likes you, and makes lots of jokes that usually you don´t understand why they´re funny. He called me ¨Justin Bieber¨. hahaha. Later, we ate ham, cheese, bread, and empanadas for dinner. What´s special about Spanish food is that they specifically don´t buy anything from supermarkets or, as they say, ¨anything in plastic¨. They´re all just… so perfect. Btw, the milk here is AMAZING. Anyway, that night, me, Ivan, and his 11 year old sister hung out in my room. We talked and played guitar and what not. Bonding time!

Today, I went to school! yay! Everyone took FOREVER to wake up. I woke up around 6:45, and was literally waiting for someone else to wake up downstairs. I ate hot chocolate and toast. School was totally fun now that I can see all my friends and what not. What´s interesting is that there are lots of rules in that school, you can´t chew gum or eat, can´t wear hats, etc but! Like every student is super rude to the teacher. When the teacher is talking or teaching or whatever everyone just keeps on talking. haha! In Ivan´s English class, some spainards were asking us Americans some questions about Spain, and some dude asked what our favorite part of Spain is. And Elijah… omg, Elijah. He just blurts out ´Los Mujeres!!¨which means ¨the women!!¨ but it was gramatically incorrect, soooo funny. I skipped Ivan´s last hour and hung out with some Americans in the student store. When we were there, there were these girl spainards who just sat there, ditching class I assumed. Then, the lady who operates the store went into the backroom for a sec, and one of the girls leaned over on the counter and stole some candy!! The lady came back out from the back and started yelling at her, and the spainard chick was talking back and arguing! I guess all spainards aren´t perfect. After school, we went back to Ivan´s and ate, then we met up with all the guys to walk to the Cathedrals and meet up with the rest of the group. Those Cathedrals are STUNNING. Theyre soooo old too. I took lots of pictures with some girls too, who are stunning as well, hehehe. Once the teachers left, the group just totally hung out in a quad and played hacki sack, then we all walked to this diner or coffee shop thing to hang out. Coolest thing ever! And it was really fun. Can’t wait for tomorrow!

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Just a couple of pics

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Aaron

Elder SnowNo time, so I thought I’d send something to look at:

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Hello from Espana!

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Ethan

EthanHoly dumps man, I´m totally in my room in Ivan´s house emailing you right now. I just got done taking a shower! And I feel great! Ivan´s sister has a guitar. THANK THA LORD. So! to start from square one, the flights over here were horrible. Worst like… 9 hours of my life pretty much. The first one was okay, I had this super deep religious conversation with my atheist friends, and my Lutheran friend Savannah. I’m a super missionary, cuz i answered every single one of those questions, and they weren’t ever confused. I explained the entire Old Testament to my friend Sebastian. lol. The second flight was reaaaalllyyyy bad tho. They had movies n stuff but I wasn’t in the mood so I just listened to music n just.. looked around idk. Eventually I decided to see what movies were on there. Dude! They had all these new releases of movies! I watched Argo! Argo!!! It’s a sweet movie man.

Spain is soooo beautiful!!! It´s like Oregon but like… European. There´s tons of old castles and ruins of stuff. Leon is just.. awesome. Narrow streets, tall apartment buildings, big parks. I’m literally 3 minutes walking distance from the school. Ivan’s dad is the coolest too!! Great, great guy! Ivan’s house is really cool, my room is like the attic. But still cozy and private. I love it here! I was feeling kind of homesick in the shower cuz it wasn’t working at first, but I’ve decided that I just need to make myself at home now. So good news is I’m not flipping out at all, I’m doing kind of fine with the language, I understand most of everything. Culture shock isn’t settling in, yet haha. All I gotta do is smile! I hope this morning went okay with saying goodbye to Misha, tell I love her n all. I love you guys too! byeee!

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Support

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Cheryl

CherylOver the past six months (and actually longer), I have watched Kathryn run the Peace Corps gauntlet. I have watched her deal with being an adult living in her parents’ house (not recommended for the average independent person, btw), frustrating government bureaucracy, and general uncertainty. She has suffered, which is pretty typical when you sign up to have other people make major life decisions for you.

What has surprised me, however, is the difficulty she has had dealing with otherwise friendly folks being generally negative and unsupportive of her decision. For month after month, she (and her parents quite often), upon explaining to someone what her plans were, would often get an immediate reaction, often surrounding the “fact” that what she was doing was dangerous and unwise. It was always such a puzzle to me that people would react in such a way. It was hurtful to us and made all of us clam up about something that we were actually very excited about. There were times that I felt incredibly alone in our plans.

At home, we talked a lot about why people were being so reactive about something that they themselves weren’t even involved in. We suspect that people in general fear the unknown. No one I know here in Southern Nevada has had any experience with the Peace Corps: most have never traveled outside the United States. And even though there is some evidence we live in a much more dangerous country than most, simply the fact that someone has never visited Albania (or, even worse, her first choices of Morocco or Jordan) means that to them her decision is rash and her life is in peril. Terror lurks in the darker corners of the imagination. We bore the brunt of that over the past six months.

To those of our friends who were nothing but supportive, I would like to publicly thank you. You have no idea the ray of sunshine you were to us. I have learned through all of this to be happy for everyone’s decisions, whether I agree with them or not. I do this because 1) it is none of my business what other people want to do with their life, and 2) it is a big risk sharing plans with people, and I want people to feel safe when they share their plans with me.

So, let me just go on record: I am intensely proud of my daughter and support her wholeheartedly. She has handled the adversity and the bureaucracy with great aplomb and has demonstrated a keen ability to do what she knows is right for her. I am absolutely certain that this is her path, and I look forward to seeing how much we all grow from her decision. As I have said before, my childrens’ choices always help my world get bigger. It is a wonderful thing to see your children exceed you in life: I think it is what we all hope for. So, yes, I am proud of you, Kat. No matter what the next two years bring, you have already established yourself as one of the bravest people I know.

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A quick note

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Aaron

Elder SnowHey man… everyone is peering at my computer screen, so they are wanting me to go… plus we have an appointment in about an hour so I better get going… so quickly!!

Wow! Everyone [Kathryn and Ethan] is going! At last! What are you guys gonna do then? Are you and Dad gonna party for a week ’til Ethan gets back?? Wow!! That would be nice, especially since you are getting nervous =/ I would be nervous too… no worries.

So I have a new kid… he is from Guatemala, a place called Coban. Spanish is his second language… and my Spanish is better than his. He speaks Quep,chi´. It is pretty crazy… he is super humble, and comes from a very poor town… but likes working which is nuts. It has been a crazy companionship. We all come from different fronts, and adapting has been difficult, but we are getting along.

I have learned so much lately. The mission really does change lives. I can look back on my old self (premish) and say that I am a different person now. I am so grateful for the mission. Just lately I have been thinking about this, and the great blessing it is to be here.

Hey man. I love you. I wish I had more time =( Have fun… and good luck this week!

-Elder Aaron Jacob Snow

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Panning for gold

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Aaron

Elder SnowDaaa!!! What a week!

So Changes are this week. I got called to train… again… except we will be in a trio…. again. I will still have my current companion, Elder Lares…. again, but will also have another child! I now have 4. I think that is a mission record. I have never EVER had a normal companionship, and I have 9 months in the mission.

I walked my 1300th mile today! I am now over the hill and on my way down to 2500. (Las Vegas and Quetzaltenango are about 2500 miles apart.)

So we put 3 baptismal dates this week, and one of these people has an interesting back ground. She was born in a village, not in a hospital or anything, and her parents never registered her. She has no DPI, no registration, no identification, nothing! She does not know her name, age, or birthday, and her mom is dead, but her dad is alive, but a heavy drinker, and no longer remembers who this girl is. That being said, we are doing some investigation, and as long as we find out her full name, and supposed birth date, she can be baptized! Oh Guatemala… why must your literacy rate be so low? Little dumb things like this happen all the time. So this isn’t anything super new. I hope things go well these next 2 weeks.

Attached is a picture of the Panca waterfall. It is about 150 feet high, and is not polluted which is nice for a change! We went here for P-Day just to chill, take pictures, and read the Book of Mormon together as a zone. While we were reading, I found some sparkling specks in the water, and took a closer look, and found out that it was gold!! THERE BE GOLD IN DEM RIVERS!!! So I emptied a nearby water bottle, and filled it up with some river dirt, and I am going to pan it when I get home tonight. (Yea, I know how to pan for gold).

Lastly, so about 8 months ago (I’m not sure) some missionaries passed by this run down, old pizza place, and went inside to see if it was good. It turned out to be delicious, and these Elders invited the whole Zone over to eat for P-Day. They have been going there ever since. Then one day, they come to the pizza joint, and it looked completely renovated. Because the Elders ate at this pizza joint so much, they helped the business pick up, and lately have been offering us special promotions as a thank you. It is funny to see where a hungry gringo stomach can take someone.

That is about it for this week! Have fun! Good luck to all of those kids leaving for the mish this coming month!

-Elder Aaron Jacob Snow

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Riscos

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Aaron

Elder SnowSo here in Momostenango, it is famous for something called ”Riscos” or cliffs. They look a little something like Badlands National Park. We were contacting in an little area outside of the limits of central park, and found these, and decided to take five minutes to take some pictures. They are very slick, but sharp rocks. They are massive as well. I have included a photo of me sitting on a chimney to compare the sizes. I am really liking the landscape here.

Last Sunday we ate lunch at a member’s house. They are the Lang family. Super rich family. The dad is an economist in Xela, so they can afford to give us good meals. The other day for lunch they gave me an entire fish. Bones, gills, eye balls and all, and asked me to eat it. It was very interesting, and I have never eaten just…… a fish. But it was fine. Gills have onion texture, and eyeballs, I don’t wanna talk about it. However, it was an interesting experience.

Lastly, I have attached a picture of a recent convert we know. He was baptized one month ago, and ALWAYS wants to do divisions with the missionaries. We love working with him because of the change the Gospel has made for him. He was a bum, eating garbage, abusing his wife, until the Elders came by and started talking to him. He completely turned his life around and got baptized. He introduces us to his old neighbors so that they see the wonderful change that the Gospel has made in his life. (He was well known for being quite the street urchin) and now that these people see the change, they accept us and the message of the Gospel. It is just another amazing conversion story that will affect more than just him.

Hey I love you all. Have a great week! Keep the Pope in your prayers!

-Elder Aaron Jacob Snow

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Water and dust

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Aaron

Elder SnowHey! I love my new area. I have already put a good impression on the people. We walk down the street and people always say ”E-SNOW!!”  the people here are lovely… and I eat good food, and am loving my district as well.

At night, I used to dream of you guys…. the house… Buckethead… and it really bugged me. Throughout the week I would go days without thinking of you guys, but I would dream about you guys. The past couple nights I have started dreaming about baptizing, and teaching really powerful lessons. I don’t know if it means anything… BUT…

We got another baptism.

I got here and my companion told me about a guy called Lazaro, who was very close to baptism, but had many doubts. He lives with his mom, and she does NOT support him. He would be the only member living in his house. He is 22 years old, and was very nervous. Luckily we had a very key lesson with the family of his girl friend, where they essentially said, ”We will be your new family! Being a member of this church will only be a blessing to you.” Later on… one day before his baptism date goal, he accepted. We organized everything. It was a very small service, but it went very well. Very spiritual. It helped remind me of my purpose here in the mission, to bring people unto Christ through the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel. It was such a blessing to get to know him, and I know that he will be a great leader in the church one day.

Other than that, I had another cool experience this week. I am the district leader here, so I do 24 hour divisions with the other areas in my district. This week I spent with an Elder Vega in an area called Xequemeya. There is NOTHING here. I have attached a picture of the dirt, mountains, and trees that separate us and a nearby house. Yup, that house is far to you, but to us it is nearby. It was nuts. It was a good experience though. I helped Elder Vega put 2 baptism dates, so that was fun.

Hey I hope you have a great week. Good luck to all of those with mission calls. Trust me, it is awesome. I have learned a lot! Have fun!

-Elder Aaron Jacob Snow

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Wonderful people. Wonderful culture.

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Aaron

Elder SnowI am in the city! It is an area called Patzite, but parts of it are in villages that only speak Quiche. I have started to learn it. It is tough! But it is absolutely beautiful!

We have a great area. Things are very different. We have cold showers, and we go to Xela once a month with a giant suitcase to buy a months worth of food, but other than that it is absolutely beautiful here. Wonderful people. Wonderful culture.

My comp is called Elder Lares. I am finishing his training. We are getting along fine. I had him show me all of his investigators this week. We dropped like 10. They just were not progressing. BUT! We have great investigators, and a lot of work ahead of us! We have a baptism date this weekend.

We are gonna need a lot of patience. There is a lot of work to do, but that is normal.
That’s all for now. I love you all. I hope that you have a great week!

Elder Aaron Jacob Snow

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