FIRST WEEK IN THE FIELD HECK YEAH. So Papantla is really cool. I actually didn't realize what it was actually like until about an hour ago when we went to el centro. It really is a cute little town. But in Xanath, its way... more humble. We kind of live in the ghetto but hey I like that. We walk up and down hills all day long. The steepest hills I've ever seen in my life. And the longest set of stairs in the whole world too. man, so many stairs. So if any of you BYU peeps want to complain about that one set of stairs, I forgot what they're called. but anyways THINK AGAIN. Luckily its started to cool down though. Its been raining almost every day. And when it rains, it really rains. and then the streets flood and some of the streets are just dirt so its super muddy and slippery and some of the stairs going up the hills are just dirt so sometimes we get stuck on top of a hill with no where to go because there are rivers of mud and we cant climb back down without slipping and dying hahaha. But i like the rain. its fun. 

My first day here i had elote (corn on the cob nacho libre style) and it was the grossest thing ever. Seriously, never again. They put mayo and cheese and chile on it and.... yeah never again. Next time someone tries to sell me that I will smack that corn down and shout GET THAT CORN OUTTA MY FACE and then I{ll hand them a pamphlet of the restoration and ask them to be baptized. Im sure that will go well. 

Other than that, the food is great. We get fed by a different member every day for lunch. Sometimes we eat dinner or a tiny bit of breakfast. Sometimes not. So I'm not sure if ill lose or gain weight yet. We don't get a ton of food but when we do eat, its like 27 tortillas and rice and mole so.... ill probably gain some weight. 

Its super hard for me to communicate with people. Well,,, it depends. some people i can understand but i never know what to say. Other people i cant understand at all. My companion I can understand perfectly during lessons which is really cool but in our house.... mas o menos. 

So story time! One day we went to a members house for lunch and after we ate we found out that her husband, Valente, isn't a member so we started chatting with him and teaching him and talking about a whole bunch of different things. The first lesson and a little about eternal families and he accepted a baptismal date! and then when we asked his wife how she was feeling, she just stood up and walked over to her husband and hugged him and they sobbed in each others arms. and I was crying too and I couldn't even understand a lot of what they were saying but it was soooo awesome!! Unfortunately, hes been really sick the past week so he couldn't come to church. 

The people here are seriously so nice. Practically everyone lets us come into their house to chat and teach, even if they aren't interested in the church. They're all pretty religious and very humble. We went to visit this one member and she lived in this tiny house partially made of cinder blocks but also a lot of cardboard and she didn't even have a light in the house but she kept giving us food and more food and more food and they're just all so nice. 

We´ve also taught two different people who are missing a leg. 

OH I take bucket showers and that real fun. 

Also i may have electrocuted myself a tad because we heat up our water with this metal thingamabob that we plug into the socket and then put in the water and i wasn't thinking and put my hand in the bucket of water to see how hot it was and yeah... lol 

But its just me and Hermana Perez in our house. 

Our district is just us two and then Elder Skinner (my friend from the CCM) and Elder Rodriguez. Its been so nice having Elder Skinner in my district. I actually get to speak english every once in a while! And hes just really goofy. This one day, we ate lunch with the elders at a members house and she had cut pears into the shape of french fries and elder skinner actually thought they were fries. Then after he ate one, he realized they weren't fries but he still thought they were potatoes, he just thought they were raw. Im pretty sure pears don't taste anything like raw potatoes hahaha it was real funny. 

Yeah some people here only speak Totonaco. But not a whole ton. I've learned a couple words but i actually cant even remember them right now so nevermind. This place really is a party. Its super green and pretty. There are dogs and cats roaming the streets everywhere. Also chickens and turkeys. And sometimes there are cute little old men riding burros in the street. 

also dad, los voladores aren't in our area, they're in the centro which is where i am right now on the computer. Were going to go to el tajin in two weeks i think! 

Annndd this week ive been ponderizing (lol) John 15:4-5

Adios!!

Hermana DeGraw