Wednesday, November 14, 2012

November 12, 2012 - [ Comments about some pictures ]

November 12, 2012 - [ Comments about some pictures ]

Oh yeah. My tolerance for pica is much more than before. I ate a chilpaya pepper. This small little thing and my mouth burned for a day and my nose ran for 3. Literally the hottest thing except for one other. The small little green thing haha is very very hot.
 

 

November 12, 2012 (Week 13)

November 12, 2012

Como estan! man love you all. The comp is getting better, still waste a lot of time i feel like, but its ok. I need to relax a little on a few things. The stress of the mission. Ill tell ya. But i sure do love being here. Not a doubt in my mind this is my home and it feels so natural already. Not the spanish, but the culture. There are still things that im not used to, but ive forgotten about america and being white already. Sometime s i forget that im even Conner. Im now Elder Mortensen the mexican. The people dont really notice my American background as much and i kind of start to fit in i hope!
 
 
 
So important news; my comp has insomnia. The past 4 nights he has done stuff to me cause he cant sleep. Like poke me in the back and then roll back onto his top bunk. That was at 2 am and pitch black and i was scared for an hour. He also shakes the bed and rolls around a lot and makes noises and sings to himself when he cant sleep. That also wakes me up 3 times a night. Need to buy earplugs and a separate bed.. Oh well. Already 2 weeks till this transfer is over. only one more transfer with this guy. Thank the heavens. I get to talk to elder boyd at least 2 times a week and every other p day we go shopping with them. But his comp and the ZLs always yell at us and say Espanol ninos! I want to punch them. The ZLs tried to force me to put a line in my hair and tell me its required, so i stopped doing it. I hate it when people tell me what to do!!
 
Im dont miss america too much and i love it here. the weather is fantastic and its only about 70 degrees right now. maybe 85 90 middle of day, but its cloudy alot which helps.
 
Oh what else. I handled a boa, got followed by a guy that wanted to jump us, and helped a borracho (drunk) to his house haha that was exciting. Not having too much success, but we might have a few more baptisms coming up! i hope! i want more.
 
OH. yeah. Our house is infested with fleas. and the cockroaches are moving in too. The owner is fixing up the front patio so he took his dog somewhere else, so all the fleas need food. Us. They bite and itch and it feels like mosquito bites all over me! Thats a bad thing about this house. Oh yeah. My comp kneels on his stool for prayer cause he doesnt want ticks on him and he also wont touch a cockroach! Freaking nancy!! hahaha i have to stomp on them all and clean it up while he cowers away. He even tells me to kill the fleas he flicks off his pants. N A N C Y. we did service for the Uscanga familia, and went to their second little house and chopped weeds. I took a shovel and went crazy on the weeds while he grabbed a matchete and did a little work. He cut himself, and instead of putting a bandaid on, he loves to flip whenever someone shakes his hand and show them his batttle scars and tell the story. When people ask me what i have, i say, they are there, but i have the hands of a man and dont feel like complaining :) hahaha that makes him mad when im better than him at something.

We got to play by the ocean today, ill send pics. Not the most beautiful beach, but its the ocean and the fresh ocean air and spray was fantastic. Always cool to be near to there. Makes me smile that i get to serve in a country and state right next to the Ocean. Freaking Veracruz. Love it. Better than Spanish speaking tulsa.. ahaha oh boy. Cant think of anything really else to say. The weeks fly by here. Its my month mark in Mexico today and thats even wierder. I got some letters sent home along with a USB in a big envelope to the family, so hopefully no one opens it. You should get it in about 3 weeks. Let me know. I also sent letters to both Granparents, and Joleen so see if they get theirs in about 3 to 4 weeks. I delivered them straight to the mission office. I dont want to end this letter, but i have to. I cant wait to have all these stories for you all when i get back. I[ll send some pics. I love you all. Tell everyone hello and im doing just swell and i freaking love it here. With all the setbacks its still fantastic. Im starting to have normal conversations and can really talk to people. I cant wait till the 6 month fluency mark!! So close. yeah. Peru. is gonna be fantastic. I love the fact that im learning spanish. I really just cant wait. LOVE YOU ALL. Hasta una semana, Elder Mortensen, the great.

November 5, 2012 (Week 12)

November 5, 2012

Phew. where to start. I dont even know. My comp is still being a micromanager, and i finally lost it friday. Not even sure how it started but in the best spanish i could muster i told him what i was frustrated with. Told him that hes a district leader, my senior companion, my trainer, and ive been here for 2 weeks and i shouldnt have to be the one that says ok, time to leave, or start lessons, or such. He didnt say much, except for Ok. I told him that i know his mission is almost over, but mine is just starting and all i want to do is work, and i dont want to waste 3 precious months with him being like this. Things were good until sunday, when he volunteered me to go with E. Mielnickowikz to get one of their investigators 30 minutes away. I did and came back to find that the class i prepared for 2 hours to teach and was really excited to teach was 20 seconds from being over. I dont know why he chose me. All they needed was another male over 18. That really made me upset because i was super stoked to share some insights with the members on why missionary work is important and why we need them. I cant help but think its because he loves the spotlight and i really hope he wasnt getting rid of me so he could talk by himself. If so, it was an extremely low blow and it made me mad. He doesnt fill me in much, and when i ask him what the plan is he mumbles something and walks in to the house and i just sit there trying to catch up when we are reading the bible in spanish. I usually just sit there and look like an idiot for 2 hours. Thats right. 2 hours at some appointments... but yeah. If he would just fill me in i can help but usually he likes to talk for a while and then gets mad at me when i dont keep my little bits "brief" ugh. He loves to control my life and wont let me buy an alarm clock. That stupid egg one already broke. The light kept spazzing out and wouldnt shut off and the alarm beeped for a solid .5 seconds before killing itself haha. Anyways, im trying. I dont know what else to do but try. I like to do my own thing but he wants to do our wash together, wants to do everything, including standing behind me in the bathroom and Burger King. awkward...  My time is precious and he just wastes it. He threw a fit because i wouldnt let him shine his shoes with my kit. I was willing until he started using the polish brush to clean the dirt. He keeps telling me how to shine my shoes but hes never seen a kit in his life and scoffs at me when i clean them with water and acts all annoyed while i wait for them to dry... He will walk around me and turn down the water while im shaving, and put away the ironing board before im done and take my card out of my hand and pull my money out at the ATM (even though there are buttons in English). AAAAGGHHH. It feels good to vent. Trying to be patient. not working too well. Need to get through a transfer and a half with this guy. I want my space haha.

ANYWAYS. the good stuff! the Buses are fun here. We have an inactive family in the boonies and we take a bus back. Its on a dirt road and it feels like an indiana jones rollercoaster haha. We sit in the back so i get bumped a good foot out of my seat sometimes. I cant help but laugh and have a grin but my comp just frowns. too funny!

The humidity isnt helping much and ive already used a tube of athletes foot creme for a serious allergic reaction to my sweat all over my quads and glutes. That was bad, but its going away. Still sweat alot but for the most part, its gone. I had a decent outbreak of ringworm on my arms and hands. Those are ugly and painful and leave scars. Thank heavens those are gone too.

Oh, but i can print off letters and emails here, but i dont really care to print them all it costs a bit and im pretty full on room! but if you could have brad and shay and all you guys print off the emails you send and put them in order in the binder of my emails i really want those too. Just the advice and cool stuff though. Dont need to use all the ink haha :)

OH!! so i was thinking... PERU! when i get back and garrett gets back, we should all go to peru with your work dad!! Ill be able to speak to the natives which will be straight awesome. Just thinking about that. Love you all. Gotta go. Les amo!!! hasta proximo lunes!