Monday, August 12, 2013

This week has had its ups and downs.  The night after I wrote my first letter home and I left the computer shop to go back to the apartment. I ate some weird food that my companion called a hot dog.  It didn't look or taste like a hot dog but I was hungry so I ate it.  That was a bad idea.  I went to bed and woke up at about one in the morning with the worst stomach ache I have ever had!  I reached for my flashlight so I could go to the bathroom but my flashlight wasn't where I usually leave it.  So I got up and ran blind outside the front door and threw up all over the ground!  It was one of the worst throw ups I've ever had!  It was LAVA hot and I couldn't breathe! After I threw up outside for a little bit I went to the bathroom and threw up some more lava!  At that point I was so homesick.  I was sitting in the bathroom throwing up and stuff for a little more than an hour.  The whole time there were mosquito's flying and biting me and I still could barely breathe! 

The next day we didn't do much. I felt good enough to go out to a district meeting in Alicia which is about 30 min from our house.  At the meeting everyone was saying my eye looked super red and that popped blood vessels in your eye and blurred vision are signs of dengue fever!  I didn't have a fever but I still didn't feel good so we went back to the apartment where I slept all day!  The next day my throat hurt really badly so I called the mission pres's wife and told her my symptoms.  She said to just drink as much water as possible and gargle warm water with salt.  So I did that the next few days and there was no improvement with my throat.  I told her that my throat bled a little while I was throwing up and so she finally gave me some pills that WORKED!! 

After all that sickness and bad stuff I feel almost completely healthy now!  Don't worry about it me.  My immune system will slowly get used to this place!

On Friday we had a one day mission in Jones where we taught the members how to teach and open their mouths!  It was pretty cool leaving our area and going to someone else's!  Jones is a really nice place but is a really hard area!  The people don't like White people or Mormons!  We went out and taught one guy who hopefully the sisters will go meet sometime but I don't know how the sisters will ever find his house!  The only way they are going to find it is by the guidance of the spirit! 

On Saturday we taught Mark again. (He's the guy I challenged to baptism)  I challenged him and his friends again but I gave them an exact date on August 31st and he said yes again.  When I told him the date, he said "What time?" It was really cool and surprised me!  I think he seriously wants to get baptized!  I can't wait and I hope he is ready to be baptized on August 31st!  My companion leaves at the end of this cycle and I want him to be able to see him baptized before he leaves!  Mark has come to church 2 times in a row and in the classes we teach he is giving really good answers!  Most of the investigators will just laugh and get really nervous and give a primary answer or something but Mark will say something really good!

During sacrament meeting we got a text that said we need to evacuate if we live in a low laying area because a level 4 typhoon is coming! That's exactly where we live. After church ended, we went back to the apartment and started packing things because we were going to stay at another Elders apartment!  We put everything on top of tables, cabinets and shelves just in case it flooded and left.  It started to rain really hard and got pretty windy while driving to the other apartment.  We went to bed and woke up expecting it to arrive in the morning sometime but it never came! It missed us just by a little bit!  All the missionaries were pretty bummed because we wanted to experience a typhoon! 

Dad, I know you too well!  While it was raining and pretty windy I told an Elder that you were probably watching the storm from Unisys weather!  The storm wasn't bad at all!  Everyone was pretty disappointed!  The worst thing that happened was the door flung open in the middle of the night and got me all wet from the rain!

Now we're at today...  Today has been a good day!  I took a 40 min bus ride to a bigger city called Santiago where they have McDonalds!  It's the first time I have felt good and full since I have been here! 

I went to a REAL store!  It was like a tiny Costco and it was amazing to be in some place nice and has air conditioning!  The store had samples like Costco but they were just a little different.  The samples were alcoholic beverages!  It kind of blew my mind and made me realize that this place is nothing like home!

Tonight we have a dinner app. at a member’s house where they said I would eat balut.  I'll let you know how that goes next week!  

I haven't eaten too many crazy things here! I've eaten a fish that was cooked whole, some weird soup, and lots of chicken and other meat.

I know this letter sounds kind of bad but it's only because I didn't have that great of a week and I’m not going to sugar coat it!  I'm feeling a lot better now!  

The mission makes you realize that your family is the most important thing in the world!  Thanks for the letters and prayers!  It's super hard here but it's slowly getting easier!  I keep asking my companion if his mission went fast and he keeps telling me that it was the fastest two years of his life!  He tells me that it's worth it and he learned a lot from it!  I can't wait till I see you all again!  It's crazy to think that when I get back David will be married almost 2 years!  I told David that I didn't really care if I missed his wedding before the mission but now I would have given anything to be there! I love you so much and these next two years are going to fly by!  Mahal Kita!

Cameron