Week 47 (Riberas, Mexico)

Wow really? I was there for three months? It felt like a lot less, like a couple of weeks or so, the time really does fly. 

The first week was great. It kind of sucked leaving the other ward and all of the missionaries in that area. The members were really cool. They did baptize one kid named Luis that we have been working on for a while. And this next week they are going to baptize Presila and her mom and we have been working with them for a while too. I didn’t get to see them but I was told about them. This ward is really cool too I don’t know it that well because it is really spread out. I am in the most northern part of the city in Riberas. It is an hour bus ride from the church and about a 15 min car ride to it and half of the ward lives over there by the church building and half over in this area. 

  (A picture of the painting we have at the bus stop by our house near the church.)

My new companion is Elder Sanchez he has two months in the mission and I am training him. His first six weeks in the mission he was trained by another elder but that elder just finished his mission so I am taking over and training him. He is from Acapulco and he is twenty-five years old and a convert of six years. He is a great missionary, he knows a lot already and he learns really fast. I don’t know if I have a favorite I all like different aspects of all of them and haven’t had problems getting along with them at all. 

 (Me and my new comp Elder Sanchez.)

I am still district leader and my district has two sisters and two elders. Elder Spencer from Utah, he is pretty cool, he is quiet and way good with a yo-yo he has twenty months in the mission. His comp is Elder Martinez and he is from Dominican Republic he has five weeks left in his mission and he has a really outgoing personality. Also Sister Dudley, the one who was in my district in Anahuac is in my district now. She is from Texas and goes home in August. She is companions with Sister Patterson; she has a little over twelve weeks in the mission and is from Colorado.

 (The two on the right were comps in Anahuac and the one on the left was our zone leader.) 

The rain was awesome and I always enjoyed it until I got to this area because the houses roof sucked. It let all of the water in. when I got here my comp told me we were going to switch houses because the house leaked a lot. So I didn’t unpack anything which was good because there was almost nowhere in the house that stayed dry when it rained. 

The first night we got into bed and everything and my comp told me a bit of how it was, I didn’t think too much of it and thought well it can’t be that bad. But that night a giant storm came in and it poured. We got waken up in the middle of the night and retreated to the one strip of house that didn’t get soaked. I pulled out a couple of umbrellas I have (the comp from Vera Cruz, Elder Rolon gave me his when he left) and tried to sleep with the two umbrellas over me but it didn’t work so I went over to the dry corner and slept on the floor and my comp slept in his chair. We slept like that the next three days until we could get into our new house. At first it was uncomfortable but then I got used to it and I actually started to sleep really well. 

We changed to another house and we got brand new mattresses which was great and in the new house we have air conditioning. In this house and the last we haven’t had gas so I have been showering with cold water but actually it isn’t even bad I thought it would suck but it hasn’t been bad. 

(My trainer and first comp Elder Maldonado, he just finished his mission.)

The new area is great and there are a lot of people to work with and lots of potential in the area.

We do eat with members every day and it is a monthly schedule that members fill up. The food has been great so far. One Hermana gave us A TON of food. I don’t think I have ever eaten so much in my life. We got a giant salad to start off. Filled with cranberries, oranges, water melon, cantaloupe, crackers, cheese, lettuce and apples, and plums. A giant plate filled with a bunch of food piled on. 

The second plate was a giant soup with lentils and croutons (little bread toast things you stick in salads) and they served that with bread. Then another giant plate with spaghetti noodles with some white sauce and chicken and something else. We had some pineapple juice too that was great. Everyone was dying because they were so full. 

This members name is Hermana Kika. She is way cool and always wants to help the missionaries and she actually helped us move all of our stuff to the new house and she bought us new mattresses. We had called the mission secretaries to ask permission to buy new mattresses because the others were destroyed by the water. We got an ok to do so and they said they were going to deposit some money in our accounts for the mattresses but it wouldn’t arrive for a few days, so we were going to wait until the money got there to get the mattresses. 

But when the Hermana saw we weren’t taking the mattresses she asked where we would sleep and we told her about it and she lent us 2000 pesos. Which is like 170 dollars I think. It was way cool to see how willing she was to help us out.

 (My last companion Elder Newman.)

Love Elder Blanchard