November 22, 2010

hey there-
i cant believe that it is snowing there!!! well i guess i know that is happening but i cant even imagine it with how much sun we have here. wow enjoy it for me will you, i am definitely going to miss a white christmas and a good ski season, but i will get that next year. wow you are all about to have thanksgiving eh??? well sad news for you... remember how that is an american holiday... haha sorry poppy but to answer your question i will be workin like usual, they dont celebrate thanksgiving here, no worries though i eat as much here on a daily basis as i would on thanksgiving so im not starving. but do enjoy it for me and give the fam my love. i know the minnesota kubs will cheating and having their usual double thanksgiving for lunch and dinner yum yum!! buddy enjoy some good old tofurky for me... hehe. i am going to miss you all like crazy, but the church members here are going to take good care of us and we already have some invitations to eat for christmas. i have something for you that i was going to send home with my old zone leader to deliver to you but the man who is making it in my old area got really sick and was hospitalized so he just started working on it, so sorry it wont be there on time.

well greetings from salinas, my new area. wow i must admit i kind of feel in a sense like i started over, the nervousness, not knowing anything or anyone, feeling really lost but i am getting there, i am sure i will get to know it faster than i did the first time in maldonado. poppy no worries, my address is the same, everything goes to the mission home and then they ship it to us. well like i said my new companion is Hermana Rodriguez, she is from El Salvador and is really such a sweet girl. she is very quiet and soft spoken which is a reverse from hermana thompson, so my life is a bit more quiet but we are getting along great. she really wants to learn english so we are working on her telling me stories in english to help her improve. this new area... man is hard, it is super slow and hard to find people to talk to. the people here are generally more wealthy than those in maldonado, there are still areas that are poor, but thier living conditions are much much better. people are usually really nice when they reject us... but finding people that want to listen is a bit like pulling teeth. but i know the Lord will never give us things that we cannot handle, and he will put people in our path, its going to be a learning experience, thats for sure. i am going to learn alot about patience and that everything comes in the Lords time as long as we are doing our part. its just really weird going from Maldonado where we were able to see some really amazing things happen and have really steady people we were teaching to this area which is really dead. also i thought my area in maldonado was huge and we walked a ton but geez, this is probably double, its really great to come home tired but wow....

well my companions family is having a difficult time financially and she has no money from home to buy anything and i was wondering, because her shoes are completely falling apart, if you can send some shoes, flat and durable, like the ones i have, size 8, doesnt need to be fancy, just hit up nordstrom rack again. and also, my old backpack that i have for school, it is orange and should be in my stuff that you moved, hers is falling apart and the one i have at home is practically new, promise i will pay you back. i would buy it here but the quality of the stuff here is really bad and doesnt last. if you cant i understand, if at least you can send the backpack that would be great.

well i know this isnt anything really exciting, but know that i am doing well and am alive. i love you all to pieces and you are always in my prayers. tell everyone i say hello and that i love them. much love-jess