This week (9 to go!)

This week my flight itinerary arrived! It is official. I will be home the 29th of April. I look forward to serving these last two months with diligence, knowing that the efforts I put in these next few weeks will be the last I will be able to give to the Lord in these two years of service.

I’m traveling home with two missionaries that I know quite well.  They are both from Beaverton.  It will be fun to travel all the way home from Xalapa with these guys.

I get along super well with Elder G. He got baptized when he turned 18 and loves being a convert. He says it helps him a lot being a convert and being a missionary -  he's able to understand better what the investigators are feeling and thinking because he's gone through it all already. I'm learning lots of cool things about Peru and South American culture. Elder G is just as obsessed with rice as Elder O was, which means we eat very little spaghetti!

I'm glad I could live in Mexico for two years. I've developed a love for fútbol that I otherwise never could have known. It really is such an important part of world culture and Americans who never leave the country can't completely understand that as hard as they may try. When your economic possibilities are low and you don't have much hope of a bright future, sometimes the only thing you have to hold onto is a ball and some shoes. I understand why the world famous football idols give the kids so much hope here - they give them something to look forward to every day, even so much as watching a game on TV and talking about it the whole next day. Football really does help the people here to fill a gap, in an emotional and social sense.  It's a great way to begin a conversation with a total stranger as well.

Two years ago I wouldn't even have been able to tell you the difference between Barcelona's jersey and Real Madrid's jersey, and now I basically have all the players of the entire Spanish league memorized. I really know a lot more about football than I did before the misión.

(about men without mustaches) Seriously, I'm totally convinced they don't exist. I don't know what that is anymore.

I’m so happy that I get to live with Alex at BYU this fall.  That will be awesome.

I have told you before that Nacho Libre is real Mexico, and here it is.  I can't wait to watch that movie when I get home. 

 I ran into some old friends from two different areas this week.  One from Papantla and one from Tuxpan!