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!

Two whole hands

I remember when I turned 10 and Diane Bangerter told me I was Two Whole Hands old.    Well, now that I have only 10 weeks left on my mission, I thought about two whole hands in a new way.  I am happy to be finishing my mission with such a great companion.  The Lord truly has blessed me with good companions.

We had a girl ready to be baptized this last week, but there was some drama with her family just before the baptism, and we all decided it was better to wait.  She is a great girl and will be a fun addition to this ward, so hopefully things get worked out with her mother this week.

It is good I have only 10 weeks left, because one pair of my shoes is pretty much dead.  The Danner police boots are still perfect, but the Danner office boots are coming apart.  They have been the best missionary shoes ever and have survived miles and miles of rocky and dirty roads, and plenty of rain.

I will miss the delicious food here.  Especially the seafood.

 This is Poza Rica in the background and my really cool companion.  He is so awesome.

 Monday morning fútbol is such a great part of the week.  It will be fun to play fútbol with the kids when I get home.  We will have to go play at a local park so that we won't lose the ball in the backyard over the cliff and into the river like we did with Joel's brand new birthday soccer ball many years ago....twice.  I will miss seeing soccer goals in every possible greenspace.

This week

I let my comp  wear my special Mexico tie for a silly picture.  He is from Peru, and he is super easy to get along with.  I really have been blessed to have so many great companions.  He has been out five months, and his first two companions really taught him how to work, so it will be fun to spend the last two months of my mission working hard with a really great friend.

 We had a baptism for a really nice girl from a really nice family.

 After the baptism we had a delicious dinner with my favorite food here--mole.

 I was so surprised to run into my old buddy this week!

 This was pretty exciting to find!

 We love fútbol.  Can you spot the storm trooper?

I'll be home in 11 weeks.  At least, I think I will be home in 11 weeks.  Everyone else who is leaving at the same time as me already has his plane ticket.  I have heard nothing.  With my history with the missionary department, who inadvertently left me in a black hole while waiting to get TO Mexico, I wouldn't be surprised if something has happened and they forgot me again.  We'll see.  I do love it here, but I am getting excited to see my family.

Mariachi!

I am officially staying in Poza Rica for another transfer.  However, I am losing my buddy Elder O, as he has been transferred to another area here.

Life hack 101.  A super-charged lighter.  No idea how this happened.

 A fun little park in our area.

 Buying elotes.

 Oopsie.

 We have baptized two really special  members.  Their excitement to follow Jesus Christ has been so inspiring to see.

 With a mission buddy who went home today.

 I love mariachi music.  These guys were fabuloso.

 I wish I could pack these guys up in a suitcase and bring them home to Savanna.  Her mariachi dreams would all come true.

Good fortune

Today Elder O and I ate Chinese food. I got a wonderful fortune in my cookie: ''Serás famoso y te casarás con una persona muy guapa.'' I don't think I have ever had a better fortune come from a cookie.  It was even better than the one I got a few days before my mission about how Wednesday would be the day that changes my life, and I was leaving on Wednesday.

So about being famoso...

A group of greenies came up to me. ''Hey, you're the guy from the blog!'' ''No way!'' ''It's Elder Dorrough!'' ''Wait a second, I'm going to get my camera!'' And one of them actually took pictures with me. I guess I'm the number one google hit when somebody searches ''Xalapa mission'' or something.

You won't be surprised to know that my curse still breaks everything with which I have contact.

However! On a more positive note. 3 months and two days left! That would make my mission exactly two years and zero days long.

The date is 99.99 percent official. They haven't sent me the flight plan yet but Sister Greer showed me on her laptop (even just seeing an Apple product shocked me) that the departure date for my generation is the 29th.  

It's not just the Apple products I will be shocked to see when I get to the US. Also the trash bins. Seats with padding. Public bathrooms. ''No smoking'' signs. People in suits. Men without moustaches.

I really do love Mexico.  I love the people and the culture and the food and everything.  I know I will miss it when I come home.

I love Poza Rica

I’m quite excited to see how the office project turns out! Schedule a cleaning for me the first Monday I'm back, would you?

Alex emailed me. If one of the roommates ends up moving out, it'd be pretty sweet for me to stay there with Alex. I'll need a plan B and C, though...

What a fun bread making project! Speaking of food! My favorite Mexican food would have to be mole. It's so different from any food I'd had in the states. I have officially gotten rid of my bean-phobia (since who knows how long ago) and enjoy eating Mexican tacos, enchiladas, tortas, molotes, bocoles, tostadas, doradas, empanadas. and at least three other dozen foods I've tried. The only food I still definitely don't like is spaghetti. I much prefer rice.

Mole...  I guess you just have to get used to it. It depends on what region you're in, too. El mole poblano (de Puebla) is different from the Veracruz mole. In any case, at this point I really like it!

Well, I should have two more weeks here with my buddy Ortiz. But really, I don't know. I could be with him another transfer or we could get special transferred or they could send me somewhere else or they could close our area. I'll just enjoy serving these amazing people here until I am called to go somewhere else.  It is fun to be in such a big area and ward.  It's impossible to predict the transfers. That's been one of my favorite parts of the mission recently. I know the Lord is at the head. He is ultimately the one in charge.

I look forward to going to Rockwood and asking for the food in Spanish. We have to go on several Rockwood adventures when I'm back so I can show you everything I ate for two years.  I'll be sure to show you what foods actually taste good and what foods you eat just to be polite, don't worry.

Being home in three months really does just sound so awesome to say. Three months is nothing. Compared to two years, three months is going to be pretty short.  And I know it will be hard to leave Mexico when the time comes.  I really love it here.

I can't wait to give you a recap of my whole mission. Assuredly that recap is going to take about 3 hours to tell. The funniest thing about telling mission stories is when somebody asks you to tell a story you can't remember it, but when you start talking about a companion that's when all the stories come to mind.

 A view of Poza Rica.

 Elder O and a member's dog.

 I snapped this from far away, but I knew Mom would love this minion piñata party going on in the street.

 We dressed up a dog like Elder O.

This week

This week we celebrated another fun Mexican tradition, ''Día de los Reyes Magos''. In Mexico, Santa Claus gives you presents on 24 December and then on 6 January the wise men come and give you more presents! In addition to opening presents, families also make a special bread called ''Rosca de Reyes'' and everybody eats a slice. Hidden within the bread are Little figurines of the baby Jesús. If Jesús shows up in your bread slice, you have to make tamales at the next party!

I know that in missionary work the Holy Ghost works in people's hearts. The humblest investigators sincerely ask and thus receive, as the scriptures so indicate. Yesterday we had an experience with a family that made us quite delighted. A young lady accompanied us to church for the second consecutive week. She told us before we had even started the lesson, ''I want to join the Church of Jesus Christ. I already know it's true.'' She read, she asked, and she received.

The Ward threw out a lot of their old library materials yesterday and said the members could take anything they wanted. There were about a thousand Liahonas in Spanish, class manuals, etc. Amidst all the materials I found three English Ensigns! All three are from the early 80s. I felt at home again reading the old general conference talks in English. I really miss studying Elder Maxwell's teachings. That man is seriously so witty.  ''The church is for the perfecting of the saints, not a well-catered resting home for the already perfected.''  He's incredibly funny and I think his talks would not be at all the same in any other language. The message just doesn't get through the translation.

Sometimes we get caught in the rain without an umbrella.  Here's what some people do in that situation.  Smart!