June 13, 2010
Dear Mon and Dad:
Well, things are going well. I’m not sure how much I actually have to write you because I can’t tell you a lot of the stuff that goes down. We’re not supposed to tell you stuff that will make you worry. Well, Thursday last week, we had interviews with Pres. They were 30 second interviews. I’m not really going to know him. It will be interesting to see if my comp or I get changed this week. We have been working a lot with the members to try and get our attendance up. They are really trying to push to get this to be a stake, but they need more people attending sacrament meeting and more Priesthood. We have 2 investigators right now. I’m not really sure any of them are progressing. I was born in a really hard area. We could have success, but my comp is starting to waste a lot of time and he says that he’s talked to everyone. We just haven’t seen much success.
I had to eat hard-boiled egg the other day and it took everything I had to get it down. My black shoes that were already worn are doing quite well. They are very comfortable. I might get 6 months out of them. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to find contact solution and if I eventually do, it is going to be really expensive.
Here is a sample of our meals. For breakfast, I usually get something from the “bakery” like a cinnamon roll, sweet bread, or pico, a sweet bread. Some times we have to get cookies and chips for breakfast. Lunch usually consists of rice and beans and some type of meat and lettuce. The lettuce is sometimes bad because it just sits in water all day. They eat a lot of Gallo Pinto. It is just a black bean and rice dish. Their cheese is really salty. It is crumbly and very different.
I haven’t been getting bed bug bites any more, just mosquito bites.
It will definitely be different when I go to a new area that actually has members and the missionaries don’t have to run everything in the branch. It is hard because we just spend so much time with members, trying to strengthen them that we just don’t get much done. It will definitely be easier when I get transferred.
I got your e-mail today. It was actually really helpful Mom. You are right. I need to forget about myself and just focus on the investigators and members. We don’t have very many investigators and I often have a hard time knowing what the members need, but that’s what I need to do. I need to stop worrying about myself and worry about others. Dave also gave me some good advice. He said a lot of people told him not to waste a single second. He said he hated that. He liked more the saying, “enjoy every second.” That’s not to say don’t work hard, but if you are enjoying your time, you will work hard. I can’t believe by the time you get this, I will have been on my mission for 4 months.
I guess I’ll just tell you what happened a couple of nights ago. You said don’t worry about telling you things, that you won’t worry, so here goes. A couple nights ago, a guy got killed in front of our house. We were sitting there eating after we finished planning and we heard some commotion outside. We looked out the window and my comp saw a guy fall. He just thought it was some kid that pushed over a drunk. He didn’t think anything of it, so we went back to eating. Then, he looked out the window and he said that the guy was bleeding. He ran and moved the table, “our security system”, and unlocked the door. He told me to grab a towel. My comp ran out and got there first. I ran up and his eyes were already glazed over. He had lost so much blood. The road was covered with blood. I ran up and tried to see where he was bleeding from. My comp said, “No you don’t want to see that.” I didn’t know what he was talking about. There were some other guys with some first-aid supplies. There was nothing we could do, so we went back to our house. We asked some of the people in front of our house what happened. She said a car had come by and some guys had a machete and cut the guy in the neck. I’m guessing my comp saw his neck where he had been cut. When we got in the house, he was pretty shaken up. For the whole night and next day he was shaken up. Cops didn’t come for like 25 minutes and the ambulance didn’t come for another 10 minutes. The cops didn’t cover him for like an hour and at 11:00, when we finally went to bed, his body was still there. My comp is still really shaken up. He doesn’t like being out in the dark past 8:00 now.
June 21, 2010
My comp’s been better this week. He has been able to walk around without being so jumpy. We still haven’t had very much luck, although we did get one of our investigators to church yesterday. She is trying to give up coffee. We have bought her Arvena, this oatmeal drink, tang. She has been working for 2 weeks to give it up. On Sunday she was at 3 days without coffee.
Missionary work is different than I thought it would be. It is especially different in San Ramon when we have to spend half our time with members to strengthen them. I will probably be here one more change. My comp will go home in 8 weeks and then I will spend 1 more change there, probably, to show my new comp, the new branch pres around. We will see. I’m really excited for the new president to come and meet him. It will definitely be different when I finally go to a different area.
Now I’ll tell you a little about our branch work. About half our time is spent visiting members. We have to get to know them, strengthen them, and gain their trust. We are home teachers, visiting teachers, and branch presidency—oh and missionaries! On Monday nights, we try and go to as many Noche de hogar (night of home) or FHE as we can. Tuesday night, we have to go to Seminary. Seminary here is for all the members and nonmembers. We have a girl, our most strong member, Lorna, that teaches. We have to go to support her, in case she doesn’t show and in case there are investigators. Wednesday night, I teach an English class in the church. We’ve been getting like 10 non-members to that, but none that are really interested in being baptized. Plus, it is a good way for me to learn Spanish. Thursday night, we have Noche de hermanamiento (night of fellowship) or like mutual for everybody where we have a spiriatual message and then we play a game. We had about 40 people in the church for that this last week. Friday night we have seminary again. Saturday there is nothing. Sunday, we wake up at 6:00, get ready, and leave by 7:00. This last Sunday, I went with one 16 year old. He is only half active, and my comp went with his brother. We took a bus up to the little town above us and we stopped by some houses and brought our investigator back for church at 9:15. My comp went around a tried to animate some of our investigators in town to come to church and then he had to be there 30 minutes early to open the church. My Spanish is getting better. I do alright. Most of the time, it just isn’t important to me if I’m completely right. I am starting to understand more.
I hope everyone is doing well. I’m working hard. I loved your advice to just forget myself and just care about the people. It’s hard because my comp is really trunky and ready to go home. He just talks about things from home all the time. I love you and hope this letter was a little bit better. Tell Dad I expect him to write at least a little piece in your next one!! J
With Love,
Elder Bryant Scott Ashby Family
PS
About packages, I still haven’t gotten your package, but I came up with some things I might like in the next one in 2 or 3 or 4 months. Mike and Ikes! Journals here aren’t very high quality. I have the one I use now, plus another one in my suitcase, so when I run out, I will let you know. For the most part, I don’t think too much gets taken. Elder Ensign’s parents sent him a CD player in one of his packages. More than anything, money would be a great Christmas or Birthday present. I can buy most stuff here for cheaper. I’m just too cheap to enjoy myself. That extract to make root beer would be cool. Also, Mike and Ikes, gummy bears, mostly any American candy full of sugar. If there’s anything I actually need, I will let you know.
You would be surprised at the things I eat here. The other day, a member made me this like potato soup with rice and pieces of boiled egg. That was rough. I love platenos(David sp?). Our restaurant usually had beats in the salad and cucumbers. I eat those and they even gave us beet juice with our meal and it was actually pretty good. I had my first mango like 4 weeks ago and I love those. I love the banana they have here too. I eat everything I’m given except some of the salad. Sometimes it’s slimy and I know it will make me sick. For some reason I just want to constantly eat on my mission. That’s where I go broke, by buying little snacks all the time. All the little pulparias (I don’t think I spelled this correctly David), all over make it so easy to buy a snack whenever I want!!!
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