"We're Halfway There--Livin' on Many Prayers..."

Hola todos!!!

 It was quite the week this week. The reign of President Garcia has begun and it is very different.  He and his wife are so nice and loving and I'm not even sure if President Garcia knows what planching means... His wife will come in and sit down and chat with us in the offices and is just like a momma for us.  She is from Idaho and so she always talks in English with me and Elder S., the assistant.  I miss President Salinas for a lot of things, but any time I start to think that I think that it would be just like having an awesome bishop leave and a new one come in.  Both are my leaders but the current one is the one I have to support and sustain. I really like President Garcia though and his laugh and smile just make me want to give him a big anaconda squeeze.  No really, they do!  This week, I was helping him with some techno stuff and after he said in his accent, "Oh Elder Jaussi, I love you."  It was kinda funny.

The 4th of July came and went and it was pretty weird to be honest. I woke up and saw my watch say "4" and it was weird to think that just a year before I was eating in front with the whole neighborhood... The only thing patriotic I did was sing the national anthem really loud in the house. Elder R. sure enjoyed that and got quite a laugh with me and my lighter. 

The year mark also came and went but I didn´t end up doing anything crazy like burning something... It was raining buckets outside and I didn't want to burn anything inside the house... Call me a party pooper but I figured it would also be pretty dumb burning a shirt after just asking momma to send me more shirts.  Haha  I'm sure we have some old ones sitting around from other missionaries so maybe I'll end up burning one here soon.  Either way though, I've finished a year and burning a shirt won't change that at all I reckon.

Also.... We are baptizing today!!!!  The pueblo I told you about, Hunucmá has a lot of prospective investigators but today N. is going to get baptized.  She said she has been looking for a permanent change for a long time and she feels like she has finally found it.  She told me that her old pastor always come to her house to tell her not to get baptized but she tells him that she doesn't know why she is going to get baptized, she just FEELS why she is going to get baptized.  She is really great and we're hoping that her family will come today too so they will accept the gospel.  Her daughters always tend to run away when we go to their house to teach them.  I was hoping to write later today to send you pictures but Elder R. decided it would be best just to do it all in the morning.  I'll be sure to send fotos (photos) next week. 

We're trying to put in place everything that was said in the worldwide broadcast the other week but it's tough here in Centro. Everyone in Hunucmá is participating, just like in the videos, and it shows with all of the investigators there.  We arrive to Hunucmá, a member is there waiting for us and he always leads us around the pueblo so we don't ever worry about getting lost.  I'm kind of at a loss as far as what we need to do here in Mérida but I'm planning on fasting tomorrow to see what we need to change, improve, and do more of.  At one point, we even went to a funeral home to see if they had a list of clergy members to contact if the family members needed support.  It turns out it was a Catholic funeral home... Good stuff though!

Well my beloved fam, I don't know what more to say so I'll try to tell the love story of Pres. Garcia and his wifey as best I can. (Taylor goes on to tell us the story.  We'll leave it to Pte. Garcia and his wife to share that with others)  They're really funny though and I'm excited to see the changes that will come in the next few months.

I luff you guys and don't you ever forget it!!!  Even though I haven't received a real letter for over a month, I understand... I didn't write much either... You're all in my prayers and I hope you are all just loving life! 

Luff, 

Elder Jaussi

Sea feliz, sea Mormón

[Elder Jaussi receives e-mails each week and letters via DearElder regularly from home.  He apparently isn't receiving much snail-mail sent through the postal service.]

 

Elder Jaussi belting out "The Star-Spangled Banner" on the 4th of July 

 With a fellow missionary at the gathering of zones

Elders Jaussi and L.

 Elders Jaussi and J.  They were MTC companions in Provo

 The Merida Mission zones minus the Campeche Zone.

Taylor with photos of new nephew, Conner.  Sean and Caitlin sent a package to T with a member of their ward who is from Merida.  It was a nice surprise for him.