This week we worked a ton and had a great time! I really like my new companion Elder Jensen! It's very different not having Elder Ek around but it's still the same work. The Spanish is coming along great! I've even had a lot of compliments on my Spanish so far. It always is tough but Elder Ek described it as a switch that we have. We switch back and forth between English and Spanish so much that it is like turning on a light except with Spanish. I think that the biggest help so far was my trainer Elder Ek. It's all just from speaking it every day from 6-9; Spanish only time. If we ever spoke English we'd have to do pushups (though we never really did them). I feel like if you really have a desire to learn a language then you will. Something that I've started doing is listening to the Book of Mormon tapes in Spanish and so far it has really helped me get the accent down.
I've been in a bike area my entire mission so we just have to ask for rides from people all of the time. I'd like to stay in a bike area for a while but at some point a car would be nice. I'm really fine with whatever though. With the axle I was talking to the guy at the bike shop and he says that for some reason missionaries break their axles a lot. What happens is that we actually have to buy a whole new wheel. He says he has no idea why it happens. It could be that sometimes we have to ride on sidewalks and that is bad on the bike. The roads and sidewalks are super bad in our area too so that could be part of it. Honestly we're not sure why it happens so much but I'm learning some stuff to try and prevent it from this one Elder who raced mountain bikes.
Man that's awesome that you guys are going to the Jazz festival. Here I'm getting into Latin music. The Hispanics always drive up onto their lawns and blast their music from the radio. It's cool because now I actually understand a lot of what they are saying. We also have a member in our ward from El Salvador who is in a Mariachi band who's got a really nice voice. I can't really listen to any of that stuff right now but when I get home I'm definitely going to.
We also went to the temple this week! It was so cool! It's been a long time and it was kind of weird because the last three times it has all been in Spanish! I loved watching it though. We had a really good time. I think that we go about twice a year and the next time should be in the summer.
Luckily my hair grows back really fast so the sideburns have grown in pretty much all of the way. Next time I will definitely use a mirror.
Lately we have had a lot of pupusas and we also had the cheek of a cow! The meat was really good. Sounds weird but it was good.
We are still trying to get this area really going and find some serious investigators. It's hard because what we really want to do is find the prepared people. Elder Aidukitis from the Seventy came and spoke to us about that and setting goals last week so we are really trying to have faith and listen to the spirit. I've learned that listening to the spirit can be a lot harder than speaking a language and it is by far the most important.
At transfer meeting they introduce the new missionaries and I recognized someone from AF. We both had AP Lit together. I hadn't really talked to her before but her name is Sister Jordan Crump. I didn't recognize her last name but I recognized her and she said she was from Highland so I figured that she had to be the one in my English class. I came up and talked to her after the meeting and at first she didn't recognize me but then I mentioned AP Lit and she remembered. That makes a total of two people that I knew before in my mission! Elder Wright counts and Sister Crump. Small world...
Yeah time is flying by super fast! I can't believe I'm already a fourth of the way done. That sort of gives me a panic attack. Time goes by so fast and I realize that I can't let any day just pass me by.
I love you so much and thank you for all of your support. Thanks a ton for all that you do and I hope that you guys are doing well. If there is anything you guys need just let me know.
Love you!
Elder Ressler
