First Week in the Field

Hey, everyone!

So I just had my very first week in the field. And I'm super pumped to get out there and work. =)

Though, I have to say, it's quite the different atomsphere here. I mean, obviously. It's a different country, but it's pretty crazy at times. I live in a humble little home about the size of my old living room in Colorado. Only separated into 3 parts. It's a front room, hallway with a bathroom, and a bedroom. It's pretty tiny, but the fact that I have the nice open sky above me in the hall way makes it feel a lot less cramped. I mean, it'd be nice to have a roof at times, but it's not a big deal. Most of my house has a roof, right? It's kinda exciting. Though the little bathroom we have is probably the most disgusting bathroom I've seen in all of my life. I've already gotten used to just being dirty all of the time. The water isn't even clean, so why worry about it? Definitely a change of mind for me. But I'm gonna love having clean water when I get back.

In the area we live, all the roads are dirt. So that gives it a particular feel. And all of the houses are connected or behind walls. So it's pretty interresting. And wild dogs bark at me from the roof. That was new. Stray dogs are always running around, but it's only really a problem when they're on our roof. They're super noisy. But all these things are a small price to pay to serve the Lord. Expecially to these people. They're all very humble and kind. They show a lot of love. And many of them are open to learn about God, and ready for the Gospel. It's really good to see how they are willing to not only listen, but to change for the Gospel.

We've commited 5 people to baptizm already (in 5 1/2 days) and 4 of them accepted a date and the last just accepted the commitment. We'll go for a date the after the next lesson. But it's really nice to serve a people who, if they like you remotely, will ask to have you back again. So it helps the Gospel move forward quite quickly. I mean, they have many problems of their own, but so long as they listen and accept you, they can work through them with our help and the Lord's.

Well, I'm excited to see how the investigators we have can change the lives of those we're already teaching. I'll have to let you guys know how it goes with them in this next week.

BUT, my companion is Elder Olivares from Chile. He's a good trainer and really wants to work hard. Sometimes he doesn't because he's so tired, but at least he has the will most of the time. I'll just have to encourage him for the times he's not. He talks super fast and doesn't say his "s"'s though. Which is confusing at times. But I'm getting used to it.

My area is a suburb outside of Trujillo called Huanchaco. It's right on the beach and supposedly one of the best surfing spots in all of South America. I guess it's home to the world's longest wave. Which is random.

But that's my work so far!
Hope everyone is doing well,
Elder Seth


-----------------------------------------------
Dad's Note: In my email to Seth I mentioned Thanksgiving and how he should take some time on Thursday to think of what he's thankful for. I mentioned how I learned to love the US while serving in Puerto Rico on my mission. This is Seth's response:


And as for loving the country. Yeah, I get SO excited every time I see a flag now. It's not even funny. And we have SO stinking much. We're rich, just so you know. Seriously. It's crazy. I'm having more and more of a humbling moment every day. I don't know the language and I have ridiculous amounts more than these people. So both of those things are kinda teaching me something. But I like our country a lot. Seriously. It's wonderful here, but yeah... I'm gonna be happy to be back in the US too. I just don`t know if I'll want to give up being a missionary. We'll see. XD

Sounds like things are already changing a bit. Though I figure it'll be mostly the same when I get back. But I'm not sure. It's gonna be different to have missed two years of everyone's lives. Though it`s for a wonderful work. So I guess I can't complain. It sure is different, though. Especially being in the hot humid air. Next to the sea. It's weird. But way nifty.

Seth