Monday, December 27

brinny? like brinny spears?

introducing britanny breanne campbell, my roommate. she's a giggly blonde, but not completely. i mean, she's giggly, but good, infectious, devious giggly. and she has blonde moments, but it's usually pretty funny. she's always up for anything, which, other than the giggling, is what i love the most about her. she'll do everything with me: try surfing, dancing, learn spanish, meet anyone and everyone, travel anywhere, eat anything. we have some pretty good times. she's also very spiritual. she's 21 and she's been regular pioneering for approximately three years. i learn a lot from her on studies and in service. her and her mom lived in victoria, bc, before they moved down here. they are here for six months, and plan to come back for longer next fall. mazatlan is now their other home. i consider her to be one of the many blessings Jehovah has given me here because i get to share this experience with someone who is surprisingly similar to myself and who is enjoying this as much as i am.


my roommate... don't be fooled, she's rarely this serious or this quiet Posted by Hello

wanna see the cutest bear bum in the world?

today was my very first english assembly here in mexico. it was fantabulous. i didn't get to meet as many people as i hoped because i had to do contribution boxes, but i still met quite a few. and i am in big fat love with our circuit overseer and his wife, brother and sister klein. they are adorably crazy. they are from new york, and she has the accent to prove it. when he got the truth he was going to school to be a drama teacher, and it shows. and she's just the friendliest, spunkiest co's wife i've seen. they interviewed them for one of the parts, and they agreed that the only way to describe their experiences serving in mexico was to say that they are having a blast. and that's so true. it's a great word for it. they said the truth is supposed to be fun. i wish i would have been here for their visit. it was about a month before i got here. so i'm going to miss their next one too. *pout*

there was an informational meeting at lunch for people interested in knowing what's going on and where they can be useful. basically they said there's tons going on and we'll all be useful anywhere in mexico. there's so much growth. we just recently split into three circuits, and they're trying to develop the baja into its own circuit. i talked to a few different people about their areas, and they all want help and think they have the best group. and there's also a need for chinese and russian in some areas.

two girls from calgary that are down here for three months arrived last night. they're going to be staying with us until they find a place. they seem really nice and muy cute. the congregation is literally exploding now. this is the peak season. within the next month is when the majority of the tourists show up. it's gonna get even crazier. i'm glad i got here early, because i've had a chance to get to know the congregation and establish myself before the rush. everyone says that so many people come all at once that it is too hard to get to know them all, which is kind of sad. i love mazatlan, and the amount of people is exciting, but i think next time i come i would like to get involved with a smaller group that i can really get to know. even to come back here in the summer and be part of the established, permanent group would be nice.

Sunday, December 26


my very first mexican english assembly Posted by Hello

Tuesday, December 21

la gran muchedumbre

so i was going for a new record in procrastination. was it twelve days? pretty good, if i do say so myself. i know, i felt horrible. the computer stared at me in horror and made me feel muy guilty. and i won't even bother attempting to make excuses for my behaviour. i am ashamed of myself. so instead i will bribe you with pictures. or, at least, distract you with pretty, shiny things so you forget how disappointed you were in me.

Monday, December 20


i found chris kattan! he's working as a flamboyant lion tamer in a mexican circus. Posted by Hello


yes mom, i'm meeting some really nice mexican brothers. Posted by Hello

Wednesday, December 8

kook

i can't believe i let a whole week pass without posting. i've been keeping myself pretty busy with the usual - surfing, service, partying... not so much sleeping lately, though. i was dead tired today. i went surfing sunday morning, and that went really well. i'm starting to catch on to some stuff. not the actual 'surfing' part, don't get me wrong. no, the other stuff, like, paddling, and getting hurt, and sitting up on the board (which is much more difficult than it looks) and 'duck and dive'ing (which is where you stay on the board and go right under a wave - muy dificil). unfortunately, i made the mistake of going two days in a row. i was too tired and sore from sunday to accomplish anything. we left at 5:30am to drive to a beach they call 37 (it's 37km past mazatlan). it was the worst day of surfing i've had so far. the jelly fish were insane. we all got stung like crazy. britanny got it the worst - she still has a rash all over her fore arms. i got stung on my face too, but thankfully there were no marks. and i was just generally too tired. by the time i swam out to get the board from britanny and then paddled out once, i was wrecked. and the second wave i tried to catch absolutely slaughtered me. i have huge black and purple bruises all over my legs. the back of my left calf is still swollen. it looks pretty tough actually. but at the time i was having a fit. i only lasted an hour on the water. then i just sat on the beach and complained, and made fun of myself for complaining. good times.

then that night we went to another mexican party. we're trying to learn how to dance properly. they do a lot of line dances here, which aren't really my thing, but i try to keep up anyway. and every state seems to have its own style of dancing. sinaloa's is banda. i've tried it a couple times. monday i danced with a guy named jesus who didn't speak any english, and i could not remember enough spanish to attempt conversation. slightly akward, but fun all the same. this friday we're having a bunch of people over to practice a bunch of different dances - swing, salsa, banda, and line dancing. we have a pretty good mix of people coming, so it should be interesting if not fun. it will be fun, i don't know why i said that.

and i started another study yesterday. her name is carolina, and i'm going back tomorrow morning. she seems really nice. i've been praying for more people like lidia, so i hope she's my answer. i guess i'll find out tomorrow. lidia didn't have her study last weekend because she went out of town, but she very nicely text messaged me to apologize for not being there. i want to try to get her to come to meetings. britanny's study, monica, came last night. that was really nice. she loved how nice everyone was, and made some comments that showed she really listened.

speaking of the meeting last night, it was fabulous. absolutely fabulous. the whole thing was upbuilding and encouraging and loving. each talk seemed better than the last, and people's comments were straight from the heart. the service meeting, especially, was great. i wish i would have counted the number of times we clapped during the announcements. it had to be about five. and between the part on helping others and the experiences from the past summer, it started to feel like one huge congregational group hug. may sound cheesy, but it was wonderful. i remember when i was first baptized how much i loved the meetings. they brought me so much joy that by the end i felt like i was glowing with happiness and spiritual contentment. i lost that for a long time, and i couldn't figure out how to get that back. and then in the last couple months, when i really started progressing again, with auxilliary pioneering, then regular, now mexico, i have definitely rediscovered my joy. i love Jehovah and his organization with my whole self, and being part of it makes me feel like i'm beaming. perhaps that's part of what Jesus meant when he said to let your light shine.

Wednesday, December 1

magnificently underscoring erin

i had my very first real mexican study. and it was wonderful. i am in big fat luv with this girl. her name is lidia, she's nineteen, and she is an absolute sweetheart. when i first met her i thought she was much younger, so i was surprised by the maturity and depth of her comments. she is so eager to learn, and is quick to make application of each scripture we read. after i taught her how to use her bible, that is. she read ahead for the first study, and would have looked up the scriptures if she had known how. she says she will for next week. in the third paragraph of the first lesson where it discusses opposition to studying the bible, she couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't want her to study. she was confused that anyone could think the bible was harmful. and normally i would politely skip over the scripture in matthew that discusses being persecuted for righteousness' sake, but she went straight to it, read it, and said that it told her that some people might make fun of her for doing good, but that she shouldn't listen to them, and should continue doing what makes God happy. i wanted to hug her. i can't wait to go back. when i left i realized that she is the reason i am here. i hope Jehovah directs me to more people just like her.

sunday i went to the convention in spanish. that was the biggest culture shock i've had so far. i think because i expect all my brothers and sisters around the world to act the same, i am less forgiving of differences in the truth. which is wrong, of course. but on the other hand, i think it's wrong to talk through the entire session. but we all have our own opinions. it's strange, because these people don't just whisper, they actually talk. of course, they are also incredibly generous and loving. i had packed a lunch, but as soon as we were dismissed, the girl we had gone with, belen, hands me and britanny a container of chicken and mashed potatos. it was great. and then we met lots of people at lunch. belen introduced us to everyone she could think of who spoke english. it was good to listen to spanish all day, and by the end i was picking out words and phrases i understood. i was so excited during the closing prayer when i understood that he was asking that Jehovah bless those of our brothers and sisters who have been in the truth for forty or fifty years, or more. muchos muchos anos.

after the convention we went to the malecon, which is the walkway by the ocean. apparently every sunday night that is the place to be. all the spanish brothers and sisters know to go there if they are looking for something to do. so we went with belen and her friends, and they toured us around and introduced us to people. we worked on our spanglish. and then we went dancing at hotel playa. we learned a mexican line dance. i had sworn against line dancing many years ago, however, this was a mexican one, and, well, when in rome...

tuesday has become a regular beach day. enid has started calling me her little brownberry because i am getting so dark. yesterday the water was too choppy for me to surf. the more experienced ones went early in the morning, but even they said it was a lot of work, and the waves were really big. which was great for them, but they didn't stay out too long. i'm hoping to go again this weekend... probably not until sunday actually. i have to be out in service for the rest of the week. i should stay away from the beach long enough to get all the sand out of my hair. or maybe i should just accept that as a part of mexican life, and move on. moving on it is.