Jared Barton's Mexican Fiesta : hola

Hola!

Another quick week here in la gran misión...but to start. Yes, I felt the earthquake down here. haha. My comp and I were studying and the tables (and the apartment buildings) started to shake. We went outside until it calmed down. It was pretty cool actually. The only thing that happened to us was a few things fell off shelves and desks, but nothing broke. We went outside and saw the lightposts moving side to side. Also this week, I completed 6 months in the mission...I´ll just say that I hate milestones in the mission because they´re never good days. On my 6 month mark, we went to a pueblo in the middle of nowhere about 1 hour from our house. Our ward mission leader wanted to go with us to some of his family members. We left right after studies, and got there around 12. The lesson had to be done outside because we didn´t all fit inside, so I got really sunburnt on my arms and face. They seemed really interested throughout the whole lesson, asking questions that were really good, and answering really well. Since we weren´t going to come back in awhile, we made it a longer lesson, making sure their doubts were resolved. At the end of the lesson, 2 p.m., we found out that they can´t leave their house because of the husband´s health, and their daughter that was there doesn´t even live in our area....so we wasted a whole morning. After that, the plan was to eat with that family and come back to Zitácuaro. Our ward mission leader says he has to leave to get the food...so we were waiting for another hour. Then it took an hour to cook the food. Then a half hour to eat really fast and leave. We got back to Zitácuaro at 6 pm...also, I had a really bad sore throat, and that week, we ate a TON of beans so I was in the bathroom whenever I could. haha. So this week here in Mexico was Semana Santa. We call it Semana de Apostasía. haha they do a lot of activities that are so against any doctrine anywhere. For example, they crucify someone. Yes, they whip this person, walk around the pueblo like Christ did, and they nail him up on the cross. I don´t know if he actually dies or not, we didn´t go and see, but I couldn´t help but have a sick feeling in my stomach. Also this week we saw a ´´coincedence´´ when we were trying to chase down a combi to go to our food for the day. We were running down the street when we heard ´´Elderes!!!´´ And long story short, it was a member from el Distrito Federal visiting some relatives. They said they were hoping to find us while they were here so we could visit their family. Long story short, we went with this person on Saturday, she went to church on Sunday with her 2 daughters, and they have baptism dates for Mothers day! Magic comes when we work with the members, but this was a miracle. I also found out that Mexican hair gel is so much better than American. It´s almost like glue. The line in my hair looks so much better. haha. Anyways last story, I got to work with Elder Mielke this week a little bit in my area. He was in the MTC with me. He was doing interchanges with the Zone Leaders and my comp and I needed 2 baptism interviews. So the zone leader went with my comp to the house of the investigator, and Elder Mielke and I worked together. It was cool to work with someone from my ´´generation´´ as we call it. Well that´s it for me this week. I love you all so much!

Con amor,

the biggest cockroach Jared has ever killed

Jared holding a duck (I think this is what duck face should look like) his pic to mark his 6 months

Elder Willie told me that called to serve in the spanish hymnbook has 24 measures. which is equal to 24 months of the mission. Every month, you color in one measure. and above you write where you were.