Elder Thompson: Veracruz, Mexico/ Bakersfield, California Missions: week 19: hot water

saying goodbye to Elder Iongi

We had transfers this week and I left for Lerdo.

So I packed up my stuff and went to the transfers meeting. Transfers were pretty fun. The way President Palmer does them is he calls up a missionary, sometimes he'll ask them something or say something about them, and then he says their new companion and where they're going. I was waiting to get called up, and I kept waiting, and finally I got called up and found out my companion wasn't there. I went to Lerdo on a bus (about a 2 hour ride) and ended up waiting for another hour at the station because my new comp got told I was going to a different station.

So we don't actually live in Lerdo, but we live in a town nearby called Cabada. It's so freakin awesome, we have HOT WATER!!! My first shower there was the best shower in a few months. We had a lot of heat Wednesday, followed up with cold wind and rain the rest of the week. We've definitely had a few of the streets feel more like rivers. Saturday was amazing, we had a baptism! Her name is Yamila, and she's 17. We don't have many more people to teach, so we'll work a lot on finding this week.

I'll talk to you all next week

--Elder Thompson

Bits and pieces from family phone calls:

The Lerdo Branch had about 50 people there Sunday, so lots of work for us to do!

It's a long bus ride to the church, and for district meetings and emailing, we take an hour long bus ride into Lerdo, so our pdays go quickly. We have district meetings first thing in the morning and then we can call home and email.

The members here are amazing and still feed us lunch most every day.

There are a couple of hermanas in the ward that do our laundry every week which is so nice.

We also don't currently have a fridge in the apartment. The previous elders had just moved into our apartment from another really awful place, so we need to try and find a fridge this week.

I still haven't found sheets the right size, so I currently have a mattress cover and my own pillow for sleeping. I've been sleeping in my sweatshirt since nights are getting a little cooler, and I don't have sheets or a blanket yet. My mom is a little grossed out that I don't have my own sheets...and concerned about the blanket, but I'm sleeping just fine.

All the elders in my immediate area are native, so my language skills are picking up.

Pray for us this week that we can find new friends to teach!