Nuevo Laredo!

This week was rather insane!!

I remember a line from the Princess Bride that exactly summarizes what this email will be: "Let me explain . . . never mind, there is too much. Let me sum up:"

--Inigo Montoya. Here goes nothing:

So we woke up at 1 AM on Monday (the 9th) and took a bus to the airport. During the transfer of bags from the bus to the airport, my big piece of luggage got lost. There was no trace of it, and no one had seen it. Since we all had flights to catch, I had to abandon it. Yay. I was absolutely devastated. (Having had only one hour of sleep in the previous 24-hour period also didn't help). We went through the airport as normal, and I was prepared to accept the loss of my bag, when some airport oficials came up about 10 minutes before my flight left and said that they had found a missing bag and they wanted to know if anyone knew who they belonged to. I got rather excited. I think I may have scared some people. Long story short, I have all my bags here, and faith and prayer can work miracles. Also, I have no idea where they turned up. If the oficials said where, they said it in really fast, incomprehensible Spanish.

 

We met President and Sister McArthur, from St. George, Utah, and they are officially the coolest people ever. Sister McArthur especially is the sweetest lady I have ever met, and that's saying something.

We spent Monday doing in-field training, and we got to take a one-hour nap :) :) :) . On Tuesday, I met my companion and was assigned to an area. I'd like to introduce Elder Bonilla:

He is from Puebla, Mexico, and he doesn't speak English (YAY!). It's good practice. He has been in the mission for 20 months and in our area for one 6-week transfer, so I'm probably his last companion before he leaves for home. Luckily, he is a great trainer, and he knows a lot. Also, we've been assigned to the Viveros ward in Nuevo Laredo, which is near the border of Texas. It's really interesting not actually being in Monterrey. I'm actually not in the state of Nuevo León, either. I'm in Tamaulipas (if I didn't spell that correctly, someone can correct me).

I don't have a ton of time left to email, so I'll have to explain a little more over the next few weeks. The work so far is great. The members feed us great food, and except for a rather ugly bout of diarrhea and vomiting through Friday night, I've been able to stomach it all.

Anyway, we are out of time for today, so I'll have to end. I love being on a mission. There are lots of challenges, but there are lots of blessings. (I know, that's rather vague, but again, no time).

Lots of love from Mont--Nuevo Ladero!!

 

Elder Jakob Schramm