Ohla Madrita!

The blog is really cool, it’s fun to read the comments. The mission is pretty good here. I’m definitely blessed. My comp and I were talking about Gregory (Bowden) last week and the differences in our mission’s. We both have our battles. Besides the Catholic Church, the Jehovah Witness’s are strong here. We have been working like crazy knocking a ton of doors looking for people to teach. When my comp and I knock doors we knock separated, he knocks one side of the street and I knock the other. This way we can work more effectively and contact more people. Anyways, I knocked the gate of this house and a lady comes out. I introduced myself very politely and said (translation) "My companion and I come here for two years to Mexico to help people and share a message that is really brief but very moving. One of our messages talks of God, Jesus Christ and respectively the family. We help people find more love, peace and direction in their lives and their family." After I invited her to listen, she went NUTS!! She started telling me that the only thing we do is annoy people and how DARE I tell her that she needs more direction in her life, she already has direction. She told me I know nothing about direction. I shook her hand and told her thanks for her time. My companion and I were laughing for a good 15 minutes because of her facial expression. Greg will learn ALOT in his mission. It feels pretty cool to know we are both going through this at the same time.

Well I gotta run, love ya!

Love, Elder Salazar

Yo padre, ¿que dice?(slang)

Things here have been good, its been pretty hot, yet it rains almost every night after about 12. There is a guy that lives here, I’m not even sure if he has a house, but he lives with about 9 or 10 dogs. He buys raw meat, cuts it and feeds it to them. It’s pretty funny when we pass by and he’s hanging out with all his dogs.

To answer your questions.

1. What do the people do for work in Irapuato?

1A. People here work a variety of jobs, but there is a General Motors plant here and alot of people have found a pretty good job with them but lately they have been laying people off, even our bishop got layed off. Other than that, there is a good amount of retail stores, alot of mechanical things cars, bicycle mechanics, waterpumps etc.

2. Do people rent or own their houses.

2A. I’m not too sure, the members we live behind own our condo and the one underneath, they are a little bit more wealthy than the average person here. Other than that I think most people rent their homes.

3. How's the food? Is it different than Los Compadres? (Benj's favorite mexican place at home)

3A. We eat a lot of soup! It’s been driving my comp and I nuts because the weather has been hot lately and they serve us even hotter soup. But sometimes we eat really good food like chorizo, bistec, carne asada, carnitas, the usual stuff we eat at Los Compadres or Los Sanchez, we eat tortillas with EVERYTHING. I still believe that Los Compadres is better than anything I have had here thus far.

4. Do they have fast food in Irapuato?

4A. Yes, but only in downtown. There is Dominos pizza, Burger king, McDonalds and another pizza placed called Lupillos which is really good. My zone has planned a trip to McDonalds the last day of this transfer =D.

5. Do the members feed you good?

5A. Yeah they feed us pretty good, but my comp and I don’t eat very much so they are always surprised when we never have more than seconds.

Well, I gotta run, thanks for the email! Love ya and miss ya!
- El Elder Salazar

P.S. I Enjoyed the pictures, especially Justin in the pic of the whole family.