Hey ma, and dad,

Sounds like things are going well over there in the OC. I sure do miss the beach and the smell of the ocean from the house, here in Cardenas the air is clean, cool and filled with the smell of cows, Mmm...

I enjoyed the pictures of Hodge Rd.. I was actually thinking of Hodge and all the fun we have had there. Wednesday night we traveled three hours to the City of SLP in order to attend the Zone Conference with President, and Thursday we traveled three hours back to Cardenas. I was looking at the scenery(desert) and thinking of all the good riding and shooting area’s that are hidden in the deserts of Mexico.

Things are going well here except for the fact another one of our baptisms fell through, which was kind of a bummer. This time it wasn’t for any morality problem, just the kid is 18 years old and he’s scared to go through with it because he’s scared of what his family will say/do. Anyways, not much new stuff going on here, we had just a regular week, I haven’t eaten any cow eye tacos lately, but yesterday I had a friendly encounter with chicken-feet soup, it wasn’t bad at all. LOL.

Anyways, I did get your card =D! I loved it, things are well here.

Con mucho cariño y agradecimiento

El Elder Salazar


1. What do people do for work in Cardenas?
--------There is a "mercado" here which is just a huge market, also there is a railroad here which seems to employ a lot of people. The sad thing is that Mexico depends a lot on the USA and so the railroad has layed-off a lot of people here in Cardenas due to the economic crisis.

2. Tell us about the Branch President, has he been a member very long? How long has this branch been in existance?
--------The branch president has been a member for sometime, I’m not sure exactly how long, but he is a convert and is a really great person... He has been branch president for 6 years, and the Cardenas branch has existed for a little over 16 years. The Cardenas branch has been through a lot of changes, and times where the members have been really less active, times where only 6-9 people come to church and he has always stuck through it.

3. How many missionaries are in Cardenas?
-------- TWO... Elder Salazar and Elder Verdeja (whoo!)

4. Have you come across any returned American missionaries?
--------Here in Cardenas, no, but in the city of SLP I met two, they where both here visiting. One had just left the mission about 6-7 months ago from Oakland,Ca. And one who had served here in 2004 I believe from Arizona. The one who served in 2004 was actually married to a girl he met here in the mission, they both were here visiting her family.

5. What stores are there in Cardenas?
--------Nothing!! That is the funny thing about Cardenas, this is a tiny Mexican town. The stores here are all "Mom and Pop" owned stores. I’m not exactly positive but I have heard that in order to maintain Cardenas as a small town and maintain those "mom and pop" stores, the city has been fighting off bigger retail stores for years. The biggest retail stores are an hour away in Rio Verde. Here in Cardenas we have a lot of "Farrs stationary" type stores where they sell a lot of little gifts and things that people need, and we have a lot of little liquor store type places and one bigger grocery. They even have a real sombrero store here =D. I Really love Cardenas.


A few shoutouts:
Lori and Tony Crespo, for the 40 dollars! 40 dollars there is 400 pesos here =), so it goes a loooong way. Thanks!

Lori, for entering the temple for the first time, congratulations. Gordon B. Hinckley said "There are very few places where the questions of man receive celestial answers, only in temples."

Matthew Crespo, Happy birthday brotha!! I hope you’re workin´ on those Wii skills, Ill be back!

Aunt Shelley, Uncle Leif and family! Thanks for the letters, money and picture! I put the picture up on my wall, read the letters, and spent the money(of course). Love and miss you all!

Brother Nathan, for taking the big step and getting ready to get hitched. Congrats dude.

Grammy and Grandpa Salazar, for the letters, love and support (and money). Everyone always asks me about my last name Salazar and I explain that it comes from my grandma y grandpa!

Grammy and Grandpa Hicken, for the dinero, love and support also, I have to laugh at every scanned and copied 20 dollar bill you send me, but thanks for always taking the time to write.

To everyone, thank you!

El Elder Salazar