Received Mon Sept 14, 2009

Dear Family,

Lets see…I only have a couple things written down for this week. First, I realized that I made a mistake in my last e-mail. I mentioned a drink called Sangria that was a watermelon drink. Well actually Sangria is a nasty grape juice drink that people always give us to drink. I think its gross. Sandia is actually the watermelon drink.

Second, I got to go to the Pulga yesterday. The Pulga is basically a big swap meet…I think that’s what its called. It’s a flea market for Hispanics. Its just full of a bunch of stands of random stuff…most of which is counterfeit and really cheap. I got to go because the missionaries have a stand there with copies of the Book of Mormon, pass a long cards, pamphlets, etc, and we talk to everyone that walks by. We didn’t get to talk to that many people because it was sprinkling on and off so there weren’t that many people, but it was still a fun experience. There was Hispanic music blasting all around us and it was cool to see all the stuff they have there. There is also this guy there who loves missionaries and he owns this juice stand, so he always gives the missionaries a free drink every time we go. I got horchata…it was way good. Before we left I also got a Barcelona soccer jersey. That’s Ronaldinho’s team…he’s an amazing soccer player. It cost 15 bucks and that is a really good price for a jersey. So I am pretty excited about that. Watching soccer is obviously huge among the Hispanic culture here. Everyone has their team that they love. A lot of the Hispanics love Chivas, but I’ve decided my team is Barcelona. I would like to get a Chivas jersey before the end of my mission though. We see people playing soccer all throughout the day and whenever we go into houses they have the games on…that always makes me want to play soccer. I definitely want to play on an intramural team at BYU.

When I went to the Pulga I was actually on exchanges with an elder named Elder Geinger. He’s been one of my friends pretty much since the beginning of my mission. This is his very last transfer, so hes going home in about a week. We had a really good exchange though. I haven’t really written about it much, but I have been having a really difficult time with my companion. I feel like I have to defend myself all day long and it’s a fight any time I suggest anything. He’s a good guy, but he just has a single tracked mind, so if I suggest anything that isn’t exactly in line with what he was thinking, it is an absurd idea. There's just a lot of things that haven’t been going that well and it is really tiring. Elder Geinger and I have had very similar missions in terms of companions and areas and he knew exactly what I was going through. It was really reassuring to have someone I respect agree with me and tell me he knows exactly whats going on. It helped me to be confident about it all and to know that’s just part of the mission and its one of those times where you grow the most, so I am pretty happy about that.

Spanish is still going really well. I’ve actually had several dreams in Spanish and at night all my thoughts and conversations going through my mind are all in Spanish.

Ok, I have a question now. Christopher wrote me a while ago to tell me all about what exactly his thesis and all that was about and I liked it a lot because I really know nothing about that. My question now is, what exactly is defending your thesis. You stand in front of some people and they ask you questions about it, is what I think Christopher told me. But everyone is going up there to watch it, so other people are invited to come and watch too?

My responses to Mom’s random thoughts:
Wow…it looks like BYU might seriously have a good team this year. That is exciting. One of the players, Carter Mees, I believe hes some sort of safety, he just left out mission in December. He was an AP…he was a really cool guy. And I’ve never heard of the team called Tulane. Probably because they clearly stink.

Not surprising to hear Donovan McNabb got hurt again, but I am surprised it happened so soon in the season.

Zak’s quote made me laugh.

I was impressed by Mom’s correct use of the command form in Spanish (Habla espanol).

Ok that’s all for this week. This is the last week in the transfer already! It always seems to come so fast. I am about to complete my 9th transfer. That means I’ll get the transfer call next Monday. I don’t fully expect any changes, but you never know, so we’ll see. Have a good week! I love you all!!!

Love,
Chase