Hobbitenango

¡Buenaaaas!

We are so busy here it´s actually amazing. We´ve been traveling a ton (always in the back of random trucks and stuff and almost falling out multiple times.) Saw a volcano erupting at night and shooting lava everywhere, and it was one of the coolest things I´ve ever seen. Rode in the back of a truck of mandarinas (literally exactly the same as clementine oranges, or cuties, except the peel is green. They´re suuuper good and actually grow here) and the driver gave us a ton of them. Happens with piñas all the time too, and it´s super great how nice the people are. 

This week for pday we visited Hobbitenango. And it´s not a coincidence that the word "Hobbit" is in there. This place is on top of a mountain, and it´s made to look almost exactly like the Shire from Lord of the Rings. It was soooo cool. Surrounded by mountains, volcanoes, green farmland, and little Hobbit houses. We also visited Antigua, which is basically tourist Guatemala. It´s really really cool. All the streets are cobbled. and there are ruins of old catholic cathedrals everywhere. But there are also tons of really fancy shops all over the place, so it was awesome. I didn´t buy anything because most of it is the same price as it would be in the states, so like twice as expensive. But it was super awesome.

An interesting difference between Guate and the US is the water. The water here is 100% not safe to drink. So instead you buy drinking water in the tienda (there are tons and tons of little shops that sell tons of really good snacks and also random other things you might need, and you can find these shops everywhere on every single street). But here, the word agua doesn´t really mean water. If you ask for agua, they´ll ask you what flavor, because it means "soda" or "juice" here. You really want "agua pura." And usually we buy water in little bags to drink. It´s like a sealed bag with a couple cups worth of water, and you bite off the corner and then drink the water. I actually really like them. 

So a weird thing about my companion is that he talks in his sleep. A LOT. He´s from Utah, but he always sleep talks in Spanish. He says really weird stuff, and sometimes he teaches entire lessons in a perfectly clear, loud voice...but he´s literally asleep and doesn´t remember any of it. One night he almost kissed me in his sleep, and woke up with his face literally inches from mine. Goodness gracious haha

We are teaching tons of people, and we had a ton of nonmembers come to church this week. We usually have like 30-50 people, but this time we had over 70, and there was hardly even space in the chapel. This week was the primary program, so all the kids sang songs and taught us about Jesus and how he loves them. It was really touching, and I liked it a lot. So we have this mini bus that we take to pick up a bunch of people and bring them to church. But this week the bus was SO full, my companion and I were hanging out the side the whole time. It was fun, but I hope we figure out a way to keep up with the growth in this area. I love it. 

The people here are preparing for Christmas with tons of fireworks and processionals and things. I hope you are all preparing for Christmas with your families and with Christ, because that´s really what Christmas is all about. 

Love you guys!

-Elder Cloward

We finally bought a mirror for the house. About time...

My comp is making the sign for "pisto" (money) because that´s what he does every time he sees my camera. He loves photography, and I feel like someday he may murder me and steal it. He´s super great though and I love him a lot.