hello!

well this week has been really interesting and good! started off with
my hand getting slammed in the taxi door..... yea that killed then
went on divisions with another gringo greenie. i guess its not allowed
but we did it anyways ha ha. we went and contacted and taught a couple
lessons. after we went to a members house for dinner.... that was very
interesting.so we get there and i see that here are 2 bowls with fish
tails hanging out and a crab and 3 full shrimp in a soup. i look at my
comp... it was one of those please dont let me puke this up and let me
get this down. it was probably one of the toughest meals i have had to
eat yet. i know there are MANY more to come!! anyways! the next day we
went to perform some service for some people... it was good. we
chopped wood. i though my hands still were tough from rock climbing
but nope. i have 2 big blisters which popped and now are bruised and i
ripped them open playing football americano this morning.... sucks but
such is life. divisions were really fun. it was cool talking to some
one in english! not a whole lot goes down in the mission field other
than that. today we visited the nasty but cool Samala river ill send a
picture or two of those yeah things are good and musty here. ha ha it
rains from time to time. its my last full week in this change! were
getting some more greenies. ha ha dont know if im moving areas or not.
oh so on sunday this guy was going the same direction of us with his
truck so we hopped on. in the back were 2 huge pigs. eventually we got
off thanked the guy. he started driving off when the pig got through
the side of the pick up truck and was being drug from his rope... ha
ha its was really funny to see. he stopped after 10ft. but there were
a bunch of people yelling and laughing. and the biker taxi people were
honking there horns and laughing really funny. ill send a picture of a
bike taxi eventually

Davy supplied me with some questions that i bet you all wanna know..
ill answer them!



what's your area like? my area is a city but has some parts i wanna
say are a jungle. its filled with bugs and frogs! weird but thats life
here.
what do the people eat? people eat Dogs, iguana, chicken, tortillas,
rice, bean, just all the stuff you thing they would eat here. its
really good though! and CHEAP!
What are the people like? the people are really nice and welcome us in
all the time with food and drinks.
Are there a large Indian population in your mission? in my area no
not really. but they all do wear cortas which are some crazy dress
thing. and they carry things on there heads its really funny to see.
is it still hot and rainy? still hot and humid. rain every now and
then. but its turning into summer
what's the ward/branch like? ward is interesting. were just now
getting close to some members. my comp didnt really want to get close
but i pushed for it.
how many missionaries are in you mission? 182 missionaries with 60 white people
Do you like your mission president? Yep! hes really nice and wants the
best for all of us. although he doesnt speak that much english i
understand what he gets across
Are the other elders in your zone cool? Zone is awesome! we do alot of
zone stuff with sports and zone activities through out the week
Do you like the preach my gospel stuff? I never did that. I miss the
flip charts. PMG is where its at. thats my life. i swear i have read
it 3 or 4 times already in english and spanish
Whats the coolest thing you've seen? well not alot other than the pig
expirence. thats about it
Are there any cool things to see in your mission? like ruins, ruins
yes i thing next pday were going to go and see them. its pretty cool
from what i herd. but most of the book of mormon ruins are up north in
the other missions.
attractions, or whatever? they have the largest water park here. never
seen it just herd about it. to bad i wont be able to go to that.
How many baptisms does your mission average? As if that matters.
average baptisms.... no clue at the CCM they told us its around 70 to
80... im yet to have one. but were committing a guy tonight to be
baptized.! so that should be cool.
What are the local swear words? local swear words.... don´t know
them... all i hear is SON OF A B. from the teenagers who think there
cool knowing english... its funny. they cant say it correct. things
are good though

buckett.... how is your Español going for you? ha study hard and just
say your words out loud and you will get it!

well thats about everything... my brain is fried!! im sure in 2 hours
ill remember what i wanted to say... o well such is life i hope all is
well with everything... also can some one send me DAD´s email
address... i dont have that and such... though i did but nope... well
have a good one be safe study hard in school. and such!
love elder crockett

well this week is going alright. i was sick for a little bit of it.
sucked. we went on splits this week with some 17yr olds. my spanish is
progressing and i'm understanding the people who we're teaching
consistently. its nice but i still am working hard at it. im over the
hump on this change which is crazy to think! i have learned so much
about the people and the culture in the last 3 weeks. the weather is
hot. it rained the other day which was really nice. last pday some
latino thought it would be exciting for the people to sing happy
birthday to me at McDOnalds. that was fun. apparently i'm 21 now. who would
have known. its all good and fun. thats what the picture is of. good
times there. this past week was good. we worked hard with our setbacks
but this week i really have the drive to find more people to share the
gospel with. its an amazing blessing i have to do that.

the people here are really nice! they always take us in and offer us
their best chairs and such. americans are just mean. anyways so the
story of the week..

yesterday i was contacting and my comp says let go down here. i notice
a dog sitting on the ground and i think. he better stay there... i
walk down the ally and notice i have a friend following me. well next
thing i know i felt a ¨scratch¨ on my leg thought nothing of it... we
talked to the person and after i wanted to see if the stupid thing had
done any damage to my pants.. well the dang thing BIT me! there was
saliva all over my pant leg and such. i was really mad! im going to
buy a sling shot and marbles to shoot at dogs that come after me from
now on. that what i heard works best...
oh and mindy!! they apparently have dog tacos here. this other
missionary was talking with his latino comp and asked why this
perfectly nice german shepherd is chained up. well they talk to the
family and hes tacos tomorrow. they explained how to kill the thing and
make him in to a delicious dish. they also eat iguana here too. this
family we teach are having that for dinner tonight. gross. but i heard
it tastes like chicken. hmmmmm.

dont know what ill find out next down here... today its pretty hot. i
really am getting hungry and were going to lunch soon!! glad to hear
the race went well. maybe ill bike it when i get off. but we will just
have to see about that... ask me some questions and such! send my
package soon please! i want some good stuff here! i love you all!
elder crockett

Hey

well this week has been an interesting week. we had a 2 day seminar
with president maravilla. it was about how we can better teach people.
i was having some home sickness problems and such and talked with him
about it. well he helped me out and i love my mission it really is a
blessing to be out here and have everything that we have! it hot out
here... i really dont like it but well thats my mission.. people here
go to bed early and dont care if people are sleeping.3am this morning
the neighbors were setting of firecrackers and there car alarm. made
me so so mad. but thats life. another thing that is funny is that the
people close off the street and decide to have a fiesta. and they go
on for hours.
my comp is cool a latino. he knows a enough english to help me out and
to teach me what the people are talking about. although i really dont
understand them. but thats life. i have made it 2 weeks out here and
more to come. its really a good expirence. people here are nice. were
finding a lot of people to teach but not alot to follow up. i just
hope to find some more people out here. i really enjoy life. im
attaching some pictures. of me and the walk out to one of the members
houses... its kinda freaky and i thing aliens are going to pop out and
eat me.
so people here have some really messed up lives. this family were
teaching is having issuses. we as missionaries get the opportunity to
hep solve them eventhough i think its not our place to get into
peoples lives. next week ill send some more fotos! so you can look
forward to that. i really miss you all at home but know im here for a
reason. i may not know it yet but thats life. ill soon find it. i hope
the language clicks again sometime soon. i just need to build my
vocabulary.
but thats life... i hope this week is going better for everyone at
home and i look forward from hearing from you all!! be safe and sorry
for the short email!.
love elder crockett

first week

well im officially out... my p day is on mondays now... so you all
should just write me then... or when you read this.. my area is
awesome but ill wait and tell you about that in a bit... my last day
at the CCM was hard. i was saying bye to my two best-friends. elders
Shaw and Sederholm. there going to the shala mission... anyways they
loaded up the bus and we were on our way. it was really cool we had to
take a different road due to the rain and mud slides.. it was really
cool. it was about a 5 hour bus ride then he hit a stand still in the
road. thinking nothing of it we waited on the bus telling stories and
such. after about an hour some one told us that president marivilla
was waiting for us but we had to walk 1.5 miles to a gas station. i
was excited to get off the bus and went on our way. the road was
blocked in both directions an the bridge was closed to cars. we didn't
find out until later that it was a protest for better roads so they
cut off the main bridge to Retalhuleu. we got picked up and went to
the mission office were we had a dinner set out and we ate as they
gave us the low down on what was going to happen tomorrow with
recicing our trainers. eventually it was time for bed and they took us
to a hotel where we spent the night and ate breakfast. after the APs
picked us up and we were off to the mission home. was really cool they
had a slide show of all our pictures then a power point of who our
trainers and new comp would be. well i have a latino comp who knows a
little bit of english which has helped me alot. we were off to our
area. which is only 10 minutes from the mission office... we took a
tok tok. a three wheeled tricycle taxi. really interesting then loaded
up into a normal taxi and went to the apartment. ill send pictures
next week due to me forgetting my camera. anyways the apartment is one
of the best ones in the mission. but dont let that get your hopès up.
its trash pretty much. anyways i unloaded my bags here and there then
we were off for some introductions... the members here are really
nice. and it sucks being the only white person in a 5 mile radius. but
o well. people know about me now. well after a bunch of intros we had
to get ready for a baptism that was going down that night. we went to
the other missionaries apartment and picked up a tie for the bishop to
have for the baptism. we went out side and it was a down pour. we
opened the gate to the street and there was only about an inch left of
curb before it was over it... i had never seen such a thing in my
life. well we had to cross the street and get the the chapel. made it
across not to badly wet. well one street left and we were there. im
drenched at this point my umbrella wasn't doing much but its what
ever. we went on the count of three off to the gate to unlock it. well
i miss judged the side walk to street and had to much forward
momentum. before i knew it i was on the ground in about 4 to 5 inches
of water... got up and went into the chapel bathroom to dry off. they
have some good hand dryers here.. really cool. ad i made it to the
baptism fairly dry. really cool experience that i want to have more
of. this area is really hot but its winter. in 3 months it will be
summer and hot constantly. i really an not looking forward to that. im
having a good time.. we are teaching this family here and they are
awesome i feel like apart of the family. really cool and i look
forward to teaching them more... were trying to baptize them next
month. well thats all i have for this exciting week sorry if questions
are un answered and such... i love you all and hope you all watched
conference.. it was hard core! if you can call it that. love ya elder
crockett