The church building here is similar to the one in Ilopango except that it only has one floor where Ilopango has two. It has a chapel, a gym with a stage, about 10 classrooms, the library, the family history center (a room with computes where all the missionaries write home Mondays) and 3ish offices. It could be in the states, except for the fact all the windows are barred, there's a tall fence with a perpetually padlocked gate, and there's an outdoor soccer field in place of a parking lot.
Apopa area in the mission is big, stretching across 7 or 8 small towns. There are mountains on the western horizon. There is more open space than in Ilopango. The houses are a little farther apart (humbler, too) in all the places I've been to except Los Angeles and downtown Nejapa. It's definitely more rural. I don't see as many squirrels here, which is sad because I still want a picture of one, but I see a variety of other animals. WE have a ton of geckos living with us in our house, a lot of people have pericos as pets, and a lot of people have chickens, cats and dogs too. We see horses and cows often in Castillo and Aldea. Ever time I hear a bird call, I think of Grandma. <3 data-blogger-escaped-br="">
I sleep better here than in Ilopango, because I actually have a bed (there, I slept on a mattress, which didn't bother me but it is a luxury to have a real bed). No problems with bed bugs, and my companion kindly lent me her extra pillow. (I also sleep with the little puppy pillows Mel made for me. :)
We have some GREAT members here who help us out a lot. The most helpful ones are young single adults. There are also two Relief Society sisters who sometimes accompany us on Sundays or Saturdays and who are really great to make the investigators feel welcome at church.
Heaven be thanked, my health has been remarkable resilient. The majority of people here, unlike Ilopango are accustomed to drinking chorro (unfiltered water) and when they offer us things to drink it's almost always made from chorro. We never refuse offers of food because it would offend them - sharing food is a big deal, more so here than in Ilopango. I've used several of the digestzen and OnGuard pills on the occasions I don't feel too good, and so far I haven't had any real problems.
Our house feels huge because only the two of us live here. It's blue on the outside with a big black portion (that's garage door - I think). To get in, you walk through the portion, the on-car garage, then up the steps and through a second door. The inside is white and pastel orange with pastel tan/brown tile. We have a big room with our two white desks (big desks), our miscrowave and missionary supplies. A second slightly smaller room has the fridge and kitchen sink, and a door to go into the patio/courtyard. Also, the door to the bathroom, which is blue and has a working shower. We also have our bedroom (barely big enough for the two single size beds) and the room that has our suitcases and clothes.
Right now it is summertime, and it only rains during the winter. But there were a few days I got out my umbrella to protet us from the sun. It doesn't happen often - we usually deal with the sun. It's not very humid - I hear it gets pretty miserable in the rainy season though.
Refineria is a ward. About 120-140 attend.
I play the piano in every sacrament meeting and once I played a piano solo. Nothing fancy, just out of the hymnbook.
There aren't a ton of mosquitoes right now. WE don't sleep under nets, but we do sleep with the fan going, which in addition to keeping us cool also keeps the mosquitoes to a minimum.
In Ilopango, there were always a ton of people selling things walking up and down the pasajes, and from about 5:30am on, we heard several bike horns (the guys on bikes sell rolls) and other shouts of whatever wares the person had. Here, I only hear two vendedores usually one at 6am, one at 6:30am and one at 7 (The vendor who comes at 6 returns to pass by again at 7) Just a fun fact.
More fun facts: I never once saw a mototaxi in Ilopango, but here there are a ton. The max number of people I've seen fit into a mototaxi is five: 3 squished in the back and one on each side of the driver. All the motos are decorated just like the cars and buses, with bumper stickers (usually religiously themed) and even extra lights. There's one I've seen around with a strobe light in different colors. It lights up the whole street at night.
Oh, and all the motos are always red. Just like taxis are always yellow.
Fun Spanish facts I've learned : "cabal" means "that's right"; "vaya" translates to "yeah"; "gineo" is "banana"; "fuera de seria" means "outside the norm"; "zancudo" is "mosquito" while a "mosquito" is just a house fly; "ya" means "now!"; "ahora" is a synonym with "hoy" which means "today". The Parada family in Ilopango always uses "cabal" and "vaya" I learned "gineo" from Hna Escalante, who hates gineos. Our cocinera Areli Reyes says I'm a grintita "fuera deseria" because I eat tortillas. The words "ya" and "ahora" confused me at first because I heard them in a different context than what I was used to. Hna Gonzalez taught me the difference between "zancudo" and "mosquito" (That one was a bit harder to remember.)
Now that we've hit the questions abnd the culture, let me tell you a little about one of our recent converts, Cristian Alexander Linares Franco. He's the biggest news of my time in Apopa for sure. We've known him for a while because he drives and is sometimes cobrador (the cobrador is partners with the driver and is in charge of collecting everyone's cordas - I mean quarters - and telling the driver which paradas - I mean bus stops to stop at_ of the 38-F, th route between Apopa and Los Angeles.
He always stook out to us because he's more respectful to the passengers than a lot of other cobradores, and them we acquired his cell number and became friends over several weeks of calling him every night: "Is the bus almost here? You're going back to Apopa, right? or are you done for the night? Please wait for us, we're running a little late but we're almost there!"
And then one day, he purposefully put on a song in the bus that has a line about how Mormons have so much time on their hands they make up lies about how coffee is bad. Hna E. picked up on it right away and wrote him a note on the back of a Word of Wisdom pamphlet: "One day we hope to have the opportunity to explain why we don't drink coffee." We left him the note, very pleased with ourselves and very amused.
A few weeks later the bus Cristian worked got its license revoked and Cristian was left out of a job for a week. Hna E and I taught him everything in a single week. what caught his attention most was our message about families, that they can be together forever. He's single, 23, with a little daughter and a little son whose mother's left him for other men. A lot of this family emers have died - his mother and three of this siblings. He doesn't know his dad and he's lived alone in Los Angeles for I don't know how long.
One of the things he wants most is to be with his mom again in the next life. He ate up everything we taught and studied quite a lot on his own. He accepted a baptismal date quickly and was baptized four weeks later.
It's amazing to see how God prepared him to change his life through the gospel. And he has changed = no more coffee, no more swearing, always ready when we got to bring him to church. He's the one teaching us now, and he only has about four days to be a member of the church. Imagine. Incredible.
Here in Apopa, with all the experiences I've had (good and bad both), I've learned to appreciate even more what the grace of Jesus Christ really means. Through His grace, I've received solace in my heart. Through His grace, I've found the strength to carry on. Through His grace, I've witnessed miracles. Through His grace, we are protected from danger and find people like Cristian who are mega prepared to hear the Gospel. I know God lives. I know His power is real. I know prayer works. I know I'm here for a reason. I know this work is bigger than me.
I know I have the best family in the world, and I sure love you.
Much Love,
Jessica
PS A week after I wrote this, Christian was ordained a Priest with the Aaronic Priesthood. The week after that, he blessed la Santa Cena!
More random pictures from the memory card she sent with the letter:
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