Cojutepeque

Man, this was a crazy week. I finally had changes! I am now in the city of Cojutepeque. It is completely different than San Miguel. In San Miguel it is flat and hot. Here in Cojute it is cold and really, really hilly. Every day is leg day! To be honest, I miss San Miguel. It's too cold here! It's around 70 all day, foggy, rainy. I broke out my bed sheets again.

My new companion is Elder Palmer. Man, he is awesome. He's from Blanding Utah. He is my first gringo companion in 9 months! He was my district leader in San Miguel for a while, and he is awesome. We have pretty much the same outlook about everything. The only disagreements we've had are about cars. He thinks that the Toyota Tacoma is better than the Tundra. But, other than that we are basically the same. And he's about six inches taller than me. He loves basketball, so we've gone and played in the mornings a couple times with the other elders in our ward. Here on the mission I thought I was pretty good at basketball, because I've only been playing with Latinos- but now that I'm playing with americans again I realized that I'm not good at all.

This change they split our area in 2. We gave almost all of the supportive members, and almost all of our good investigators to the other area, so we are pretty much starting over from scratch. We've been super, super busy. Every night we are so exhausted when we get home. I think this is the busiest I've been on my mission. I just got to the area, so there isn't food in the house. So I don't eat breakfast.  We usually just buy some chips or bread on the way in for dinner. It's been nuts.

Here in Cojute it's a branch. Which is pretty interesting. There are two chapels. One official chapel that is really new and beautiful on one side of town, and a house they are renting on the other side. Apparently it's too dangerous to cross the line, but there aren't enough members/priesthood holders to split the branch. So half of the branch meets in the chapel, and the other half meets in the house. There are two sets of elders in the ward, so we do interchanges so we can be with all of our investigators. I will be going to the chapel, because there's a piano in the chapel and I'll be playing. And my companion will be going to the house. It's kind of and interesting concept, the branch presidency and the other leaders take turns going to the chapel and the house every Sunday- and It's only one branch.  The goal while I'm here will be to split the branch!

Thanks for writing me! I love you all!

-Elder Goodman

Transferred!

We received a facebook message from a member in the ward where Zach is serving.   She told us that Zach had been transferred and was at her house having a last dinner with her family before leaving tomorrow.  Can't wait to see where he serves next!

Rain

This week was pretty good!  We were able to bring a family to church that we've been working on for awhile. I stayed with the dad, William, during priesthood. And it was amazing. The message really focused on families and being a good father. It hit him pretty hard. He felt the spirit pretty good!

I have a new companion. Elder Scheel! A missionary had to go home a week early for visa reasons, so he came with us. It was pretty fun! He's a great guy!

This week I did an interchange with Elder Durbin. It was pretty good! He's a great guy. It's starting to rain pretty frequently here. During one of the lessons it rained pretty hard. And turned the road into a river. We really didn't want to walk out and get our shoes and pants all wet, because we still had a couple other visits planned, but it seemed that we had no choice.  But then I had a great idea! The family had a couple of plastic crates so we used those as stepping stones to walk out. All the little kids helped us by running around in the river and moving the stepping stones around. It was pretty sweet!

I had an epiphany this week. Everyone needs to feel that they are needed. This week was a little hard because I felt that I wasn't really needed. Being in a trio can be a little tricky sometimes. But I think learning that lesson will really help me in the future.

Thanks for everything! I love you all a lot!
-Elder Goodman

Questions from Kanani:

1.  Who's bullet bike were you on?  That was a really cool photo.  It almost looked photo shopped with everything being black and white except the bike!
That was the bullet bike of one of my converts. There's a cool mode on my camera that let me change the colors a little!  She's actually been a member of the church forever, but the ward lost her baptismal record. So I didn't really have to do anything. She's on the ward council. So whenever we have meetings at the stake for the ward council I always point her out to the other missionaries- to show how powerful my converts are!

2.  When does school start for the kids down there?  Do they have to wear uniforms?
It starts in January and goes until October/November. Everyone has uniforms. White shirt or blouse and blue pants or skirt.

3.  Do the people like to wear jewelry, in general, more than here?
Chains are really popular with men, But to be honest I'd say it's about the same.

4.  Where do you buy your food?
A store called super selectos. Basically Maceys or Smiths

5.  What is your favorite store there?
Super Selectos- It's the most modern store. We have someone who gives us lunch, and the ward gives us dinner. So I only have to eat breakfast. I just buy a big Quaker oats box of 52 envelopes of oatmeal. It lasts me a couple weeks. The nice thing about being in a big city is that we have a pretty big Super Selectos.

 

 

 

 

Breakfast at McDonalds

Hi everyone! I'm doing pretty good here! I just got back from San Salvador. I had to go renew my visa. That was a fast year! Hands down the fastest, and best year of my life! We had to wake up at 3.30 today to catch a bus leaving San Miguel at 4.30 to be at the immigration office at 9. It's been a long day. I ate breakfast at McDonalds this morning. I spent $3.40 for a Mcmuffin, Orange Juice, and hash brown.  That felt really expensive! I could have bought 4 pupusas for a dollar instead. It was cold on the bus with a/c and in San Salvador.  I was actually uncomfortable. I felt much better when we got back into the heat of San Miguel.  Kind of weird the difference of 6 months makes.

We had a zone conference this week. President Vasquez came out and did a participation. Man, every time he speaks he just blows me away. It's like a roller coaster. When he finished I literally had to catch my breath, I had forgotten to breath. He is one powerful man. He doesn't just talk the talk. He walks the walk.

I got the other package! The giant candy one with the Joseph Smith cd! Thanks so much! It was awesome! I took the skittles bag and some twizzlers on the bus rides today. I think I went up a few points on the cool missionary scale!

Our investigator Gorge is awesome. I don't know if I have already written about him. But that man impresses me so much. He is completely changing his life. He is so humble and ready to learn, and I love teaching him. It's people like him that make the mission so incredible. Sorry, I don't have a lot of time. I love you all! Have a great week!

-Elder Goodman

Talking in my sleep

We had stake conference this week. It was pretty good. A seventy came and spoke to us. He used D&C 107:99-100. I really like that scripture. I kind of chewed myself out during his talk, I realized that I could work a little harder!  That scripture could be a great subject for a family home evening!

I got the gold bond / called to serve cd package! Thanks so much! It was awesome! I also got an envelope that had letters from the Robinson family! Thanks guys! You're the best!

I thought of something I want in the next package. Book of Mormon battles! The card game.

Sorry, I'm working on a little project right now. I bought an USB drive, and I'm putting Mormon messages on it to show my investigators. So I'm not paying as much attention to my letters.

Thanks for everything! I love you all! A lot!
Have a great week!

-Elder Goodman

Questions from Kanani
1.  Who are some of the people you are teaching right now?
Probably the most positive is a man named Jorge, and his son. The dad came to stake conference on his own! That was sweet! The Familia Aguilar. A family of the mom, 2 daughters, and 3 sons. The sons are triplets! We've baptized 2 of the sons, but we're really working hard on the mom. She has to support her whole family, and she doesn't trust in the Lord enough to not work on Sundays.

2. Have you seen the hot springs in Moncagua
I haven't. I've heard about them though!

3. Are you following the Olympics?
Not really. At Jorge's house I saw the last 40 seconds of USA Men's basketball vs China. That was sweet!

4.  Did you ever get your rice hot/cold bags filled and sewn up?
I sure did! We use them a lot! My comp sometimes has back problems, he uses hot mode. I usually use cold mode!

5.  What's your favorite thing to do on p-day?
Play soccer.

A dead frog in the house

Sounds like you had an awesome week up there in Utah! Pretty normal here.  We found a dead frog in the house, it had been stinking for 2 days before we finally found it. A family I baptized got super offended at something I said. Had to patch that all up.  (They haven't come to church in a month. I kind of chewed them out. They also received help from the church a couple times, and I felt that they were taking advantage of the welfare system.- Needless to say I did not have the spirit with me when I said those things...)

I did interchanges in Moncagua. We call it the tierra prometida!  (the promised land)  it's so beautiful. I am so so happy here. To be honest I wake up every morning just so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary.  El Salvador is such a beautiful country- the people here are amazing. There are lots and lots of sins here. But the people are so hardworking, and so faithful. I love my job! Nothing better than saving souls! I hate to say it, but I don't think I'm ever coming home!

Love you all!
Elder Goodman

Questions from Kanani
1. Is it rainy a lot?  When I look up your weather it looks cloudy and about the same temperatures as here, lately a little cooler. 
It rains a couple times a week here. The rainy season in San Miguel isn't very strong. In central it's crazy though!

2. How long is the winter season there?
I have no idea. A couple of months?

3. Do most people there own phones?  cars?
Almost everyone has phones. Only the upper class people have cars, or people that need a car for their work, like construction. From what people tell me average working wages are between 3-6k a year. And cars are the same price here as in the states.(an average house is about 13-18k) Lots of junky cars here.... A lot of companies make cheaper cars though. For example the only Toyota pickup is called the Hilux. It's a lot cheaper than a normal Toyota pickup.  They also have smartphones here. But different, cheaper, brands. Apple doesn't exist. Every once in awhile you'll see a Samsung. But they're expensive.