December 1

I don´t have any pictures this week and also forgot to bring my thing to put them into the computer with me, but I´ll try to have at least a few each week. We aren´t supposed to take pictures while prosylitizing, but we take a lot of pictures with the other missionaries.

We rarely have planned community service, but the ward mission leader, a calling in the ward, occasionaly plans something. We also offer to help people with their cleaning or laundry, which they occasionally take us up on. I think the Elders do more moving rocks and digging and such, but we don´t get invited as much and are happy not to. Elder Melgar dropped a rock on his knee last week, which really ruined the week for him.

Every time we visit someone, we make an appointment for the next visit in a few days or a week depending on who they are and their schedule. We have a phone and do a lot of calling.

We have an excersize dvd, I just don´t like it very much. We have half an hour to exersize first thing in the morning. We generally strech and do jumping jacks in the part of the yard that has cement. Maybe it´s in a picture. We have a dvd and cd player and lots of training and church videos, but nothing internet connected. We also have a a thing that plays music from a usb drive.

We finished eating with members this weekend, but have yet to find someone to be our pensionista for the weekend lunches. I have been a little sick just for one day, which I blame on the fried chicken place we often go when Anavel gives us money for dinner on Sat and Mon, but we have other options for other places to eat. 

Hna Aliaga is learning English, but we rarely have time to practice. I´m not sure how much she speaks, but it´s a lot less than I speak Spanish. At lunch either we all speak in Spanish, or I speak in English with Elder Edmonds and Hna Aliaga and Elder Melgar speak Spanish. Also, sometimes the elders are on intercambios (exchanges?) and Elder Racker is there instead of Elder Melgar. 

Most people have recourdos, which are notebooks that other people fill with photos and notes including addresses and email to keep in touch. Also, I think there´s a facebook page for rms. 

News this week is our first intercambio and tramites. I went for a day with Hna Gardiner to alalay, which is on the other side of the hill/small mountain and Hna Morales came here. They are the Sister training leaders in charge of us. I think the point is just to get practice in another area and for them to see that we know what we´re doing. I am now used to my area and didn´t really like changing, but they are really nice and I got to see their area, which is so much smaller than ours, but much hillier.

All the new sister have also been doing tramites, which I think just translates to procedures, for our paperwork to stay in Bolivia. This involves going into the center of Cochabamba and writing our names and signatures on a lot of forms. I never really know what´s going on, but there´s a bishop who does this with all the missionaries and he just tells us where to go and what to say (generally: name, occupation, and that we are applying for ¨migracion¨). This morning we went to the hospital and they drew blood and looked at our teeth and lungs and everything, which I think it the last step for a while. The dentist told me that I had a lisp, but besides that everything went smoothly.