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| At the San Salvador LDS temple |
So, there is a word here in San Salvador...
Puchika.
Get the gist??
I have the hardest time remembering this. So the other night
I was with some great el Salvadorians, and I just said 'pickachu!!!' bc I couldn’t
remember the correct word. Man, they loved it!! They thought I was a comedic
genius!! So now that is sorta my thing. I love dropping pikachu everywhere I
go. I’m hoping to replace the actual word puchika with pikachu by the end of my
mission..
But what a week y’all. Always what a week. What happened??
Honestly I don’t really remember. All I know is that the person who said the
days are long and the weeks are fast is correct. It’s crazy how fast the time
is here. I feel like I have blinked and a week is gone.
I have been thinking a lot here in El Salvador. Here’s the
thing. In long conversations with people...it’s like supermega difficult to
follow along in Spanish for extended periods of time. So I have cultivated a
new talent. Back in America if I had to entertain myself I needed something. A
book, an iPod, a phone. something. Or I went absolutely nuts. But here? Here I
have developed a little something I like to call 'Thoughtland'. Thoughtland is
the best. Because now all I need is my thoughts and I am content for hours. I
think about all sorts of things. Life. Love.
There are actually some benefits to thoughland. One is that I
meditate a lot. And that mixed with being saturated in scriptures leads to a
lot of spiritual epiphanies. Like this week. I thought about the world vs.
Jesus Christ. And how I have to love Christ more that the world...but not only
the bad things of the world....the good things too. True religion has to
transcend culture, friends...everything...in order for it to be the truth for
everyone everywhere. And I thought about the rich man who approached Christ and
wanted to know how to obtain eternal life--even though he already kept the
commandments. Christ asked him to sell all and follow him. And he couldn’t do
it. And I found myself evaluating my own life. Could I really sacrifice everything--my
traditions, my culture, my country--everything which I love, to follow Christ?
It’s a hard thing to do.
I also thought about faith, and how faith is not blind at
all because we have been given things to increase and augment our faith, namely
the commandments. All the commandments help fortify faith--they back it up so
to speak. Faith is an action, and when we keep the commandments, like reading
the scriptures, our faith is made stronger and our minds our enlightened and we
receive more. Ok, I’m doing a pretty awful job of explaining this. All I know
is that each time I learn more about the plan of salvation I realize how
incredibly perfect and brilliant God is. It’s brilliant. Trust me.
So the food here... let’s get to the down and dirty. It’s
awesome. It’s actually been pretty easy for me to digest. It’s primarily rice
and beans. Also platanos, which are soooooooooo crazy good. Mom, you gotta try
um. They are divine. Chocobanas are also pretty popular round here, and those
are good. The members feed us probably 3 times a week and the rest is up to us.
We buy food a lot from the little stands...but it’s like a buck for a meal so
it aint no thang. But it’s good. That’s all I know. The food here is
goooood.
It’s also very hot here, and I think I am continuously
dehydrated. So be it. I sweat pretty often. You know. It happens.
Ok I have lots more to say as per usual but I am out of
time. Sorry crowd. This is a pretty rough email. But I want you all to know
that people all over the world are the same. I mean really and truly. We all
have traditions and cultures sure...but at the heart of it there are pretty few
differences. I’ve really only been to 6 countries but its fine. And I love the
people here. They are so fun. They crack me up each and every day and now that
we can actually communicate a little I am eating it up. Meeting people is the
best.
Peace out.
Hma Hirschi
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