My Face Tastes Good

Welcome to Boise, y’all!

Yeah so a lot happened since the last email, part 300 billion and six.

Since my mom and sister were already up here in Idaho for my cousin's wedding my mission president gave approval for them to come see me!! Elder Farnsworth and I made them bacon at Maria Luisa's house and kept setting the smoke alarms off. It was seriously the best morning ever.

Three days ago Elder Farnsworth got to his asignación original, Costa Rica.

I got booted to the Boise north area to be with my new companion Elder Burgess and they dissolved the area I was in, meaning all the people we were teaching got split up between three other missionary companionships in Nampa. It's going to be a little crazy for them to figure it all out since the transition happened on such short notice but I've learned that even when wild stuff happens out here, when we're all trying our best to make it work the LORD WILL FREAKING PROVIDE.

Up to this point I've only been in one area for my whole mission, Nampa Idaho. I spent about 6 months there, HALF A YEAR eating dinner and going to church with the same awesome families that whole time. It really felt kinda like I was leaving home again.

One of our last dinners there was spent with the Lopez family and we played a game where we got to scream random fruit names and smack each other with a stick. Then we all hugged each other and cried.

It was pretty awesome

We went to Kuna Caves one last time for my second to last P-day. We crawled suuuper deep into the caverns this time and found some still glowing glowsticks on the ground, which we promptly crushed and flung all over the walls and ceiling after turning off all our flashlights. Guys, it was awesome. It looked like the milky-way was surrounding us. It was the perfect spot to sit down and tell scary stories, Elder Mr Incredible Wilcox started us off with a really good one.

One of my last nights in Nampa I opened our window and crawled out onto the tiny piece of lawn above us to watch the sunset and sip a cold peach drink. As the sun sank down behind the city and the stars replaced the orange layers in the sky I started praying randomly about all the things I was grateful for. I laid on the cool grass and just stared at the sky for a while, feeling the cool breeze and smelling the summer Nampa air – boiled rubber with a hint of beet-factory. I tried to lay still enough to see if I could feel the earth spinning at a thousand miles per hour in space. It blew my mind to think about how little I was compared to everything in outer space. The little tiny piece of the world I knew was so small and insignificant compared to the rest of the worlds out there.

Laying on the ground in the middle of a city in Idaho at night, that was one of the most spiritual experiences of my whole mission so far, maybe even my life. There wasn't anything really special about where I was or what I was doing, I just made that moment special because I gave my thoughts to heaven, connecting with God, laying on my back on that tiny lawn in the middle of Nampa.

There might be a life lesson or something in that...

My very first day in my new area we walked up to a house with this huge dog behind a chain link fence in their yard. I walked over to it because it jumped up on the fence and was looking at me wagging its tail and I was like, "Oh my gawsh this dawg wants to PLAY with me AAAGGHHKKK!" So I walked over and started to offer my hand out to him yanno like you do to let them sniff you and stuff but this guy JUMPED two feet in the air for my head and snapped down so hard I actually heard the air whoosh and crack like one of those cartoon sound effects. Thankfully the Lord enhanced my reflexes in that moment and I jumped back exactly in time to avoid getting my face ripped off. I felt like one of those gazelles on national geographic when they walk up to the one watering hole in the middle of nowhere to get a drink but then the alligator chomps down on their skull and drags them down to their death.

I am so grateful that I read my scriptures that morning so the Holy Spirit could compensate for my stupidity. I am also grateful that my Heavenly Father blessed me with a tasty looking face. My future wife is gonna love that.

I went on a three mile run with my new companion and then totally forgot about the dog experience because that was really the most dangerous thing I've done on my whole mission. Up to now I've never had a companion who was willing to go running with me and suddenly I was trying to keep up with someone who ran cross country and let me tell ya I would not wish that experience on anyone not even the guy who invented artificial banana flavoring. When I got home my face was so red it was almost purple and I was so hot that the ice cold water from the shower didn't even touch me I swear it was just evaporating above my skin for a solid minute at least.

Yup, I'm doing good in this new area guys! God is very much taking care of me, the families I've met in our wards so far have just been incredible I mean the sheer love and generosity of these people still blows me away. It is a simple truth which I am reminded of every day that people trying to live like Christ are genuinely happy and kind.

I love you! Your Heavenly Father loves you! The fact that you were created the way you are and put where you're at to grow and one day live with your family and God in Heaven again is your Heavenly Father's evidence that He loves you. If you want to know how much He loves you, ask him. He wants to tell you. :)

Un fuerte abrazo,

Elder Juanhijo