Week 3 in Sonsonate

Pictures this week are still from a couple weeks ago.  Some sort of Internet error is preventing much picture upload success.  David’s been sick, and we hate to see that happen.  Still, we keep him in our prayers.

Subject:  "And you!" "Jose!"

"Together we..."
"Burned the village!"

I don't know what happened to the home server, but I can't see the folder where I normally upload pictures. So I did it there in the David folder instead. And I think these should be the last of the backed-up Chalchuapa pictures. I haven't taken many in Sonsonate yet.

Also, there's two pictures of a giant white cross. I'll have to explain what that is later, but for now I have a game called "Where's Elder Arrington?!" It's kind of easy in the first one, but let's see if you can figure out the second.

It was a rough week this week, mostly due to stupid El Salvador viruses. That's right, I've been sick. I felt completely fine until Wednesday morning, when I suddenly felt awful. I got my fever all the way up to 102.6 before I gave in and was healed, but I couldn't work all day, so that was a bummer. And we missed a couple key appointments, with no way to call and reschedule. I felt horrible. However, the next day I felt fine. I was just a little weak. And that would have been it, except that this morning the same kind of thing is coming back. I feel terrible. Mostly it's just a headache level 8 that I'm fighting, but I won't let that get me down. I'm sure after a few potions I'll be fine. And an elixir, even though I never understood what the difference between those two are. And if they do cure two different things, why don't they just put them both in the same bottle, shake them up, and sell them like that? It's probably a result of corrupt Pokémon drug store owners. How dare they.

That was way out there. Evidence of sickness for sure. I got a bunch of good news today from a bunch of people, so that was good. The reunion seems to be going well, and I might only add that I now have less than 150 days before I get home. In case you all want to be slightly baggy. I'm also typing this with my head on the desk, so I have no idea how this is coming out on the screen. But I'm a champion blindfolded typist, so I think I'm managing well.
Oh, and congratulations to Lindsay on a fantastic week! Now you've just got to keep up the good work.

Does anyone else write sentences with just a period, and as you're reading it in your head you realize it's boring, so you put an exclamation point instead whilst shouting in your head excitedly the last word of that sentence? I think that I do that every time I write an exciting sentence.

Carlos came to church again today, and he seems to be progressing pretty well. We tried to visit him a couple times this week, but he wasn't home. There was another guy that came to church too, who has been attending I guess in some ward for two months or so. He's the boyfriend of a member, and his name is Christopher or Christian or something else that I think in English starts with Ch. He's super super positive, but we could only talk to him for a few minutes after church. And that's the downside. He works Monday through Saturday all day, and lives outside of our area. So the only time we can teach him is Sunday in the afternoon. I'll bet he doesn't really work all day every day, but he probably told us that so that he can spend some time with his girlfriend. Oh well. I'll probably do that to missionaries after the mission, too.

I'm not sure I've ever told you all this, but when I was in San Salvador we had an appointment to leave with our ward mission leader, who was pretty great. So we called him to see where we could meet, and he said he couldn't work with us that day because he was still at work and would probably leave pretty late. And he said that right as we walked in front of his girlfriend's house, where his motorcycle was definitely parked. Nice.

I just ran into some kind of internet error, so it looks like once again there will be zero pictures today. I think I'm just going to try and get a member to upload them during the week so I don't have to worry about this. It's stupid.

Also, I had a question. So we all know that Romney was doing pretty well for a while, and we're optimistic that he can win the primary. But how's Obama doing? Does it look like he'll be hard to boot out of office? I keep on writing a few sentences and then putting my head on the desk for a while, by the way. That's why I may seem very unorganized this week. As if that's a change.

We also had a meeting in San Salvador with Elder Clayton of some presidency of some seventy. It was really awesome, but it was mostly a question and answer kind of thing. It was kind of funny, though. Elder Clayton, right at the beginning, said that he didn't want this to be about missionary work hardly at all. Instead, it was to be just about doctrine and feeling the spirit. So he started by giving time to the mission presidents and their wives and Elder Amado (from the area presidency) and his wife time to bear their testimonies in a couple minutes each. Spiritual experience, right? The mission presidents did great, as did their wives, but they each got progressively longer. And then Elder Amado's wife, who took probably ten minutes, and then Elder Amado. He didn't even bear his testimony. I'm pretty sure his first words were: "160,000 people attended the open house of the temple, and you missionaries couldn't even get more baptisms than last year. What have you been doing?!" Seriously, that was it. And he just kept going for nearly twenty five minutes. I was laughing inside, even though the machetes kind of hurt.

And guess what? I was in San Salvador for four or five months, eating fast food most days. I am sick of hamburgers. And we move the mission to Santa Ana, and what is the first thing that San Salvador does to celebrate? They build a Taco Bell! You've got to be kidding me! Gah! Just so it doesn't sound like that's what I'm focused on, I want to make the claim that the mission would baptize more if we had Taco Bell. President Cordon at least must have thought so, because he bought us all grilled stuffed burritos for dinner after the meeting. And thus I end my Taco Bell fast.

But I still want a Steak Chalupa.

Oh, and to all of you who sent me letters and cards and such for Christmas: Thanks a ton! They were awesome, and I'm in the middle of trying to respond to all of them. There are actually a pretty good number, and I'm not in a very good letter-writing state of mind right now, as should be evident, so they may get there slower than I would have liked. But they will get there.

Is there anything else interesting that I forgot to add? I think that I have now seen Elder Oliverson and Elder Braithwaite and possibly Elder Gonzalez for the last time in the mission. The first two go home in three weeks, and Elder Gonzalez is just six weeks behind that. I still only have 589 days in the mission. Give or take. I actually did just pull that number out of nowhere. But the count is there in the house.

I've been on the mission a lot longer than 525,600 minutes, and I measure that in love.
Well, that's about it. So in conclusion, watches, chocolate, cheese. Ladies and gentlemen I give you the Swiss.

I've used that before I'm sure. But I don't know when.

Elder David Arrington

PS: Excerpts from probably the best motivational speech ever: "Well, I thought about quitting too when I was diagnosed with brain, lung, and testicular cancer all at the same time. But I didn't. I got back up on that bike and beat the Tour de France five times in a row. So what disease do you have?... Oh I get it. Well, I guess that if guys like you didn't make those decisions, they'd have nothing to regret for the rest of their lives. But hang in there! This probably won't come back to haunt you."

PPS: It's been a long time since I quoted something that long. After nineteen months, the old thensologuer 2000 isn't pumping at full steam. I have no idea what I just said.