Mom and Dad,
This week was a little difficult here in Tecate but nonetheless good. We have had a little difficulty with our investigators because they have been unwilling or hesitant to do what they need to in order to progress and we have had a lot of appointments that have fallen through. Never the less, we were able to find a good number of people this week and hopefully in this next week we will be able to teach more and help our investigators progress.
Spring forward was also this week, a fact we realized when we arrived at sacrament meeting just before the closing hymn. We were embarrassed and completely surprised because we haven't heard anything about it. The experience helped me realize how in and yet out of the world we are living. As missionaries we live completely focused on the work and haven’t the first clue what's going on in the world. Even something so universal as daylight savings time completely escaped our notice. What an incredibly liberating way to live. To the greatest degree that i will experience in my lifetime i am living in the world but wholly not of it. This week i was able to appreciate that and also the many other blessings and opportunities that are inherent in missionary work. In short, i am coming to appreciate more and more what a blessing it is to be able to serve as a missionary even when there isn't a lot of success.
The Spanish word of the week is Regatear which roughly means to bargain or haggle. This morning we went to the sobre ruedas (flea market/swap meat). Here close to the border its common to have these every day of the week in a different location. Usually it's like a huge garage sale and there are always a ton of things from the states so it's fun to see what there is and buy things that are super cheap. This morning I saw a cast iron skillet that i wanted to buy (what I'm going to do with a skillet for the next year and a half I don't know). I asked for the price and the man who was selling said 70 pesos but I wanted to pay 50. I decided to wait and when we returned half an hour later i offered 50 and he accepted. In american dollars i paid about 2.50. More than anything that was my first experience bargaining in Mexico and therefore feels like a milestone to me.
That's all I have time for this week but i love you all and hope to hear from you this next week,
Love,
Isaac
