April 30, 2018
Mom and Dad,
Wow, lots of news from home this week. It's exciting to hear that Adam is now fully independent, still clean, happy, and making his own way in the world. Every once in a while he sends me a short email and they are some of my favorites to read. Oh how I wish that I'd appreciate what great friends I have in my brothers before I left. It's also super exciting to hear about Kaia and Addie! I was able to meet Sam over the summer living in California and he is really one of a kind. I really like him. I'm sorry to hear that Coulson is not a fan but hopefully, he'll warm to the idea.
Dad, I'm glad to hear that the garden is going strong. It's the simplest things that I miss the most. If Aaron and Kel get used to those hot peppers then I can make some spicy Mexican food for everyone when I get back. This morning I ate fresh serrano chiles with breakfast and have generally come to love super spicy food. We meet a lot of people who plan on crossing the border but I've not seen any sort of line here. Today we met a man who got deported, hates Mexico, and plans on crossing illegally as soon as possible. He also happens to be interested in the Jehovah's witnesses and mistook us for them starting a conversation with, "hey, my uncles a Jehovah witness too and he has always tried to get me to join but I'm only just investigating." we quickly cleared up the confusion but he was still super friendly. You meet all sorts in Tijuana. I'm glad to hear that things are going well at auseon too! I hope everything works out. It's very encouraging to hear that you're really seeing the blessings at home.
Mom, Thanks for all the updates. With the same family news, you and dad always have different takes which I love. Also, thank you for the suggestion. There are 700 members in our ward with a weekly assistance of about 120 so there are certainly lots of less active families. We haven't been able to see Uriel which has been frustrating but we have a lot of hope that he'll keep progressing. Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement. Patience with myself has been hard because its hard for me to find the line. I always feel like I'm not working sufficiently hard and that's where I get down on myself. Hopefully, I can learn to find a better balance there. If you could send a box of graham crackers (3 packages) so that I can make 7 layer bars that would be awesome. Also, I gave away my flash drive so if you could send me one that's decently durable that would be awesome. Thank you so much!
In general things are going well here in Tijuana. We have had a little bit of difficulty but it's more in us than in the area. We were introduced to the niece of the bishop in our ward the other week. Her name is Michelle and she is not a member but her dad is less active and she has been coming to church. We started teaching her and she has learned everything very well and very quickly. She really understands everything we teach and has a desire to change her life. Unfortunately this week her dad said that he wouldn't give her permission to be baptized or to keep going to church so that was a little setback this week but we are moving forward doing what we can to help her and acting with faith.
I love you tons, thanks so much for your emails! I hope you're all doing well
Love,
Isaac
