Flora, fauna, stars, cartel, and investigators

Buenas Tardes,

Believe it or not, the cartel is not a big problem here.  Too many people for that kind of thing.  So you can tell Lori to cross that off the list of things she is worrying about for me.  There are plenty of drugs though.  I have never smelled this much marijuana in my life.

As for the flora and fauna, it's a bit limited, especially fauna wise, because of the sheer number of people.  We just have birds mostly.  Oh, and dogs, if they count.  There are dogs everywhere here.  I'm pretty sure most of them don't have a home.  They just wander the streets, cleaning up the garbage.  Other than that, there really isn't any animal life here.  As far as plants go, it's really weird, because you can see a giant palm tree growing right next to a cactus, and they will both be flourishing.  Now, I don't know as much as dad does about plants, but I'm pretty sure those two grow in different climates.  And as far as the climate goes, right now at least it is very humid, and very rainy.  And when it is not rainy, it is very humid, and pretty hot.  The flowers sure are beautiful though.

I've been wanting to get a look at the stars for the entire time I've been here, but it has been too overcast until this week.  I did finally get a look at them, and it was kind of a weird experience.  First off, there is even worse light pollution than here than back home, so I couldn't see a ton of stars, but as far as the ones I could see go, it was a different experience.  Half of the constellations I recognized, and the other half I had never seen before.  I knew it would be kind of like that, but it didn't stop it from feeling weird.  Also, I wish I could get a good picture from the roof at night.  Almost as far as you can see in any direction are lights.  I have never seen anything like it before.  If I do get a good picture, I will send it.

As far as the people we are teaching, it's kind of a mixed bunch.  We have one with a baptismal date set for next week, and a couple with dates in July.  Then we have some that have been meeting with the missionaries for a long time, and still aren't progressing very much.  Still, there is always hope.  One of our investigators, a man named Ismael, has been meeting with the missionaries for three years.  He would never accept a Book of Mormon until the first time I met with him, when he outright asked for one.  And he has actually been reading it.  So far he hasn't progressed much more beyond that, but who knows, maybe in three more years he'll go to church, and in three more he'll get baptized.  The Lord has his time, and I hope I'll be able to remember that when things get hard.

That's about it for this week.  I'm glad to hear you guys are doing well.  Oh, and how is the new church building treating you?  You have moved there, right?  Keep me updated on what's happening.  I love you all so much, and am so glad to have your support.

Elder Samuel Long.

P.S.  I finished Jesus the Christ this week.  All 736 pages of it.  Still, it took me two months.  I'm getting slow.  Seriously, if you haven't read it, you need too.