The Trio of Villahermosa

Hey Everybody!
Sorry for such the late hour that I am writing this email. We had some troubles finding a place to wash all of our clothes today and then we had to eat right after that. But I am here now so its all good.

Guess he found a store he likes.

So I am in Villahermosa with Elder Gray and Elder Pugmire now! We are in a trio. The only one in the entire mission! Its crazy! Three gringos walking around Villa. Its a hoot to see us. Elder Gray was the last Assistant to the President when I got here and Elder Pugmire has only one more month than I do on the mission. Gray is from California and Pugmire is from Orem, Utah. They are super great guys. Elder Gray has been out a year and is a powerhouse with everything that he does so its a little hard to stay up to his speed sometimes, but from what he tells me, Spanish is above average and I am keeping up very well... So that's good right?
In Villa, things are about the same, just with more buildings and what not. I have access to my favorite foods and what not, so it makes it really easy to not have to worry about food. I like it a lot here, but I find myself missing my old area, Tenosique. I was a little upset that I had to leave because we had just finished painting and we had just had the baptism of Hermana Monica, but the good news is is that she wants me to go to her sealing with her husband when I get back!! I was super excited to hear that I had that much of an impact on her. She is amazing. I hope that I will be able to go when I return to Utah.

Villahermosa Baptism

We had a baptism this last Friday of a girl who was 18 years old, Hermana Itzel. She had already had the baptism date set with the Elders that were before us, so we just had to finish the job. It was nice to see her be baptized also. She is expecting a child in two weeks also! So we had to baptize her in a chair because she is a smaller girl. It was weird but pretty unique at the same time. You don't see someone be baptized in a chair everyday! =)

Apart from that, our housing isn't really that great here. Its not terrible, but the bathrooms are... nothing short of a dump. I got a cheap hammock from Elder Herrera before we left Tenosique; for only 230 pesos. That was a super good deal, so I sleep in that every night and that's nice. The area is nice, its a lot of walking, but I don't mind the time that I have to think during those long walks we have. We are just getting the swing of the ward here so we aren't really teaching anyone yet. This week went really slow because we were all just waiting for conference. I watched every single talk that was given each day! I loved it. We sat in an A.C. room and watched it in English. It was nice to hear English for once... Ha. I really loved Pres. Monsons talk on Sunday just before the second session. It was great. And I loved it when Pres Uchtdorf said, "You should hear Pres Monson pray for you." The missionaries went nuts when we heard that.

Other than that, nothing really exciting happened. We are still getting situated in the new area and trying to find new people to teach, but I think I am going to like it here. It was a struggle at first, but I am doing my best to manage. OH! I got the packages!!! Thank you all for the birthday wishes! That was awesome to get those letters and stuff from you all! I loved it! I opened it in the Offices here and immediately broke down in tears! It was just what I needed. I had to open it all right then. I couldn't wait... sorry. But it was perfect. Thank you! I have seen Elder Garn, and I got to see another friend of mine from school also. Elder Smiley got sent to Tenosique.  Small world. Keep sending the goods down here. I like getting food so that way I don't have to spend so much on food here. Its nice to have that extra money. I have enough money for right now, but keep putting money in my account if you have enough to do so. Ya never know what could happen.

Anyways, I will wrap this letter up for this week. I hope you all had a good week and a great conference weekend. I had probably the best week I've had out on the mission thus far, so lets hope it stays the same. I am coping with the different lifestyle and doing my best with the things that are thrown my way. Thank you for everything that you have been doing for me to keep me here. There are times I want to come home and times that I want to quit, but I know that Id be letting all of you down. I appreciate all of your support. I love you all!
-EP

The bathroom companion - a large Iguana

P.S. Funny story, we came home yesterday in between sessions of conference and found a lime green iguana sitting on our bed. We had a fun time trying to chase it out of the house! Those little things can run like the wind! I swear i peed like three times because it got so close to me. Ugh! Still pretty funny though.

To the rest of the Family: Words cannot describe how grateful I am for all of you guys. I have received your letters, but just haven't had enough time on the computers here to write all of you back. I am terribly sorry for this. I am doing my best with it haha. I wanted to say thank you for everything that you have done to keep me here and to make me feel more at home while I am here also. You all have made the world of difference of me. I pray for you all each night and I know the Lord is watching out for all of you. I am so grateful to have a family that is this strong. I have seen families here that have fallen apart because of certain things, but I am so glad that we are such a united family. We Andersons and Proctors look out for each other and that is something that I cannot describe with words. Its amazing and I cannot thank you all enough for the strong words of advice and encouragement that I have received while being here. You all mean the world to me and I couldn't do this without each and every one of you. Thank you all!

With Love,
-EP