happy new year

Happy New Year everybody! It is very cliche to say it, but I can't believe it's already 2008. Time has indeed started to go by quickly, and I can only count on it getting worse.

Good news of the week, our blind investigator, Rosalia, has committed to be baptized. We are very excited for her and last night she told us all she wants for this next year is to be baptized and "caminar en los caminos del Senor," or "walk in the ways of the Lord." She is awesome, and we are having a good time figuring out ways to teach someone who can't see. It presents some challenges that we hadn't thought of.

Elder Robinaugh is awesome. I'm really enjoying working with him and we work well together. I had my first experience with actual tracting yesterday. There are a few spots of our area that have high concentrations of Latinos, but very little work has ever been done there. It will be a big job, but Elder Robinaugh and I are going to change it. The field is indeed white and there is not place that "doesn't have potential" as many missionaries will claim. So to begin, we just started knocking doors. Latinos don't really have the good sense to be mean, so every door met us with very friendly people, and we just had a good time. I love getting to know different people from different places.

In another unsearched area, there is a member family that invited us to a New Year's Day Barbacoa Mexicana (Mexican Barbeque). It was so much fun. They cooked the goat in a pit in primitive dutch oven style, but underneath the meat was also a stew. When they served it up, they just would rip a bone off or something and you got whatever meat came attached. It was delicious in tacos or in the stew or just plain. This last week we've also had tongue tacos (that's cow tongue) and my first time trying tamales, which were good as long as they are cooked by a good chef. I'm really enjoying the food, and the company that goes with it. The barbeque was also a really good way for us to get to know some new people in an unknown area and we are excited to go to work out there.

Things are really going very well. I can't say enough how grateful I am for my companion. More and more I am learning the appropriate balance of work and play. But an even better lesson that I am glad to know, is that work can be play with the right attitude, that nothing is ever hopeless or aggravating unless you make it so.

And speaking of hopeless and aggravating, the only thing that gets me frustrated is Spanish. No matter how much I know I am learning, I wish I could skip the learning process and be in the knowing stage. I know I am doing all I can, but I don't like being limited. On the bright side, ward members, investigators, and my companion all say I am learning well, so there are no legitimate worries.

To my family, it was very nice to talk to you. It was good to feel as though I was there for Christmas, and I thank you for your love and support. I'm sorry response letters take so long, it is not because I don't want to write back, but time is limited. Just know I love and miss you all, especially the kids. Be good, and share your testimonies.

Love,
Elder Sam Bostwick