Elder Corey Hoddenbach: 3-7-11

Dear Family,

This week went fairly well. It was super crazy and super unexpected...

So my companion left. It was harder than I thought it would be for some reason... Even though he wasn´t obedient, we were really good friends. I definately didn´t appreciate him as much as I should have.

So on tuesday night, I found out who my companion was going to be... I got the call and was told that my companion was going to be Elder Mamani from Bolivia. And then I learned that we were going to have 2 more missionaries in Chinchina! I was super excited at first. But then I started thinking about the responsabilidad that was about to fall on my shoulders...

So this week I have been the tour guide of Chinchina. Well at least it feels like I have. We have 4 missionaries in the apartment and it is jam packed. I´m not the biggest fan of that. The other 2 Elders are: Elder Tumbaco from Ecuador and Elder Castro from Peru. All of the new missionaries are pretty weird and stuff but I have learned to like them. Well, not all of them... Elder Castro is freaking annoying and pretty much creeps me out. And he thinks we are best pals and everything. Oh and he stares at me all the time. And when I see that he is staring, he doesn´t look away. Man alive its weird! But my companion is way funny and we are having some really cool experiences.

The wedding and the baptisms happened this week! They were both really awesome experiences. The weddings are always a bit weird because they want us to party... but we can´t. But after 3 months of really hard work, they are members. It was so cool to have that experience.

I have learned something very important this week. When I was frustrated with all the responsabilities that i have had, I started noticing how important it is to be friends with the members. I was always nice to them and they were always nice to me (mostly...). This week I have needed their help so much. And now I know that I have some really awesome friends. And they come with us to help us teach and they give us referalls (i think that is the word in english...) all the time.

So, my spanish is going pretty good. I am understanding about 85%. It is kind of weird knowing a different language... In some of your emails, you asked me what it is like. It is really weird because it is normal. I am thinking in mostly spanish and it really is like a switch that I can turn off and on. But it is just normal now to be able to understand and speak.

Anyways... Everything here is going good and I hope everything is going well for all of you! From the sound of things, it sounds like you are all prospering without me...

Love you all!!!

Love,

Elder Hoddenbach