December 19, 2022 THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER IX

ahhh having no water is sick! you just kinda wake up, use the bathroom, and then flush the toile-... oHh wait! you cAn't flush the toilet, guess we'll just let it sit there.. and then you have exercise time, and you go to get a drink of wate-... oHhh wAit! you cAn't drink water, guess it's just soy sauce and mayonnaise.. and then you go to take a showe-.. oHhHhHhh wAiTtt! you can't take a shower, guess we'll just put on more deodorant and use saliva to fix our hair... and then you go to wash your clothe- OHHHHH WAITTTT!! you can't wash your clothes, guess we'll just pack some laundry detergent and hope it rains while we're proselytizing (i know that's not the right word for it, but that's what autocorrect is saying and idk how to spell the right word sooo)... haha just kidding, none of that is true.. wEllll pArts are true.. i'll let you decide what to believe.. it's not actually that bad tho, we just have to get water in buckets from a... "garage well"? whichhh i don't think i need to explain, buttt i'm going to anyways.. a garage well.. is.. a.. welllll.. it's a well.. but it's in some random peoples' garage.. sooo we just walk downstairs every morning and awkwardly be like "uhhhh yah we still have no water" and then we steal from their secret stash.. we've got water back now tho, idk what happened, but some guy came and fixed it, sooo maybe we'll have water normally now.. hmmm what else.. we had zone Pday this week, and that was really fun, just messed around with other zones and stuff.. and then the next day was zone conference.. that was pretty good too, we ate mystery rice, which had all sorts random foods in it.. almonds, peppers, beans, annnd for some reason giant raisins.. nowww i know giant raisins in rice sOunds just soOoo good, buttt it wasn't exactly my favorite food i've ever eaten.. other than that tho zone conference was pretty chill, just had some spiritual stuff, and then mostly talking to the other zones that were there.. annnd ig i should mention the ride over to zone conference.. orrr the rideS.. basically zone conference was in the capital, so we had to walk like 15 minutes to the place where we can get a "carrito" basically a small car.. (just imagine james' saturn, buttt without the sick paint job, and you feel much less safe (which kinda makes it more fun tbh).. aNnnd for those of you who don't know of "james' (my dad) saturn".. (and yah i call my dad by his first name, and no i don't have a good reason).. anyways the saturn is a really old car, but it's not jUst an old car, it's my dads' fAvorite car.. no one knows why, but he's had it since he was in college.. it's grey, it's a stick, it has no airbags, and the paint is all peeling off and it looks like a disaster, (sooo when i say the carritos don't have quite as cool of a paint job, i'm saying they're basically made from rust and glue, and only structurally sound because of duct tape).. annnd wOw that was a rabbit hole, yiKes.. props to anyone who can read that without just being completely lost... bUttt anyways we have to take a carrito to san cristóbal, which is the city where we do our shopping and stuff.. it's a decently big city, but not as big as the capital.. but anyways once we got to san cristóbal it was more walking to the place where they have the busses.. annnd these were aCtual busses so they're nice, with those curtains on the windows, and leather seats, and it's the only place in all of the country with air conditioning.. but on that bus some kid sat basically on my lap, and he was kinda whining to his mom and stuff, so i gave him a sucker punch.. haha not really, just a regular sucker (i usually buy them at the "comadas" (tiny stores) and then give them to kids, cuz it's really fun to see their faces when you hand them candy (ig they didn't get the memo on "don't take candy from strangers" buttt hey, better for me ig)).. so anyways the kid got all excited and showed his mom, and then in some kind of spanglish he was talking to me and showing me all the stuff outside which was pretty fun.. annnd then after that we had to walk across a couple freeways which was a bit sketch, and i wOuld say "don't worry we were safe" or whatever everyone always says, buttt it wasn't really that safe sooo ig we'll just have to stick with "don't worry, none of us were struck and killed by the many cars and motorcycles blarring down the freeway".. annnd then we got to the place with the guaguas.. (small bus van thingys that they cram 107 people into at one time).. and that took us closer to where we needed to be, and then we walked from there to the zone conference... we got to do exchanges this week too which was sick.. i went with elder macdonald, who's been out for over a year or something, but he spent the first yearish in puerto rico waiting for his visa, so he's been in the country only like 3? weeks more than me? he had some good advice about my comp and how to try to make every day fun and stuff like that.. we hiked up some random hill, and then went down the side of it cuz some old guy told us there was a path, annnd there wAs buttt it was a little sketchy (that made it fun).. we saw some banana trees and he told me they're super fun to punch, which sounds kinda weird, but you just have to try it ig.. they're just super soft and full of water, buttt he was right, it's really fun to punch banana trees.. ok, it's friday right now (i write these things throughout the week, that's why they're just pAcked with length and confusion) but i got to take a shower today with an aCtual shower (not from the garage well water in a bucket) for the first time in... idek how many days, but it had been almost a week, and it was a top 10 moment of the whole mission fs! sooo we're hoping we have water from now on.. i got to try dominican hot chocolate the other day, and it was absolutely scalding, but it was pretty good.. the thing is tho, you have no idea what kinds of things they decide to put in it.. i seriously think they just look around at random things that they think might have flavor and dump it in the pot.. the cup i got had cinnamon sticks?, maybe bread?, something slimy that could have been a green onion buttt it was brown? (probably someones' old sock tbh) annnd my personal favorite acorns/pinecones? it's still not clear what the last thing was, but i asked my comp, who just said (he's learning english but his gramar is terrible) and i quote "the thing what eats the rat of the tree" which i think means "what a chipmunk eats" buttt who knows.. saturday morning.. "haha phsYch! jokes on you guys!" -said water.. soooo who knows when we'll have the water actually fixed, bUttt we just have to ask the neighbors to turn on the pump, and then we can get water.. okkk, so ik this email is already super long.. buttt.. sunday was pretty eventful.. first we had church and the other 3 elders had to give talks in sacrament meeting, but i didn't, because the bishop thinks ik like no spanish (which is true, but i could have at least given a talk).. i just got to sit there and watch tho.. and then when we were out proselytizing (that's what i'm calling it now) we went to that lady again who gave us a ton of food and soda.. the same thing happened, but i'm getting a little better at holding in barf now.. and then we went and unlocked a new area of the map, and we hiked up this giant mountain, which didn't end up leading to any people, but it was super cool at least.. annnd then finally we taught the jehovas witnesses again, and it was super fun.. i'm not sure what it is about them, but i think it's because they are just the nicest people to have ever lived, or because you can tell they actually want to know the truth, buttt those 2 are my favorite.. he challenged us to a "debate" next week to find the truth.. it won't actually be a debate, but we're gonna teach them a little more, and he's gonna teach us some about their religion too.. sooo that'll be super fun! anyways, there's no way anyone made it this far, buttt have a great week, love you guys! remember who you are and such and so forth and hitherto.. helaman 5:12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. this scripture is fe*ching gOoood (sorry for the language)