Happy Birthday.....To ME!

Hey guys!

Well just want to start off this leter as i usually do with saying whose birthday it is. oh yeah, that is right. it is mine!! happy birthday to me!! haha. and also to Jimmy wonnacott on friday, because he is one of the only other birthdays i know because it is so close to mine! oh and the ford girls, of course!! hope the day is awesome for you guys as well. Well we are going to be eating with some members and they are making me a special birthday feast! then the castillo family, who is way awesome, wants us to stop by in the night to party. ok, well not party but maybe have some cake or something. haha. i still havent got my package, but i will be down there tomorow because my comp is going to the temple with some converts, and i am working in the city so that should be fun and hopefully it is there. OH and for christmas - i would love some more ear plugs! i sleep with them every night and it is way nice. haha. the crickets are so loud!!

So today was another awesome p day. I think it is because of our new zone leader, elder gleave. he is way fun and loves to do stuff. SO this morning our whole zone got together and went to ihop to have all you can eat pancakes for 40 pesos and then after that we went bowling. i know i am supposed to be humble and all that but i smashed them all in bowling! it wasn't my best game but i bowled a 180! not bad. I dont have my cord to download pics so another day i will send those. remember this is my fun paragraph and funny experiences, so.... There is this kid that we see all the time and he always calls me elmer because he is a little confused with the elder. He is just some kid on the street and always is yelling elmer at me! haha. Well the other day he and his bud came up and offered me some marijuana! i have never been offered drugs in my whole life and i even went to the "drug school" haha. and now i am a missionary and i got offered them!! i thought that was pretty funny. Oh also you know how people down here have names that you would never see in the u.s., like "jesus" or "savior" and stuff like that? well the other day this lady's name was, no joke, Evangelio de dios! haha. "Oh hi! my name is 'gospel of god'"!! i thought that that was a little bit funny. her parents must have really loved her!!!

ok well now to the goods! we had 7 people in church yesterday. it was awesome! Andreas is a freaking stud and he is going to be baptized this next sunday. I am so happy! and then yolanda not only came to church, but brought two of her kids and two nephews. so we are going to be meeting with her whole family this next week. Yolanda has a date for baptism on the 30th of october, so things are looking up. we had two awesome lessons with her this week with other members in the ward. Working with the members is definitely the way to go. SO mom, dad, nick and lee, make sure you are open whenever the members need your help teaching and what not. Also this kid named Bizmar came to church (bizmar by the way is a freaking sweet name, don't ya think? i might have to name one of my kids that! he would go by biz! so dope! haha.). We set a baptismal date with him as well for the 30th. This week i did have 10 contacts or more every day and i have been working my butt off. We are trying to work more with the members so that is our goal for this week. but like i said, i will be down in the city tomorrow so we won't have too much time to work in our district. I think my spanish is doing a lot better, but i still get down on myself sometimes. gosh it can just be so hard and i sound like a total newb sometimes.

Well i love my ward! the people are way nice. The Castillo family is always giving us stuff and feeding us and even doing our laundry! She knit me the other day this way sweet thing with my name on it. i will send a pic of it next week. Also, there are a couple people in our ward who like to practice their english with me. Andreas speaks good english actually and we have become pretty close. He is a way nice guy. Well i think that is it for me! wow i can't believe that i am going to be 20! that is way too crazy! I am way old Huh! well, mom have fun in d.c. this week and show christian the awesome time that you showed me and the rest of all the boys! i love you all and hope that everything is going well back home!

Love elder Holmes!