Email 20 June 2011

Elder Bitner''s home (top/orange)

To All That May Care,
Hi. To start off, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD! Sounds like it was a pretty uneventful one, but those are nice I guess sometimes. Hopefully you were able to enjoy yourself though. Hopefully everyone else was able to as well. Anyway, how is everybody??? That’s good. Well, this week has been a fun one. Nothing too much has happened though. Just saw new things and such. Hopefully things are better back home though. With Tyler's death and everyone. Hopefully everyone is starting to rid themselves of some of that sadness. Remember, there is light in every storm. Well, moving to the events of my week...
We shall start with Tuesday. As I mentioned last week, we now go to Huehue for our District meetings. This week's was good... We take our clothes down there now to get them washed. It is good and bad. Good because the lady does a good job. Bad because we have to carry it around with us in whatever it is we do after District Meeting. Gets old after about 50 feet of walking. Something I’ll have to get used to now. For a while at least...
At the meeting, we were asked by our Zone Leader to get a bunk bed frame out of the Missionary's room in the church in Colo for the Elders in Ixta. We went and got it that same day. The thing was covered in spider webs. It was tied together with metal wire. It was just a pain. After having quite a few spiders crawl out onto us, we got it out the door and to our house. The Zonies came to our house on Thursday and took it to the Elders.
We went to Huehue Thursday afternoon to stay the night there because we were supposed to have a conference Friday and Xela. When we got to Huehue though, they found out it was cancelled. We actually almost didn’t even get to go... haha. Rain started pouring down right when we went out to try and find a truck. It was crazy... The street was covered by at least 4 inches of water in just minutes. I was amazed. It was beautiful haha. Bergie and I went to Don Juans though once we got there with the two from Ixta.
When we got back from Huehue, I found my Book of Mormon on the ground. Guess I forgot it. It was sitting in a huge pile of water! The rainstorm had put so much rain on our roof, that it began to leak into our house... Just happened to hit right next to where my Spanish scriptures were. They are quite wet and ruined now. Still kind of can use them. The pages are just pretty messed up. I’m going to try and order a new one or something though. We shall see I guess... It has been raining a lot more though. It is crazy.
On Wednesday Bergie and I hiked up to the letters on the mountain that say Colotenango. Took a while to get there because it was in the middle of nothing. No path. We were doing it old school style haha. I actually didn’t even make it all the way to the letters because I got stuck at a cliff area. If I would have tried to get down it I would have for sure slipped and fell a little ways down the hillside. It was really cool up there. A perfect view of all of Colo, and when in the shady parts, it felt great. I was really happy during that short time period. It was awesome.
On Thursday we took a little trip with a friend of ours here and a less active. We went to a little "laguna", which is basically like a pond haha. It was really cool there. They had canoes you could rent to go out on, but we didn’t do that haha. Would have been bad if we fell in. They had a monkey there. That was weird... It was just a pretty little place, so it made it worth the trip. Our friend who drove us, Diego, took us out to lunch too. We had "caldo de pata" at some little place... Caldo de pata is a soup that has the meat and other things from the shin of an ox. It was....disgusting. The worst thing I have had in the mission by far. Liver is close, but eating the shin of an ox is just plain weird. It smelt like pure slaughter. Took me back to the time where I watched the cow die. Smelt the exact same way haha. He also bought this thing for him that is call serviche. It has all sorts of stuff in it... Tomatoes... Onions... Shrimp.... Crab.... Octopus... Clam... Lime.... Sounds really weird, right? I tried it though. Had a piece of shrimp, crab, and octopus. Strangely enough, the octopus was my favorite haha. Tasted really good. It was a fun trip overall. Being in a normal car was really fun. Helped us grow closer to Diego too, so that was neat.
On Thursday I woke up at 5am to a ton of noise outside. Looked out the window to about a 1000 corte women waiting outside of the gym there. Turned out there was some organization giving out money to everyone for each member they had in their family. 100 Quetz a person I think. Couldn’t receive more than 600 Quetz though. It was pure chaos all day. It was the exact same thing Friday too. On Thursday though, we came up with an idea. The streets were lined with people right? haha. We took 75 pamphlets and wrote our names and number on them and then went out there and handed each one out. Didn’t get very far down the line, but it was really cool haha. We went back to our house and just looked out our window. Saw people actually trying to read it and others flipping through looking at the pictures. It felt good. Not one was left on the ground. They all took them! We both thought it was a fun thing to do haha. Some people wouldn’t take them until they saw someone else take one. Followers...
On Saturday, I spent quite a bit of time trying to help a guy set up wireless internet. Couldn’t figure it out. He speaks English and everything though, so we were actually able to communicate the problems and such. Still couldn’t figure it out though. He bought a CNet CWR-935m thing. Didn’t work for me though. It would be a lot better if you were here Dad haha. I definitely don’t have your talents. I just miss photoshop on the computer. That is all I’m good at really haha.
We work with everyone. Nobody progresses though. The inactives won’t go back because of other people that go. Investigators don’t progress because they just can’t stop smoking and drinking. The only ones that have hope are the ones that members tell us about. No one has given us anyone though, so it makes it difficult. We teach, but the people don’t even understand us.
Everything is good though. Didn’t go to all of church yesterday because Bergie was sick from stuff Diego gave us Saturday night when we shot some baskets with him. It rained quite a bit too though, so it was a good day to be sick. Pretty simple Sunday. I love you all though! Have great weeks and be happy :) Hang in there guys. Miss you :)
Love with every cherry in the world on top,
David B :) aka Elder Beautiful

Email 13 June 2011

Note from Mom - There are two posts again due to the loss of Tyler in our family please be sure to read June 6th first.  Sorry! 

Beloved Family and Friends...
This has been the saddest P-Day of my mission thus far by far. I cannot believe what happened this past week. It is so hard for me to picture...As well as understand. It is a complete shock to me. I loved Tyler. I was able to do quite a few things with him. The most memorable was our day together in Vegas. Being asked by a Chinese cab driver if we wanted a free ride to a strip club... Being chased down by the black guy because I walked off with his CD. The two girls at the pool... We had a lot of good times, and I always will miss him. He was an amazing kid... My heart goes out to all that were affected by his loss. He will always be remembered. No doubt about it...
Well, I guess I’ll continue with the events in my life this past week...
First off, I got another story about a drunken guy... On the way home this past Monday on the bus, I was yet again talked to by a drunk. He sat next to Larson, but after he pretended to fall asleep he was left to me... We stopped at this one place and a bunch of people got off and a bunch more got on. I had an empty seat next to me when the people were getting on, so this man took it upon himself to yell out in Mam to all the girls that there was an open seat next to the "gringo" haha. One girl did end up sitting next to me thanks to him. The entire time he proceeded to try and get me to talk and flirt with her with small Mam phrases he was teaching me. I refused though because I could not stop laughing. He was absolutely crazy, but it was another good moment to laugh at haha. I actually dealt with quite a few drunk on Market Day... We had one follow us for a good while. Wouldn’t leave us alone. We came across a friend of ours though, that told him to go away and clean his shoes. Having friends that speak English and Mam comes in handy a lot... haha. My advice to everyone just is to not drink. Simple as that...
As we all know, I went through changes this last week. Gropp went home and is enjoying life as a normal human, and I’m still here in Colo. Surprise surprise.... I’m okay with it though because my new companion is Elder Bergeson, who was one of the Elders in Ical, and my best friend from the CCM haha, and we are in charge of both Colo and Ical. More area, which means more possibilities :). I have gotten extremely lucky with my last 3 companions... Shaw to Gropp, and now Bergie :) It is nice. Bergesone is from Houston, so I actually know about some of the things he talks about. Pretty cool. His dad is a chiropractor there. Does quite well for himself...And by that I mean he drives a Dodge Viper SRT10. Berg said when I come visit him after the mission I can drive it, so book my plane ticket now haha. Anyways, Bergeson's old comp is now rotting away in Xela with the assistants until he goes home next week. But yeah, life is good for me. I’m going to enjoy this change just like the 3 before.
With the changes came new things to the Zone... There are actually a lot of people from my group in our Zone now. To be specific, there are 7 of us. It is pretty cool. We are no longer our own District up here in Colo. Bergseson was the District Leader, but we got switched Saturday so we wouldn’t be just a 4 person district. We are part of the one down in Huehue again, which means we have 14 people in our District. That is a rather large District... haha. We got a new Zone Leader, Elder Becerra, who was in my District back in Cerrito. He has almost 2 months less time than me, so that is something different to experience. He is the first person to be a leader over me that had less time. I definitely don’t mind though haha. I’m perfectly fine with being a normal missionary my whole time out here. Pray for that. I don’t like responsibility out here. Too many whiners.
Bergeson and I have been working well together though. Didn’t shock either of us haha. A lot of the time we don’t really know what to do, so we just walk down this really big street handing out pamphlets and talking to those that speak Spanish. Then we come to a bridge. We stop and have a boat race, and by that I mean we take empty bottles and drop them off the bridge into the river and race them to a certain point. I have yet to win... Mine always sinks. Not sure why that is... Then we come up the same road, which is quite steep at parts....doing the exact same thing! Fun? Yes... Productive? Probably not, but that is about all we can do until we get a reference. Got to love the life as a missionary in such a random place!
That has basically been my week in a nut shell though. Not too bad... but not too great. I still can’t believe what happened with Tyler. Can’t get it off my mind in fact. It is sooo sad to me. I shook as I read Rachel's email. It honestly just is a terrible thing that we are all unfortunate to deal with. Hang in there everyone... I love you all and miss you all so very much. You guys mean so much to me. Keep smiling and keep moving down the path of life... Even if it smacks us right in the face.
Love always,
David, otherwise known as Elder Bitner

Email 6 June 2011

Zone

Hello all my favorite people that actually open this up and read this novel of my mission,
Sorry this has come later today. We went down to Quetzaltenango this morning so Gropp could try to find a few things before he heads out. We ate Taco Bell for lunch, which was nice, and we visited the new Walmart there. It has all sorts of things from the states. Pretty awesome. Also ran to Hermano Cuque there, my favorite person here haha. He was in town for an EFY conference or something. It was awesome seeing him. He ate lunch with us and shopped with us. It was great :)
Things are going quite well for me still. Hopefully they are with all of you as well. The happiness on my part might change this week however. Another change is over, which means a new one is starting... Gropp goes back to Idaho in just 3 days now, while I stay behind and receive another companion and perhaps a new area. We can only hope it is a cool companion. Gropp thought I was going to get the wonderful opportunity to train (something I don’t want to do), but we have come to find out that only one 'Sister' will be coming in this change, and unless something very dramatic changes the rules, I will not be training her... haha. I’m pretty scared for these changes to be completely honest. Mainly just because I know I’m getting a new companion, just not who it will be! Worries me...
This week has been good though. Not much has happened with me still... We were supposed to have a conference on Tuesday with President here in Huehue, but he didn’t show like normal haha. Instead we listened to the assistants for a while talk about whatever they felt like. It was....fun. We did finally receive pouch. I got the talk mom sent me (thanks for that mom) and 2 letters from friends. Not too bad :) They gave us McDonalds for lunch, but we were all pretty disgusted by it, so after we went to our favorite little place to get those delicious crepes. There were 8 of us there. Quite a site for those little Latin’s here.
On a more random note, I got my haircut. It had been quite a while to be honest. My hair was getting pretty longish. Now, it is rather normal. Had the lady cut it with just scissors, so it was more American like haha. Still not perfect though. Had to get some touch-ups from an Elder. Moving on though...

Went on divisions for a while this week with my good pal Bergeson. We went up to Ical in the morning to visit a family of investigators that I actually started teaching with Shaw, so it was kind of cool for me. The dad wasn’t there though, so we waited for a while. And in Ical...waiting means food, which is never a good thing. She started by bringing us a cup of water, which we did not know if it was for drinking or the washing of hands, so we did both even if it did have many, and I mean many, gross little thingies floating around in there haha. Lovely, right? Don’t be surprised if I end up at home one day with a parasite. The chances are a lot higher than I originally expected coming to this country. After the water though, out came the beans... The grossest looking and tasting beans I have ever seen/tasted in my life... They were so gross in fact, that Bergeson paid me 40 Quetz, or 5 Dollars, to eat his haha. Not much later, another cup of water was brought our way, but this time it was green! However, there was no delicious flavor like there should have been... Instead more things on the disgusting side because it too was filled with endless little floaties. After that little shin-dig we went back to Colo to get some lunch that would hopefully get rid of the awfulness already inside of us. Guess that isn’t what God wanted because we were served rice with liver. Now liver, is honestly the grossest thing I have ever eaten. Pure vomit. Sounds good, yeah? I have had that 3 times now in Colo, and it only is beginning to taste worst. That is expected though... Now although I ate all this, I did not get sick. I have no idea how I didn’t, but I’m eternally grateful for my health haha. It was very hot outside that day, so I just don’t understand how I didn’t die. Lucky me!
As part of Gropp's final full week in the mission, we partook in some celebrating... That being me buying 2 new soccer jerseys haha. A Manchester United one and a France one. Pretty cool ones ;) I bought them in the Mesilla, which is the border of Mexico. Gropp wanted to go up there because he spent a good 5 months out there. We went and had lunch. He got his haircut. I bought my jerseys... It was great! On Saturday, we went down to Huehue to see one of his investigators from his last area get baptized. That was pretty cool, especially since both Elders there are our good friends. It was a nice service though. I’m sad we weren’t able to get a baptism this change, but I guess that is just part of the difficulties of being in a hard area. Just got to keep going I guess... I’m sad he is going though. This has been the funniest change of my mission. He really understands how to find enjoyment here, which is something I am lucky to have taken from him.
My week was good though as you might have noticed. Like I said, not too much happened, but it was still nice. It continues to rain, and I love still love it! Might have to pull out the sweaters and rain jacket soon. Pretty excited haha. Can’t think of anything else. It is fun though still! Hang in there. Love you guys :) Miss you all as well.
Love,
David!

Email 30 May 2011

Scorpion on roof of house

NOTE FROM MOM - Last weeks email is also posted now, finally

Pues, aqui estamos....
How are things with all you??? Can’t really imagine anything but good, so that is what I will assume ;) Things have been going well for me. I have been enjoying myself with everything. The mission is still good in other words haha. My companion goes home in 9 days now... It doesn’t seem fair. I honestly feel like this may never end... I know it is bound to though, unless I die in some crazy thing in 2012. People here are going to go absolutely crazy by the way. Time for the week's events.
To be quite honest, not much has happened to write home about. Things are going pretty slow right now. That is alright I guess though. Can’t get upset about it now can you? haha. So something kind of cool this week was that we got a ride from cops down to Huehue. They asked us if we needed a ride, so we said yes! haha.
Another weird thing was that I became friends with a Drug Lord. That was cool. He bought us Pizza and Gatorades. Just a lot of fun haha. He likes us a lot. I guess it is a guy that my companion used to teach like a year ago. Now he is into the business of his family. Good for him... haha. Speaking of Drug Lords though, turns out there have been a lot of problems with them as of late. There have been a lot of killings this past week. A lot in Huehue, but some up north towards me too. As the members say it, things are "peligroso", or dangerous. We have been fine though. We are actually friends with them, so I don’t think we have much to worry about haha. Life is crazy here...
At our District Meeting this week we had one of our Zone Leaders come. He had interviews with us in companionships. Towards the end of the thing he asked if there was anything wrong between us. Gropp was like, "Yes! Bitner is gay..." My Zonie was like, "That is a problem." Then I was like, "Yeah, I’ve been meaning to talk to someone about it. Just haven’t gotten around to it." And for a second our Zone Leader though we were serious. It was a funny little experience haha. You really have to appreciate the little things like that in the mission that make times fun.
So there has been a lot of rain as of late. Some of the hardest storms I have seen. It gets crazy. It hasn’t even really hit the rainy season! It is still pre-rain season. I’m so excited for it... I’m going to get soaked like everyday I’m sure. Sound like a blast? I think so.
On Saturday, we were supposed to go teach the one kid that I have told you about. His name is Mynor... He ended up not being able to at the last minute though. He had to work I guess. He didn’t show up to church... The bishop and first counselor said they are going to try and talk to him and stuff though, so that is good. Finally getting some help!
Because the thing with Mynor fell through, we had an investigator, Diego, one of our best friends here, invite us over to watch the championship soccer game between Manchester United and Barcelona. Gropp's and Diego's team is Barcelona and mine is Machester, so it was a lot of fun for us. I actually bet a kid in a Colo a Gatorade that Manchester would win... haha. But, they lost of course. They always got to fail me in the most important times... I’m playing the kid I bet though tonight in soccer. The gringos and one Latino missionary vs. the Latinos from where we eat lunch. We won last time, so we should win again. I’m excited haha.
The other night Gropp burned some of his clothes... He really is going home. It is kind of crazy. He has 9 days left today. Wow.
At church yesterday I gave a talk. They told me right before they announced it. They were going to have Gropp do it, but he did it last time, so he made me do it haha. Had to make it up on the spot. It was not the most fun thing in the world...
Also, yesterday I fed a parrot a peanut with my mouth. That was something new for me. Held it between my teeth and it took it right out.
Last night something really weird happened. There were some screams so we went on the roof. Just saw people gathered together. We went down to ask what was going on. I guess a guy was going to kill himself, but then a guy took a machete and sliced him or something to keep him from doing it. Supposedly he was very bloody and such. They had already taken him to the "hospital" above our house by the time we got there. It was just one of those weird things. Plus, on the way to Huehue this morning, we saw the results of a head on collision between two trucks (yes, the kind I ride in). Didn’t look like anyone died because there was no blood, but the trucks were very badly damaged. It was kind of neat in a weird kind of way haha.
That is about it for my week. Pretty normal week I suppose. Hope all is well back home! Enjoy your Memorial Day :) I love you all and miss you all!
Love,
David! aka Elder Bitner

Email 24 May 2011

Gropp and me this morning at one of our favorite restaurants here. Place called Don Juans. Crepes with Strawberries and Nutella covered in Maple Syrup. Mmm mmm mmm....Good.

NOTE FROM MOM - THIS IS LATE BEING POSTED, Sorry

Hey there people,
Sounds like everyone is partying without me there in Texas... Not quite fair to be honest haha. Whatever I guess... I’ll tell you about my week that was not spent with family in Houston ;)
All started with Monday night... We got together with some less actives (the family that cooks our lunches) and went to Ixta to play soccer on a little field. It was Gropp, Bergeson (from Houston), Larson, Ruiz (Elder in Ixta), and me vs. 6 Latinos. Guess who won even with all the trash talking and such... We did! Dominated in fact. We took advantage of our height haha. It was probably the most fun game of soccer I have played in the mission though. We are doing it again some night this week. I’m excited :)
On Tuesday, Bergeson and I were companions for the day. Our comps went down to Xela to try and order some new pants for when they go home, which by the way, I might want to get some pants too. Probably not though. Just a thought. Being the nice comps that they are though, they brought us back some Taco Bell. Even though it was cold, we still enjoyed it quite a bit haha. I miss Taco Bell so much. I went there a lot back at home...
One day this week, I spent a good portion of the day cleaning the house. It looked really nice for a few hours... It got bad though again. I hate how that happens haha. I like clean things. I’ve become somewhat of a perfectionist being here. Okay, maybe not quite that bad yet, but I’m headed there haha. The house looks a lot better than it did with Shaw though. We moved a bunch of things around and now the whole layout just flows. I’m trying to be like the guys from Design Star haha.
It has been raining pretty well in the afternoons though lately. I’m enjoying it quite a bit to be honest. It pours ridiculously hard here sometimes and it is just straight awesome! haha. Supposedly it gets a lot worst, but we'll see just how true that is...
Well, President came to Huehue last Thursday. We had a Conference and interviews. We were supposed to play, but at the last second President received revelation that we shouldn’t play. Can’t argue about that too much I guess. My interview with him went well. It lasted a whole 20 seconds, so I got a heck of a lot out of it haha. It was a pretty pointless interview. He just asked if my parents were doing well, and told me to learn all that I can from Gropp. It was a fun day though. We were the first interviewed because we are the farthest away, so we were able to leave rather early. That was nice.
One thing I have come to realize about the dialect speakers is that their Spanish is just absolutely horrible. For example, everyone here calls us "canche", which basically just means white boy. The dialect people call us "canchos", which doesn’t have true significance. To say "I know" in correct Spanish would be "yo se", but in Colo they say "yo sabo". It just one of those things that makes you feel really good about your Spanish. It is a good self-esteem booster. That is... until they start speaking in Mam again.
Yesterday was Conference... We had church from 2 in the afternoon until 5. I don’t know why it isn’t 2 hours just like the States. Got some nice announcements though. As dad has already figured out, the dedication to the temple in Xela will be December 11. Also heard more about the reconstruction of the chapel in Colo. Starting in 60 or 90 days, they are going to tear down the church and build a new one. A two story church that will have an elevator, which will be a huge deal here. They have never seen such technology I’m sure haha. It sounds like it is going to be a really nice church though. I won’t be here to see it finished, and for that I’m kind of sad. I might get to see it destroyed though! How cool would that be?
That was my week though. A few run-ins with drunks, but that is normal. These ones were touching me... It got kind of creepy, but I kept my cool. Today is my 300th day in the mission. High five for that haha. Anyways, that is about it! Hang in there guys. Love you all and miss you! Congrats on graduating Med School Derek. That is kind of big deal in this world Doctor.
Love,

Elder Bitner

Clothes area. Gropps on left, mine on right

Stairs to roof, work out space with random red table, and shower entrance

Shower

Beds! Very nice mattresses..... Not

Study area, Kitchen, Toilet

Colotenango at night from our roof. What I was looking at when I called on Mothers Day.

Email 16 May 2011

Hello all.
Pues, this week went by rather fast. It is weird how that all works... It honestly seems that each week gets faster and faster. Kind of crazy. I’m perfectly fine with it though.
Alright... As for the week - We finally got phones, so I’m no longer without communication. Now people are always on our tail trying to push us. They brought them to our District Meeting on Wednesday. It was kind of funny because it was just me and my comp and the Elders from Ical. It is my favorite District of the mission thus far. We enjoy ourselves.
So one day this week, things for our day kind fell through for Gropp and me. We decided to just go to Ical and see if we could help there. We ended up staying the night there, which was a lot of fun. The branch was having seminary at the building, so there were quite a few people there. We played basketball and soccer with them. Gringos vs. Latinos. We completely owned so it was cool :) They were shocked that we could actually play soccer haha. The weird thing about playing was that there were bugs all over the court. And I mean all over.... You could barely see cement. The bottoms of each of our shoes were just filled with bug guts and such. It was gross... After everyone left, it began to rain so we went inside. Went out a little later to feel the fresh air, when we saw a bunch of frogs. Like 6 just hopping around the outside walls of the church. We began to play with them haha. It was kind of cool. Sleeping was hard because all the bugs kept getting inside the church and all over us. It was nasty...
Another day this week, we set up a basketball game with a couple of investigators. The Elders from Ical came down, so it was the four of us and one less active. It was a close game... Not really. We basically dominated. The people in Colo love us though. We got somewhat of a crowd too haha.
On Saturday, we went to visit this kid that showed up to church last week. He lived pretty far out there... The first counselor of the Bishopric accompanied us. We ended up finding 10 new investigators there. Maybe 3 will progress though... The kid's mom is in the states right now, so his aunt is kind of ruling his life. She just argued with us in Mam the entire time, which neither of us understood. We just understood what the counselor would translate for us. We left there pretty annoyed. Moving on though...
Once we got back, we ran into the Ical Elders. They were going to go to Ixta to get some money... We decided to go with them. I ended up having to pull out some money from my account for Bergeson because he couldn’t remember his pin number haha. That explains why some money was taken out. He bought us all ice cream with it though, so it was nice :) On the way back things got sketchy... This was probably the most scary part of my mission thus far. We were coming into Colo, when we came to a stop because two drunk guys decided to park their trucks side by side in middle of the road, each facing the other way. They were each living in their own little worlds, so they kind of ignored all the angry people around them. Honking started. Yelling started. It was a mess. One of the guys started yelling at us in English, so we began telling him to move... He finally did. The one left and then one yelling at us turned around and followed. Before he started driving away he began cussing at us... Very vulgar things. Gropp got a tad bit frustrated and through an empty bottle he was holding at the truck as it drove away... The guy turned down another street as we continued straight. He picked up two friends and reversed very fast, hitting a house rather hard, but because the houses are cinderblock, only his truck received damage. He then pushed the pedal to the floor and chased after us. We were lucky because we had a couple cars in between us now. We hopped out of the truck we were in and just completely booked it for our house. Ran sooo fast. It was scary to be quite honest. My heart was racing as well as the hearts of the others. It was awesome though haha. We were pretty thrilled it happened, once it was said and done haha.
Anyways, that was my week basically. Pretty simple and easy. Got some missionary work done of course. No dates for baptisms yet, but hopefully we see something good soon. I love you all so very much! Enjoy your weeks :) Miss you guys.
Love,
Elder D Bitner

Email 10 May 2011

Hey everybody :)
Well, I talked to my family Sunday as many people might have assumed, so this email will be rather short most likely. Not much to say! Shame shame, right?
Anyways, I spent the first few days of this week feeling poorly. I had some problems digestively... Very typical in Guatemala, but I hate getting sick. It was all good though. Part of being in a different country I suppose.
I visited a new part of Guatemala. A little city named Cuilco. We decided we wanted to see what was out there so we went for it. It is a little city that you can only get to through Ixtahuacan. It was a fun adventure though. Minus the fact that I got very badly sunburned because of all the truck riding. My nose is pretty messed up right now haha.
For Mothers Day, I spent the morning at church and the afternoon talking with family, which I enjoyed very much - 2 more times of calling home and then I’ll be home. Guess you could say I’m kind of half way through because of that. For my Mother’s Day dinner, I ate Tuna mixed with Mayo and Crackers. Definitely not something I would even attempt to eat before the mission, so high five for that! I decided Tuna isn’t that bad... But it still tastes quite nasty. Not something one can eat a lot of.
As some might have realized, they switched P-day on me this week... Not really sure why, but whatever. Yesterday, they told us we weren’t allowed to leave the house until 12. Found out that was just because some of the Office Elders were coming to pay us a visit. They showed up to our house and I was just like wow. You have got to be kidding...
Anyways, that was my week. Hope everything continues to go well with everyone! Again, it was nice to talk to you all. Especially you mom! Again, Happy Mother’s Day :) Hang in there guys. Have great weeks!
With much much love,
Elder David Bitner