January 31

     Mommy, I totally understand what you mean about repetetive prayers. Sometimes we are no better than the Catholics the way we say the same prayer every time. If Alma and Amulek were here they´d call us to repentance. You should have said Prayer is talking to Heavenly Father. It can be and is just like talking to our real parents. You´ve got to say what is in your heart. Talk about your day, ask for things you need, thank him for the blessing you have, etc. If you walked up to your dad and said ¨Hi dad, I love you, thank you for food, my car needs gas, goodbye¨ every day eventually he´d stop listening to you.

     No, that is not how prayer works, it should be different every time you pray. Prayers are very personal and I´ve been trying to explain the exact same thing to my investigators, but they just don´t get it. They all want a set thing that they can say and be done with it. They don´t understand that you can pray to seek revelation and thats why it´s so hard to teach people sometimes. For example this week we gave an investigator, Raul, a guideline to pray. This is how we wrote it.

1) Nuestro Padre Celestial,
2) Te doy gracias por...
3) Te pido que bendigas...
4) En el nombre de JesuCristo Amen.

    We explained to him how prayer worked, but in the prayer he only said exactly what we wrote. So we re explained and he tried, but he was having a hard time. The people just don´t get it. They only know how to say the ¨Padre Nuestro que esta en los cielos santificad sea tu nombre... Blah Blah Blah¨. Anyways.

Marcielago. Since you have failed to write me I think that you should get me Rachel´s address. Or at the very least tell me when and where she is going on her mission. ¿She turned in her papers right? I like using the upside down question mark, ha ha. Who is this Dallan kid? I want to know. I feel left out!

     Mykhu. Hi... I don´t have any furniture. We have two beds, two dressers, two tables to study on, and two chairs that the previous Elders stole from the church). I forgot your other question. Something about anything exciting in my life?... Well, sometimes its fun to get harrassed by drunk people. The only words people know how to say in English are ¨Hello, my Brother¨ and ´´I´ll Kill You!´´ So the conversacions we have in English are rather dull. Lots of people think we are spies come to steal their water. Everybody loves to ask us about Joseph Smith to try and prove us wrong or something. They think that we worship him. People are always begging us for money. They think that because we´re American that it makes us rich, but really I´m only living off of $125 a month, thats barely enough to feed me and pay for bus fare, much less give it away to some guy who is just going to use it to buy beer.

     Kool Aid Jammer... You haven´t asked me any more questions so I don´t know what to tell you. All the girls here that are your age look a lot older. There is a 13 year old (But she looks like she is 18) that is already married and is pregnant. Be glad that you aren´t a Latin, the husbands make their wives to everything and they are lazy. Aren´t you glad that you are in HesuKristo Tupau Marangatu-kuera Arapahapegua (Thats Guarani for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints). I would love to be able to speak Guarani for real though. It would open so many doors, the people here would accept you better. Che daiquai Guaran-me, is the only thing I really know how to say. It means ¨I don´t know Guarani¨

Well it was fun, but I gotta go! Love,
Elder Zachary James Singson