November 21, 2011

Dear Family,

Wow. What can I say. There is a whole other world out here. I will just go ahead and start from where we left off. After I hung up the phone with you guys I boarded my flight. It is amazing to see what the world looks like from up above. I had a window seat and sat with Elder Rasmussen and Elder Palmer. When we flew into Mexico City I couldn´t believe what I was seeing. I couldn´t see the end of it. We landed pretty well and got off into the airport. We went through customs and everything and were met by the assistants to the president. They took us in a van through Mexico City to the presidents house. Let me tell you, traffic here is intense. I´m safe, I will never be driving anywhere, but it is intense. So don´t worry. We ended up at the Presidents house which is huge. The 14 of us spent the night there and the fed us like kings. We had a lot of fun. The next day we headed to the Reunion de Cambios. Where they assigned us our first companions. It was nerve racking sitting there watching everyone get their new companion and staring out into the crowd wondering who your trainer was going to be. Luckily, I was assigned to Elder Cuavas. He is 20 years old, a native of Mexico (from Baja California, Mexico), and he knows some english. He´s been out for a year. Then we got on a bus with our things and headed to our new area. We are in the city of Pachuca, in the state of Hidalgo. Our area is Los Torres. Tell Jess and Kass that the city I´m living in is the one that (Pachuca Sunrise - Minus The Bear) is named after. This city isn´t dangerous at all. The people here are so nice and almost everyone is willing to at least talk to us. We got to our house and I was impressed. It was a thousand times better than I thought it would be. I´m living pretty good over here in Mexico, all I can say is that it´s very different from the United States. Each day we wake up, exercise, shower, study and head out. I can tell you that I now know the difference between authentic Mexican food and Margharitas. Everything here is soooo delicious, but they feed us until we can´t eat anymore. Haha, I´m pretty sure I offended the Ward Mission Leader the other day. He offered me pork and I wouldn´t eat it. Well, not such a good idea. I can tell you that I have eaten the pork since I´ve been here. Accidently. The hermanas took us to a restraunt and bought us carnitas. I didn´t know that they are filled with pork until after when Elder Cuevas told me. I haven´t gotten sick, so I´m pretty sure I´m okay. I can tell you I´ve drank the water, but I feel fine and most of it is bottled. My favorite foods here are huaraches, chalupas, tamales, and the candy. Mexican candy is very different form the United States candy, but after you eat it a couple times, it´s addicting. I love Sangria. The soda pop that all of the members have at their houses. I didn´t at first, but it´s one of my favorites. The people here are obsessed with these things called ¨pastes¨. They are like Danish´s but sometimes filled with meat. My favorite kind now is Choriqueso. It´s chorizo and cheese in a crescent-like roll. My companion and I get along great, we are very different, but we have quite a few things in our lives that are the same. All of the people here are so humble. They will seriously give you the shoes off their feet so they can have a friend. My companion gave me one of his watches the first night I was here. It´s Armani. Yea, I know. Haha. Everyone here is always willing to take the time to listen to my Spanish. We actually contacted a few people that we are teaching this week that promised to listen to our lessons if after I can talk with them in English. Haha, the best part is that I have people asking me to help their kids with their English homework. On Thursday of last week we went to a recent-convert families house and they were amazed that I could speak English. They kept having me say words in English and then at the end they asked if I would pray in English. I can tell you that I´m one of the only white people in Pachuca. Every bus we ride on is packed with people, and I´m the only one who isn´t Latino. I get a lot of funny looks. It´s very strange being a minority, but the people here take good care of me. There are 2 white guys in our district. Me and Elder Kleinhenz. He´s from Indiana. All in all everything here is very different, but good. I´m having a great time and my Spanish is coming along just fine. I can now have actual conversations with people. Last night I had a 20 minute conversation with a member who is my age in Spanish. It boosted my confidence quite a bit. Today is el dia de personal. We woke up and went to play soccer with a bunch of other people. You wouldn´t believe how amazing these guys are at soccer, especially my companion. If you see Stones, tell him I have a soccer team for him, down here in Mexico. I have a video to show you guys when I get home. The members that we ate with last night invited us over for lunch today. We had Tlacoyos? Haha, and then they pumped us full of Sangria. They´re awesome. Their names are Jaime, Omhar, and Angel. 2 of them served missions here in Mexico and Angel is only 17. They played soccer with us and now we´re like best friends. After that we cleaned the house and here I am. I wish I could tell you all of the things that happened, but I need to attach some photos. Entonces, thanks for all of your e-mails. It felt so good to read some English! Thanks for the pictures of Kassi! I´m so proud of that girl. Tell everyone that I love them soooo much. Everyone. In the family and all my friends. Tell them I love them and pray for them each day. Don´t worry about me down here, I´m adjusting just fine. My testimony is strengthening so much and I´m so happy I have this opportunity to serve the Lord. Just remember that he´s looking out for you always. I LOVE YOU GUYS SOOO MUCH AND CAN´T WAIT TO TALK TO YOU NEXT MONDAY! I´ll have more pictures. LOVE YOU! (Please put these on facebook. Haha)

Elder Danny Poulsen