24 May 2010 email

May 24, 2010 at 1:29 PM

Hola familia y amigos. So this week here in Managua was really good and fun. We have been working hard but having a good time doing it. It is nice to hear what is going on in Oakdale. That is really cool that Ben (Ward) is getting his Eagle Scout Rank and Bobby (Hancock) is getting his papers ready. It is nice to hear that Dad is having a good time doing yard work.

So the weather here has been pretty windy and with storms too. All last night it rained with lighting and thunder. One night I was on splits with another missionary, Elder Montierth, and it was raining pretty good. Well we were walking down the middle of the street and we saw this big guy that looked like he was drunk and could cause trouble so we crossed to the other side. Well the guy started to wave to us and was yelling. It turned out to be one of the members. So we went up to him and he had a flower on his ear and gave another one to my comp. He wasn´t drunk or anything, just walking around in the rain with flowers haha. He is missing his two front teeth and his fang teeth? stick out when he smiles haha. He is pretty funny and really cool. I guess he is a shoe maker and he put new soles on my comps shoes for only a $1.50. He also fixed a big hole in my backpack with new material and everything for $.50 cents. It is really nice having members that have random jobs.

Another funny thing I saw while walking back one night was police man trying to get mangos. He was chucking his nightstick into the tree and trying to hit the mangos. At least he is doing something with it because other than that they just sit around here. It is funny because there are security guards posted all over here but half of them are asleep haha.

So this last Saturday we had a soccer game to get people comfortable here and get references. It turned out pretty well but my team was me and Elder Montierth and a bunch of kids that would keep running off or laying down during the game haha. Afterwards we bought soda for everyone. The funny thing here is that they put a lot of drinks and stuff in bags. You just bite the corner and drink it. So we had 6 liters of soda and poured it into seperate baggies, twist the top, tie it, and then bit a corner. It is a lot cheaper than buying cups and it is cooler.

So I got your packet only days after talking to you on mothers day but I forgot to put it in my last email. Thanks a bunch! I already finished it and now I am sad.

Another cool thing is that we were at this Mega American Clothes store, which is basically a Salvation Army Store, and I found a green Zelda shirt. So I had to buy it for $1.50. I will send you a picture when I get it back from being washed.

We had our Multi Zone Conference this last Wednesday which was really good. Presidente Fraatz was wearing sandals because he had a bad ingrown toe nail. A lot of missionaries have that here but I have been lucky enough not to have any yet. On the way back from the Conference we took a bus. I barely was able to get in because it was so packed and my backpack almost got closed in the door. I contacted the whole bus which was easily over 60 people. I don´t know how many people could hear me but I just yelled as loud as I could. I was car sick after the ride haha. Well that isn´t everything I wanted to tell about but I don´t have time enough or space for it all.

Here are a few more photos.

I love you all and big hearts.

Elder Ochs