Letter 11 Feb 2013

·         letter -Mon 2-11-2013‏

Feb 11 2013 ==== from  Jonathan Cattron   12:06 PM        

For those of you who are wondering, yes, I did in fact feel the earthquake. As much as it was a "cool" experience for me, I learned from Elder H that they are to be taken serious. I wasn't scared, but maybe that's because I haven't felt any of the bad ones. It's amazing to think about, though... and now that I think about it, we're almost on the top floor of a 7 story building... I should have been a little worried.

Elder A---- is from Utah. his house is about 10 minutes from the MTC. I'm pretty sure he could see it from the temple. 

Elder H is from Argentina, Balcarce una provincia de Buenos Aires

Ore meye eh chay uh. Hace 6 meses en la mision. = But he works like he's been here longer. He works hard.

Apparently most of the fleas I get jump on me from the sidewalk and ride around in my socks. It drives me nuts. I vacuumed the whole apartment today cuz I was so annoyed.

I don't know where to find any flea collars. We've been to a few grocery stores but that's about it.

Mom- Mmmm chocolate... I miss it. Basically have only been eating healthy stuff.  Tomatoes and avocados and onions... keep getting fed peaches, which drives me nuts. Only peach juice is good. 

I'm not sure if this is okay to say, but give her a hug or something from me. That song (I Hate Everything About You) is wonderful by the way. I happen to sing it every once in a while.  well...[past tense] did. --during when I worked at home.  It has a very interesting view to it. 

Tell my cousin T---a to be careful with math. It can make your brain go perpendicular. 

"Here is a question for you: How many stupid math questions does it take for you to poke your own eyes out with your pencil?"

Ask the math teacher who wears an eye patch. He probably knows from experience and doesn't need to figure out the answer anymore.

Mom - about the lady with a heart and soul for the people - I don't know the answer to how you can be more like her, but I do know that communication is important. I've learned this from all the Spanish I haven't understood. It's harder to get things done if you don't know what's going on.

Thank goodness I'm not there for jury duty. That guy would have been guilty by me just for fun. Okay not really, but I wouldn't feel like going.  After listening to Runaway Jury by john Grisham, I hope that I never have to.

Here's a part of my letter to the mission pres. Enjoy. Use Google Translate if you can't read it. I missed a couple accents, but you'll get the idea.

Quizás, puedo empezar con Elder Hormaechea. --- él es super bueno. haha. Me gusta que él está estudiando íngles. A veces, Le frustra, y él ríe y dice que es super dificil. . . yo entiendo este sentimiento. Pero él tiene mucha paciencia. Especialmente conmigo durante este tiempo lento de aprendiendo.
Ayer fue un día grande para mí. Casi todo el día, yo entendía todo. Es una apoya de mí vista de mí mismo, y yo sé que necesito recordar eso día.
Estamos orando mucho para los investigadores. Nadie que visitamos asistió la iglesia ayer, pero les llamamos y invitamos. Pero... yo sé... Paciencia y diligencia. 
Tenemos un... hijo? él tiene 19 años - y quiere bautizarse y servir un misión. Está visitando amigos aquí ahora hasta marzo y vive con ellos. Tiene 3+ asistencias... yo pienso. No sé si usted sabe todavia, pero queremos hablar con él para ayudar a hacerlo.
Qué más?... 
Vamos a hacer más contactos --- necesitamos arrepentirnos por hacerlo. 
Yo aprendí algo en mis estudios. La palabra valor - sobre los dos mil jovenes. Ellos hicieron todas las cosas con valor.
Y despues un poco de buscar - yo averigué en el diccionario y otras cosas que es un decisión tener miedo. Entonces, este es la cosa que va a trabajar a cambiar.
Pero, sí. Esperanza está bueno, y como todo de Chile -aunque casi nadie me cree o entiende- es un lugar perfecto para mí. Hay muchas cosas en este país de que me recuerde, y me gusta. Me siento que estoy en un otro hogar.

TRANSLATION:

Perhaps I can start with Elder H-------.  …He is super good. Haha. I like that he is studying English. Sometimes he gets frustrated, and he laughs and says it's really difficult. . . I understand this feeling. But he is very patient—especially with me during this slow time of learning.

Yesterday was a big day for me. Almost all day, I understood everything. It is a view supported me from myself, and I know I need to remember that day. 

We are praying much for our investigators. No one we visited attended church yesterday, but we called them and invited.  But ... I know ... Patience and diligence.

We have a ... kid? He is 19 years old - and wants to be baptized and serve a mission. Is visiting friends here now until March and lives with them. Has 3 + attendances ... I think. I do not know if you know yet, but we want to talk to him to help do that.

What else? ... We will make more contacts --- need to repent for it by doing it

I learned something in my studies. The word valor - about two thousand warriors. They did all the things with valor.   And after a bit of searching - I found out in the dictionary and other things that is a decision to be afraid. So this is the thing that will work to change.

But, yeah.  Esperanza ward is good, and like all of Chile, though hardly anyone believes me or understands me, it is a perfect place for me. There are many things in this country that remind me of things from my life at home, and I like it.  I feel like I'm in another home

What did I learn about Chile this week?  I didn't learn anything special about Chile this week that I can think of.  But Esperanza Ward is amazing. There's a family here that I feel like we could be good friends with if we weren't working. They are fun and super happy all the time—and a few other families as well.

We are still waiting on Felipe to come to church once more so that he can be able to be baptized. . . It will bless his life so much, but something is just barely holding him back. 

Love you all. Didn't say much in this letter, but maybe I can send a written letter today. We had a zone activity today for P-day.   We played Futbol, basquetbol, and had pizza.  Beautiful.

WEEEELLLLLp. Yeah. 

Love ya'll.

-Elder Gat-Tron [Some of the elders in the zone call me this—I think I sound like a transformer gun]