Bummer...no pics again...I'll have to get on him - AJ's email from 4/9/12

        this week was a very tough week for us. i dont know why but everything, and i mean EVERYTHING, fell through on us during the week. i dont think ive had so many citas fall through in one week in my whole mission til now. it was ridiculous. but its also unfortunate. but it just means that we`ll have to get back to work and move on this week. there was one good thing from this week though. never before this week had i gotten into a house for the first time and have the whole family there to listen to us and actually pay attention and be interested. and then it happened on back to back days this week.

        Wednesday we werent having any luck. and the day before wasnt much better. we were just doing contacts basically the whole day. and we had set a cita on Tuesday with a guy to go back on Wednesday. but since nothing was working out for us, i wasnt real excited to go to his house cuz when we contacted him, he didnt seem real promising. but we went anyway cuz we had told him that we would go back. so we got there and knocked on the door, and a boy answered. it was his son. but the funny thing is that i already knew him. he is the boyfriend of a girl in a less active family that we have been teaching for the last couple months. so we had already talked with him a little before and knew a little about him. and he also knew a little about us. we told him that we had talked to his dad the day before and were there to share something with them. so he invited us in. so we got in and sat down and the whole family started coming together. the daughter stopped what she was doing on the computer, the mom stopped cooking, and the dad stopped working in his shop. it was awesome. cuz normally we get into a house and the only one who stays is the person that invited us in. so we talked a little about the basic stuff that we always share the first time. a little about the restored church, eternal life, eternal families, and baptism. and they all listened the whole time. im really excited to teach them again this week so i hope that they will be there.

          then thursday we were supposed to have a cita with one of the families that is always there, joel and veronica. but we got there and they werent there. so we called and asked where they were and veronica told us that they had gone to the hospital with their youngest son cuz he was having problems with something. but it wasnt anything serious. so we had to think of somewhere else to go. we went to our neighborhood to visit a lady that we found 2 weeks ago. but she wasnt there. so then we decided to go to the house of some old investigators to see if they had any interest. the mom answered the door and we talked to her a little, and after a little convincing, she left us in. basically we just told her that we wanted to share with them why we are here as missionaries and that it wouldnt take more than 10 minutes. so when we got in, they were taking once (which is a small meal around dinner time) together as a family. her, her husband, and her 2 daughters. so we shared that basic stuff like always and asked if we could come by another day to talk more and they kinda hesitantly agreed. but still it was really nice to have their whole family there.

          there is one thing from the week that got me a little frustrated. i dont know if its the culture or just cuz we are missionaries so people act differently. but i got really tired this week of knocking on doors where i know the people are there because i can see them or hear them or cuz their front door is open and so is the gate, but for some reason they dont answer. it happened way too much this week. i thought about how it is in the states. and im pretty sure that almost everyone would open the door at least if they are home, no  matter who it is there. just to see what they want. but here they dont. it even gets to the point sometimes where people will look out the window and look at us, and still not answer the door. i dont understand sometimes. you could at least open and tell us you dont want anything or tell us to leave, but to just leave us standing there? i dont get it. but oh well.

          the other thing from this week that is weird is the weather. its so unpredictable. tuesday and wednesday were cold. so cold that i had to wear a long sleeve shirt all day and even thought about putting my coat on towards the end of the night. then thursday friday and saturday it got really hot. like almost up into the 90s again. and then all of a sudden yesterday and today, its freezing cold again. and yesterday it sprinkled a little, the first time i have seen any amount of rain in over 6 months. everyday could be different. i know that in arizona the weather changes sometimes but as far as i remember, it was never so drastic in one week from cold to hot to cold again. but at least its cold again now so im not complaining.

          but thats basically my week. im having fun with elder sanchez although i felt bad for him a little yesterday cuz he got kinda sick. but i think he is feeling better today. i hope that you are all doing well. take care