Adios Enero [31 January 2011]

Dear Family,
I am enjoying all of the exciting news from home. Congratulations to Joseph on his mission call. I wish I could have been there to see him open it. I am not even sure what Czech sounds like or how it is constructed.
We have two baptisms scheduled for the 6th of February. They both chose me to perform the ordinances. I have the words memorized for the baptism so now I am just repeating their extremely difficult names over and over in my head. It is not uncommon for some Latins to have four given names. My companion will confirm them on the 7th. This is the happiest I have ever been on the mission. We are both really excited and motivated to work that much harder now.
As a couple of you already know, I had my first zone conference on Wednesday. I had the opportunity to see Elder Voss again and talk with him for a bit. President Ward talked about proving ourselves every day by conforming with the small rules in the mission. He talked about the test God gave to Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son. We mostly practiced extending the baptismal invitation and using the Book of Mormon to answer questions and doubts. I always see how lacking my Spanish is when we all get together and I talk with the elders that have been out here longer. We had a really good hamburger, chip, and fruit dinner following by one of the most delicious pastries I have ever had.
Our water is back on. The pressure is lacking, but we are just happy it's back. We filled up every container in our house just in case it decides to leave again. The news said the water was safe to drink again. After drinking it all day there was a follow up report and officials finding grime, worms, and other contaminates in the water. I will let you know if I die.
My companion has been teaching me how to play dominoes. He plays a variation of chicken foot and taught me an interesting thinking slash math game with them. It is a fun way to relax when we get back at night.
I cannot believe we are entering February. Time is fleeting.
Love,
Elder Whiting