Life in the Chik is fun, hard, and most of all, Life Changing!

HEY THERE HOME SKILLETS!!
Just a few reasons why the Chik is amazing. 1. The language is cool even though its hard 2. You are able to follow legends such as John Bringhurst, the first missionary ever to serve here, who actually wrote the language, and 3. You also get a chik name. There is a book of every chik name and missionary who has had them ever since the chik started. It's so cool to be able to continue the legacy. The experiences are once in a lifetime, and it’s amazingly beautiful! So those are just some of the reasons why everyone, including me, loves the chik. Also a quote by Elder Falabela, a member of the quorum of the seventy, ¨The best missionaries in the world are in the Polochik¨ It might not be exact, but its something like that. So that is really cool.

One thing really amazing happened yesterday. So this lady named Rosalina and 2 kids walked from their house to the church to be able to be their by 7 am to be able to go to the District Conference (stake conference) in Sacsuha. Super amazing!!! Elder Howard baptized them last month in his last area, but they moved and are now in our area in a place called Actela.

Yes we still have a wash lady/family. They are awesome. We have to walk about 1 mile up and down a mountain to give them our clothes!

I'm not taking my vitamin c things because we eat like 3 to 4 oranges or mandarins a day!

The language is really hard, nothing like English, nothing like Spanish. It will take at least 4 changes (6 months)for me to get it down a little bit, and I will still not really understand a lot so I will be lost for about the next 6 to 7 months. But I will get it someday! I don’t think I can even say the name of the language right yet. I’m getting it though. You will see what Q`eqchi` sounds like a tiny bit when I call you for Christmas. Well at least the name, because you have heard it already in conference talks, but anyways...

Elder Howard is sweet! We try and have fun in this crazy place. He is a really good teacher when it comes to helping me with Q`eqchi because he studies like an animal. So it’s really nice to be with him. And yes, we are re opening Santo Domingo. Thank goodness that Elder Howard was here before and knows the area. It would be completely disastrous if he didn't.

That’s great that you went to Elder Hansen’s homecoming, but funny that you commented on his smile. He was here in the Chik at one point too, and his chik name is "Smiley Man", but in Q`eqchi of course. Ha-ha!

I took out more money today because I am out of money, and my reimbursement just barely got sent, just an FYI.

So this week has been really rainy and muddy! Almost all 3 pairs of my shoes got completely soaked! We walk so high up in the mountains. We walk THROUGH clouds, when they are RAINING! So we get pretty wet from that. It’s really slippery from all the mud too, so hiking is pretty intense. I slipped and slid down like an 11 foot slope and didn’t even fall over, it was amazing!!! Another time I slipped and almost died but Elder Howard caught me luckily. It’s crazy up here! I am pretty sure I have already lost weight and only more will come off in the next while that I am here in the Chik, which is probably going to be about a year! But we will see. At least I won't be coming back a big chubbs right?

So it’s definitely rough up here, but it's good work and it will definitely make me a better person. It’s really unexplainable! One thing I'm hoping for is that we get the new beds we asked for soon. I can feel almost every single spring in my mattress. The places I can't feel them is because there aren't any! Ha ha! But since I am so exhausted, mentally and physically, I still fall asleep within like 6 minutes I swear!

But I really am excited to be up here in the Chik. It's going to be fun, hard, and most of all, Life Changing. I really don’t know how people can live here their whole lives though, it just blows my mind.

Well I really hope you guys have a wonderful week! I love you very much! Have a great Thanksgiving on Thursday without me. We will try and kill some animal and eat it or something because there is no Thanksgiving here in Guat, let alone in Polochik...

Stay Strong
Keep the Faith
Love Elder Jordan Smith