Week 12

We have been waiting patiently to hear from Jacob this week. The last thing we heard from him was that he had arrived in Mexico safe and sound. We finally heard from him today and what a wonderful email it was. He is so excited to be working with the people I can almost hear the excitement in his email. Here is a little of what he has to say about his surroundings.
"Well it's been one week in Mexico and I´m absolutely loving it. Here's the story: on Monday we got in pretty late, went to eat, and went to bed for the next day. Tuesday, we got out assignments and had our interviews with the President. Remember how some missionaries were transferred to Villahermosa? Well that was because an area in the Veracruz mission was transferred to the Villahermosa mission. That area, called Los Tuxtlas, was the dream area for all of the missionaries to have. Anyway, on Tuesday, President Hansen announced that we got that area back in our mission and that some of us would be going to serve there! He put me in a trio with an Elder from California and a native Mexican Elder. One is the Zone Leader and the other is a District Leader. We are in a city about 3 hours from Veracruz called San Andres Tuxtla. It's a city of about 300,000, but you wouldn't think that if you visited. It's covered in jungle and rolling hills (huge hills that are tough to walk up). So, we've been here a week and we already found 3 people who were ready to be baptized. Not wasting a second, they were interviewed and I was fortunate enough to baptize one! Her name was Amelia, and I baptized her in the font in the meeting house. Ironically, the church is under construction, so the whole building is lacking a ceiling, floors and parmanent fixtures. But the baptismal font was nice and clean once we finished cleaning it. I'm absolutely in love with the area and the people especially. It´s not too hot right now, and it rained all one day. It kinda feels like early summer in Wisconsin, but more tropical. Everyday, we've been fed by members and it's been delicious! This area is heavily Catholic, so sometimes it's tough to get in houses, but I know that there are a lot of people to be found. We teach very simply down here, and I normally teach the Restoration section of the first lesson. Interpreting is a lot easier than talking, but I know it won't be long before I'm more confident in speaking. Mexico feels pretty safe, and most people respect the missionaries. Just about all of the houses are concrete blocks, lightly funished and pretty open. People leave their doors open, which makes it easier to contact! The people are very humble and courteous, and I wish Americans were like that a little more. My address is posted on my Facebook, I think it says, ''use after November 1st.'' I'll try to get some letters written next week, and we'll send them up pretty soon. Just know that I LOVE this work and my mission President and his wife are superb. You can just feel the love and respect coming off them. I'm loving Mexico, check out San Andres Tuxtla on Google Earth, by the way, we're about 10 miles from Lake Catemaco, or the witch capital of Mexico! I'll be safe, I know the Lord is with me and that my mission is the best mission in the world! We have a goal for everyone in our area to baptize on one Saturday in December, we call that a Bautizona! If we keep working hard, we can baptize EVERY WEEK! It all depends on our faithfulness. Well I love you all, please keep us in your prayers and continue to ready the Book of Mormon (I just finished Alma today)."

Much Love,
Elder Butterfield (Campo de Mantequilla en español)