3/12/09

Mi Familia,
Como estan ustedes? En esta tiempo mi companero es muy enfermo y yo tengo tiempo a escribo ustedes. Vida es esta bien. Nada nuevo. Well this is taking too long in Espanol. How is everyone doing? Life here is good. My comp is sick so I have time to write you guys today. Life here is good. Tell Judy that I say hi. Work here is good. We are trying to find new people and progress with the people that we already have. We are going to have our first baptism on Saturday. His name is Samuel Nava and he is 11 years old. He wants me to baptize him so I am really excited about that. His Mom needs to get married before we she can get baptised. We have a few more people ready to be baptised in the next couple of weeks. So life is good. It's crazy that I have been out for 4 months now. It feels like forever ago. I'm really loving it though. There really isn't anything like it. I gotta go play nurse for my companion. I love you. Write soon. Love Nathan

quick email 2/24

So this week has been really good. I got a new companion elder Matthews and he is really cool. We are really similar and are working really hard. I'm doing pretty good except for the fact that me credit card wont work. The account had been hacked and a bunch of missionaries cards lost their money or where shut down. So that was fun not having money for a week. I have to wait until next month to get money back on my account. Other than that life is really good. I'm seeing alot of progress with my investigators and have one on date right now and have a goal of 8 baptisms this transfer . I'm loving this work so much. It was good not having Van Gool or a companion for a few days cause it forced me to speak more and realize I know more than I give myself credit for. How is life in Spokane? I love you all.

First recipe from the mission

Tortitas de Carne
Shredded beef-Carne para deshebrar (flank steak)
1 clove garlic
1/2 onion
salt
5 eggs
2 Tbl flour

sauce
in blender,blend 6-8 roma tomatoes, 1 glove garlic, 1/2 onion, 1/2 tsp cumin, little bit of water (less then 1/2 cup).

1. Boil meat, garlic, onions and salt till soft. 3 lbs meat about 4 hours (keep adding water)
2. Strain out most of water
3. Shred mixture out by hand
4. Add eggs, flour then mix
5. Fry like pancakes in a little oil, tangerine size ball smashed down. Fry both sides.
After fried add sauce to pan, flip in sauce and smash to help cook.
6. Add 2 bay leaves
7. Cook 10-15 minutes
Serve with Spanish rice. Eat with a fork or really good in a tortilla. Fix it yourself an a plate. Bien Bien
copyright Herman Mencila

3/2/09

The Fam,
How is everybody doing? Thanks for all the letters. The cookies and the puzzles rock too so thanks. It's probably faster and easier to email me though so you can each do that and I'll write you back. I have more time to do that than write letters. But life down here is going great. We should have our first baptism in my area in over 11 months and he wants me to baptize him so that is pretty awesome. Otherwise life is pretty normal. Working hard everyday and getting better at mi idioma. It's good to hear that you are all doing well and that life is good. I'm happy for you all. Sorry I was kinda a bum for an older brother sometimes. I could have done better there. I wish I had more to write but I really don't. Email me soon. I love you all and think about you all the time. Love you lots, Nathan

2/10/2009

The Fam,
I just realized this is probably the first real letter I have sent you all this transfer. So here you go. It's probably easier and faster to email but this is cool too. Life in St George is awesome. This transfer will be over next Monday so by the time you get this I could be somewhere else. Know that I'm doing well and working hard. Connor, Alex, Elizabeth and Nick-sorry that I don't really write you individually. Write me an email and I'll try better. It's just tough because I only have an hour and I have tons of people to write including my President and people for the missionary work. But I hope life is good. Has the snow melted? How is school going? Is Connor getting ready for track? I miss it. Alot of members did track so we talk about it alot. Life is really good. I have never had so much energy yet been so tired in my entire life. It's definitely hard work 24-7. But I really do love it. For me it's not awkward at all. And I don't have the "baptize the whole world" complex like alot of missionaries have. We find the elect that the Lord has prepared and really just let the spirit do the work. The ball is in their court and if they don't take action it's not a penalty on our heads. My mission scripture is D&C 6. This whole chapter I likened to myself and my mission. It's my motivation and backbone. I love you all, Nathan

Nathan letter 1/19/09

Hey Mi familia!
Como estan? Bien? Que bueno. Mi en mi companero es muy muy bien.
Alot has happened in the last couple of days. We currently have 2 people scheduled for baptism, one of them happening this Saturday. Then probably 5 more on date in a week or so. So we are seeing alot of success this transfer. It's really awesome. We had a couple that we have taught twice and they asked how long they have to wait until they can be baptised. It's awesome. I'm really loving it.
I am in Snow Canyon. I live in Ivins though. We are in a members pool house. It's really nice. And a maid comes every week to clean it. Nice huh? The comp is loving it. He just turned 23 last week. We had a 3 foot sub sandwich with candles on it for him.
You can email me. I only check it once a week though.
The Spanish is getting better everyday. I am going to email you today too.
I love you all, Nathan

Quick note from Nathan 1/13/09

Hi family. How are you all doing? I'm doing really well down in St. George. Its nice and warm down here and pretty landscape. This past week has flown by. My Trainer is Elder Van Gool and he is teaching me alot. We put our first person on date for baptism a couple of days ago( the first time in my area for 8 months) so I'm really excited. My Spanish is getting better everyday and we are teaching alot everyday. My area is really slow with conversion but we are working hard and seeing the fruits of it. We have many more people that will be on date shortly. My P-day to write letters and stuff is on Tues. Write me through the mission office. Mom I need money for a bike(we are looking for one today) cause we bike 1/2 of the time every week. And if you could send me up my sunglasses( not the aviators) that would be great. Money wise I Honestly don't have enough. Everyone has an extra card with some money on it from home cause we don't have enough for food and toiletries and everything else we need to survive. So its pretty tough. If we could find a way for me to have a little extra that would be great. I love you all. Nathan.

Nathan is in his first area! (Here is his address)

We received a letter from Nathan's mission president today saying all is well. He arrived at the mission home Wednesday the 7th of January and he is now in the Snow Canyon Spanish area. It looks like it is north and west of St. George close to the Nevada border. His trainer is Elder Van Gool who has been out for over 7 months. He is from Wilsele-Dorp, Belgium. Can you imagine when he opened his mission call letter?! Nathan enclosed a quick letter wanting us to know how to write to him and to make sure we let everyone know. For now we need to write to the mission home via the postal service. They will forward it on to Nathan but it needs to be sent first class or priority to be forwarded. Nathan says letters and packages will just sit at the mission home if not sent this way. No UPS or Fed Ex either. The address is Utah Provo Mission 2520 North University Avenue Suite 100 Provo Utah 84604-3819. They did not say it needed to be addressed in any particular way, so I am assuming to Elder Nathan Webb will do. He has appreciated all of the letters that he has received so far and would love to hear from everyone some more.