They Call Me Utah-Teco
Howdy! How goes it? Hopefully good…
Welcome to another email sent to you from a gringo in Mexico.
Since coming to Mexico, I have developed a nickname amongst the members here. Because we are on the Yucatan peninsula, and I’m from Utah, they always tell me that I’m from “Utah-tan” and that I’m a “Utah-teco.” I’m on my way to becoming a little more like the people here, not in terms of skin color (I’m still super white), but in terms of being adapted to the climate. I’m used to the heat now, and during the night when AC would normally feel amazing, I get cold with just a fan on (it’s going to be fun to return home to a much colder state haha). Even though I’m much more adapted to the climate, I still feel so nasty all the time. I’m always so sweaty, and always feel so dirty. Not to mention, the food here is literally just fat, tons of sodium and carbs, and plenty of
sugar
. I made a vow to never drink soda, eat candy, or tortillas unless I absolutely have to haha. Hopefully it works…
Anyway! This past week I had some very humbling experiences. I’ll share one of them with you. (Sorry it’s kind of long! Heh heh…)
On Sunday, we went and visited another city nearby that we cover as part of our area, called Halachó, and wow! I thought Calkiní was crusty, but not compared to Halachó. It’s a lot smaller and the people there live in some very difficult circumstances. We walked a dirt road to the edge of the city where it is a lot more jungly and the people live in super small houses and shacks, with no comforts like we enjoy in America. It was so humbling to see and it broke my heart. We were visiting a family that Elder Pérez remembered from back when he was in the same city at the start of his mission (but it’s been a while since missionaries have gone there).
When we got to the house, two little girls came out to talk to us. They had talked with Elder Pérez and his companion in the past and were so happy to see us. It blew my mind to see that even though they were living in such poverty with hardly anything, they were still so happy. I learned that they don’t have any money and that they rely on selling homemade chips down the road at a small store with hardly anyone there. That’s literally how those 2 girls spend their days every single day. Hoping that maybe, someone will come by and want some chips, and that they can fill up their small little pouch with money, so they can continue living.
We asked if they had a Book of Mormon, and they ran inside and brought out 2 of them that were dirty and old and water damaged. My heart was taking so many L’s. We opened up to Mormon 9:21 and read them the promise that “whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth.” We taught them how to pray, and said a prayer with them and promised that if they believe in Jesus Christ and say a prayer for the things they need, God will give it to them. We promised that if they pray for it, people will buy their chips and that they can fill their pouch with the money they need. Their eyes lit up and latched onto every word we said. They had so much faith, the perfect faith of a child. Afterwards, Elder Pérez gave them some small mints he had and I was prompted to give them some money to help fulfill the promise we gave them. I reached into my pouch and pulled out a 10 pesos coin, equivalent to 50¢. Their eyes lit up, and I could tell that the older girl almost cried. After we said goodbye, and as we were walking away I wanted to cry. I could not believe my eyes and I prayed with all of my heart that God would answer their prayers and fulfill the promise we gave them. No words can accurately describe that experience.
That’s it for today. Other than that, Elder Pérez and I almost got attacked by a bunch of drunk dudes who saw me (for them, it’s very strange to see white people and they think they are rich). They started following us and yelling but we didn’t pay them any attention and walked really fast. Luckily they stopped haha.
But we are working super hard in our area and have started to see some miracles. We’ll see what this next week brings!
I love you all!
Love,
-Elder Gifford
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