Parker May in Mexico City

Man, I don´t really know where to begin. First off, I apologize if there are spelling errors in this letter. The keyboards are different and the keys keep sticking. Secondly, if you ever come to Mexico city, never buy 4 churros from a little boy on the street, even if it is a good deal for 10 pesos. I learned that one the hard way.

Anyways, a lot has happened this week. I flew by myself to Mexico city and when I arrived, nobody was there to meet me. I waited by myself on some stairs for about 45 minutes until President Mecham and his wife showed up. They are so awesome, I love them. My companions name is Elder Cruz. He is about a foot shorter than I am.

Life in Mexico City is crazy. We have to ride the train a lot and that is always fun. There are TONS of people just waiting for the train to come. When it comes, and those doors open, it is a free for all to get in. People literally push and shove each other out of the way to get on. It is an adrenaline rush every time. I love it.

My area is called Esbartaco. It is the rich area of the mission, which was kind of shocking. It has been kind of a culture shock to come from a nice apartment in Atlanta, to my cement house in Mexico. We don´t have a washing machine, but he have a cement sink thing that we wash our clothes in. We also don´t have a refrigerator or a dishwasher, but that is okay because we don´t have dishes either. we have one cup and one spoon for each of us. You´d be surprised how much you can do with those two things.

It has been hard to adjust to this new way of missionary life. We walk probably 6 miles a day. I have some gnarly blisters on my feet. A few days ago I was getting a little discouraged because of all of this. My feet hurt, I hadn´t eaten all day, it was hot, and I was feeling sick from those churros that I bought from the little kid. I was getting down on myself and then we walked by a guy that was sitting on the ground all by himself. I noticed that he only had one leg. I have seen one-legged people before, but this time it felt like someone just slapped me in the face. I realized I had no reason to be complaining and feeling sorry for myself. I have so much to be grateful for. Sure, my feet hurt, but at least I have two working legs that get me around. I have food in our house. I have clean clothes. Most of all I have the savior. There are so many people that don´t know what hope feels like because they haven't had the opportunity to get to know the Savior and his gospel. I am so happy I can share that message of hope with all of these people in Mexico. I hope to have more stories for all of you next week!

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Elder May