First weekend in Beautiful Union...(Bella Union)‏

Family and Friends,
Well, here I am in Bella Union. It´s different from Artigas, obviously,
but it´s very similar at the same time. It´s a nice little pueblo that´s
pretty tranquilo. I like it a lot. We have 700 members on the list
here...how many are at church on Sunday? 60. That´s probably the biggest
obstacle here in Uruguay, and I imagine that it´s the same in other
missions, as well. There are TONS of menos activos. We found three new
people to teach last weekend, and then found out they were already members.
Haha.
 So as I said before, it´s just me and my companion in here this corner
of the country. The closest missionaries are probably those in Artigas-2
hours away. For our weekly planning session, we wake up at 5 AM to catch
the 6 AM bus to Salto, which is about a 2 1/2 hr drive. Pretty crazy. On
the way back here on Thursday, there weren´t any seats left on the bus, so
we stood for 2 and a half hours. I´ll make sure to buy tickets as soon as
we get to Salto this week. Haha.
 Elder Huaman is my new, short Peruano companion! He´s really quiet, but
way funny, too. He is from the selva in Peru, and he was never a social
butterfly. This is his 3rd change here in the ´Guay. The members say he is
starting to talk a little more, but it´s still not much.
 The teaching pool I arrived to was a little different. We have like 5
kids we are teaching! Haha. 2 of them are AMAZING, and another 2 are pretty
sweet. We´ll see how things go.
 We are on bikes here in Bella Union. Yeah, that´s what I thought
too-SWEET! But then I actually got on the bike...hmmm. How much would it
cost to send my TREK down here? Haha. And then watch it get stolen the
first day-yeah right. But just thinking of the bike and the ´roads´ here
makes my backside hurt. Good times!
 The house here is pretty cool, though. Well, taking in consideration that
the bathroom faucet doesn´t work, there´s a trick to the toilet and
bathroom door, and the water in the shower is AMAZING...for the first 4
minutes. Apparently the Elders have been on the lookout for a new place the
last bit, so we´ll see if the members have got any leads.
 Church was cool yesterday. I´m in a ward! This is the first week of my
mission where I haven´t participated in some way in the program. Just make
sure my investigators are comfortable and relax. It was great! Well, I
lied, I participated in the confirmation of an investigator that got
baptized the night before I got here. Her name is Jimena, she´s 18 years
old, and she´s got a sweet testimony! But yeah, they have deacons,
teachers, priests, everything! It´ll be so cool! In Artigas, we had one
Aaronic priesthood holder that was 13 and went about twice a month. Haha.
 The members are great, so far. We eat with or collect food from the
members like every day here, too. Except for when we´re in Salto for
planning on Thursdays. But yeah, they were really warm and friendly as they
welcomed me to their ward on Sunday.
 We found out yesterday that President Faust passed away when they
announced it in church. Thanks for sending the article, Mom. I was
surprised, but at the same time, not. I´m guessing that´s just about how
everyone feels.
 Mary-Anne, I got your pictures and Airheads and Skittles on
Thursday-thank you! My companion enjoyed the 2 Airheads I gave him, and I
think he liked the Skittles, too. It was cool to see what the new
crib looks like. I´m pretty stoked for you guys. Nathanael-hope you had
a great birthday yesterday! We sang to you at lunch with the Familia Cruz.
Your cake looked pretty sweet. Mary-Anne-how´s the job hunt coming? Any
breaks?
 Mom, I decided to use that last journal you sent me as my companion and
convert journal. I was going to buy one when we went to the temple, but it
was closed when we went. So yeah. I´m not sure how many pages I have left
in my first one, but if you find some time to send me another one in the
next bit...that´d be great. I kinda slowed down on my journal writing
(sorry) but maybe that will help. Haha.
 This morning I bought new shoes, by the way. My Rockports were gone. The
soles are slanted (I´ll send pics) and there´s a couple of nice holes. So
this morning I bought some new ones that I´ll wear on Sundays. I´ve
started using my Ecco´s everyday. The new ones only cost 700 pesos, so it
was bad. We´ll see how long they last. :o)
 I´m glad you found the pictures from the Daimaru´s. Why was Blaine
(that´s his name, right?) so quiet? What did you ask him? Elder Stoddard
is in his house by now, so he better be getting in contact with you guys
soon. I wanted to see him SO bad before he left, but oh well. I forgot to
bring his info with me to the cyber today, but I´ll bring in next week
just in case he hasn´t gotten in touch with you. He´ll be able to help
you with names and what not. At least he better-he was there for 6 months!
 How did Melanie´s week go? I hope everything went as she had planned. I
thought about her a lot last week.
 Dad, sounds like it´s time to buy a new car. You could always start
looking at that Tacoma you always wanted....!
 Mom, good luck as you get started with school again. At least this year
you´ll be able to breathe now that you´re done with your classes. Or have
you started with your Spanish ones yet? ¡Hay que empezar si quiere hablar
conmigo cuando vuelva! Cómo dice en Alma 34:33, "no demoréis el día de
vuestro (aprendizaje)" Espero que todos estén aprendiendo de a poco.
¡Sería muy divertido si pudieramos burlarnos de los demás en español!
¡Que aprendan! You might need to get someone to translate that...
 Well, time is up. I love you all. Take care of yourselves and I´m
waiting anxiously to hear from all of you! Give Kyna a big hug for me!
It´s so weird to think she´s home. Crazy. Oh, I got a letter from Elder
Trane this week. That was cool. He was my comp in the MTC, just in case you
don´t remember. He´s in Ecuador, doing great. Love ya!
 Besitos,
Elder Taylor