Meanwhile, back in Iguala

Elder Nils and his companion share a meal

It's been a while since I've posted news about my missionary nephew serving in Mexico.  That's because he hasn't sent any photos since he was transferred away from Acapulco.  Luckily he sent a few on Monday, so I can finally share with you again.

The 10th of November marked Elder Nils' 22nd birthday.  He was lucky in that he got what looks like a truly delicious cake (above).  It's hit or miss in the mission field.  They don't always eat very well, but Nils reports that he loves Mexican food.

He writes, "This last week has been really good.  We've had a lot of fun in our area, and we've eaten a lot of good food.  I mean, what more can you ask for?

"Anyway, so life is going awesome here.  I completely forgot about Thanksgiving.  I think I ate mole (pronounced mole-ay) that night.  Mmm I love mole, that's something that's been interesting to me.  My companion hates most Mexican food, but I love it, yet he's the Latino.  I guess everyone's got their tastes."

Our Elder Nils posing for the camera

"We went down to a small town called Huitzuco here.  It was really cool... the cool thing about the place is it's all huge and really spread out, with a bunch of farms in between.  We would travel by hitchhiking.  Riding on the back of trucks. It was pretty fun; met a lot of interesting people doing that."

Walking through the streets of this town, Elder Nils saw a traditional wedding party.

Mexican Wedding Serving Platter
by Gorky Gonzales

He writes, "The bride was riding on a donkey, and her husband was pulling her through the streets, while there was a huge parade behind her complete with mariachis and dancing people.  Apparently it's an Iguala tradition."

Mariachis

I would have loved seeing photos of that!

It's not all fun and games, though.  He writes, "I've been attacked by so many dogs in the streets that I dunno if I can look at a dog the same.."

Poor baby.

In spite of the dog problem, it sounds like Nils is having an incredible cultural experience, in addition to the spiritual experiences he writes of.  There will be another baptism this coming weekend.  He has baptized many good people in the course of his missionary experiences in Mexico.

I can't believe he's coming home after the first of the year.  Those 2 years have really zoomed by.

Just a month or so to go!