June 8, 2015

Thanks for the email! It's been a SUPER slow week. It seems like we work really hard one day and then come home and realize that all we really did was just walk all day haha. We had a few negative comments from members again but nothing crazy. This week will be better I'm sure. As far as your questions go mom, yeah there's a lot of people here that live with their super old parents. It's really common. It's also really common to have a family of cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. all living together, which sometimes can be really good. It also happens a lot because there are almost zero family morals here. It's really sad. As far as the money goes, they only cut our travel money (like for taxis and stuff. Just more walking I suppose) and a little bit of personal. I have heard though that we are in the cheapest mission in the world right now. I have three soles to spend for breakfast every morning, which is the equivalent of about a dollar. The food here is pretty cheap, but I usually take some money out of my account every month to spend a little extra here and there to make sure I'm fed good. So thanks! My personal money is also the equivalent of about 20 US dollars. It's cool though. It's just money.

Hope you had a good time at Disneyland and that you didn't die from an earthquake. That's funny that you ran into Caroline. I thought she had left already. That's fun. They're a great family.

I've had a few rough experiences lately, and one thing I've realized is that I haven't stuck to my resolve to trust the Lord and be patient, so that's something I'm going to work harder on this week. Even in the hardest of times, the Gospel just seems to work. Even when I feel that my testimony is at its weakest, I can still feel the assurance in my heart that it just seems to make sense, and there's always enough strength to bear my testimony to others. I know that this church is true, and that God loves us. We always need to look to Him in the hardest of times. When we do all we can it still won't be enough, but if we give our heart, the Savior will pick up the rest and do the heavy lifting. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. I stand with my best friend Jake with his statement, "I may not know much, but I know the church is true." Love you all!

Elder Tate