Letter FROM Josh

hey! so i got my first package today, the one with the family pictures, and i sent a package to you guys today too, nothing too big and it mostly just has letters to everyone in it, i needed to keep it under .5kg or else it is 4000 shillings to send, but it also has a present for the family in there, i wanted to get something for each of you, but it would have cost way to much to send. it should be there in a week and i paid a bit extra (the equivilent of a dollar) for insurance/traking just in case. i also got a card from mom and dad that was seperate from that package, no other mail yet, i was excited to get it and im excited to know that more is on the way no matter how long it takes to get here.
i do have access to an atm there is one at the grocery store tuskys cause they dont accept cards so they make you withdraw to pay, and there are restoraunts by the way, but they are nothing like what we would consider a sit down restoraunt, most of them just have one option for what to order plus sodas and french fries, the menu changes from day to day, but still just the one choice, and its normally stuff that looks like it has been sitting since morning if not longer so i dont trust it enough to eat it. Dad, we have actually been told not to get involved with any big service project/donation thingy from back home and just to do what service we can ourselves in the area with the means we have been given, so we teach english every now and then and we go to the hospital to bag powder baby food and the poridge stuff that they give out, and do random stuff at the members homes, but i cant give you anything for a service project there. I still have wierd dreams from the malaria pills, they said to expect them until i stop taking the pills, they dont really bother me though, they are just wierd. there are wild dogs everywhere, and we actually saw a puppy on the side of the road the other day that had been poisened and it was foaming at the mouth and whimpering as it was dying, it was probably the sadest thing i have seen here. wierdest thing i ate? probably spaghetti with a sauce made out of beans, it tasted good but like i said, wierd concept. i dont see the children from the ward too often, but i see kids all over the place, and for most of them i am the only white guy they have ever seen unless they have seen another white missionary here before but i guess there hasnt been a white missionary here for the past year or so. so the kids love to yell "how are you?" over and over again to me, it bothers my comp but i like taking a few seconds just to shake their hands and say hi. there are maybe 30 active members in the branch, i dont know the total number of people, and most people dont show up till 11 when sacrament starts, but at least they are there for the most important part of church. and i actually thought of something you could send me mom, i hope it ends most if not all of your worrying over what to get for me. but i could use a good pair of flip flops for around the house, and a pair of gym shorts, preferably ones with pockets, but mostly just make sure they will be comfortable, my waist size is a 36 for when you get the shorts and my feet are between 11 and 12 for the flip flops, just choose one of the sizes cause with flip flops it is pretty much all the same. i will try emailing more pics but i cant garuntee it cause it took about 15 minutes just to load the one from last week.
I think i have answered all questions now. but this week was good. it is still hard to find people to teach because even more are gone as it gets closer to christmas, elder B keeps saying that "next year is going to be so much fun, people will actually be here" i guess i arrived at the wrong time, but oh well, it is still fun. we went into town today to send the package and just walk around and stuff. the pricing of everything is really interesting. elder overson (the district leader, he is from arizona) wanted to buy a traditional masai robe thing and when he asked for the price the lady told him it was 1200, he then told her that he would only pay 400, and by the time we left he ended up paying 500 for it. i think its rediculous that they price everything like that, but they are trying to rip off the muzungos (white people) cause they think we dont know the conversion rate or what things should cost, which i have to say would be true for anybody that was just coming on vacation.Larrys accepted when we asked him to be baptized this week, he is scheduled to be baptized on jan 18, it may be a bit longer because he wants his parents to be there and is have a hard time convincing them to come. We havent seen carol since the first lesson because her uncle died and she went to the funeral, but we have an apointment with her tomorow. i know that she will be baptized as well once we are able to teach her a bit more, this girl is seriously golden as far as investigators go, everytime we have talked she has just had a list of questions, and then when we answer she says, "that makes sense" or "i'm glad you believe that too" or "i have never heard that before, but i know that what you just said is right." i'm excited for both of them. and mike, with the time difference i guess you would say that it is pretty much a tie between larry and the girl that you have been teaching, but we want to give carol the same date as larry so that would make me win i guess. ;)anyways, i love you all, i miss you all, i'm glad to hear that everything is good at home, i wish these computers had sound so that i could hear sams song, and by the way sam, the poem was hilarious.
Love,Elder Harris