9/4/12

Hello everyone!

Libraries were closed for Labor day, so we have to email today when we find time.

So, as you have heard by now, I am in Lexington.

It is the  Lexington Downtown Spanish area, and as it sounds we cover basically downtown Lexington and the surrounding area. And we are on bikes. Fun. Our area is huge (for a bike area)! We end up taking the bus a lot as well because the streets here aren't very bike friendly. We talked to a medical interpreter who also teaches medical Spanish at the University of Kentucky and he told me that there are 35,000 Hispanics here on record, and a total of around 50,000 between recorded and not recorded. Wow. Seriously, there is not a lack of work here. I went from the total opposite in Clarksville, to here.

Downtown Lexington is the only part that looks like a big city, once you get a mile or two out it basically looks like a normal city, meaning no skyscrapers or really tall buildings or whatnot, but it is still a cool place.

A little bit about my companion as well. Elder Castañeda is from Acapulco, Mexico, he moved to Chicago to work five years ago and is going home in November. He was a Zone Leader for 6 months in Louisville and he has been here for three months. I am seriously so blessed to be with him. He is awesome. Our deal is that I speak to him in Spanish and he speaks to me in English. He has learned English on his mission here and speaks really well. It's impressive. He is a powerhouse and he has already taught me SO much this last week.

His grandma had him baptized when he was 8 and he was inactive until 18. He is the only member in his family. He is an amazing example of being converted to the gospel and making sacrifices.

I have told him that it is like I have two companions, the one that speaks english, and the one that speaks Spanish. It is different because when we are together, he speaks to me in English. And then Spanish with members and investigators, meaning usually more serious matters. So it is kinda cool to see how he is in different languages.

Here in Lexington, like I said, are tons of hispanics. A lot work out on the horse farms. They work for bigwig horse owners, the same horses that race in the Kentucky derby and whatnot. A billions of dollars business. It is crazy. This is horse country. Also, UK is in our area, we live a couple miles away from it. We drive by Jon Calipari's ( UK basketball coach) house on the bus every once and a while. UK is a cool school and there are a lots of students here. I am glad I am not here in the Summer because apparently UK girls look like ASU girls in summer. There was actually a district challenge here in the summer called "eyes on the prize" which basically means close your eyes when you go by UK. So, yeah, this area is way different from my last.

And the bike, I luckily have a pretty nice bike I got from an outgoing elder. Elder Castañeda has been riding bikes since he was four and used to teach spinning classes in Mexico, so it is safe to say I work hard to stay up with him. But, somehow I do. We don't ride too terribly far too often, we end up taking the bus a lot because we just can't ride to certain places. But, coming home at night is always a mad dash that wears us out. Lexington streets aren't really made for bikes, plus there are many hills, so it makes for a good workout.

Also, E. Castañeda is pretty hardcore about working out, so I am stoked to get, as we say in the GKLM, "jacked and tan" . . . priorities, right? A member from the ward named Leo bought a bench press and a set of weights for us in our apartment and he comes by every night to work out, so between that and the bike, I am pretty easily worn out. I catch a few Z's on the bus every once and a while.

There are 2 sets of Spanish missionaries in the ward here, 1 set of sisters and us. And one set of English missionaries. We have quite a bit of Hispanic members here, we are getting ready to form a branch actually. That will be way cool!

Our area hasn't baptized in a while, somehow. But, we have 5 baptismal dates right now. So, the Elders have been working hard. Our goal for these next two transfers is ten baptisms, so we have our work cut out for us.

The members here are way cool, they love the missionaries and E. Castañeda being a native makes everything better as well.

Seriously, this area is way cool, and I think Lexington is way cool as well. You have to look online at downtown Lexington and then the surrounding area, especially some of the horse farms and stuff. I am interested to know how many people live in this place too, so can you guys send me some official information and whatnot?

I am so excited to be here. I am going to work really hard on my Spanish. I have an amazing opportunity to dominate the language here, so that is my plan. I am going to learn so much. And we are going to baptize the world.

If you have any questions about anything, let me know!

I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

Zac