Christmas catch up! Finally!

After counting down all Christmas day, finally is was 5:30 our time, and then 5:35, no call, so Ross, the very inspired person that he is tries the number Jordan had given us, well, his cell phone cannot make international calls, so we hurry and get on with AT&T, on Christmas night, and get the service for international calls, so we try the number again and a Spanish voice on the other end said no, no Elder Weaver is not here he is here, and then gave us a different number. In the meantime, Jordan's best friend Logan calls and I ask him if I can call him back because we are waiting for Jordan to call and he says that, that is why he is calling, Jordan just contacted him by email and he cannot get through and so we got the number from Logan and sure enough it went through, in the mean time again, Jeff, Jordan's other friend, shows up at the door and says Jordan can't reach you, you need to call him...Needless to say, a 1/2 hour later we got to start talking to him...:)Big smiles!
He is super, sounds just like our Jordan, only a whole lot faster!
Christmas morning they spent cleaning a blind woman's home, getting it ready to paint, He wore a blister on his finger because they were scraping walls with a butter knife.
They did not get to stay for lunch because they were preparing for a baptism the next day, a young girl and boy. The girl is afraid of water so Jordan and his comp filled up the font and let her go swimming in it on Monday and were doing it again today. The girl feels safer with Jordan because he is a foot taller than his comp and not so close to the water.
We cried as he talked about his struggles with the language, he is very hard on himself and wants it to be perfect for the work he is doing for his Heavenly Father. He is getting along fine with his comp.
He weighs 185 and was pretty excited about that, he likes how he feels and how he looks and how his clothes fit.
He said that he always has plenty of money for food each month, they use most of their money for transportation, and buying Book of Mormons.
I asked him how he is stomaching the food, he said it's okay, until he eats super spicy, he had a chili that his comp said was not that spicy, but it was very hot and was just as bad going down as it was coming out (gross) and a lot faster:)
He loves the flowers down there, he wishes he could bring some home to me and my Dad to plant in our yards, he said they are amazing.
He is still looking for construction work for Ross:), said that the quality of cement is amazingly poor.
It is not rainy season now, it is still warm, he still sweats while his comp freezes, at 70 degrees, he said that the nights are beautiful, perfect weather.
He likes to turn the boiler on 1rst thing to get a hot shower,
He does not have any desire to live there:)
Loves to get with the "North Americans" or "Gringos" to speak English, he said he never realized how much he loves our language.
His favorite part of the mission is baptizing, and then went on for a good 5-10 minutes about how important baptism is, and then he said well that's enough preaching:)
He could not believe how the boys voices had changed and could not tell who was who....
He talked about the small lizards that are there, they are poisonous and are all over, they have had lots of mosquitoes, they use raid plug ins and fans at night to keep them off of them.
Jax asked about spiders, he said that there happened to be one today and the sister missionaries were all screaming and he laughed and laughed.
He said that he has not seen one North American Sister Missionary, all have been Native Mexicans.
He loves Pres. and Hma. Hansen, they are a lot of fun, and interview often, and are very interested in each missionary, they have given him good council and have cried with him when he has had difficult days.
We talked more about his Spanish, tried to build him up and feel more confident with the language.
He is still practicing the piano, he is learning There is a Green Hill Far Away, I told him I would learn it too.
His new camera takes video, he has been testing it out, and likes it a lot.
The Internet cafe is 10 pesos to use.
His transportation is buses, taxis are too expensive the bus costs 6 pesos, he is in a large area, huge he said, he loves all of the walking, no blisters for a while, he has resoled his shoes once and ready to do it again. His pants are pretty beat up and will buy more soon.
Prints emails off from Beardalls, Us, Grandma Pat, Weavers
He get handwritten letters often from Prices, Ivies, and "Pickles" comics from Pedersons and "they really brighten his day"
He loves the Sunday comics that we send, loves meeting with the North Americans and telling jokes, he said Spanish jokes just don't seem to be as funny:)
He is very happy, I asked:) He sleeps well most of the time, has not been able to sight see in the city, but he reminded me "I still have another year mom"
He was going to make the birthday cake I sent him for his birthday, he is very excited for that day, it happens to be the "Day of the 3 Kings", very big Spanish holiday, they believe it is when the wisemen reached the Christ child they celebrate with lots of gifts and festivities.
He asked for the recipe for monkey bread, says he really misses it, misses "normal" spaghetti,
Boys asked about the Day of the Dead, 1rst night is like Halloween they give out money not candy, the 2nd day the adults go out, door to door and ask for alcohol.
Loves the Christmas palm leaves re-enactment with pine branches, the natives go door to door waving branches singing
He goes by pine trees and rubs the branches to smell "HOME"
He is in a very rich area, said that of course it's easier to knock on "poor" doors, much more humble people.
Jace and Jordan talked about the Camel thru the eye of a needle and that whole parable...Jordan recited the whole story and Jace was very impressed with his older brother:)
We decided to read the Book of Mormon together, he is reading with his zone, but will read a chapter a day and stay with us also.
Again I asked if he was happy, and he says-yes Mom!
Ross gave him some fatherly advice, be happy, have patience with himself, don't beat yourself up, everything will come. He dreams in Spanish and his comp tells him that he has woken up to him singing in Spanish while he is sleeping.
In his Patriarchal Blessing he was given many promises about the language of the people of his mission and we reminded him to read and pray about that.
Ross asked him if our time was up, and Jordan, said no not yet (we had been on for 45 minutes)
I asked about eating, and he said he eats well, lots of food, said he often goes home with a belly ache because he ate to much. He said that there are lots of apples, pears, strawberries, and mangos.
While we were on the phone he was walking around in circles, I asked if he was nervous he said no, it just feels weird to stand still.
He said to have no worries, he is in the Lord's hands and he is protecting him.
He said that almost 20 years old feels the same.
He spoke in Sacrament meeting Christmas Sunday, they were asked to prepare a 5 minute talk and time ran out so they got to bear their testimonies.
He asked about Alex Weaver, one of Jace's friends that has been having FHE with our family, asked about the Elders that have been teaching her. He said that in Mexico they ask about being baptized on the 1rst or 2nd lesson. He said that a lot of the Spanish people fall in love with the Elders and when they leave not a lot of them remain active, they fall in love with the boys and not the gospel.
We are trying to have family prayer the same time he has his prayers at night,
Ross asked him to bear his testimony in Spanish, he did and we all cried...then it was time to go, He said he misses being able to hug us, he loves and misses us all, we didn't want to hang up...God bless you Jordan, you are such a great son!
Merry Christmas and we'll talk to you soon...

As I post this on January 25, I still cry, however I only have 104 more days to talk to him again, we are about 37 days from being half way done, but who is counting, I would not trade this experience for anything, or have him be any where else at this time in his life, he thinks I don't worry, Ha, I am his mom, I know he is serving the Lord and he will be fine, but I can still miss, love, and worry about him:), sorry it took me so long to post this, but here is most of our conversation in a nut shell, all 1 hour and 13 minutes:)