Dearest friends and family,
What a week it has been. I’ve passed back and forth between
houses and companions due to what I believe are immigration-related delays in
the arrival of my new companion. I ended up spending the week in a trio with
Elders Welch and Bermejo, two really amazing missionaries. We worked really
hard, had some fun along the way, and accomplished a lot this week (including a
baptism for 9).
Being with both a latino and a gringo has had me thinking a
lot about my Spanish and the influence that learning a second language has already
had on my life. It really has changed my way of thinking and opened my eyes to
new pathways and thought processes I didn’t know existed. For example, have you
ever noticed how we barely ever listen? I mean we listen but we don’t do it
very closely or actively. Heck, I bet right now, as you read this, your brain
is probably working at like 10% - it’s receiving my words but it’s probably not
interacting with them. I suspect doing this helps us see the big picture but it
also misses out on the small, important and sometimes significant details. So
if big picture is important, why don’t we just talk in a big picture kind of
way all the time? Why do we include seemingly minute details in stories? I
think it because the little details help mold the concepts we want to convey. I’m
off course but what I’m trying to say is that Spanish forces me to listen more
closely because if I listen in the “forming a big picture” way I quickly get
confused. Learning a new language requires active listening. And active
listening is also critical in our work as missionaries in that we are trying to
teach, help and console the people we meet here. It’s really not hard to do,
you just have to put in a little more effort and thought into every
conversation.
I’m also realizing we barely scratch the surface in terms of
fully using our language. English must have a million words and yet we mostly
use the same little pool of select words and phrases: so that, we/you are/I am
going to, can you, are you ok, etc. Learning and thinking in Spanish had helped
me realize that there are a variety of ways to say the same thing. In Spanish
the interaction between nouns and adjectives is a lot more personal because of word
ordering and emphasis and I think it’s helped me become more descriptive when
speaking in English. There’s also an interesting connection between possession
and guilt in Spanish – it’s all really interesting to me and affecting how I think.
Elder Welch is a sincere friend of mine. We have similar
personalities which helps us make good out of just about any circumstance. It’s
funny because we’re two very American gringos living as latinos, talking Spanish
to one another, both of us stuck between English and Spanish in our brains.
Sometimes Spanish flies out when speaking English and sometimes English flies
out when speaking Spanish. I’m reaching the point where my English and Spanish are
equally balanced. Soon I expect it’ll be Spanish leaning. And when that happens
I don’t know what I’ll do: order burritos from Sombrero’s in a new native
tongue?
Spanish really is a remarkable language. Although learning a
new language has been different than I imagined, I’ve been satisfied lately
that all of my study and practice has come into full effect. My mind truthfully
has opened to a whole new world. And it is awesome. We’ll be talking soon
friends. Perhaps in Spanish? I love you and appreciate your support from so
many miles away.
Con carino,
Elder Ericksen
Other tidbits:
- Adam had difficulties with the cyber café this week and was only able to get a photo of his general letter and a single picture of a wedding labeled Potosi (Colombia) this week. We believe the wedding picture is of the daughter of the Lopez family from Tulcan which must have been an incredible joy for Adam to witness. He loves that family dearly.
- We had a huge baptism in the district of 9 this past weekend, including the family Goyes (Elder Welch) and Brian (mine). I got to visit a lot to the families of Elder Welch and they are amazing. One of the little girls even asked me to baptize her, but I had to loan my clothes to someone and couldn’t do it. I did get to help with the confirmations. Brian was baptized by his cousin which was really sweet. One of the little kids dove into the font after his baptism…it was a little crazy for a moment.
- Nathan, I found a really funny name of a city for you: "Empoobando". (Nathan loves that Adam’s area covers a region known as “Poopiales”).
- Nick that is so awesome about your braces!!! You look great, dude. I bet your teeth felt slimy after.
- I miss you all. I’m working really hard and were having lots of success, which has been awesome.
- Something that made me laugh... in Spanish there really isn’t a word to describe "wild" like "wildflowers.” The closest translation is salvaje which means savage hahaha. I had to laugh because in the grocery store there is some imported frutos salvajes tea meaning savage fruit. I imagine before the translation it was wild fruit tea but now it just sounds dangerous.
- People are very, very friendly here and flirt. Yesterday someone stopped me and said "Que lindo eres tu. Vives aquí?" She kept asking me like four times if I lived in Ipiales. I think she wanted me to invite her somewhere hahaha – Elder Welch won’t stop laughing and teasing me about it.
- We played soccer today in the big cancha with a lot of members. The next three Mondays are national holidays. Oh ya, Happy Fathers Day, dad…I love you.
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