Samuel John Arkoudas, Illinois,Chicago Spanish speaking Mission: Thanksgiving Week

Dear Friends and Family,

I leaned many important lessons this week.

Lesson 1: Mexicans throw a better Thanksgiving dinner than Americans (but of course, Grandma Maughan's dinner rolls will always be #1).

Lesson 2: Don't eat Mexican meatloaf, unless you know what kind of meat it is made of #rockymountainoysters #itwasactuallyprettygood

Lesson 3: If a hispanic offers you chapulines, say yes, but make sure you have a lot of salt and limon.

In all seriousness, this was one of the greatest weeks of the mission--even though Thanksgiving was always my favorite holiday and I loved spending time with the whole fam damily--we had Thanksgiving with a few families from the ward and I honestly felt like I was right at home.

This week my companion and I had a little tirst and were a little salty about it for a couple of days. One morning we woke up and decided to go biking; so we biked a couple miles and then went back home, but I just had to worst attitude the entire time. We got home and he went off and started making breakfast and I decided to hop in the shower. Little bit of backstory before I continue:

We went on exchanges with the Assistants a couple weeks ago and they told us that they were "taking cold showers to overcome the natural man". They sold us on the idea by telling us that all successful people do it, that it's healthy for your body, and most importantly, it helps you overcome the natural man. I was a little skeptical, but it totally works. Anyway.

I hopped in the bathroom and was shaving when I thought to myself, "It was cold outside and you deserve a hot shower today. You're mad at your companion and you should just take it easy and relax before you start your day." I considered it for a minute and then realized that that was exactly what Satan wanted me to do. Just push a problem down the road a little ways and worry about it later; just take the easy way out. So I turned that lever as cold as it went and I screamed like a little girl, but when I got out, I think I shouted something like ,"I'm awake!!!" or something like that; I went out and apologized for my bad attitude, we talked it over and we havent had a problem since.

You should try cold showers--they totally work!

With love,

Elder Arkoudas