Monterrey, Topo Chico week 1

Monterrey: WOW! Quite a cultural shock from Pueblo. I saw a sticker on a VW beetle that said "DEVRY ALUMNI". Way to go, man, way to go.Haha but seriously this place is crazy! It reminds me of pueblo, mixed withSouthern California. The traffic is insane, no one uses blinkers andtheres no courtesy, but then again no one gets mad. There's dogs on the roofs ofall the houses. Its really... off-putting. I dont know why they are up there,but they always bark as we walk by.My companion is Elder Quiñonez. Hes anative of Tijuana. Hes awesome and only knows spanish so its gonna be way funthe next 5 weeks. So the first day I take my stuff to our place, which isnt too too bad,(but the shower is just a pipe with a shower head, meaning the entire bathroomgets wet when you shower, so we then have to squeegie it to make it walkable)and we begin walking. So like 3 minutes in, Im walking the streets of Topo Chicoin Monterrey and i think, Holy Crud, Im walking the streets of Monterrey. Anyonewhose served a mission has to have done that.Matt in Jamaica and Jake in Detroit.Its just awesome to finally be DOING what ive been waiting and learnng for. Hangin there DJ, It wont bee too long now!! Anything that anyone has ever thought about Mexicans, forget it right now(except for Amy, she fits the stereotype pretty well :) ). They are EXACTLY like Americans, except more friendly. They have the same mannerism's and views onstuff, they just arent as rich as us. For example, we tracted into la familia Mendoza, who are 4 kids about my age, a mom, and her sister. So we teach thefirst lesson, and get a return appt. We come back, and were waiting and Sylvia(the mom) feeds us. Out of nowhere. We're just these 2 kids who they talked tothe day before for an hour and now they are feeding us. They talk as if theyveknown us forever. Well, i cant understand them really, but the way they speakand tones and gestures are just like ours and I could tell they were quitecomfortable with us. So... were taching the Mendozas, Well Elder Quiñonez is teaching, Im justlistening. At the end E. Quiñonez asks if theres any questions. One of thesons, whos wearing a rosary with a picture of Christ on it, and by the looks ofit has been wearing it for a while, waits a second then asks, "¿Quíen esJesucristo?". Who is Jesus Christ? IT just kinda struck me how unlearnedthese people are about Jesus Christ and their own religious beliefs and how muchwe have to offer them. At the end I bore my testimony, it was simple, butpowerful. They had to have felt the Spirit like I did. Before we taught thatlesson, the prev. 2 days were pretty hard. No lessons and no interested people.But one of my teachers at the MTC taught that when times are the hardest, thatmeans miracles are about to happen. I know the Spirit was with me when I borethat testimony. They had to have felt it. We teach them again Martes and I knowit will be a good lesson. Oh By the way, Chris, DBZ is huge here. I got sooo excited when I saw posters and game cards and a guy with the shirt!! But yeah, anyway, thats Mexico. I really want Sister Rhule to please tell me the colony where she lived and where her mom lives and if its more west in the city. Almost half the mission is in the city of Monterrey, which I didnt know. But yeah, Thanks for your prayers and support! ¡Les amo!
P.S.- The food isnt bad at all.
Much Love
JAmes