Adventures at "Frat Casa"

                                                                                                July 29, 2014

Hello Everyone,
So first, we moved to the "Frat Casa." Fraternity in Spanish is Fraternidad, so we called our new apartment the Frat Casa. It's a dump, but it's nice to leave the CCM every day. I'm the designated cockroach killer, and I'm at 6, all of them massive. I practically need a mop afterwards to clean up the mess they make. I've found 4 spiders in my bed, and 2 have crawled out of my shirt, while I'm wearing it. I've adjusted quickly though, the scream the second time was quieter than the first! ;)

My companion is super ambitious, and it drives me nuts. My Spanish is now the best in our district, but I'm still not confident that I can properly portray what I want to say, so I let my companion talk. Listening to him is hilarious because he just fires out infinitives until the people nod like they understand. However, he managed to place a Book of Mormon on Thursday on the way to the CCM. I was pretty mad because he didn't take me; he took Elder Lessard instead without even giving me a shot. haha.

While I'm talking about mi compañero, I'll tell you a quick story.  So while we were teaching Ines, one of our new investigators about the Word of Wisdom, he accidentally committed her to live the Law of Chastity. Chastity in Spanish is Castidad, and Wisdom is S-something, so I have no idea how he did that but it was hilarious. And then yesterday while teaching Gabriel, Gabriel was telling us how he liked church, and explained he loved how everyone shook his hand and was friendly, and Elder Adams thought he said the members attacked him. He will get Spanish someday, but it won't be tomorrow. Hahaha

We got a new teacher. He used to play for a Guatemalan soccer team and on the Guatemalan national team, but when he got back from his mission, he decided he didn't want to play on Sundays, so he started teaching at the CCM. None of our teachers speak very good English, so it's hard to communicate at all sometimes because no one in the CCM can explain "hay," and neither can the dictionaries.

On Thursday during personal study, I was trying to memorize hymns that I could sing, and some Hermanas overheard me. They came and had me sing for them (which was super awkward) and they wrote down my name. Turns out they told Presidente and Hermana Cox about me, and you'll never guess who sang Joseph Smith's First Prayer (en Ingles) during sacrament meeting Sunday. It was awesome. The first verse was shaky, but then this super cool peace came over me, and I even got one of the nurses to cry. I'm pretty much the man now down here. haha, j/k, but it was super cool.

On Sunday morning, a lot of the guys were feeling really down, so we had a makeshift testimony meeting in one of the extra rooms. I shared my dad's "Work Hard, Play Hard, and Let the Rest Roll," and I had four of the seven kids tell me how helpful that was, and two wrote it on their planners as a reminder. I just thought that was cool.

Someone, anyone, please look up

Lluvia de peices (Rain of Fish) and send me some information on that. We have a running bet as to whether or not that exists.

Speaking of rain, it poured last night. Like, I was pretty sure people were drowning just by standing in it. It took out the power for a while, and when it came back on, it only stayed on long enough for us to get back to the Frat Casa. If they place wasn't creepy before, imagine 7 scared misioneros walking around with flashlights in the dark trying to get ready for bed. it was hilarious.

Anyway, I just want to close by saying how much I appreciate you all at home. I pray for you all every night and you're always in my thoughts. Send me a letter anytime. It takes s ten days to get here, so I'll get it if you send it within the next 8 days ;) It’s so cool when a missionary gets mail on a Friday out here. haha the address is

Elder Caleb Aldrich
Centro De Capacitacion Misional
Bulevar Vista Hermosa 23-71
Zona 15, Vista Hermosa 1
Guatemala City, Guatemala 01015

I love you all so much, and I can't wait to share all my great experiences with you.

-Elder Caleb Aldrich

Second group photo taken with the new incoming missionaries