Happy 20th Birthday John!

June 14, 2010

Dear family,

Wow… what a birthday I had! So I think it’s a miracle because today I got my packages and they were perfect!!! Thanks so much for the taco seasoning!!!

Elder Haws said that he’s super excited and he’s super happy now to have real taco seasoning and maple syrup!!! Ha Ha Ha. All the other stuff I got was perfect too. Thanks to Mary for the sunflower seeds and thanks to Grandma for all the awesome things you sent me too... especially my socks. It rained all day on my birthday, but besides that it was really just a great day.

One of my friends here is a guy named Jose Merola (I think he added me as his friend on Facebook, so Dad you need to check that out). He’s a young guy in the ward and so far he’s the richest Uruguayan I have come to know. For my birthday he threw me a party and we ate 30 kilos of meat!!! (Note from Dad - that’s 66lbs) Ribs and chorizo. It was unbelievable. They also made me a cake and they put big old firecracker, road flare thing on the cake and it just made it that much better. It was awesome!!! I worked the rest of the day in the rain and that night we had two more parties at different member’s homes. It was ridiculous and crazy and super awesome. The really funny thing is President Da Silva (the mission president) and I share the same birthday so I called him early in the morning and wished him a happy birthday and he did the same for me.

We had some setbacks this week with Cristina and for a while I didn’t think she was going to get baptized. But she went to church on Sunday and had a really good experience. Now this morning she said she’s ready and all things look really good for the 3 de Julio. I’m super excited and also another woman named Diana who we have been teaching will also be getting baptized the same day. Vamos Arriba con todo!!!!!

I’m so happy to see that you guys have all gotten home safely and that Mom got to have such an amazing, unforgettable experience as she did.

I might take some of that money out of my account in the next few days. My shoes still need to be repaired and my feet have been wet now for three days straight. There are quarter sized holes in the bottom of now both pair of shoes that I have. I’ll get it done and thanks for everything and for your support. I love you very much and I hope that you are all safe this next week.

Be careful and take care,
Love Elder Sluder