Chiltepe Peppers

This week was pretty slow.

Felipe finally read like 4 chapters in the Book of Mormon after we gave him a loving push last time on exchange with Elder Holly. Elder Holly told me today that he thought Felipe was a member, and that's why he was going so strongly on him about his responsibilities and needing to be an example for his family. In any case, it worked, and Felipe had a lot of great questions and was marking scriptures that he liked.

The Fourth of July was great. We sang a lot of the patriotic songs in the hymn book, ate some amazing Guatemalan food with the Morales family, and went with them to see the fireworks that night.

They had some pretty spicy salsa made from chiltepe peppers that they told us we shouldn't eat. So we ate it. Then, a couple of them ate peppers raw, and were sweating. They told us these peppers were hotter than habaneros (according to Wikipedia they can be) and that they made a gringo Elder throw up before, and that we shouldn't touch them. So of course we each ate one. I'll try to send video home of that. Yesterday when we went over for a meal appointment we ate more, and I wrote my name with the stems to prove that I'm a 100% certified chapin (Guatemalan). They were pretty impressed with us.

An interesting scripture I read was about the plainness of the truth. In 2 Nephi 33:5. He talks about how when we speak plainness, it might be hard at first, but after a little bit it's actually more beneficial. Sometimes loving someone means lovingly correcting them. It may be strong at first, but like the sting of the chiltepe peppers it will subside and they'll be grateful for the experience.

Love y'all!