Night Time Adventures

The jungle comes to life at night here in El Yunque! I've been able to touch and catch some creepy things.

Last Sunday night Jose came in and said, "Hey we are catching bats would you like to come?" "Of course!" I replied and off we went. He had set up a series of nets to catch any bats flying through the woods. Lucky for us we were able to catch one. This is a common fruit bat species found here on the island. The little guy bit at the glove a lot!

Call me Batman Jr.!

Latter this week on Thursday night, Paul took us all on a night hike to see the bugs that life here in Puerto Rico! We were searching for Tailess Whip Scorpions, they look like an alien bug from another planet! But as  Casey would always say "Picture, or it didn't happen!" Kristina's boyfriend Max flew in from CO and joined in the fun!

 Yep, that's a real bug!

Good Times!

"Oh my Heck!"

Life has been crazy the past two weeks! Here's a few adventures that I have been on recently! Enjoy!

Three weeks together now, and we are getting to know each other a lot better. I've started a little inside joke between us all. I didn't realize that I said "Oh my Heck!" so much and everyone here has adopted that as the thing to say! Emmanuel has this little whiny voice when he says it and its hilarious! They all seem to get a kick out of my pseudo swear words! (Heck, dang, crap, etc.) I'll be washing dishes and I'll hear from across the room "oh my heck!"

Last saturday I developed a rash. It was horrible. I went to the beach and when I took off my shirt I was covered in red spots! I didn't want any of the cute Puerto Rican girls to see me, so I sprinted to the ocean! It was hilarious. Just call me the sickly of the island!

 

 

Luckily though I have been to the doctor and received a blessing. Everything has cleared up and I look like a normal super white man now!

My other mentor, Dr. Todd Crowl, has been so amazing to us. After looking over our study site and giving a few suggestions he took us on a tour of his house here in Puerto Rico. It has AC! After the tour he looked at us and then handed me the keys! He told us if we get to hot or can't handle it up here to stop by and spend some time there! Not only did we get the keys to his house, he gave us the keys to his car!

The car's name is Barbie. She's was most likely made when the first Barbie was created (she's pretty old.) But she gets us from point A to point B with a beautiful pink classy style! The only down fall with the car is that it has NO AC and the windows can't roll down. So, I sweat everywhere I drive in the hot humid heat. A plus side is that I have had to learn to drive a stick shift! I am still mastering the reverse, but I'm getting better. If Todd or Omar are reading this blog, I am a master driver and have never killed the car at all! On saturday we went to the beach and we laughed as the car was packed with white people and all the Puerto Ricans drove by us laughing!

Here she is:

Living in Puerto Rico has some amazing benefits. Say one of them being the closeness of the beach. When we get bored we hop in the car and 20 minutes later or less we are at some of the most beautiful beaches. I've watched the sun set while swimming, I've gone snorkeling and crashed into some corral, and I've made some good memories with the rest of the REU's. I do have to use SPF 100 and 110!

I haven't gotten burnt once from using it!

I met Ringo Starr!

My attempt to do the splits! ouch!

Nick from Conneticuit, one of the REU's

Me, "It's a starfish!" Maureen, "No. Its a Sea Star."

Ava and Emmanuel

We watched Venus cross the Sun.

The Family

Great Adventures!

Church in Puerto Rico!

I've been looking forward to church all this week and today, I was able to attend my first time here in Puerto Rico. Luckily the church is only about 10 minutes away!

It's called the Rio Grande Branch. I tripped walking up to the building but was greeted warmly by the Branch President Garcia. The building is small and is very open to allow air flow through the building. The Spirit is so strong there! I was so impressed by the Saints here. They are so humble and full of faith. Today was the fast and testimony meeting. The first person to bare her testimony was a service missionary, she testified of the power of the Priesthood. Another person talked about how God will consistently strengthen us and give us more to carry because it makes us stronger and able to bare more. I even bore my testimony and they all smiled at me as I spoke about the experience with the different faiths. The most powerful to me came as Elder Kersh from Santaquin got up to bare his testimony. He quoted his favorite scripture D&C18:10 " The worth of souls is great in the sight of God." His testimony was so sure and powerful as he thanked Heavenly Father for the chance to be amongst the Saints here in Puerto Rico. It made me teary eyed because I would love to be serving my mission again!

Church was such a humbling and needed experience here while in Puerto Rico. The people don't have much but they truly love Our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. You can see the joy in their eyes and smiles.