Nice Surprise

August 27, 2012

Well this week was interesting. Everything really happened over the weekend.

We were told on Thursday that we had to be at the stakecenter ALL day on Saturday. Why? A stake missionary activity.  Great!..... Not so great.  Each ward was assigned "A question of the soul" and the ward mission leaders had to do a presentation to answer the question.  Investigators get there and go to learn about which ever question they want an answer to.  We had "How do I find peace and joy in my life".  I had to give the presentation a few times because our mission leader had family matters to attend to and my comp doesn’t speak much Spanish.  I liked it a lot.  I wished more people got there.  Not many did.  It’s a great idea, but it wasn’t well organized.  We didn’t know ANYTHING about it until Thursday.  If they do this every 2 or 3 months it could be really great!  It was just a rough trial run.

Sunday roles around and we get to church with an investigator. Another of our investigators (Braulio) is already there talking to a brother.  The brother calls us over and says, "He wants to be baptized . When are we gonna take care of this?"  "You ok for this Saturday?"  "Yeah!" "Alright then. Saturday at 7."  They announced it in Sacrament meeting and it is going well.  That was a nice surprise . We were going to put the date with him tonight, but it all worked out well.  

He is a lot happier after having left his girlfriend.  They both took it hard at first, but they are seeing how it was a needed step to progress.  Gaby is now officially in her ward and with other missionaries.  We found her on the street and she started YELLING at me!  "IT´S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!  That ward isn’t the same!  I know it’s the same church so I’ll be baptized next Saturday and I want you both to be there, but I don’t like the ward AND IT´S ALL YOUR FAULT OR SENDING ME THERE!!!"  That was fun.  Haha.  By the way, Braulio and Gaby only have 20 years. Braulio is now warming up to the idea of serving a mission in a year. Gaby still loves him so we will see if she becomes a distraction when she changes houses just to be in this ward...... I sure hope not.

1 Nephi 11-13. Nephi´s vision of the Tree of Life.  I read it this morning in Spanish. I understood it better in Spanish than in English.  There is a meaning in all things. We just have to find it. Nephi tells his brothers that they failed to understand the words of their father because they had not prayed unto the Lord for understanding. They replied by saying that the Lord does not respond to them.  Nephi then goes on the explain that there are two parts to receiving an answer.  Pray and obey.  They were not obedient to the commandments of the Lord therefore they could not receive revelation.  There is a meaning in all things.  What will we do to receive the answer?

12 weeks today.  That just feels weird.  Do I want to go home?  Yes.  Do I want to leave my mission?  No. Both are coming and I don’t like the bitter-sweet taste in my mouth.  I just have to get off that plane with nothing left. Leave it all on the missionary field.  That doesn’t mean it will be time to rest when I get home, but it means that I should be satisfied that there was nothing more that I could do for the salvation of this people.  My comp, Elder Hanson, always says,  "My mission will NOT be the best two years of my life. It will be the best two years FOR my life."  I share the sentiment.

With hope,

Elder Heath

Another Bleh

August 13, 2012

I think the end of a mission is the most expensive because everything is worn out and you need new everything even if it’s for a short amount of time.  I’ll have to pull a bit more out now because I am in DRASTIC need of shoes.  I know I told you on Mother’s Day that it would be ok and I really thought it would be, but I just went through those "new" soles that I thought would last until the end of mission.  That’s right.  I got them back from the shoe guy about 6 weeks ago and I already have holes in the bottoms.  I’ll send pics.

 My other shoes aren´t doing to well either.  I had a hole in one side of my right shoe and I fixed that by asking a guy to put a piece of leather inside and sew it all up. Well, he did, but he sewed it SUPER tight and it knocked my foot out the other side of the shoe.  If I ask for another piece of leather in it my foot won’t fit.  The best part is, out of the 3 pairs of shoes I brought out here (including my sports shoes that are opening up as well), only 1 shoe seems decent enough to take home at the end of the mission.  Very weird. I won’t be buying more athletic shoes though.  Just a pair of black leather Hushpuppies.  I’ve heard a lot of elders buying those at the end of their missions and they love them.

This was a pretty bad week . Both my comp and I were sick . I had a bug that had me in bed ALL day for 2 days and he was hit hard with a cold that also put him on his back for a bit.  We then spent another day to recuperate a bit by order of Sister Christensen and Doctor Kelly.  I’d say mine was harder, and it was, but I talked to the right people and now I’m doing a bit better while he is still coughing up a storm and sneezing out a hurricane.  He refuses to talk to anyone, so I’ll talk to them for him.  Mwhahaha.

The weekly report is short: rough (being sick), not much success (for being sick), and the bap date we had fell through (she didn’t go to church). We did find this one girl knocking doors though.  Her name is Deborah and she had heard from the elders about a year ago, but they never went back.  We are going back.  She is asthmatic and we gave her a blessing. She was really grateful for that.

We are gunna kick it up this week to make up for the sick days, so stay tuned next week for some good stories!!!

Love Y´all!!! (Heeheehee)

Elder Heath