Email sesenta y siete

November 27, 2017

I may have been more excited for Pday than I ever been before, and that's saying a lot. Last Monday we didn't really get a Pday, because pretty much the whole day was spent either driving back from Jacksonville, or emailing. The one thing I wanted to do was take a nice nap, because Elder Diaz and I were exhausted last week from biking so much. Well I never got my Pday nap, so this whole week I was pretty grouchy. It's all good though, because you better believe I took a nice 3 hour nap this morning. Glorious. A lot of missionaries say that sleeping just wastes precious Pday time, I on the contrary, say that anything else is a waste of time. It's called preparation day for a reason. Nothing can prepare me for the week better than some extra rest. Case closed.

The one thing that kept me going this week though, was personal

On Wednesday we had a lesson with A at the church again, and he had read! I was really pumped that he kept that commitment, because like I said last week, the Book of Mormon is the great seive. Those who read it truly want to know the truth. So I was really glad that A had taken the time to read it. He read the introduction and the testimony of the three witnesses, so we read the testimony of the eight witnesses with him and also chapter 1 of 1 Nephi. It went well, we were able to clarify some understanding of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. He doesn't want to come to church yet, he says he wants to learn more about the Book of Mormon before he comes to church. We told him that church is a place where we all learn, but he said he just wants to read it first and make sure that this is something he wants to pursue. He said he doesn't feel comfortable coming to church quite yet. We will have to introduce him to some members, hopefully that will help him warm up to the idea of attending church.

Thanksgiving was a wonderful day. President Hansen invited us to bake cookies for investigators and members, and deliver them to them and to wish them a happy Thanksgiving. So we did that. Hermano Tirado gave us a ride, so we went to R's house to drop off some cookies first. I never fully explained what happened to R. So his watch broke, and he couldn't figure out how to get his printer worker. Elder Merrill was really good at fixing things, so he would work on his watch and printer when we would go over. While Elder Merrill would do that, R would usually cook food for us. I would usually just sit there twiddling my thumbs (doesn't that saying make me sound like dad lol). Anyways one day R noticed I was tired, so he told me to lay down and get some rest, so I did. I slept at an investigators house. I really was super tired and didn't know what else to do. Pretty soon this would happen anytime Elder Merrill would fix R's stuff. Over time, I guess R's mode of thinking was: "this missionary who always fixes my things is awesome, the other one is super lazy, he just sleeps every time, and then eats my food." Unintentionally, I guess I acted super inconsiderate for all he was doing for me. So much that he got super offended. He doesn't have a problem with the church, he just doesn't want me to come back to visit him again. The emergency room also charged him $1,200 for the night we took him there for his kidney stone, so he blames me for taking him there. All in all, it was a huge misunderstanding. I feel bad, I definitely could've handled things differently. He would probably be baptized now if I would have. However, that wasn't the Lord's plan, this was definitely a learning experience for sure. I told Elder Diaz he has to go visit him when I get transferred.

Anyways, R never answered the door. So we left the cookies and a gallon of juice on the door step, with a note that said "God bless, love the missionaries." Then we went and visited some less actives.

Anyways Thanksgiving was fun. We went with Elder Sotomarino and Elder Short to have dinner at the Dunn's house. Brother Dunn's wife is actually from Tijuana! So I had fun telling her about Joel and his mission. Brother Dunn met her while her was on base in the Navy in San Diego. They are a really cool family. Their son, K, is less active and our age, so we hung out with him and watched some football. He is seriously hilarious, we had a good time. The food was great, I ate wayyyy too much. The embarrassing thing was I wore a pair of dress pants that I had forgotten I had ripped from falling off my bike. (I was just riding along and the seat snapped off, that made me feel fat). Anyways K saw the tear so he started teasing me a little, and then everyone else started joining in. Elder Sotomarino told me I was sinning because the garments were showing haha. It wasn't even that bad though I swear, just a hole the size of my thumb on the right cheek. Memories.

Anyways I gotta go. I want to leave y'all with my testimony that I know Jesus Christ is our Savior. I'm amazed with His beautiful teachings from the New Testament, and the testimonies of Him in the Book of Mormon. Personal study truly has become sacred time for me to read the word of God. I'm absolutely in love with the scriptures. I love my Savior. I love this Gospel. I love all y'all! Have a wonderful week!

Here's a pic of the District