Joke for the week:
Q: Why did the home teacher cross the
road?
A: It was the last day of the month.
aaaaaand then:
Brother Smith: My
home teachers are so good they come on the first day of every month.
Brother Jones: Oh
yeah? My home teachers are so good, they come the day before that.
Here is a quick run down
of the week:
Tuesday: last day with
Elder Durrant, yay, spent some time visitng some members of the ward to say
goodbye.
Wednesday: Dropped Elder
Durrant off at Cleveland and headed over to Kirtland to pick up the new guy and
we all gathered in a room and then they had all the new missionaries come in
and president announced one by one who would be with who and there were 2 Elders
from Mexico and El Salvador who walked in and I knew that I was probably going
to be with one of them and I was right! My new companion and guy I am training
his name is Elder Cortez from Mexico. We headed back to Toledo straight to
three appointments and the first appointment we had was with our two Asian
investigators and the member we brought with us is also from Asia and when we
sat down I realized that I was the only person in the room who grew up speaking
English as a first language... good times. But Longhui and Angelina both came
to church this week which is awesome because they haven’t been in forever. Next
we met with Lisa and she is also doing awesome despite all of the crazy things
going on in her life. It is so cool to watch her get so much peace, comfort and
strength from reading the book of Mormon. And for Elder Cortez first American
meal some members took us out to red robin :))
Thursday: We met with
our investigator in the hospital who again told us that he was being
killed everyday and coming back to life... each conversation with him that we
have are all so different. It is sad to watch him struggle with the mental
health problems he is having right now. After that I decided to take elder Cortez
to a nicer neighborhood to tract and lets just say the people there are not
quite as accepting as they are in Mexico of the gospel... But despite that he
keeps telling me how we are in the Promised Land lol.
Friday: Sonja was having
a quinceanera for her daughter and she asked if we could help set up so we
did and Elder Cortez was right at home because before his mission that is what
he did for work was set up and run parties like that and then they let us stay
for food and he was in 3rd heaven with how much food he has had in the last 5
days. Also, it was really cool too see that three families from the ward came
to support Sonja and her daughter there as well.
Saturday: I hope I am not
working my companion to death hahah we had to bike about 25-30 miles to the 8
appointments we had all day and I feel like a concerned parent as he is riding
his bike because he doesn’t know all the traffic laws so I keep looking behind
me as we are going to make sure he is still there and he is still chugging
along it is great. We also met with Lisa that day again and taught her about
fasting and it was such an awesome lesson! We are also going to be teaching her
son now with her there to review it with him. We set a baptismal date with them
for next month and committed them to fast about it. Elder Cortez Also fell
asleep in his missionary clothes like Elder Calhoun in the best two years is
was hilarious.
Sunday: Church went really well, Lisa
got up and gave her testimony and it was the coolest thing. She talked about
how with her husband being in the hospital the last two weeks and all the
trials she is having in her life she wouldn’t have been able to make it through
them and would have gone back to drinking if it weren’t for the book of Mormon
and what she has been reading, the support from the ward and from us
missionaries supporting and teaching her. It was an awesome moment. Elder
Cortez and I both got up after that and gave out testimonies as well. We also
finished planning Sonja’s baptism for next week and she passed her interview
with flying colors! She is so excited for her baptism and to make that next
step on the path of the gospel. She is such a cool person and I am glad I ave
been able to teach her.
That is all for the week... so I will
share a little bit more about Elder Cortez. He is from Matamoros Mexico and he
grew up in the church, all of his family members are in the church as well and
his dad being the last one to join about 3-4 months ago after he got his
mission call. He was a visa waiting in Mexico city for three months so he has
already been a missionary for a while so I guess all I have to do is help him
get used to living in America and how things are done here. He is about 60-70%
fluent in English so our conversations are about 50-50 English and Spanish so I
can help him to learn English and understand what is going on sometimes. He is
the funniest kid I have ever met and has a great love for missionary work,
which has really helped me a lot. He has definitely given me a much-needed
boost to keep on working hard until the end of my mission. He also tells me all
the time how this is the Promised Land and how this is the greatest thing
ever... it has made me realize just how much of the little things that I have I
am taking for granted... kind of humbling. He has great faith and great ideas
of thins he tried in Mexico that we have already tried here with some
investigators that have worked great. God is good; he knows what we need and
when we need it. I am grateful for this opportunity to be a missionary and all
that I am learning and the growth I am experiencing. I am grateful for this
extra little push to be better and work harder. I am also really grateful for
how much my testimony in the book of Mormon and plan of salvation has grown
recently.
Well that is all from this week!
read your scriptures and say your
prayers.
Love y'all
hasta la semana que viene,
Elder F
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