Just keep working

January 13, 2016

         Today was another pretty crappy p-day. My companion wanted to go to a zone activity to watch a movie and on the way, I bought the bike parts we needed.  I was finishing with the bike wheel for what ended up being 2 ½ hours while my comp watched the movie.  I could not believe how ridiculously hard my comps tires are to change.  We were so short on time, that I didn’t get to relax for even a second. The whole situation put me in a ridiculously bad mood.

Miracle #522: Today I got my new debit card in the mail.  Normally, letters take a very long time to get here, but my card got here in less than two weeks.

         The funny part of the day was just losing it because of the stupid bikes.  On top of it all, I lost the receipt for the purchase which I had to have to ask for a reimbursement.  Hermana Clark, our finances manager, had mercy on me and we got everything worked out.  I’m on really good terms with the mission office and it is actually fun to be in the office with them.  This next p-day I have to think o something fun to do.  Either that or we will go to the temple.  That would be nice.

January 14, 2016

         Today was all right.  This morning, I had a really super good study session.  We got our weekly planning done.  After going to a lesson that fell through, we had a delicious lunch, but right afterwards I started to feel really sick.  I had to lay down and I fell asleep for 45 minutes.  I beat myself up for being lazy, and then I just decided to move on.  We had some super spiritual lessons where we taught about The Book of Mormon.

Miracle #523: One of our new investigators already feels like our message is true and is preparing for baptism.

          The funny part of the day had to do with the bikes.  First off, my front tire had a slow leak so I replaced the tube.  After replacing the tube, the new tube got a leak!  Every 5-10 minutes I had to pump up my tire.  The other funny thing was that my legs were burning from a hardcore leg workout yesterday, but somehow I rode faster than my companion even despite having to pump up my tire.  In this last week, I have readjusted his breaks, bought a more efficient tire, and yet somehow he is riding slower than before. 

January 15, 2016

         Today was fairly good.  We didn’t work all that much, but we got things done.  In the morning we had a service where we painted a little bus stop hut for a few hours, which was pretty fun.  After lunch, my stomach cramped again and I was hurting.  I only laid down for 20 minutes and I didn’t fall asleep.  We then decided to do some work in the church on he computer so we went and spent almost 2 hours doing all that fun stuff. My companion had to do some in field capacitation internet courses that I never did in my training.  Finally, at 7:00 we hit the streets.

Miracle #524: Elder H. felt impressed to visit  a member who has been sick all week.  She was well enough to receive us and we had a good lesson.

         The funny part of the day was the first official lesson with one of our new contacts.  As we taught her we learned that she was taught and baptized before but became inactive shortly after her baptism.  The other funny part of the day was listening to my companion do his training on family history in English.  He is very fluent in English but his accent is super silly at times.

January 16, 2016

         Well today was not good.  Our lunch fell through so we made our own and then finished our studies.  After that, we dropped by a ton of people that we teach to invite them to church tomorrow.  W felt badly because we ended up showing up to our missionary correlation meeting 30 minutes late.  That is to say, we felt badly until we got there and neither the sisters nor our ward mission leader were there.  The meeting was at 3, we got there at 3:25, and the others didn’t get there until 4:15.  Seriously, that is ridiculous.  I just gave our mission leader our progress report and said, “sorry we have to go now, we hope to see you next week.”  I thought I was pretty “in control” considering how I felt.

Miracle # 525:  We went back to a planned lesson that had fallen through and they were there so we taught a lesson and they promised to go tomorrow.

         The funny part of the day was probably trying to do list work (which I hate and my companion loves.) We worked on the list for around 2 hours and we didn’t get a thing accomplished.  Then we contacted for 2 more hours and still didn’t accomplish anything.  It was a slow day and the first really lame day in the mission for my companion.

January 17, 2016

         Today was pretty good.  At church today some our our people actually showed up.  It was interesting because basically none of our older investigators and less actives came, but both of our new families did.  On top of that, in executive committee meeting, we actually felt like it was worthwhile and efficient. We think that the little interview that we had with the bishop really helped us out.  The not so great part of the day was that we really didn’t have planned lessons, so we had to do more contacting.  It was a super hot day, like 98 degrees in the shade hot.  It was so hot that my back was literally dripping sweat for 2 hours straight.

Miracle #526: During our hours of contacting, we had 2 contact lessons.  This happened in the same place where yesterday no one would talk to us. 

          There were several funny parts of the day.  One of the funniest parts of the day was in gospel principle class.  To preface the situation, the teacher of that class hates me. Anyways, we divided into groups to study some scriptures and share what we learned.  While the other group was sharing, the bishop started talking to me and when I responded, the teacher, with obvious hat snapped at me to “Shut Up.” I just looked at her innocently and pointed to the bishop and said, “He did it.” Everyone laughed, except her.

January 18, 2016

         Today ended up being a really good day. We did morning contacts for an hour and actually got 2 references. After going home and doing the morning routine we went off to lunch.  Th sister we ate with didn’t have a man in the house so we had to eat outside at a little child’s table.  The lunch was amazing Columbian food and there was so much of it!  We were required to gorge ourselves and I will tell you what, I more than obliged.  Following the lunch we basically went straight to work.  It was one of the first real workdays we have had.

Miracle #527: In the very end of the day, we were guided by the spirit to find 3 people in a row.

         The funny part of the day was probably after lunch.  I finished way fast and we were alone outside, so I fell asleep for a few minutes and woke up just as the Sisters were finishing eating inside.  It was great timing.  The good part of the day was going to visit a family that the bishop asked us to visit.  I called the bishop tonight to report to him and he was very grateful that we had quickly done what he asked us. I am happy because I think that we are gaining the bishops trust.

January 19, 2016

         Well today was both good and bad.  This morning, I woke up to a very unwanted text telling us that one of our investigator’s wife (to-be) is in the hospital in a coma.  Apparently she had a simple operation to repair a hernia and had complications.  We left early from our district meeting  to head over to the hospital to support our investigator and to pray for his wife.  It was pretty depressing to go to the hospital where Mario died 6 months ago.  \

Miracle #528: V. stabilized and the doctors think that she has a good chance of recovering.

         The funny/tragic part of the day was waking up to the stench of burning garbage.  There is a nearby garbage dump that is on fire and it is pouring out toxic smoke.  The entire community of San Bernardo was clouded over with the smoke of the trash fire.  It was so toxic that we were told to wear masks until the clouds dispersed. 

         The other funny part of the day was going out to do divisions with eh second counselor of the bishopric.  He is the bishopric member who defends u the most, and as he was talking with us he expressed to us how frustrated he is for the same reasons that we are.  We tried not to gossip, but it was nice to hear some words of support.

January 20, 2016

         Today was an interesting day.  This morning we did our regular routine but instead of going to lunch, we had a worldwide missionary training meeting, which was pretty decent.  It was a lot like watching the District mixed with General Conference.  It was really interesting because a lot of the things that they talked about were things that I had already been thinking about and working on.  After the conference, we went off to lunch and out to work.  It was pretty slow overall, but in the end we had a really good lesson with V. and E.

Miracle #529: For the first time in over 3 weeks, w actually got back to the house at 10:00.

          The funny part of the day was watching the broadcast and seeing all of the missionaries in the states with their Ipads.  It was funny because my companion will soon be headed to the states and will get his.  He bugs me about it all the time.  In the end, I told him that in 6 months, while he is still knocking doors, I will be watching his favorite movies.