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| My companion loves his new water bottle! |
Today was another irritating p-day. Once again I spent a good portions of a p-day fixing my companions bike. I am so sick of that dumb road bike! Moving on, I was able to do a lot of personal studies which was much needed and enjoyed. I got to have a good conversation with my family via email and had a rough session of insanity (it followed a very spicy lunch!) We finished our p-day early in order to go and visit some less active members which turned out really well.
Miracle #557: S., our new investigator felt the spirit during our lesson despite it being a pretty awful lesson.
The funny part of the day was realizing just how much time we waste waiting for my comp to finish eating. But he is a skinny guy who needs more calories than I do, so I just need to be patient. The other funny part of the day was while we were standing outside a member’s house, who was supposedly going to accompany us, we called and called but no one ever answered the door. We knew they were home, but they stood us up and we ended up do the appointments alone.
February 18, 2016
Well today was a little humbling in a good way. This morning we did our routine and weekly planning in which I realized just how much this sector has picked up lately. After all that and lunch, we had interviews with the president. I learned just how bad my companion is feeling and is doing. I guess that he is miserable and apparently it is mostly my fault. I was surprised to hear just how bad he seems to be, but President and I talked about it and he gave me a blessing so that I could be a nicer trainer. (Those are my words for it.) We came to the conclusion that I need to let my companion set the pace even if it means slowing way down.
Miracle #558: I really feel the love and support of President Cook in all of this. He is a great president and I love him.
The funny part of the day might have been part of the interview where we talked briefly about the different cultural approaches to missionary work. The other funny part of the day was teaching our very cute investigator and watching my companion get completely flustered even though it was a simple lesson on prayer.
February 19, 2016
Today was a fun day of divisions with a really quiet Elder Jenks. We had a lot of fun together, but that came after a relaxed morning where we had companion inventory and I just listened to all of the complaints that Elder H. has about me. I really thing that president’s blessing helped me out because I remained calm. I hope that it stays that way. My internal monologue often sounds like this, “it doesn’t bother me (but it really does bother me), but it shouldn’t bother me, (but it really does). Who cares about this, just relax, breathe deeply.” The last part is new since yesterday.
Miracle #559: We contacted most of the day in a hard sector and found 3 great people to teach.
There were 2 funny parts of the day. The first was when my companion’s front tire popped. Instead of getting frustrated, I just fixed it without complaint. The other part of the day was being on our feet for literally 6 hours nonstop without sitting down. My feet have gone soft on me since being in the biking sector. I also ran into a family from my first sector who moved into the ward that I was visiting today. Overall, this day was fun for me.
Today was a big let down. this morning was pretty normal for a division. We did a service at 11:00, then planning meeting, then finished up the division after lunch. When we got back from the service, we had to shower so I hopped in first and was ready to go in 15 minutes. The other 3 Elders in the house took almost 2 hours to get ready. Whatever, it is not my sector. After a super late lunch, we went to meet up with my companion and our district leader. As we met up and started talking about how things went, it soon became evident to me that our DL hadn’t been the best example. They stayed up way too late at night and then didn’t do ANY work at all until 5:00 p.m. when we met up . They just “talked and studied.”
Miracle #560: I didn’t get irritated as I heard all of the dumb division stuff. Laziness usually really bothers me.
The funny part of the day was when Elder Rubio, who is one of the elders in the other sector, and I started taking about mission stuff. He was complimentary to me about my Spanish skills and told me that I was one of only 2 gringos he has met who speaks as well as I do. I also heard some pretty sketchy stories about some super disobedient missionaries who have passed through here.
February 21, 2016
Man, I am at a loss for what to do with my companion, whom I am supposed to be “training” to be a good missionary. I am trying to take things easy an go at his pace, but that has meant that our work has been really crappy and our urgency has stalled out. So in order to destress him, I am getting stressed out because we are not working well. President asked me to call him every few days to talk a little, so I called him for advice tonight. He told me that sometimes you need to overcompensate in order to find a balance. He also told me that I have the right to revelation for my responsibility and urged me to look for it. Receiving revelation is hard.
Miracle #561: S. went to church today and I didn’t have to call and remind her.
The funny part of the day was teaching the interesting people who came through our chapel open house today. The bishop asked us to teach the lesson on baptism and he lent me his pants to wear. He didn’t think that I would fit into them, because he is much shorter than I am. What he didn't realize is that I have very short little legs and a long torso. The fit was perfect!
I am really not having fun with the missionary work right now. I am not desperate, but I am not happy not working as hard as I know that I should and can.
February 22, 2016
Well today was slightly better than the past few days. It all started off with a typical painting service project with a member in our ward. We helped him out for about 3 hours an had a decent time chatting between the three of us. After the service, they gave us a really tasty lunch (which saved us from a lunch that we were going to have to eat outside.) Needing to study, we went back to the house and did an abbreviated study time that was mostly filled with talking about my concern for the work that we did (or didn’t do) last week. We are going to have to work harder that we have been.
The funny part of the day was when we had our lesson with S. We asked her if she had been reading The Book of Mormon. She responded, “very little, I have only made it to the end of 2 Nephi.” (in 4 days!!!) It is so great to have someone like her to teach. The other funny part of the day was a family home evening that we had with the R. family. We did a theatrical re-enactment of the parable of the debtors. The lesson was fun but also spiritual and we ended with a fun game. Singing is alway a trip with Chileans, who generally struggle with holding a tune.
February 23, 2016
Today was a very good day in that I felt that I was helped by the spirit to know how to handle the unfavorable circumstances that arose a we worked. We did not work a efficiently a we should/could have but instead of getting irritated with my companion, I just asked him about his goal to spend less time in lessons and how I could help him with that. After planning, I just talked to my comp about nonsense and things that don’t matter. Usually I hate talking about those things, but I felt like it would help our relationship.
Miracle #563: One of our investigators opened up to us about why she is having a hard time living the law of chastity. The last time that she lived alone, she entered into a profound depression an she is afraid of that happening to her again. She expressed many concerns that I previously didn’t know. I am grateful for that so that we might now be able to help her.
The funny part of the day was when my comparing was throwing a ball to a god and it bounced off of something on the ground and went over a fence. He had to climb the fence and fetch the ball, but the funny part was finding out that he had a huge fear of heights with his feet just 2 feet off the ground. Today he overcame that fear.
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