So Tuesday our
appointment with Noé fell through and that was kind of a bummer. We
also had an appointment for once at 8 so we worked through dinner and
that always makes the days a bit tougher but I always feel better having
more time to work. We got a hold of Denise finally and got to sit down
with her. Turns out that she was present in a lot of the discussions
with the missionaries when her sister got baptized. This was 4 years ago
or so. She remembers some of the stuff but has forgot a lot as well. I
am super excited to teach her. I think that she is really ready to hear
the gospel. Tuesday night was kind of heart breaking. We went to Alex
and Carola´s house and Alex told us about how he had gotten in an
argument with his boss at work and stuff and he wasn´t in the best mood.
Elder Ortiz called an audible and instead of teaching the last part of
lesson 5 he talked about repentance. After we left the house, he told me
that he smelt alcohol on Alex. That really took some wind out of my
sails. Alex had bought herbal tea and this ecco stuff which is like an
replacement for coffee that´s supposedly ok and had been doing so well
with the word of wisdom and so that was tough. But, we´ve got time to
work with him and I know that with some prayers and diligence he´ll come
around if alcohol is a problem with him.
So
Wednesday was Zone Conference! It was a lot more fun this time around
when I understood more and got a lot more out of the lessons. It´s
always good to see some of the people from the CCM and meet some new
people as well. The lesson that stood out the most to me was the lesson
from our Zone Leaders. They just talked about the transition it has been
for some of the other Elders with a new president and all and talked
about how maybe some of them were losing a bit of motivation or
excitement. The lesson was so inspired though and there were things that
I needed to hear too so that was awesome. As always it´s super cool to
hear the testimonies from the Elders and Sisters that are finishing
there mission. We visited Chano´s family that night and were waiting for
Chano to get there to teach a lesson but he got there just in time to
drive us home for the night...
Thursday started
out really well and ended kind of terrible. In the morning I was
feeling really good and we had a decent amount of contacts and I felt
like it was gonna be a really good day. Then we got home from lunch and I
felt terrible. I just slept through language study and I never do that
but I just felt bad. I must of had food poisoning because for the rest
of the day I was either laying on the couch miserable or in the bathroom
miserable. At about 10 o´clock I had thrown up for a second time and
was laying on the couch. I called for Elder Ortiz and asked him to give
me a blessing. I was still pretty nauseous and it wasn´t to fun to sit up
but I´m glad I did. I´m almost positive I was looking forward to a
sleepless night but I kid you not within minutes of the blessing I
passed out on the couch and woke up and it was like 9 am. Power of the
priesthood is real.
Friday I was absolutely
exhausted and had nothing in me. We just chilled in the house all day
and that´s no fun. Elder Prince and Elder Larson came over for lunch and
they´re always good for a laugh and lifting my spirits. I had some
really cool studies that day. That night I just started thinking a lot
about memories that really stood out to me with my family. As a
missionary that is dangerous because it can lead to losing focus and
what not and getting trunky. But I just went upstairs and watched the
restoration video and then I watched another video called "Together
Forever." It was an older video but I absolutely loved it! As I watched
the video I had an awesome testimony building experience. I realized
that all of the memories that stood out to me about my family were
really wholesome experiences that happened in my life because we had the
gospel in our home. My family is such a motivating factor for me on my
mission. My family makes me so happy and I know that I have the
opportunity to live with them forever and that´s why I´m here. To share
with others something that I know will make them and the families
happy.
Saturday we had a service project at a
dog shelter and everything was all fuzzy in my left ear. I don´t know
whats up. I have tried to pop it over and over but it´s been weird for 3
days now. Not cool. We had lunch with the Valencia Jara family and
that´s always awesome. But Hermano Nelson asked me something about how
much it would cost to buy a Washington Redskins jersey cause I found out
that´s his football team. Thought that would make Grandpa Jack happy.
Having the overthinking mind that I do this question sparked an inhead
debate and crisis about something that has about 0 importance. I had no
idea whether I was a Falcons fan or a Redskins fan. I would tell myself
that I could like both but then absurd questions would pop into my head
like "but if you wanted to buy a jersey which team would you want it
for." I finally convinced myself that it wasn´t important but yeah
that´s my mind for ya... It doesn´t take much to send my head spinning
in a meaningless debate of thoughts. So we went to see Jose Luis but he
said to come by on Sunday but then he wasn´t there Sunday either so that
was kind of a bummer. We visited the Araya Teyo family in the night and
that was awesome. We got to meet the mom and talk with her more. She is
super cool. She seems like she wants to come back to church. I think
that they´re ready to become active again and for their daughter Amanda
to be baptized!
Sunday we went to ward council
in the morning which was new but I liked it! We did a lot of walking and
didn´t get a hold of anyone all day. It was close to dinner and we
decided to go contact a reference really quick before dinner. We didn´t
know the exact address but we had the gist and planned to knock on a few
doors until we found her. Well the first door we knocked on was not our
reference but she invited us in! Her house was huge! And it turned out
that she owned the school across the street... I felt like I was in that
fairy tale where the boy enters the house and he eats to much and then
he can´t leave. This lady just kept bringing out food. "Oh try these
empanadas, oh here´s some hot chocolate, oh here´s some home made jam
and bread." One more thing and Elder Ortiz was gonna have to roll my out
of the place. We didn´t get a hold of anyone else but I was happy to
have gotten to talk with Magnolia and her husband. I don´t know how well
they will progress as investigators but I know we found them for a
reason so we´re gonna teach them!
This week
was kind of a tougher one but I actually learned a lot and had some
really cool ideas and promptings from the spirit and my testimony was
strengthened. Love being a missionary and love all of you!
Elder Shell
Cleaning fun!
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