So
Tuesday we headed out to Jose Miguel Infante to pick up Elder Macedo
who was gonna come on exchanges with both Elder Ortiz and I. We came
back to our sector and started out by talking about our area. He was
truly an answer to many prayers in helping me know what I can be doing
and what things I can be using to find more investigators and work
better with the members. Tuesday was Elder Princes birthday so we headed
over that way after studies and decorated their apartment and what not.
(Elder Macedo has keys). So that was a fun little party and then we ate
some noodles with tomato sauce... Anyways we finally got to work after
lunch and I was starting to feel terrible again. We finally got a hold
of Fallon and we had to leave early because I was going to throw up. So
that was the rest of Tuesday. Sick as a dog and finally since it was the
second time in 2 weeks we decided to take a trip to the hospital. Elder
Macedo gave me a priesthood blessing before we left and I just had such
a since of comfort and actually felt better and was able to get to the
hospital no problem. In the hospital they told me that tomato sauce is
toxic if you are accustomed to it here and that is indeed what I had
eaten both times that this has happened. So that was great. What wasn´t
great was going through 5 stinking bags of liquid, with an IV in my arm
and being in a bed not being able to move much for 4 hours. I just about
lost my mind. Funny story I didn´t actually throw up until I get to the
hospital and then I threw up a few times. Anyways, after all the bags,
we left the hospital at 2 in the morning and got back to the house. Our
exchange with Elder Macedo went a little longer than planned. I was
exhausted and finally threw up one more time during the night and that
was it.
Unfortunately I had to get up in the
morning (wednesday) and take a taxi to district class but Elder Larson
gave me some gatorade and crackers which was nice. After district class
Elder Hyer (other zone leader) said that he had permission from the AP´s
to talk to me in English for a bit. So we sat down and we just talked.
He has been noticing that we have a ton in common and wanted to talk to
me. Now I don´t need to put the details of the conversation but it was
truly an amazing experience and despite everything that happened I was
more motivated than ever to work. Now the rest of the day I just slept
in the house but in my time to think I really thought about what had
happened. I was thinking at the beginning of the day. "Really? After I
told Heavenly Father I´m giving my heart and will to him this is the
first thing that happens." But as I thought about it I thought about the
talk. In order for us to truly give ourselves to the Lord we have to be
humble and I needed this experience to finish breaking me down so that
Heavenly Father could begin to build me back up. That is truly what
happened and that process started out immediately with that talk with
Elder Hyer. I truly truly felt motivated and happy despite everything.
Thursday
was back to work. Nothing special but I was feeling a lot better and
the bajillion pills I had to take seemed to be helping.
Friday
we had an activity with the stake where the priests were supposed to go
out with the missionaries. Well there wasn´t enough priest so I went
out with a returned missionary from Brazil who served in a mission a
little bit south of South Paulo but I don´t remember the name. His name
is Alvara. Holy cow Brazil must breed some good missionaries because we
freaking killed it and I learned so much. He is very direct and bold in a
way but he has such a good fun loving spirit about him that the people
feel comfortable with talking and answering his questions. He gave me
tons of references cause he lives in our ward and we contacted half of
them. We also had like 2 new investigators that day and 3 lessons with a
member. Just another blessing as Heavenly Father is shaping me into the
missionary that I need to be. I am truly learning from the examples he
is placing in my life.
Saturday I started my
fast and taught Jose Luis the first lesson which was great. It´s been a
while since I´ve taught a legit legit lesson like that so we were a bit
rusty. Definitely stuff to improve but overall it was a pretty good
lesson. Jose Luis is a super awesome guy and I think that he´s really
gonna keep his commitments and be baptized. That´s about it for Saturday
So
Sunday was truly an amazing experience for me. It was just amazing that
all of the things that I did, my thoughts, and the things that I was
fasting for all seemed to be intertwined. I truly felt the spirit
guiding my thoughts as I came to a few conclusions. The first conclusion
is that if I want to give myself fully for these two years to my
Heavenly Father I need to pray more. I need to pray in every moment that
I can and come to truly rely on my Heavenly Father and trust in him.
I´ll share with you at the end of this letter a few more of my thoughts.
The rest of Sunday was contacts and we found two new investigators
Dante and Myra and we got to sit down with them for a second. The other
awesome part about church was that EVERYONE FREAKING CAME! Alex and
Carolda, Patrico and Fallon and Brian and (they even brought Elias and
cute little Martin which I´ve never seen), and Elizabeth and Jorge.
Elizabeth and Jorge are some inactives that I visited with Alvaro and we
committed them to Church and they came. Truly a great great great day
and really spiritually rejuvinating for me. Pardon my spelling I can´t
hardly spell in English anymore.
Alright so my
last two thoughts that I´ll live you with are some of the things that
came to my mind during my fast as I thought about the person I want to
become. The first is this. "Everything worthile in this life (everything
truly important and righteous) is a process. That is why the virtues of
patience and diligence are so important." The combination of patience
in diligence gurantees success in my mind. You need both together
though. What good is patience if you aren´t doing anything to deserve
what you are being patient for? What good is diligence if you aren´t
going to be patient in trusting that your work will pay off? The second
thought is this. "Live in the moment with hope for the future." Don´t be
like Walter Mitty and spend all day dreaming about the past or about
whatever thing. Do as my man Hitch says "When you're in the room be in the
room." Don´t miss out on life and the special moments that come with it
because you aren´t living in the moment and taking everything in. The
second part is super important though. Our present circumstances may not
be the best and we may have had some great memories in the best BUT we
have to have hope for the future and trust that our Heavenly Father does
have more in store for us whether it be now or whether it be in the
eternities. These are two things I am going to truly try to implement
into my life.
Love you all and I hope you have the best week ever.
Elder Shell
Caught Elder Ortiz sleeping!
No comments:
Post a Comment