Feb 23, 2014
Hey guys!
Sorry I didn’t email earlier, we went on a tour of one of the church nut farms
out here (see pictures below).
Well, this week I have some bad news and some good news. The family we have been teaching
can't get baptized yet because they aren't married, and lack the documents
that they need to get married in the U.S. So we're going to be working with
them for a while. Or at least Elder Huamán is. I think I'm going to be
leaving in a week.
Sorry I didn’t email earlier, we went on a tour of one of the church nut farms
out here (see pictures below).
Well, this week I have some bad news and some good news. The family we have been teaching
can't get baptized yet because they aren't married, and lack the documents
that they need to get married in the U.S. So we're going to be working with
them for a while. Or at least Elder Huamán is. I think I'm going to be
leaving in a week.
The good news is that another investigator is getting baptized on
the 8th now. So that will be pretty great. I don't know what I'll do if I'm
in another area though, because it's a mission rule that you can only go
back to seen one baptism that doesn't take place in an area adjacent to
yours. So if I go any further south than Gridley, I'll have to use it.
Well, I've been out about 8 months now, and I haven't had a lot of baptisms.
If you call that "success" then I'm not doing so well. But I think that a
big part of missionary success is the changes you see in yourself. Coming
out on a mission makes you grow up, but it only changes you if you let it.
There are plenty of guys who come out because they felt pressured to, or
just wanted to go somewhere cool, and spend two years being disobedient or
lazy and then go home exactly the same as they came out. That's a pretty big
waste of time and money if you ask me.
But I feel like my testimony has grown a
lot, and that I'm becoming the kind
of person that God wants me to be. That's the most important thing.
So yeah. I'm feeling ready to leave Chico. President Weston asked me in my
last interview if I was "ready for a change" so I'm guessing that means I'm
leaving.
On Saturday I spent the day down in Gridley doing service with Elder
Crockett who dies in a week. He's pretty trunky, but we had a good time. We
helped one of the members pull a tree down with a tractor and cut it up into
moveable pieces. It was nice to finally see something new/take a break from
our area and all of the same old people. I'm ready to trade out this area's
problems for another area's problems and see what I can do.
I just hope I don't get put with an Elder who doesn't speak much Spanish or
is lazy. There are a few who have been out as long as me, or even longer,
and speak next to nothing (usually the lack of Spanish stems from laziness).
I mean, when you've got guys saying "me llamo es Élder..." there are some
issues with that.
But enough ranting. My week was good.
What else is new....
We're teaching an investigator to speak English, starting from the most basic
step: the alphabet. Considering Elder Huamán and I have no language teaching
experience whatsoever between the two us us, discounting one investigator from the
beginning of my mission, I think we're doing all right. The biggest
difficulty is that our current investigator has a speech impediment, so sometimes it's hard
for me to understand his Spanish. But since all he speaks is Spanish, I have
to step it up a little.
Elder Crockett gave me a telescoping back scratcher that you can clip into
your shirt pocket like a pen. It's pretty useful.
Love,
Jake
of person that God wants me to be. That's the most important thing.
So yeah. I'm feeling ready to leave Chico. President Weston asked me in my
last interview if I was "ready for a change" so I'm guessing that means I'm
leaving.
On Saturday I spent the day down in Gridley doing service with Elder
Crockett who dies in a week. He's pretty trunky, but we had a good time. We
helped one of the members pull a tree down with a tractor and cut it up into
moveable pieces. It was nice to finally see something new/take a break from
our area and all of the same old people. I'm ready to trade out this area's
problems for another area's problems and see what I can do.
I just hope I don't get put with an Elder who doesn't speak much Spanish or
is lazy. There are a few who have been out as long as me, or even longer,
and speak next to nothing (usually the lack of Spanish stems from laziness).
I mean, when you've got guys saying "me llamo es Élder..." there are some
issues with that.
But enough ranting. My week was good.
What else is new....
We're teaching an investigator to speak English, starting from the most basic
step: the alphabet. Considering Elder Huamán and I have no language teaching
experience whatsoever between the two us us, discounting one investigator from the
beginning of my mission, I think we're doing all right. The biggest
difficulty is that our current investigator has a speech impediment, so sometimes it's hard
for me to understand his Spanish. But since all he speaks is Spanish, I have
to step it up a little.
Elder Crockett gave me a telescoping back scratcher that you can clip into
your shirt pocket like a pen. It's pretty useful.
Love,
Jake
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