Dear everyone,
Well, we decided to start this week off with a bang. On
Tuesday we had
a few lessons, one with an investigator - who will hopefully
be
baptized sometime in the near future. We also got a few
referrals -
one of which we'll be passing off to the English elders.
My Spanish was on FIRE. I feel like I've been progressing a
lot. We found out
that there aren't any new Spanish Elders coming in this
transfer, so I
won't be training. I have no idea what will happen now. I
could even
get 6 week shafted - meaning I'll be leaving and they'll
just put
another pair of Hermanas here. I got my B-Day package too! Thanks
guys! It's absolutely delicious. Mom, I'm glad you gave in
to impulse
- I'd actually been craving fig newtons for a few days.
Funny.
The contacts are working great, by the way.
Wednesday was exchanges. Everything went well, except for
when my
companion for the day, Elder Miller, wrecked his bike trying
to jump a
flight of stairs. Fortunately he was okay. Sometimes I
really wish we
were on bikes. I could stay in shape a lot easier that
way... Plus you
get to do things like jump flights of stairs,
On Thursday we had a cool experience at the library while we
were on
Facebook. A lady came up to us and said that she was a
recent convert,
and that she was really glad to see us. She told us that she
had been
looking for a new job, and needed help making a resume. She
was
obviously pretty stressed out, and asked me if I could help
her type
up a resume because she couldn't type well.
Hours of my live wasted in Mr. Drew's 7th grade keyboarding
class had
prepared me for this moment.
I knew what I had to do.
Long story short, I helped her make a resume and afterward
she said
she had been "asking Heavenly Father for a
miracle" and that she felt
like it was us being at the library to help her.
Then she started crying.
It was very awkward.
Friday we were supposed to teach another investigator, which
ended up not happening
because he wasn't home the two times we tried to go over
that day.
Sometimes agency can be really frustrating. Keep praying for
him!
We also went to help a family move. Apparently Elder
Rodriguez doesn't
know them, and I had never met them, so it was kind of
interesting.
They aren't members, and we aren't even sure how they got
ahold of our
number. I think they're former investigators because they
were talking
about missionaries who had been to their house before.
Anyway, it was
a neat experience because we got to do service and share a
little bit
about the church with them. They weren't interested in
learning more.
Maybe someday though.
Sunday nobody showed up to church, not even our investigator
who said he would.
We did get a less-active member to come for sacrament
meeting at
least. So that was good. After church we went around saying
goodbye to
everyone (for Elder Rodriguez) and generally just having a
trunky time
together. Then we ate chivo (goat) for dinner with an
Ecuadorian
family, los Hidalgo. Chivo is like lengua, but worse. Not my
favorite
food ever.
I loved getting to see the pictures from your vacation.
Looks like it
was a blast. I did recognize the giant telescope from
Goldeneye. I had
no idea it was in Puerto Rico though. That's sweet.
Dad, don't give up on your Spanish. I've been laughed at
plenty on my
mission, and it's a similar theory to skiing. If you aren't
making
mistakes, you aren't getting any better. That said, better
to be sure
about things as important as your dinner.
Mom, thanks for being such a great mom. Xoxo
Sam, you're even taller than I remember, and looking like
less of a
noob every day. I can see why you got a date to prom.
Katest, you're the greatest.
Libby, I'm glad you're working on developing those adventure
muscles.
You never know when you might need them.
Jess, you already look like a different person to me. We're
going to
have to get to know each other again when I get home. Love
you kid.
And yeah. That's all for this week.
con mucho cariño,
Jake
