Hey, sorry for
the belated letter!!!
But, Hey, I’m
here and alive and well! :) We have
permission to write a little late because our Pday was a little hectic!
But apart from
this everything is good!! Oh, first, Sunday
was Elder Templeton’s birthday!!! I didn’t see him, but I’ll see him tomorrow,
and I bought him and me matching ties (super cute right?)! Ha! And yea, you guys should message his mom
something cute! :)
Also, Dad,
remember how we had to shower with a bucket that morning in ThunderHill and we
said it was mission training?? Well, it totally was! Our shower head broke, fixed now, but we
totally had to shower with a bucket for two days!! So yea, that was a funny little memory!
This week we had
a baptism!! And I did it! First try, no mistakes (answered prayer right
there)!! Hahaha! But really, everything
was really great and the family was really happy!! (people here hardly smile in
photos, I don't know why, haha, but yea, I promise he was happy!)! Hahahahahaah!
His wife is a member and their little girls
are so adorable! :) I am extremely grateful for the opportunity I’ve have to be
a part of their journey towards Christ! :)
Pictured above is Jiminez and I
getting a ride to our comida (dinner appointment) one day.
Ahhh, okay, y
que mas (what more)?... OH man! I’ve learned a bunch about myself this week,
and how much I´ve already changed! Hahaha! So, to start, I
live with three latinos, and these guys are literally my best friends in the
mission! Elder Rodas, from Guatemala, and
fact, I’m gonna visit his home after the mission and he’s gonna visit us,
because he only has like 1 or 2 transfers more than me in the mission! :) Elder Jimenez, mi compa (my companion), from Mexico City, un Chilango (a native to Mexico City), and he is a real hard
worker and a real happy guy! I’ve
learned a lot from him, and I’ll actually add more on that later. And finally, Elder Arellano, tambien. He’s from Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City too)
tambien, and he went to Provo and he speaks casi (almost) perfect English (so
we can totally gossip with each other Haha!). But yea these guys are literally
the best! :)
So, one day
earlier this week, Elder Rodas and I were cooking dinner, and he was looking at
photos on my camera and there was a super blurry picture and so I told him he
could delete it... after about 15 seconds I hear "oh fetch no
manches" que significa que (I knew that meant) something bad happened. Turns out, since my camera is in English, he
accidently deleted all my photos on my camera! (Why is that even an option? Hahahaah!)
But yea, that happened!! And let me tell you, if that happened like 4 months
ago, I woulda been really upset. Ask Natalie
about that and she’ll tell you she knows that’s easily something that would make
me unhappy.
But literally, although
I really didn’t want to lose my photos, when it happened, I didn’t even feel
the slightest bit of anger or anything of the sort. It was more of a "oh, that’s okay, don’t
worry about it!" and really that night I reflected on that and surprised
myself. Elder Rodas felt super sorry and
was pretty heartbroken, but everything is fine! And the only thing I can credit or thank for
this new kind of response is the mission, and Jesus Christ. I’ve been trying so
hard to work on the Christlike attributes, Read Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel (Click this link Preach My Gospel Chapter 6 for more details), and it’s been hard to know if I’m progressing, especialmente
because truly taking on Christlike attributes is a super long process, right? Well,
this happened, and I’m super humbled by it so I hope it doesn’t come cross as
arrogant (because that’s something else I’m trying hard to avoid), but yea,
this event just really testified to me that people can change with the help of
Christ, with His help I can change. And
when we do our best to follow His example and His teachings, we will recieve
blessings. I don’t know, I never can quite explain these things exactly right. But
it’s cool, and I’d highly recommend trying to be more like Christ, and then look
back and reflect on how much we have/can/will change with Him.
There’s another
reason this event was important to me... earlier this week, I asked Elder Jimenez
what defines a successful missionary, since he’s just about finished with his
mission, and is an awesome missionary - and he told me that a successful
missionary is one that returns different than when he left... one that is still
an active member 20, 30 years down the road... their whole life, actually. And this just struck me, because I only have 3
or 4 months or something out here in the field... but I’m already starting to
see the change in me. Yes, I’m still Nick
and I still have a lot of flaws, and I’m talking a lot of flaws! Hahaha, but
little by little, I’m seeing the Lord help me, a bit here and there, as He sees
fit for me at the time. :) I don’t know, like I said, I struggle to write
exactly what I feel, but I hope you guys can understand without me sounding
prideful, because it’s not as much about me as it is about the way turning to Christ
can change anyone... you know? :)
Anyway, Rodas y
Arellano have an investigator, and this guy is so golden it’s not even funny...
he went tracting (proselyting) with Rodas and Arellano one day and he’s not
even a member yet. He’s 22, and is so
supportive, Oh My Gosh! I was talking
with him one day and he said he’d like to be a missionary once he finishes
school... And again, he’s not even a member yet!!! Honestly, he’s an example to me and he always
walks in faith and is so stinking supportive of the missionary effort. We
should all strive to be a little more like him.
Apart from this I
hope everything is good and I hope this week is amazing and that we all can
take a moment a look back on our week and look at the blessings that God has
given us, no matter how hard it may be to see. He always gives us blessings,
even when it’s hard.
Love you all,
until next time,
Nick
Nick wrote a letter to his
sister, Natalie, responding to a question of why life has to be so hard
sometimes... With her permission, I’d like to share his thoughts on the topic.
The fact of the
matter is experience, even the bad stuff, is a gift you can use to help others.
Let me share some
thoughts with you :)
An example (we
will use cars of course, because you're super old and gonna be driving
soon)... So, we're all on a road, right?
We're all traveling on our individual little road. But sometimes, roads are
pretty stinking steep, like at our old house in Loomis. Other times, it's
straight up rocks and dirt, other times maybe there's puddle and we get stuck
for a bit. But, after each obstacle in our road we're a little more experienced
for the next obstacle, the next challenge, if you will. :)
But also with
roads, as you know, there are intersections right? There are moments when one road touches
another, and then keeps going down their own paths (like King and Taylor
:) yea, I still remember a little bit
back home) And in our lives, these
intersections are moments with other people. At these moments we can help others using the
information and experience we've received/learned to help them in their
journey. And then, we go on our way. This is why things happen.
Nat, if there's
something I learned out here in Chihuahua Mexico, it’s Spanish. Hahaha!, naw
just kidding. Really, it’s that this church, this message, is for everyone.
There aren't exclusions, there aren't exceptions, no if’s, and’s, or but’s.
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