Hey
family!!
I'm
here, alive, and well, and I have time to write! So here it goes! :)
I
have a super emotional story to share, or at least emotional for me...
Last
week we found a girl and she was amazingly receptive. After our contact with
her, she agreed to read a folleto and she totally did. This girl was keeping commitments
and promises left and right, a progressing machine and we were honestly ready
for another baptism in a few weeks!! Then
we asked her to come to church, and she totally said yes. And we said we’d pick
her up in the morning. Well, we swung by her house, but she was asleep, and
nobody came to the door.
After
church, she sent us a message that basically said ‘thanks for the help, I don’t
think I can join your church and I don’t think you guys should come and try to
teach me anymore.’ Long story short her
family is Catholic and don’t want her to talk to us any more. I prayed so hard for this girl, and I never
thought I’d cry for somebody else in the mission like that. But lo and behold, it happened.
I don’t think I can explain this feeling... ask Lauren or Jewlz or TJ...
literally any RM. I think they know what this feels like. But it’s heartbreaking to loose her.
And
then again, this week, I had one more investigator tell us that we can’t visit
her because her family is Catholic... and so that was super sad and pretty hard
because that’s two in two weeks. But
after much prayer and love and hope that everything will turn out okay, we are
back to work. Working even harder, serving even harder, praying even harder so
we will be ready when we find that person ready to hear the gospel message.
Oh!! Okay, a few funny stories this week!
We
had a Zone Meeting and I had to give a closing prayer. When we gather as a Zone, we always say the
prayers in our native language, so for me it’s English. And Wow!
I never thought it would be so hard to give a prayer in English!! Haha!! I
literally haven’t spoken English in weeks, so it was seriously kinda hard for
me to remember some words, especial gospel English which I haven't really spoken for months! The prayer was super slow
and according to the other gringo missionaries, I totally have an accent. Ha! But, like, no worries because none of the
latinos know! Hahaha!
Well
Jimenez and I are awesome! He’s super
legit, but he only has 2 weeks until he finishes the mission! And I’m gonna cry when he leaves, Holy Cow! He’s honestly the best! He’s a really cool guy, and a real good missionary! I’ve
learned a lot from him and he definitely has helped me magnify my calling.
I
have to say Arellano is my best friend in the house though, we have like 3
months together because he was with me from day one, and we always have a good
laugh!
Our
ward is cool and I’ve connected with a few families, but not like super tight...
they feed us every day, every lunch and they're pretty nice which is good, but
other then that they pretty much leave us missionaries on our own. Jimenez says most of the wards he’s been in
throughout the mission have been much more engaging, helpful and supportive of
the missionaries.
Oh,
speaking of which, us missionaries had a meeting with our ward on that topic! The four missionaries in our house, Arellano,
Rodas, Jimenez, y yo (and me), were able to teach the ward about missionary work and how
they can help and it was actually really cool! I think we did well and I think the ward got
the idea.
At
this meeting the President of the Elders Quorrum said something that Dad always
said and it’s something that hadn’t ever really resonanted with me as much as
it has here. He said no matter how smart or how much you know, there is always
someone that is smarter and knows more. And so it is
and definitely has been for me here in the mission! Hahaha :)
Okay, so things I’ve learned this week... Well, to start, the word Pride. Holy Cow, I have not heard that word more in my
life than in these last 3 weeks. It’s a point that we've worked on a lot as a District
and it’s something that has helped me a lot, or rather, not having pride has
helped me a lot. Something that I’ve
learned is that if we are humble, the Lord can direct us, and if we're humble,
we can learn, and if we're humble, we can get along with just about anybody!
Not
gonna lie, if there’s something I’ve taken away from the mission so far it’s definitely humility. Never in my life have I had to rely so much on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and
never in my life have I needed their help more. And just like Dad and the Elders Quarrom Pres
said, it’s especially humbling when you know that there is always someone who
can speak the language better, and understand the gospel more than you! Hahaha!
But, it’s because of this, I understand more clearly how and how much the Lord
has helped me. He's helped me in every
aspect of life out here. Honestly, I can’t
really explain it completely. But when
I’m humble, obedient and working hard, He delivers! So, yea, be humble, set goals, ask our Father
in Heaven for help daily :) but do so sincerely and you'll receive blessings! :)
I
hope all is well and I hope that you guys see the blessings we receive each
day! Oh, and THANK YOU to Auburn 3rd Ward for
their cute Christmas letters!!!! They
are awesome! Also, THANK YOU to Aunt
Jean and Uncle Lee who sent me toffee -- it was super bomb!! Loved it :D
And
I love you all!
Til
next week,
Nick
Elder Ribeiro de Argentina (tomando el selfie) and Pacheco de mexico (behind me) two elders in my zone and they’re really cool :)
Mi papi Jimenez
Photo
from was Temps birthday so I bought him a tie (and I got a
matching one for when we're comps one day)! :)
I
was hoping to send pictures of my housemates too... today we planned on taking a
picture together, like all 4 of us! But,
as of right now, I don’t have anything... I had pics, but they got erased :) Hahaha!
So hopefully next week!
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