Week 15: Graduation 2.0

The Good
Thursday morning Elder Medina and I went up to Tucson early to eat lunch with Elder Holman, Elder Jones, (two of Elder Medina's former companions) and their companions. We went to a Salvadoran restaurant and had the best pupusa I have ever had and I even liked the curtido they had there. It was super fun to eat lunch with them and it was the first time I had actually really talked to Elder Holman in person which will be important later on in this email.

The graduation was actually a lot easier than I thought. When we got there, they separated the trainers and trainees on opposite sides of the room. We then had a competition between the trainers and trainees. President Grisel would say aloud a principle from one of the lessons and then we would have to rush to type it on our phones. Whichever team got it fastest would get a point. It was close the whole time but in the end the trainers won. Then we went into the gym and roll played the Plan of Salvation with a trainer that wasn't our own which thank you to Elder Medina I had done many times before so I was prepared in that aspect. I did that lesson in English porque me tocó someone that doesn't know Spanish. Then we did another roll play that was an invitation to baptism and this time I did it with someone that speaks Spanish so that was cool. Then we had somw food that Sister Grisel made and took a break to eat. While we were sitting, an Elder next to me asked President if he had anything to share about transfers and President looked at us and said "Well this will save me some calls on Saturday" and proceeded to tell us all of our cheese...

There are 2 really cool teaching experiences that I want to share from the week.

The first was with a lady named Paola who is friends with a member in one of the English wards. Those members actually told us to pass by and so we did. When we did, she let's us in and already knew about why we were there and everything, so she was just anxious to learn more. We taught her the first lesson and she really liked it and the Spirit was extremely powerful. We shared a copy of the Book of Mormon and she said she would ready it! We also left her a Restoration pamphlet so that she could share it with her family. Then she invited herself to church which was super cool. She said "your message convinced me" and then said that she couldn't the Sunday what was yesterday but hopefully next Sunday she will with her family!

The other was with a man that Elder Cook and Elder Sullivan actually found. He is a man that they tried to contact, but then he told them he doesn't speak english. Luckily, Elder Sullivan is actually a Spanish Elder in an English area so he talked to him and basically taught him the first lesson. This past Saturday all 4 of us went and gave him a Book of Mormon, read the introduction with him, and bore powerful testimonies of the importance and power of the Book. He had lots of questions and is super humble. His two children were there attentive and liked the lesson too even though one is like 11 and the other 8 or 9. We did not meet his wife because she is almost 9 months pregnant and was resting. He has been super prepared though and we would love prayers for him!

...okay I kept you waiting long enough for the transfer cheese. It is sad, but inevitable; Elder Medina and I will part ways tomorrow. Elder Medina will go to Deming, New Mexico and be district leader there again. He also gets to train another one so I will have another brother! Elder Medina's replacement as DL and my companion is none other than aquel Elder Holman. I am super excited because I know He is a great missionary that works hard, and Elder Medina said he has the 3rd best Spanish in the mission so I will get to continue practicing! What I am most excited about is that Elder Holman and I will trio train so I get my first son! It is crazy that it is so soon, but Elder Holman and I will shape him into a grand missionary.

The Bad

Since Elder Medina is leaving, naturally come the goodbyes. After church yesterday, basically all the members of the branch (which only equates to about 25-30) lined up to say goodbye and take pictures with Elder Medina. Many people cried, most of all my dear companion. Goodbyes are hard, but always temporary.

The Beautiful 

Ironically, the beautiful is the same as the bad. Many people were very sad to see Elder Medina go, but if you think about it, it is actually a beautiful thing. It shows the impact of a good missionary on the members of an area. Elder Medina is a powerful missionary that grew to love this area and grew to be well loved by the people, members and investigators alike. I hope that when it is my turn to leave Sahuarita, my farewell will be just as bittersweet. 

The Funny

So hopefully by now you have figured out that when a missionary is trained, their trainer in missionary lingo is their dad. Then their first companion after their training ends is their mom. This makes for some crazy mission family trees. This is what is funny about this next transfer. Elder Holman trained Elder Myddiete who was the first Elder that I talked to when I got to Tucson 3 months ago and is currently AP. A year and a couple months ago, Elder Myddiete trained Elder Medina who just finished training me. So this means that Elder Myddiete is my grandpa and Elder Holman is my great-grandpa. Okay todo chevere, but here is where it gets weird. Since Elder Holman is my first companion after my training, he is my mom and my great-grandpa. Weird right? It gets better. My trainee is my son, but also Elder Holman's son. Being the son of my great-grandpa, my son will also be my grandpa. It can get weirder if you think about it more but I think that is enough for one week jaja.

The Spiritual 

So Friday morning it was just starting to sink in that I am going to train and I was thinking about everything trainers have to do and my lack of experience on the mission field. I was letting myself get a bit overwhelmed and honestly was just feeling altogether inadequate. Just as I was about to start my personal study, with all these thoughts and feelings going through my mind, I get a message from a very good friend who is in the MTC right now. The message was simple, he shared a scripture and just a sentence or two, but as I read the message and looked up the scripture, I knew it was exactly what I needed in that moment and that was no accident that my friend thought of that scripture to send to me in that moment. As I reread the scripture, tears swelled in my eyes and I received yet another testimony that God loves and knows me personally. He knows and loves you personally. He will help you in exactly the way you need and exactly when you need it, we just have to trust that although our method and timing may be good, God's method and timing is perfect. If you ever feel like sending someone an uplifting message or do something nice for them but feel hesitant because you don't know how it will be received, do it. That thought came for a reason and you could be God's perfect method and timing for that person even if it seems strange or out of the blue for you. There is never a bad time to love.

Thank you for reading! Wish Elder Medina luck and pray for him that he will be well and pray for his English! I love you all and if there is someone in your life that needs prayers, don't hesitate to ask me! Have a great week!

Week 14: The Cramming Begins

The Good
I have one more week left in my training and graduation this upcoming Thursday which means I start "cramming" this week. I am not sure if graduation is something either new or something just the Arizona Tucson Mission (ATM) does because none of my siblings or sibling-in-laws did it. Essentially I'll be tested on  how well I know the principles, I'll have to teach a lesson to another missionary who will have a checklist, an just overall be tested on my competence as a missionary. Basically everyone passes, but I am still kind of nervous and will be cramming (hence the subject line) for the next couple of days. I am just excited to be stripped of the official title of "Greenie" after graduation jaja. 

I went on two exchanges the past 2 weeks and they were both super fun! The first one was with my zone leader and mission grandpa Elder Vickers! He is a very good missionary and goes home after this next transfer. Nothing too huge or exciting happened but it was good because he shared a lot of cool insights with me from a seasoned point of view. At the end of the day, we reflected on the day which was really cool because neither of us had anything in particular for the other to work on, so we just shared what we learned from each other.

The second exchange was with the other "greenie" in the Sahuarita district Elder Cook. Yes, I don't know what Elder Medina was thinking putting the two least experienced Elders together (a combined experience in the field of 3 months), but it was actually an excellent day. We had a super powerful and spiritual experience after dinner when the Brother asked us for a blessing of comfort and that was one of the coolest experiences of my entire life. At the end of the day, Elder Cook said  it was the best day of the month he has had on the mission. We both hope that we are companions at some point, but I would have to be changed to English work for that so we will see.

A cool miracle happened this past week with an inactive member! There was a lady that we had been to several times and she had never opened the door. Well one day around 8pm, all of our plans fell through and it would have been so easy to just go back for the day and do some studies and Facebook finding. I was honestly ready to go home that day, but I asked Elder Medina what we should do and I felt like we shouldn't get back into the truck until we knew. So we stood for a minute or so when Elder Medina said we were going to visit Darely (said inactive member). We went and she actually opened and said she was so happy thst we showed up. Apparently her daughters have been wanting to go back to church and she has been thinking a lot about it too. What's more, we found out that her younger daughter is now 8 and hasn't been baptized. I asked the daughter, Clarisa, if she would like to be baptized and she thought for a second and said yes! Hopefully they will start coming to church and we will be able to set a baptismal date with Clarisa very soon!

Many of you may know by now, but my sweet, loving grandma passed away a little over a week ago. I am super grateful for the technology that allowed me to watch her beautiful funeral service and I'm very glad that the current conditions with COVID did not inhibit my family being there in Canada. There have been many small blessings in the past week.

The Bad

This week was a bit rough for finding mostly because school and everything has started so we will have to figure out new ways and different times to find new people! We'll keep moving forward!

The Beautiful 

Elder Medina, Sullivan, Cook and I went on a hike this morning and it was absolutely beautiful. I have not seen so much greenery in Arizona before but it seriously felt like I was hiking in Kentucky! Arizona might be a desert, but don't judge it until you have come to see it.

The Funny

Elder Medina has been learning common English phrases during language study and I help him with the pronunciations. Well one thing I say a lot is "I was about to say" and Elder Medina couldn't say it all really quickly no matter how slow I tried to say it. Then I got an epiphany and wote "áuz abáuraséi" on a white board and told him to read it. He then said "I was about to say" as fast a as well as I say it and we both just busted out laughing. It took me until the last week together to figure out how to help him with English. 

The Spiritual

I came across this quote during personal study this past week and would like like share it:

“Korihor was arguing, as men and women have falsely argued from the beginning of time, that to take counsel from the servants of God is to surrender God-given rights of independence. But the argument is false because it misrepresents reality. When we reject the counsel which comes from God, we do not choose to be independent of outside influence. We choose another influence. We reject the protection of a perfectly loving, all-powerful, all-knowing Father in Heaven, whose whole purpose, as that of His Beloved Son, is to give us eternal life, to give us all that He has, and to bring us home again in families to the arms of His love. In rejecting His counsel, we choose the influence of another power, whose purpose is to make us miserable and whose motive is hatred. We have moral agency as a gift of God. Rather than the right to choose to be free of influence, it is the inalienable right to submit ourselves to whichever of those powers we choose." --Henry B. Eyring

God gave us agency, or the power to learn and choose for ourselves. Sometimes all the "rules" we "have to" follow in the Church can be overbearing and difficult to follow. Well we sometimes make them really hard to follow when we see them as restrictions. It has taken me very long to learn that the moral guidelines that we decide to follow are the path to ultimate liberation. "Freeing" ourselves from these "restrictions" is not freedom, but choosing to do what Satan wants and ultimately deciding eternal misery. Setting up guardrails for us I this life will allow us to ensure true happiness and freedom later in life and in the next. 

Love you all and hope you see the miracles in your weeks!

Week 13: Life is a Marathon

I don't have a lot to say this week. I just wanted to tell a story about a person named Everyone.

Everyone was an ordinary person just like you and me. Everyone had their own talents, interests, hobbies, quirks, and personality that made Everyone unique. One day, Everyone set off on a race, but Everyone didn't know how long the race would be, how hard or easy, or what types of obstacles and turns would be on the way. The only thing Everyone knew is that no matter what, you have to keep going until the race is done. So Everyone set off and immediately found a small group of people to run with that had already been running on their own race. Together they got closer as they ran, they would laugh, joke, sing, sometimes play games and have a great time overall. Races get difficult sometimes though, and with aching in legs, arms and lungs, Everyone would get impatient with the people around and there would be disagreements, fights, sometimes feelings hurt and when those things happened, all of a sudden the run would get a little lonelier. This would never last though, because these people that Everyone had found at the beginning of the race had become family. They ran sometimes through sunshine, sometimes through rain, sometimes would cheer during downhills and sometimes would cry during uphills. They would help each other when the path got bumpy and the two people in their group that had been running the longest would help the others avoid ditches, cliffs, dangerous animals, and slippery footing that experience in the race had taught them to recognize. Sometimes someone in the group would wonder off the path, but Everyone was always ready to run with them again when they found their way anew. Sometimes they ran, sometimes they jogged, and other times they walked, but no matter what they always did it together.

It didn't take long in the race to for Everyone to realize that there were other people outside of family in the race as well. Some of them shoved and tripped Everyone, but others befriended Everyone as the pulled Everyone up and set off running again together. The race went on like this running with more and more people, sometimes losing friends and gaining two more.

Many times the race got hard for Everyone and Everyone wondered if they could keep going, if they could get out of the next ditch they fall in. Sometimes Everyone would be so focused on the pain and difficulty that Everyone would forget the people around that were going through the same things and were there to support Everyone. There were a couple times when Everyone even thought of there was a reason to stay in the race.

This was not all the time though, because there were many times when Everyone loved the race, the people around running together, and the scenery around the path. The race had its ups and downs but Everyone endured through the downs to bound through the ups.

After being in the race for a very long time, Everyone saw one of the people who she had run with the longest finish their race and Everyone could no longer run with them. Everyone was extremely sad and didn't understand why their race ended and Everyone's went on. As the race went on, more more people running with Everyone finished their race and Everyone mourned each time they did because Everyone missed all of them. But the race for Everyone went on. On and on.

And on.

Until after what seemed like a lifetime of running, Everyone saw the end of the race quickly come. Everyone was afraid to finish because Everyone would have to leave everyone still in the race behind, but as Everyone crossed the finish line that changed. Everyone saw everyone that had finished their races cheering Everyone on until the end. Everyone hugged everyone. Smiles were shared. Glorious reunions occurred. And the best part, everyone rested at long last from the pains, obstacles, stresses and all other difficulties from the race. Everyone was happier than ever. When the celebration finished, Everyone along with everyone went back to the sidelines and started cheering for the ones still in the race.

Life is like a marathon. During this life, we will go through a lot of trials and tests. We have family and friends to run with and help. We don't know how long our race will be, who might join or leave our little running group, or how fast others will go through their races. What we do know is this: the best way to enjoy the race is to do the best we can with what we have and help those around us to do the same. One day we will finish our race and get to be with the people that have already passed on before us. When that day comes, we will finally rest and we will get to cheer on the family and friends that we leave behind.

Thank you for reading! Have a great week!

Week 12: A Turnaround

The Good
I cannot believe I am 3 months into the mission. Where has the time gone? And this past week flew by like crazy! It was a lot better week than last so that is partially why the subject of the email is what it is. There two more reasons and they comprise the reminder of my good section.

The time before last that we visited Carlos and Silvia, they all but told us to not come again. They said they are very active in their church and are content with not changing. The last time we visited them, we talked to Carlos for a long time about El Salvador (Carlos y Elder Medina son paisanos). After talking to him for a while, we asked if we could share a scripture from the Bible, shared John 3:16, connected it to the Plan of Salvation, and left a Plan of Salvation pamphlet. We visited them again this past week and talked to both of them for a long time. Then, Elder Medina offered to fix their car window (I don't know if I have mentioned that Elder Medina is a mechanic). Up until this point, we hadn't had an opportunity to share even a small message and we had already spent almost 2 hours there. I had no idea how we could share something, but then Carlos asked "So what are you going to share with us today?" It was awesome and unexpected so we talked a little bit about the plan, set up a time to come back and teach it, and they said they would reread the pamphlet in preparation! What a change!

The other turnaround was with a lady that lives in Amado which is about half an hour away from our apartment so we only make it out there once a week on average. Well there was a lady that we have tried to visit several times that not even Elder Medina had met, but we have never been able to find her home and we were about to drop her. We decided to give her one last visit before dropping her and she was home! And let me tell you she has been super prepared. She asked us for a Book of Mormon before we could even offer it and even asked us if she would have to serve a mission if she continued on this path. I almost chuckled and we assured her that missions are completely voluntary. We read in the Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 11 when Christ comes and visits the Americas and we set a time to come back and give her the first lesson. Nothing can stop the work of the Lord and if you have faith and some patience then those who are looking for the truth will be put in our path. 

The Bad

I love being the companion of a district leader, but there are a couple down sides. One of them is that you tend to know the struggles of your district. The Sisters and an Elder in my district had some especially rough weeks this past week so if you all could keep them in their prayers I would really appreciate it. 

The Beautiful

This past week we had a dinner with a family that has 4 very young kids and they are all super cute. At the end when we were about to leave and it came time to say a prayer, Brother Hansen had asked his daughter who I think is 4 years old to say a prayer. I thought she would say no because she had been asked to bless the food and shyly declined. She didn't decline and she offered a beautiful 10 or 15 second prayer that only an innocent, pure little child could offer. It made me think of the primary song A Child's Prayer specifically the non-existant 3rd verse that an Elder from my brother Wesley's mission wrote. This verse is from the perspective of our Heavenly Father:

Fear not my child I'm here for you

And I am listening to your prayer

I know it's lonely in this life

But on your knees I'll be your guide

I am watching you

And will always be your friend

Your prayers are sweet to hear 

Just know my child I'm always near

The Funny

The funny for this week is something Elder Medina told me yesterday and had me dying just because the way he thinks sometimes is so different from mine that it is entertaining. I will not translate it however porque me da un poco pena so if you put forth the effort to translate it yourself (o ya sabe español) then enjoy jaja. 

Yesterday while on our way home he tells me "Sabe que, he estado pensando y somos una chimba de compañerismo porque trabajamos bien juntos y en realidad, loco, feo no somos." I was dead and also contemplated reading some scriptures on humility with him. Not actually but still. 

The Spiritual

I love stories and and I figured I would share 2 stories that lifted me spiritually this past week for my spiritual section. 

Story 1 was shared to me by Elder Medina who heard it from a man in his previous area. The man's name is Hermano Silba and when he was 19 he decided to serve a mission, but he was extremely poor and hardly had money for anything for a mission. Lots of the members at the time stepped in and helped him get the things he needed enough to go. While he was in the MTC, he got special permission so that his Aunt could visit him and she asked him if he had everything he needed. He said the only thing he would like to have that he didn't already was a towel to dry off after showering, so she went to buy him one. I guess towels in Mexico at the time were hard to come by or the stores had already closed or something because she could only find a dish towel. He took it appreciatively. When he entered the field he started to notice that the towel would stink because he would use it every day and it was small, and in turn he would start to stink to the point where people would visibly try to keep their distance. His trainer was a gringo that had money to burn. He had 4 towels: one for his hair, one for arms and legs, one for his torso, and one for his feet but never saw his companion's need for a towel. Well one day while they were walking down the street Hermano Silba said a prayer that went something to this effect "God I have never asked you for a miracle, but I know you created the earth and everything on it. It would be easy for you to provide me a towel today while we are walking, but I don't want to take away a towel that somebody owns." A couple minutes after, he found paper package sitting on the ground and so he picked it up and put it in his backpack. His trainer asked what was in the package and without a hesitation, he said towels. That night, Hermano Silba opened the package and saw two beautiful, long towels. To this day, he gifts every missionary preparing to go out a towel. It might not be much he says but at least I know they won't have that worry on their mission. 

Story 2 is from one of the members that we ate dinner with and i promise this one is shorter. He told us about an investigator they had on his mission and she was just golden. She believed everything they taught, she kept every comment, and she read the Book of Mormon every day. She made the decision to get baptized and the first Sunday after her baptism she didn't show up to church. During the week, they went to visit her and see what was wrong. She said that her family was extremely upset that she was baptized and would disown and shun her (yes she was married and had kids and yet her parents and husband told her this). The missionaries didn't know what to do and were absolutely crushed. The next Sunday she went to church and they were so happy to see here but at the same time knew what it meant. She only said "I know the Lord will bless me and my family for my commitment to Him." Brother Lambson said he and his companion stood there in awe. The next time they visited her, the husband went up to them with a stone cold expression and said "I have never liked you Mormons, but my wife would never do anything if it meant going against her family so I know what you have to say is important and I will listen." 2 months later, the husband and kids joined her in waters of baptism. 

Thank you for reading. I hope this email found all of you well and thank you to those that took my invitation last week and sent me your thoughts about what you learned. I learned a lot from you and loved reading them. Love you all!

Week 11: Bautismos!

The Good
I'm going to be honest this has probably been the most trying week in my mission so far, but there was still a ton of good! Also, I have a few friends that are also serving or preparing to serve Spanish speaking missions and one of them emailed me last week and said he appreciates my sporadic Spanish words. I didn't really realize that I didn't that until he pointed it out but I'll start doing it so that hopefully you all can learn a little Spanish if you read all the way through. 

First of all, there were 4 baptisms this past week. If you aren't familiar with baptisms in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we have interviews for every single person that gets baptized to make sure they are ready for that big step. Well Elder Medina, as district leader, is the one who conducts the interviews for everyone in our district, but since he still has trouble with understanding and speaking English, though he practices and is improving a lot, so I got to sit in all the baptismal interviews and act as a translator which was a huge privilege. I also got to bare my testimony of baptism to 4 people that were about to take that step and it was the highlight of my week. Their faces were full of light and anyone in that room could have felt the pure, righteous desire to follow God.

The next best thing that happened this past week was being about to attend 2 of the baptisms. It was super cool to be able to experience that. A baptism is one of the most spirit-filled events that happens in a person's life and I always feel honored to be able to witness it. I know Tyler and Estevan are both feeling really good about their decisions and I'm proud of them both although I barely know them. One really cool thing that Elder Medina and I were able to do was stand in the circle and lay our hands upon Estavan's head when he received the Holy Ghost. It was a really good way to end a tougher week. 

The last really cool thing that made me happy this week was that José Ángel gave me a tie bar yesterday because he saw that I never wear one and asked if I had one. It was super chevre because we have built a really cool friendship with him while we teach and that little gift affirmed to me that he feels the same with us. It is a little a simple metal clip, but I don't think he realizes how much it means to me. 

The Bad

Here is what started the rough week. So José Ángel has had a specific question for a while that has been bothering him and we finally were able to set up a time with him to try to clear up his doubt. We were very prepared with a whole Bible study that we were convinced that it would help him and would be really powerful. Well literally while we were on the way to his house, he sends us a text and says that he invited his pastor to be there. Elder Medina and I looked at each other and I know we has the same though. He asked me what I thought and I told him ni modo this is what José Ángel needs so this is what we will teach. So we get there and everything is cool. The pastor is actually a very nice guy when you meet and talk to him. He could be a wonderful politician. So we start with everything and it goes smoothly as planned and we get to the point where I looked and saw that it was starting to click in José's mind, but that is when the Pharisee came out of the pastor. He started asking us a bunch of random questions and twisting our words telling José Ángel we were saying something other than we were actually saying. The whole thing derailed and at that point all we could do is bare our testimonies and leave. On our way out, José gave us both hugs, it was the first time he had ever done that. We walked out and cried together. It was hard because we love him and his family and it sometimes feels like the devil puts everything he has into keeping José Ángel from joining the true church of God because he knows how powerful of a member José would be. 

The Beautiful

There is something beautiful that happens in every baptism and I've heard it called the baptismal smile. When someone comes up out of the waters of baptism, they have the biggest and brightest sonrisa on their face. It is beautiful to see their happiness and the Spirit radiating from within them. 

The Funny

Of course a lot of funny things happen every day, but they are usually situational and wouldn't be funny if I explained them so this week's funny experience is a little sad but it was the best I can come up with. Yesterday while we were at church, it came time to sing the closing hymn. Well after the intro and right as we were about to sing the first word, Elder Medina and I hiccuped at the exact same time. I mean down to the millisecond people. I don't know why it was so funny but we were dying laughing through the first verse. Talk about comp unity. 

The Spiritual

For the Spiritual thought today I just want to bare my testimony on the nature of God. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father and literal father of our spirits. He sent His son, Jesus Christ to satisfy the bands of justice and provide us with liberation from our sins through His atoning sacrifice. If we need help at any point in our life, we need knowledge, comfort, healing, anything, we can ask for the Holy Ghost to provide us with what we need as long we have faith and submit ourselves to God's will. They are 3 separate personages, but unified in purpose which is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of all of us that have lived, are now living, and will live on the Earth. 

I have an invitation for all of you now. Read and study Matthew chapter 5 taking special notice of verse 48. Right after that, read in the Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 12 and again taking special notice of verse 48. Then, if you find time in your week, I would love to read some of your thoughts about what you learned from your study. I would also love to know what you learned about Christ's definition of perfection. I promise you all that as you study these two chapters, you will gain a greater understanding of what God wants all of us to do in this life to improve ourselves and prepare to live with Him in the next.