Week 21

Ha, as of yesterday, this is officially Semana [week] 4 of this transfer. Now that I'm finally a significant way through my first transfer not as a nuevo [new missionary], I think I finally can consider myself a "real missionary," but that's just still so weird to wrap my mind around... 

 

Anyway, we had another good week. The highlight was Tuesday. We started out the day by hiking this crazy hill, with a bunch of lamina [?] houses perched precariously on the side. We had some really effective lessons there and found one man who had already attended church once. He attended again this Sunday and after lunch we're going to visit him and challenge him to be baptized on the 24th.

After that we went to Valles de Maria, and area I had never before entered. It was almost a United States quality residential (gated and guarded) neighborhood. It was clean and safe with new cars. It was SO different. At one point we were visiting a recent convert and his family in their (relatively) super nice home and I realized that I was finally doing the missionary work I had always imagined missionary work to be (i.e. what the missionaries in Medford do when they visit us). They even sent us off with food and gave us a ride to our next teaching appointment.

After that, for whatever reason, we were on fire. We seriously could do nothing wrong. Every contact we had was super pilas and practically asked to be baptized; we had the support of members, etc. My question was just why everyday couldn't be like that? I'm pretty sure we were better teachers that night, just because we were so excited and felt the spirit so strongly. Maybe it's just that we wouldn't learn as much or become the people we need to be if missionary work was so easy. Or maybe it's just that opposition is an inherent part of this work. As Elder Holland said, "Salvation is never easy."

Moving on, Mom, you mentioned something about using a picture of a colorful Guatemalan bus. Yes, they are pretty crazy. Actually, when I came to Villa Nueva I learned that the colors actually mean something. All buses are painted with stripes and swirls using some combination of two colors. The colors signify where the bus is based. For example, in Villa Canales all the buses were cream and red colored. Here in San Jose, the buses are white and some type of blue green (I'm not really sure; I have trouble with that color). There are buses of every color: green and black, black and white, yellow and black, green and white, etc. The buses are also decorated with a bunch of chrome, which is kind of funny because they're just school buses that have been painted a new color. On the front windshield is always some religious saying (e.g. The Word), or the name of some girl. Inside the decorations are a strange mix of catholic and evangelical decoration (for example, crucifixes next to paintings of Jesus holding a bus in his hands and saying "God is Love"). It's always interesting.

Anyway, that's it for now.

Love, Elder Cannon