Week 23

Tuesday, December 03, 2013

December already! Ha! Not sure how that's possible...

Anyway, we had a good week this week. Elder Suarez and I have been having a lot of trouble getting investigators to church. That really is the defining test for whether an investigator will progress or not. Really, if they attend church for even just a couple weeks in a row, it's "fijo" [fixed or immovable] that they'll feel the Spirit and will want to be baptized, but so many people here have trouble following through with their commitments.

This week we were blessed to have 8 investigators attending sacrament meeting. It's not a ton, in fact, it's the minimum number to meet the "standard of excellence" (as a comparison, we more than double the standard of excellence every week in most of the other categories, such as nuevos, lessons, contacts, etc.). Still, we are grateful.

I also was able to finally do what all missionaries in Gmala inevitably do a few times on their mission: bring a drunk to church. Not just someone who drinks a lot, but someone who is actually intoxicated at the moment. (The Word of Wisdom is actually really hard for people here because they drink at lot of beer and coffee. I now know very well the smell of alcohol on someone's breath). Anyway, we had taught him once and he was really positive and wanted to change. We were walking in the street to pick up another investigator when he called out to us. He wanted to go so we brought him along and sat outside the chapel so he wouldn't be a distraction. It was a good chance to serve "the least of these my brethren" and we helped him clean his face off and feel comfortable. Hopefully he will be able to stay sober this week.

Thanksgiving made me feel a little baggy. It was my first "big" holiday in the field. In the morning the other elders in Promision 2 brought us McDonalds pumpkin pie pastries that they had ordered (most fast food restaurants deliver to your house for free via motorcycles with little boxes on the back). Then at lunch our cook made us what supposedly was turkey. I'm not entirely sure though, if it was turkey is must have been a cross cut of a drumstick. It was the first thanksgiving meal I had eaten with tortillas, and I must say, I will definitely do so in the future. Tortillas really add a lot to a meal.

Oh, and a shout out to all those who just submitted their BYU applications (I'm guessing the early application deadline was the 1st). I can't believe that Ethan is already getting ready to go to college. Scary.

Also, a picture of my first zone T shirt. It's lacking in digital design but..