Hello Family! How was the snow?
I did not have quite the EGGcellent week I hoped for.... But there were still blessings to be seen. This week was just a little harder with the comp cause he is always sleeping and always says that he wants to be a bucket for the day.... Which bugs me. I'm just trying to wake up every day willing to work and just do the best I can tbh.
Monday was an incredible let down day. We wanted to go play basketball at the church, but other companionships beat us to that. I spent less than 5$ for my groceries this week so that was good, except for some medical stuff and soup that I bought later during the week. Apparently there are these new Pringles that Walmart has that are flavored as milk chocolate, white chocolate, and salted caramel... They all are pretty decent. I bought a sweater, but it's not a vneck or a cardigan so it's eh right now. We had to bike up some huge hills just to get to Yogurtland and then bike them AGAIN just to get home. We stopped by the church and talked to some Elders. Elder Hall (English missionary) is probably one of my favorite missionaries. He is just so cool. We talked to each other for a bit. Oh and FYI he knows Elder McDonald, my MTC companion... Small world y'all.
Tuesday was weird. We have our Seventh Day Adventist scheduled for an appointment and so before that we decide to go and knock some houses around where he lives so that maybe there will be someone else interested. I told Elder G that he was in charge for the first half of the day and that I was for the second half (so that he learns the area and I am less stressed). Well, he decided to go and knock on all of the pink houses, and there was a good amount of them so it was worth it. The funny part about all the pink houses... You might have guessed, Jehovah Witnesses. Every single house that was pink a JW answered.... Who woulda known right? We knocked on a different house and this huge black guy walks out all jacked a tatted up and says "Mormons??" So we say yes of course and he replies "I respect you guys so much, you got me out of jail". So apparently he was taught by someone, could've been missionaries or members who knows, in jail. He basically pleaded his case before the, and they made him a deal that if they wrote a letter to the judge to set him free (cause they felt that he was innocent) then he would have to read the entire Book of Mormon. We asked him how it was going and he said he hasn't read it all the way through and that he didn't want to keep talking to us because he was stoned.... Alrighty, well... Have a nice day?? It was kind of funny but cool cause that guy was HUGE!!! We taught Neftali and dang it! He is just super stuck in his thinking and he says that he is never going to change. We then biked to another part and taught the less active lady named H. It's kinda funny because we read the story of Ammon and the Kings flocks with her and the part with this arms getting cut off we asked her "what is happening right now?" And she said idk. Her sister was then like "what? Some guy just chopped off arms!!" And the sister tried to chastise her by saying "no you have to read it spiritually, that's why I don't understand"..... For real?? Dear H, them arms just dun be chopped! We also tried to have Elder G practice his gospel Spanish and talk about the Plan of Salvation and it was super difficult for him, like wow. I think that's why it's a blessing to be able to teach in English and Spanish in this area so that you can switch back and forth between languages, that way it makes a it a little bit easier to switch back and forth. We ate dinner at the Es and they gave us this Stir Fry type dinner, which was different but pretty dang good. They also gave us some carrot cake to eat once we got back to the apartment. We talked with them for awhile and that ended the day on a high note.
Wednesday... Oh man. In the morning I just felt super sick, like de repente, and I got a fever, had no energy, and the yuckies. It was not fun. We stopped by the F house and we thought we were just going by for a quick lesson and then on the way to the R family for dinner, nope. Apparently they thought that we were eating there too. They gave us soup, Gatorade, and a banana, so that actually helped me stomach a lot. We then biked all the way down to the R family (it's like a good 20min bike ride) and then ate there too. Hermana R made me a friendship bracelet!! Here's a lovely picture of it. It was really cool. We asked the family if they could come with us to meet with our investigators, the A family. Because we cannot enter into a home without another man present. Hermano R said that he could, just that he doesn't speak good English so he won't talk a lot. Thank goodness we brought him!! Oh man! The lesson was really good! We taught the Plan of Salvation to the little girls and the crazy grandma A asked a crazy question otra vez! This time she asked "in the bible it mentions 2 baptisms, one in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Ghost. The other is in the name of Jesus Christ." Hermano R nailed it!! He answered it so matter of fairly and plainly that I learned something new and put 2 and 2 together just there. I knew the 2 baptisms is about baptism and confirmation, but even the way the prayers are said line up perfectly!! Dang! It was so legit.
Thursday we had DM because everything was pushed back this week one day cause of interviews on Friday. It was really good, there were a lot of announcements, just little rules here and there that missionaries neglect to do, just like asking permission to be somewhere, just as a formality. Nothing too crazy or dramatic. I felt really bad so I bought a couple ramen packets, and ate some soup. We then went to the clear corner of our area because we received a referral for over there. We found this part member family and set 2 baptismal dates for the 13th of December!! Their names are M and M and they are 15 and 8 years old. We then ate with the bishop and his wife and had... Camarones and pasta Alfredo, which did not sit well with my stomach. I felt super bad, so I asked if I could take the rest in a container. We then bike a long way to get to the A family again to teach them with the E family now. I taught the girls the WOW while my comp was talking about biology to a member of the A family and the E were 'distracting' A.
Friday we had interviews with President Weidman. I was actually excited for this time, cause I actually had a question prepared to ask him. He always asks at the end of the interview if we have any questions, and I always so that I don't. However, he likes it better when we ask him questions. It was funny though, cause he told me some good advice and a mission story of his and at the end he just said "basically all this was to say I don't know to your question"... Ah dang it! It wasn't anything like profound doctrine or a life changing decision so don't worry about it, I'll figure it out. We the. We're told to go and buy stuff, like reflector tape, for our bikes so that people see us at night. Well there wasn't any reflector tape at the hardware store, but there was aluminum tape!! So I now I have LDS in aluminum on my bag and an A on the back of my helmet (for captain America) so that people see me, and man can they see me, I'm like the biking tin man and the road is made of yellow bricks for me (badumtiss). We then had a lesson with N again, but this time we figured if he doesn't seem like he is going to progress, then turn him over to the Lord. During the entire lesson there was distractions. Every time we would say something bold it would go like this:
We know God called Jo-...... Phone rings
N: "Alo! Alo! Alo mi amor?"
And that happened a lot. Like "The Book of Mormon is the Word of G- ...phone rings and 'alo' would happen like 7 times... So frustrating. By the end of the lesson we decided not to go back and visit him because he felt the spirit when we testified, which made him sit and think for a while, but then he said he would never change. I bought some stuff from CVS for my stomach, like Imodium - we had another lesson with the A family and basically taught the little girls all the commandments in one lesson (we also gave the Law of Chastity pamphlet to the mom so that she can teach the kids and not us) and the lesson was alright, lots of distractions. A even asked when we talked about tithing "in the Bible it talks about if you don't pay tithing one month, that there is a 5% interest the next month" referring to Leviticus 27:30-32. Honey, that's the freaking Law of Moses! #lawofmosespranksusagain and she wasn't satisfied because she is a bible nazi. We showed a gospel library video called Remember Him and explained why we come to church. It was a really cool part of the lesson which totally brought the spirit.
Saturday we had coordination and during which we got a call from Hermana F (the family that was suppose to go to the temple to do baptisms that day) and she said because her little girl C is young, what is she going to do while they are all doing the ordinance? Thankfully (no coincidence) the family fellowship per was in coordination with us. I handed him the phone to see if he could watch C while they went and he said of course he would!! Clutch moment! For the win!! The all went to do baptisms for the dead and confirmations (ps ask Charlie and Emily for a funny story about the F) and that was super cool. We basically just street contacted for the whole day. We ran into this 55 year old lady who is episcopalian and we asked what she believes in. She said "we are pro-abortion. I am too, I should've been aborted cause I have autism" oh man, that made my heart sink. Elder G talked with her for a bit while I just listened. It just makes you stop and think what life might've been like had you not been born Mormon or maybe had become Mormon. Knowing that God has a plan for each of us, is just something others don't even know about. That plan may have some more dings and scratches for some more than others, but you never know how strong you can become until you grow. The press those of the ward held s Carne Asada which is like a Latino cook out with lots of beans and rice and horchata. Elder D fixed the breaks on my bike and I tried to drift/ skid on my bike around a corner in the church parking garage, and I totally ate it hahaha! I started braking too soon so I just fell over. I didn't fall hard and not a scratch on me, maybe on Peggy my bike, but not on me. It was funny, you would've laughed.
Sunday was awful. It didn't go at all according to plan. None of our investigators showed up to church so that means that A and J and J won't make their baptismal dates... Dang it! We were worried about where they were or what might've happened to them. We went back home after church and my stomach started to hurt again. We stopped by the F family (the picture only has the Hermano and Hermana and C with the aunt by the Hermano) and we ate a little bit with them and talked about the temple with them for a bit. We then stopped by the A family to see what happened. Turns out Satan is a complete jerk and made the baby get super sick! They all didn't come to church for that reason. I can understand the parents, but not the grandma, grandpa, and the 3 little girls. We reset their date for the 6th of December and they are excited. On the way home we got EGGED!!! Some guys drove alongside us as we were biking and threw eggs at us. I got hit in the shoulder and Elder G didn't get hit at all. It made a bad day super sad. Thank goodness it was at the end of the day!
The week was really good, it was just the fact that I have had stomach problems all week so it's been really tough.
Well, I'll be back on later
Love,
Elder Roberts
Ps 5 more Fridays!!
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