Dear Roberts Family,
Monday was Pday, and it was good to finally get a relief. We went to Yogurtland, played soccer, and hung out with the district, like any other normal Pday. We had a dinner appointment with the M family. They invited the F family to come over and we would have a little FHE with them. It is hard because the Flores family are going through some marital problems right now and Hermano M was talking A LOT and the F were just nodding politely. Finally we talked about the role of the parents in the family, how each individual has an important role. We then talked about how when those two work together, the gospel can be easily taught. I used this example for them, correct me if I'm wrong. When we were born, Dad said that he always wanted us boys to be dressed in white shirts, no matter how young we were. I said 'no matter how cute the outfit, my dad said only white shirts for church'. I then said that it wasn't something that my parents argued over, and it was something very little. I said that because of this, what my parents had me DO since I was a kid, now it is normal for me to go to church in a white shirt and tie. We bore testimony that the power of parenthood is real and that through parents, gospel truths can be taught in ways that will impact their kids lives forever.
Tuesday was just full of food. We had to go to a training for Elder G because he is going to hit his 6 month mark soon. It's called 1st quarter training, and the funny thing is I never got it way back hahaha. So we carpooled with other missionaries that also had the training and that was fun. During the training we had this really fun training from some amazing missionaries. Basically they told us that we need to always smile while contacting which is something that I have slacked off in doing... Let's just say my cheeks are gonna kill me every day for the rest of my mission. We ended up finishing the day by going to a buffet with the E family. At the buffet there was a lot of seafood. I didn't know how much Latinos love seafood. OH Moroni, so many clams and mini squids... Ugh. I stuck with my orange chicken, fruit, and egg rolls. It was fun cause then we taught them how to play scum hehehe. The daughter remembered how to play (cause she served in Utah) and that was funny, brought me back memories of playing with Emily.
Wednesday I went on exchange with Elder G. It was a good exchange, but we just had super bad luck haha. While biking back to our apartment just after switching, Elder G's bike got a flat tire, turns out there was glass in the tire, so even if he wanted to pump up the tire, it wouldn't help. We then talked with people for a bit, and then it was about time to go have dinner with the R family. When we showed up, neither the dad or the son were there, so we couldn't come in. We decided to wait for them rather than leave. The son was just coming back from a soccer game and the bus came super late. I love the R family, they are super cool. Hermana made us tostadas and that was super good. We asked hermano if he could give us a ride because we walked and he gave us a ride back to our apartment. Elder G and I talked for a bit and had some fun, then crashed out.
Thursday we switched back and it was another long day. We switched back late so we got back late to doing our weekly planning. By the time we were done with weekly planning, it was already time to go to dinner. We ate dinner with the D family and they made us Chile rellenos. Which is basically a stuffed chile that has cheese, meat, whatever really. I asked if it was spicy and the hermano of course said no, but lo and behold, it was. I about died. The food was so good, but the spice just destroyed me. I think dad would really like Chile rellenos... You wouldn't though Mom:). We then had a FHE with the F family planned, but on the way there, something else happened. The chain on Elder G's bike got jammed into itself and we then walked about 30 blocks back home... It was NOT fun. The F family called us and said that they would come and pick us up and we could still come over. The hermano picked us up and lo and behold, they had food for us! ......... Chile rellenos. Again? This time it was a soup style, which looked super good. We were cleaning the table off so we could eat when I lifted my bowl of food and the daughter was wiping the table and she hit the bowl out of my hands! It spilled all over my nice new gray slacks that I got for Christmas. But I didn't get the worst of it. The daughter's arm got burned SO bad. I was laughing about the pants cause it was funny, but we all felt super bad about the arm of M. We talked for a bit and then got a ride home.
Friday was intense. The Zone Leaders called and they said that we were going to go on exchanges after District Meeting. District Meeting was alright, nothing too special or crazy cool happened. It was super fun to go on an exchange with Elder E. He kicked my butt hahaha. We decided to talk to everyone that came in our path if God would just place prepared people for us to talk to. We talked to everyone. We saw so many miracles! We talked to this one guy, named P, who is a member, but extremely inactive. We talked to him and he told us that he has a lot of hurt about things that happened in the past with his family and the church. We shared a scripture in the New Testament Matthew 11:28-30 and he felt the spirit. I could just feel the love that God has for P in this special moment, it was amazing. We tried to stop by P, but he wasn't there. We talked to this other guy who was just ripped! He was literally twice my age, weight, everything. He was trying to tell us that we need to workout more (truth) so that we can 'take care of the temple that houses our spirits'. We then shared with him the important truth that before we can cleanse the outside, we need to be clean on the inside. We told him about the Word of Wisdom and how that was revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith. That is when the alcohol was just terrible and the conversation ended. We decided to swing by the N family cause we haven't seen them in a while. Along the way we talked to this guy. Turns out his wife is a member, and she is right about to have a baby! Like, any second now. We were invited in and taught the Restoration to them. It was kinda sad because they were so concerned about her (I) that it was really hard for them to pay attention. We gave a blessing to I and I hope that we can continue to keep in contact with them. We had dinner with Hermana M and that was good. We tried to stop by the A group, but nobody was home. We decided to knock some doors in the area. We had a doorstep lesson with this lady named M (cliche I know) but it was a good lesson. I hope that when we go back to continue to teach, that they will have been prepared by the Lord's hand to receive the message of the Restored Gospel in their lives. We visited a potential investigator, but he was super drunk (I HATE alcohol). He couldn't even hold a conversation with us. We told him to please not be drunk the next time we come, to which he replied that everybody drinks and that its ok to drink. I then told him that it is a commandment of God that we avoid alcohol. We then got off topic quickly because he said the that Jesus even sinned... Whoops. We then just ended the convo and the night at that point. Elder E kicked my butt. I was so tired at the end of the day, oh man. I did get the package from Charlie and Emily. I don't see any reason that I should be getting sick now hahaha, thank you so much!
Saturday we switched back to our normal companionships. We switched back at Ward Coordination, which is always good because Hermano C (Ward Mission Leader) always brings pizza and soda. The exchange really helped the relationship with Elder G and I, and we had a lot of fun. We talked to this guy in the street, named J, and he was just.... Kinda confusing to be honest. At first he seemed completely annoyed that we stopped him, and told us that he would never read the Book of Mormon. By the end of the conversation we set up an appointment to come by and teach him next week. He asked us a lot of questions which was cool. We had dinner with the A family because it was J's birthday. It was so nice that they invited us! The divorcement papers for W and the stupid dude are hopefully going to be finalized the 24th, but a ver. We had a cool lesson with everybody at the dinner, and then we bike over to H's house. Only C, the mom, U, the boyfriend, and neighbors were at the house. We had a really cool lesson I which U told us that he wants us to come by and teach him a little more. The neighbor has a son named E, who she is willing to support fully in being baptized... Fingers crossed y'all!
Sunday was a roller coaster. The whole day we were wondering who was staying and who was going. We had a lot of our investigators say that they were going to come to church and also bring some family friends, but none of them came. It was super sad. We sat there during church incredibly discouraged because none of our investigators showed up, and very little of our less actives did as well. The other missionaries had a lot of people and had baptisms, so it was discouraging. I know I'm not suppose to judge myself based on others success and I should be happy for them, which I am, but gosh dang it! I hate agency sometimes hahaha. We biked back to the apartment to change out of our suits and then bike to the bottom of our area to have a lesson with this referral guy. He wasn't there and we were extremely exhausted cause we just came back from church, so we biked back to the apartment to grab some stuff and then to go the N family. They had some family members over because it was Hermano N's birthday. We shared a Mormon message with them and it was really cool. We then went back again to the apartment (lots of biking) to grab my journal because we were going to have a FHE with the F family and I wanted them to sign in my journal. We had an intense experience with them. We decided to have a testimony meeting with them. Everybody shared their testimony and you know that they felt the spirit. We ate some quesadillas with them and then book it home for transfer calls........
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Get ready for part 4 of LA JUNGLA!!!
I am staying and Elder G is leaving. My new companion is Elder L and he is from Canada. He is in his second transfer, so I am finishing training. I have a step son! Weird fact: he was trained by Elder Wheelwright just barely... I am a step dad to my half brother? #mormonprobs
Love,
Elder Roberts
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