Soooooo this week has been more rough than the others on my mission. I'm not even super sure why cause literally every day has something difficult and something fun happen. But it feels like we really got tested this week. First off, our one friend who is going to get baptized has always wanted to go to the English speaking ward because that's where his family goes. We just found out that because of that he won't count as our baptism; it'll count for the Elders in that ward, but we still have to teach him because he only speaks Spanish. It’s also a little sad because he doesn't realize all the awesome stuff that he's missing out on by not coming to the Spanish ward, like being able to understand what goes on, being able to talk to people, and the amazing ward members who are so supporting and loving, AND cool Elders haha.
We also have had a little bit of trouble finding new people to teach. But at church this week a member came up to us and told us he had about 18 employees who are not members of our church and really wanted to introduce us to them. So there is hope for the future haha. I'm praying that they're all interested! If not all 18 then at least a few.
I know that trials pass and that we grow stronger from them. The other day we were at church and none of our friends that we are teaching showed up, and that was really sad. We made sure to invite them and let them know where it was, what time, all the blessings of going to church, remind them before, and they just don’t seem to realize how important or how big of a difference church can make in somebodies life. One lady in our ward was even prepared to meet all of them. She had like skittles and stuff to give them and it made me even more sad knowing that she didn’t get to meet them and give them candy. That just really hit home. I still haven't cried yet on the mission, but 100% I was about a millimeter away from crying seeing the effort and preparation this lady in our ward took to make these people feel welcome and them not showing up. It made me feel like we didn’t do our jobs as missionaries by getting people to show up. I'm very determined to actually bring at least a few, even if I have to drag them there. Well that might be a little aggressive but I know church can make a huge spiritual impact on someone's life and give them more spiritual strength throughout the week.
In other news I bought a whiffle ball bat and ball. I'm very excited to hit home runs with those. My companion Elder Blackwell actually played baseball so he might be a little more well versed in whiffle ball, but I'll give it all I've got. Also today for p-day we played on a playground with our district for like a couple of hours. So fun, we played a game kinda like tag or lava monster. It was super fun; I felt like a kid. I didn’t feel like a kid again cause I'm actually going to be young forever and never grow up, but I've always felt like a kid at heart.
Another cool thing. As a District Leader I have to do baptismal interviews of the people who are being taught by missionaries in our district. I did my first one this week and it was awesome. The kid was 9 years old. He speaks Spanish and English. I ask him, hey pal, you wanna do this in Spanish or English? The little baller said English, so I said HECK YEAH I WANNA DO IT IN ENGLISH TOO. I got to know him a little bit
"hey what do you like to do?"
"Uhhh I really like pizza"
"No way, i LOVE pizza too, what's your favorite kind?"
“Hmmm, pepperoni"
"No way! I love pepperoni pizza too!"
So needless to say he was so awesome! Him and I are best pals. His family even has a litter of puppies that I got to meet, I snuck a photo of them real quick.
Which brings me to my next point. Penny, our landladies dog, had her puppies too this week. They look like little sausages. I don’t have any pictures but I'll include some next week.
Funny thought: sometimes while we're driving I'll pretend Elder Blackwell ran a stop sign and didn’t see it, and sometimes he believes me.
Spiritual thought: Heleman 5:12 says, "12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."
And if you didn’t want to read over all that, what I really like about it and what I think it is saying is, when we focus on Christ, and really try to become more like him, we are made infinitely stronger. We aren't going to magically not feel pain, or not have problems and trials, but with Christ, these pains, problems, and trials become insignificant. With him we cannot fall. And even on that off chance that we do fall, with Christ we can always get back up.
I love you all so much. Have a blessed week and go do something nice for someone this week. As always, see you next time
-Elder Golden
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| My face mask and burrito spa night |
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| Showing off our tools as we do an awesome service project |
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| We tore out the entire kitchen |
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