11-16-10

Tuesday: We went to our Distrizona meeting. We arrived late. We all woke up late. I was ready a half-hour early. Elder Oversby was ready 10 min. later. The bus took 15 min. to arrive and 10 to arrive at the meeting. I was embarrassed. The rest of the meeting went by without incident. We had lunch, and went to our appointment with Jonathan. He used to smoke 20 cigarettes a day, and no he`s only smoking 6! He has a true desire to change. I probably won`t see his baptism, but he`ll get there. He wants to quit in 30 days. We`ll try and shorten that. We taught the plan of Salvation. He said he loved it, because it was new and hard to grasp. We helped him and gave him a pamphlet. He`s an intelligent fellow. He read our other pamphlets 3 times each! He used to not be spiritual, and had a rough life. But now he sways that when he prays, he feels "accompanied" and not alone! Thanks to today`s lesson, he better understands WHO he`s praying to. He noticed how clear the Book of Mormon is, compared to the Bible. He`s really observant. Elder Oversby and I were talking about girls tonight (he ALWAYS points out women). He compared Megan Fox to a casino, pretty on the outside and trash on the inside (he said it, not me). He wants to marry a temple--beautiful inside and out. I think we both agree on that.

Wednesday: We went to help Nestor this morning like we had agreed, but he had misunderstood and we had done a lot of walking for nothing. We ended up doing some contacts before lunch. In the afternoon, we helped Osvaldo with English before doing some visits...or trying to. Most of our current investigators are under 18, and today, all of the parents came out and told us "the kids weren't interested anymore. "that`s a load of garbage, and they know it. So now we have Jonathan, Estefanìa, who will be baptized Saturday, and Cristian and his wife Veronica. I don`t think we can effectively teach Nestor`s family anymore. We must have walked 9 miles today. We were tired. We went to our ward mission Leader correspondence meeting. There`s a brother that was there, Hna. Andy, the pres. of the high priests. First of all, he doesn't talk unless he has an audience. Then he complains. He told us we weren't using the members enough. That was dumb, because all the members say no, and when we brought him, he made us lose an investigator. Then he said the Bishopric shouldn't have to do Permanaced list, which they haven`t been doing and should. It`s their ward, and we just make the visits. He said the numbers aren't important, and we have to focus on the people. We know that, but obviously we have the numbers for some purpose, and wasn't that why he was reproaching us in the first place? Then he named all the callings he`s had, and said he knows better. After that, Fernanda`s exchanged student told us that he`s a classmate of Hna. Andy. Andy doesn't do his homework or he fails it, claiming it`s because of work and being a Father. The Pres. of the High priests shouldn't even be at that meeting!

Thursday: This morning, we had our weekly planning session. I had to stare at the map again for 30 min. to look for names for Permanaced, just because I know the map better. Lame. But we got a firm grip on what we`re going with our investigators. As we were walking to lunch, I was thinking of how weird and unintelligent the people of Chile can be sometimes. Then I realized that Americans might be even worse...outside of Utah. I realized the WORLD is a messed up place. People are greedy. they compete to see how many girlfriends and one-night stands then can have. Good people are punished by the evil hearts of the men worshiped by society. Drunk men abuse their trapped wives. This world is deteriorating. But there are the candles of the LDS to shine in this darkness. Strong families with values of integrity and honesty, using those virtues to lift others. We're outnumbered, but every soul we change is great in the sight of God. We met someone named Ignacia. Her mom is 22 years inactive. We invited the mom to return, and Ignacia was like, "It`ll be good for you to return. I`ll even go with you!" So we taught her the restoration, an d we have another appointment, she`ll come to Estefanìa`s baptism, and church. She was almost our last contact, and I wanted to save the other contacts for another day. But the Lord rewarded our diligence!

Friday: While doing contacts this morning, Elder Oversby made the comment, "If your hair can be used to describe a cleaning product, you might have a problem." He was referring to the close similarity my hair has to...steel wool. I thought it was funny. We talked to a man who believed in God and nothing else. Not even the Bible. He had studied a lot about every church, he claimed, and he believes that it all sounds like a bunch of stories. He would ask really interesting questions like, "why are there wars and evil in the world?" and I was going to open to 2 Nephi 2 to answer, but he shot off on a tangent with another good question I couldn't answer because of another question. But I found that I wasn't angry. I was just sad that he wouldn't let us give him help. Our lunch didn't open the door. It was with Hna. Andy`s wife. He got there 15 minutes later, without keys. He bought us 2 empanadas. Before we left, Elder Oversby politely asked him to give the Ward Mission Leader his time next week. Andy replied, "Elders, just work. That`s the secret. Are you upset I asked you to work the other night? I know my wife`s home. But she`s sad because of your pride, Elder Oversby." THen he called Oversby lazy. He seized Andy`s hand fiercely, and squeezed Andy`s shoulder. Hard. He thanked Andy for judging him, and told him to go home. He said, afterward, that he was really close to punching Andy in the face. Andy came over later and apologized. Oversby vented to the MIllahual family. They came to his rescue. I love them.

Saturday: We got up and went to the chapel to fill the baptismal font, but the heater didn't work. So the bishop said he`d call someone to fix it and we`d have the baptism tomorrow. We had lunch, and headed into the rain to do a lot of contacts and lessons. We worked hard, talking for 6 hours with people in the streets. The last hour or so, I found that I was sad. I felt something was missing. Fernanda was helping us, and we had a good time talking. I did miss being able to date, briefly, but that wasn't necessarily why I felt bad. We had been rejected by people for such a long time. I was soaked and cold. I felt like I was failing some aspect. When we got home (after making sure a drunk man found his way to his house safely) Elder Oversby wanted to talk with me about how I felt. I talked to him, and tried to think of what it might be that could be hurting me. I realized it was my High goals for myself. I was falling short, no matter how hard I worked. The people just wouldn't listen to us. We couldn't help them. I couldn't be the missionary I've become and there`s nothing I can do about it. And yet I feel guilty and responsible in some way. Following that train of thought led me to my last relationship, and how I didn't have a choice in that either. I sat down, and hugged my knees to my chest, and had a slight relapse of emotions of how I had felt in that difficult time. It wasn't pretty. But to come back out of all this, I thought of things that I could do that ARE in my control, and that I expect of myself and my life. Here comes list #2: Find comfort and measure success in myself; when tempted to anger, react instead with love and understanding; always appreciate the blessings in the present; love and marriage are of the utmost importance, and as such, cannot be easily conceived or controlled--much less predictable and culpable--and I will experience both in the Lord`s time; I will gain a desire for honest work by having the ability to see a need and follow Jesus`s example by performing genuine service; Dedicate one day a week to service to others; I will include the gospel in all aspects of life, and pray to receive the consecrating blessing of the Lord in any thing that I do; Become involved in the lives of others, and be an example and source of strength for people that need help; exercise regularly; give thoughtful advice; be patient in all things, whether it is waiting or acting with long-suffering; speak my mind openly and honestly; always pass on knowledge to the younger generation....

Sunday: We got up and went to fill up the (blessedly warm) baptismal font before coming back and getting ready. Then we went to look for Ignacia, our investigator, and bring her to Estefanìa`s baptism and church. She wasn't home. We went to the baptism. We were horrified to find Hna. Veronica had brought Estefanìa, but not Jonathan. They all live next to each other! But after the baptism, Jonathan came 20 minutes before church started on his own accord. He liked the feeling of the chapel and the meeting. there was a huge difference that he could FEEL. On a side note, mate (pronounced "mott-ay") has been banned. It is the most common drink of Chileans. It`s an herb you put in a cup, and suck it through a special, filtered straw. It`s bitter and wonderful. But zones who have already had interviews with President have been told that mate is out. I have no idea why, because we haven`t heard it from the Pres. yet.It can`t be because of the ingredients or anything. But apparently Richard G. Scott told all the mission presidents to stop mate. Maybe it`s to keep us from staying in houses too long. Maybe it`s for financial reasons. But I think it`s a good chance to see how obedient I am. I challenge people to quit smoking. I can do this, at least. all the other Elders are wether crying or plotting. I`m excited.