4-25-11

Monday: We got up this morning and weent to the Villa Acero chapel to
play soccer as a zone. The whole zone came! We played so hard there,
and my legs have been in agony all day. Elder Kemp is so awesome at
soccer. I was clumsily dribbling down the court and he swooped in and
stole the ball and I fell down, and as I was tumbling around, I was
laughing and telling him good job. I realized that a true friend is
someone who cheers for you, even if they are on the other team. I
thought it was very profound of me to think that. We went to FOOD OK,
the local restaurant, to eat our last lunch together, and say goodbye
to the employees. We have actually gotten to know them really well. We
tried to write the family but the internet cafè was still closed. So
we both went to get a haircut. There were only two customers in front
of us, but as it turned out, they were both getting an extreme
makeover. So we ended up staying for two hours. It was lame, `cause
(<-----just figured out how to do an apostrophe) after the first hour
we were like, "We waited an hour. Let`s just wait a little longer.
"But I got it done and I look sharp again. Daddy says he and mama
enjoyed their anniversaryWe said goodbye to Hna. Marìa and Hna.
Soledad. they really loved Elder Bernal. My favorite visit was with
the Soliz family. We had a lesson about being more like Christ. Then
we had empanadas from Colombìa with some really good pebre salsa. I`m
gonna miss Elder Bernal. He and I have been really good friends. I
hope he has a good time in Tirùa.

Tuesday: Today was a magical day. I mean REALLY incredible. I still
can`t believe what happened this morning. As we were getting ready to
leave, Elder Bernal realized he couldn`t find his wallet. We looked
for ten minutes before we found it in his suitcase. We got to the
terminal and Elder Bernal went off to Tirùa. It hurt, watching him go.
I really learned how to work diligently, even when things look bad. I
spent the day at the terminal with Elder Plmer. He`s from Blanding,
Utah. I know, sounds exciting. He`s now one of my close friends. He`s
almost as good as Lisonbee, but he will have NO equal. I heard people
say hi to an Elder Corliss. I went over and asked where he was from.
He said he was from Highland. His eyes went to my nametag and he
FLIPPED! He was like, "Brigham! NO!" And he started backing up and
freaking out. Turns out he`s ANDREW Corliss. He was my first Childhood
best friend. The kid who taught me to spiral a football. His sister is
married and has 6 kids. Elder Jacob Calaway is my comp. from
Washington (state). We got to meet some members with im. Our
companionshop is so great. We`ll get along so great. It was a good day
and we did about 20 contacts. I called Elder Lisonbee to seehow he`s
doing. He moved up to District Leader! He still loves me. I still love
him. He lived in Highland with Elder Corliss before the mission.

Wednesday: So today was our first Distrizona as a new zone. Elder
Steward brought his hacky sack that he`d had hid away in his suitcase
for all these months. I was a bit rusty, but everyone was still
impressed. THer`s an Elder Gonzalez in our District and he`s a jerk.
He`s like, "I`m gonna baptize `cause I want to. Not for this District
or Zone, but for me." I was like, "WOOOOOOOOW. You`re a toolbag...I
mean `not very Christlike." Anyway, after we got on the bus to go
home, Elder Calaway asked me if I was always so happy. I said yes. But
I`ve had to practice at it, and it`s worth it. Elder Calaway made a
cool observation. SAtan never makes us do obvious bad things. Just
little things. If satan were to change our object of worship, what
would it be? Jesus getting killed. That was a mind bomb that blew my
mind. We saw a drunk guy go screaming through a puddle. Then through
traffic. Then back through traffic. Elder Calaway told me he beats
himself up a lot. I think he`s such a great guy. At least he`s got
girl experience going for him. He`s really nice and jokes with the
people. He reminded me of me at the beginning of the mission. But he
trusts me and looks to me for strength. I looked back in my journal
and saw myself wishing for that, `cause I did it with Elder Barajas.
I`m so grateful for the changes the Lord and his spirit are making in
me.

Thursday: The days here are steadily getting colder and colder. The
sun is so hot during the day, but the wind in the night is about 45 F.
Brr. We got up and did our exercises and studies together. I`ve gotten
a lot out of my personal study time. I enjoyed my time this morning
talking with Elder Calaway. We went to drop off the clothes. We had
our weekly planning session and it was really hard for me. Actually,
all of today was hard for us. There just aren`t people for us to plan
for. Elder Calaway is my first comp. that has a girlfriend. He REALLY
misses her. He`s getting really beat up about being away from her. I
can see the blessing of not having one during the mission. It took me
a few extra minutes to find our lunch. It was emarrassing. Merta
wouldn`t let us teach her because her cousing was watching TV. I was
like, "What does that have to do with you?" Chileans are weird. We did
contacts the rest of the day. I feel like I`m starting the mission
again. I feel a bit lost. I remember thinking I could only progress so
much as a junior comp. and also that the mission is like life. I
wonder if being a dad will be as disorienting as being a senior
companion. My comp`s really struggling with who he is and what he
wants. I`m glad I fixed my goals of who I wanted to be. I`ve prayed
for deliverance--to be delivered to where I want to. Lisonbee and my
comps. have been telling me thigns that I wanted to be. The mission`s
changing me! But being here is so hard.

Friday: So the mission has officially gone to the next level. Being
Senior Comp. is just really hard for me. We don`t have any people
besides Valentina and we found out we can`t pass by when her dad`s
home. He was home today, so we couldn`t go by and teach our only
investigator. Not being able to teach peole on the mission just makes
me feels useless. Being held accountable for that lack of lessons
makes me feel like I`m failing, and it`s awful. I`ve never been that
good at walking up to strangers and just creating a bond of trust to
talk about Jesus. We are just not able to find any new investigators,
it seems. I`ve read examples of missionaries in the Scriptures, and
I`ve examined Preach My Gospel trying to learn how to get new
investigators, but the people are so hard here. We just did contacts
all day. We talked to people in the streets and they would just hurry
away from us, saying they were in a rush. WHow can we talk to them?
I`ve tried being their friend, I`ve tried testifying in the name of
Christ, and I`ve tried offering service. And all of the members give
their references to the assisstants. I don`t know what I`m going to do
for 5 more weeks, here. I guess I`ll have to practice my contacts. I
have to be a good example for my comp. now. We`re getting to know each
other really well and helping each other out and to be better. P.S. I
saw a dog that was a boy AND a girl.

Saturday: Today was something that I needed. Supposedly there was a
Stake activity for all the Young Men where they got to leave with the
missionaries. We didn`t go, `cause we don`t have any investigators to
visit. Right when we were about to go, I made a cup of Ecco and
accidentally put too much sugar in. I liked the flavor, but when I got
to the bottom, I was dizzy from a sugar rush. I felt positively sick.
So I threw up a few times and felt worse. Because of disorientation, I
was forced to lie down until lunch. We ate with Hna. Teresa. She
REALLY enjoyed talking to us. She told us about her life, being
married to a non-member. It`s been hard for her. I felt a love for her
that I was sure was coming from Heavenly Father. When we left a prayer
with her, I tried to let her know how he loved her. When I ended, she
mentioned the blessing I had gen Hna. Wioleta that had made her cry.
Apparently, the whole relief Socity knows. Sheesh! We had a crazy
preacher (not a pastor) talk to us. Actually, my comp. spoke to him.
He wouldn`t listen. When I asked where he was from, (`cause he spoke
weird) his eyes got big and he pointed at me and said, "I say unto
thee. God loves thee!" My comp. was like, "What about me?" He said,
"He loves you too, but HIM," (pointing to me agian "He`s gonna have a
dream of Jesus." Then he slowly closed the door while still pointing.
It was funny. Then we had our ward FHE. Our eyes got big when our FHE
class started talking about Kolob and the garden of Eden. Some of the
assisstant`s investigators were confused. All of us missionaries were
just in pain.

Sunday: So today was the first day of May. I can`t believe it! So much
time has passed away. Today we had a Seventy come to our WArd. Just
ours. His name is Elder David Fereira. He`s actually from the WArd of
Hualpencillo. He spoke to us about a lot of things. I can`t remember
any right now, but I just felt so GOOD. I finally got it! I finally
got the whole mission thing. I want to be here. I thought of home and
I didn`t want to go. This is my life. This is normal. I want to help
people. It`s such a lighter feeling. I remember something the Seventy
said. He said that ANYONE who hears the Prophet is blessed--member, or
not. I discovered today, that my comp. likes to play pranks on drunks.
He did some fun things. So I tried it too. In the middle of a
conversation I said,"Someone just robbed you!" He started patting
himself and looking around for about 5 seconds before he forgot. We
completed with our 200 contacts. First week as Senior
companion=awesome. Fernanda called and said that she`d had a dream
about me, that I had been covered in dirty water and was all muddy.
She dreamed I was really weighed down and wanted to see how her
"hermanito" (little brother) was doing. I have been pretty depressed
because of the lack of investigators. I really appreciated that call.