5-2-11

Monday: Today was awesome! We went to the office this morning. I
totally got a letter from Cassie. 8 pages! I was smiling the whole way
through. We got back to the house at 5:30, a half-hour before the end
of Pday. I made a promise to Elder Gomez, the last transfer, that I
was only going to write letters on Pdays. So I have to wait until
Monday to write more. We did contacts and then went to the Soliz
Family. They loved Elder CAlaway just like every other missionary.
Elder Calaway got a tape ffrom his girlfriend. And that doesn`t have
to do with why I feel so sad right now. I feel so weighed down. My
District Leader calledtonight to change the subject of the class I had
already prepared for tomorrow. I feel so stressed. I just want someone
to tell me it will be alright and take the hurt away. I mean, there`s
always been a bigger bed to crawl into when the nightmares came. It`s
tough and trying to have that taken from your life. P.S. We met a
norweigean guy w/a lightning tatoo above and below his eye. It was
epic `cause he also had leather bracers.

Tuesday: So, today was lame. We got up and went to our Distrizona. I
felt so bad, the more our meeting went on. There, we discuss the
people we`re teaching with our District. Now remember, we have Elder
Gonzalez in our District. When I was writing up the names of the
people who were "almost progressing" after they had written all of
their awesome people, and Elder Gonzalez laughed at me under his
breath. I felt like I was being kicked while I was down. I wanted to
scream that it was unfair to work so hard, have nothing to show for
it,be away from my home and family and loved ones, and, on top of all
that, someone laughs at me because I don`t have people doing what they
told me they`d do. And, after staying up late last night to prepare my
class, Elder Gonzalez took my class over and lectured me on how to get
the people to let us in, by offering them pictures and talking them up
like a salesman. I`m not a salesman, I`m trying to be a good
missionary and love and follow the Spirit. Not LIE and TRICK people.
The whole class was directed to me and no one else. I learned some
stuff but it was all opposite of what I had learned in the past year.
Preach My Gospel says to relate every contact to the REstoration.
Elder Gonzalez says it`s not any good. But I remembered that the
friggin` prophet of God wrote that book. I learned that events lead to
thoughts, and those create interpreted feelings. So what I need to do
to be happier is change the thoughts that the event creates. I know it
sounds confusing, but it makes sense to me.

Wednesday: So today was really awesome. We had our conference as
usual. And, as usual, I got my feel-good juices flowing. I loved
talking with all of my friends. I saw Elder Corliss and as I tried to
make my way to him, all of my other friends wanted me to talk to them.
It was a dilemma that I had never really had before,a nd I loved it.
But once Elder Corliss and I got together, we passed the whole day
together. It was great. Hna. Swenson gave us a great talk about how to
follow the guidance of the Holy ghost. She said that when we finally
meet him, we`ll fall at the feet of the savior in thanks for all the
times that he helped us. We listened to a talk that Elder Holland gave
in the MTC this past January. He emphasized that when christ told
Peter to drop his nets, he meant forever. "You aren`t going back."
We`re all on this journey and it won`t ever be how it was. When I came
out of that talk, I felt the Spirit. BIT TIME. I had chills everywhere
and I just LOVED. I saw people I remember not knowing, who are now my
friends. I LOVE them. I don`t even know how to describe that love. And
as I loved them, I realized that they were MINE. This is MY mission.
And I love Jesus Christ. When he asks me, "Lovest thou me?" I will say
yes. When Elder Montalvàn introduced himself he said, "I`m grateful
for my comp...and for the other 2 missionaries who entertain me at
night." Guess who the 2 missionaries are. Guess who leaps off of his
top bunk, pretending he`s spiderman. oh yeeeeaaaah. P.S. Today was
Devin`s Birthday. Happy Birthday, Devin!

Thursday: So I am at the halfway mark in my mission. 50%. 365 days.
It`s gone by so fast. The time that I have right now is the time I
have left. I`ve made it over the hill. I am just not able to grasp it.
I can only imagine I`ll feel a year from now. I`m having a sleepover
with Elder Corliss during an intertransfer and a year ago I would
never have imagined being here, with my childhood best friend after
being separated for 11 years. Those things just don`t happen like that
very often. Imagine if I hadn`t done the things I as supposed to have
done. Anyway, I got to do the actual transfer with Elder Degracie. I
actually have done one with him before, in Catrihuala, in the
beginning of September...wow. That was so long ago. The sector of
Centinela (where I(`m sleeping tonight) is on top of a green plateau.
The whole city! And it`s right on the edge of the coast, so it`s like
it`s a cliff that has a beautiful view. We went by people and they
actually answered their doors! That hasn`t happened since I was in
Temuco. It felt absolutely wonderful! I got to teach and testify and
be a real missionary. We taught someone about hte Gospel and the Book
of MOrmon. I testified about Joseph Smith harder than I had before. He
hadn`t really been paying attention until then, but then he said,
"well...now I really have to think about what you`ve told me." I left
him the traits of the true church of Jesus Christ. there were 17
points. A member came and did contacts with us. She was so cool!

Friday: So Elder Corliss and I kicked Elder Demke (Elder Corliss`s
comp) out of his bed so we could have a talk and find out how the
other has been. We were accidentally up until about 3 in the morning.
We got up on time and spoke some more. It was really REALLY cool. We
met up with our comps. at the bottom of the plateau and it was about a
10 min. bus ridde. And I zonked out. I was so happy to see Elder
CAlaway again. He really is one of my close friends, too. He`s so
energetic and just dedicated to whatever it is he`s doing. He faces
the same thing I do every day, and I am just so proud of how he`s
handling the stress of being here. We had to walk FOREVER to get to
our lunch today. But it was worth it. We had homemade noodles with
spagghetti sauce. We came back to the house to drop off my sleepover
clothes. Then we went out to do some contacts. Not a ton of potential
investigators. None, actually. But we did help carry some trash to a
dumpster for a guy. And Hna. Teresa said she saw us doing it when we
passed by in the evening. Elder Calaway said he`s learning lots of
stuff from me. I told him what Daddy had told me: that the 2 years of
the mission are a tithing of our 20 years of life that we`ve lived.
But I`m sure that he`s been able to learn other things from me. He`s
taught me the importance of being REAL with people.

Saturday: I`m so tired right now. My eyes are burning and my body
feels like poop. This is because I remembered a little too late that I
had been assigned a 5 min. talk in Sacrament Meeting tomorrow about
the guidance of the Holy Ghost. This morning, we lent some service to
Hna. Alba, of the Villa Acero Ward. She TOLD us she wanted us to chop
firewood. We were thinking logs. She had been thinking tinder. Then we
had to arrange the logs she already had cut. Then sweep and rake.
There her LITTLE chores. That was lame. but she paid us in cake. Which
was NOT lame. We got to talk to the family for a little bit today, to
set up the time to call tomorrow. They were so excited to talk to me.
THey were asking me lots of questions and I apparently have an accent.
I was talking the same as them! Devin apparently has bracesnow. After
the phone all, I didn`t feel as sad as I thought I might be. In fact,
I felt even better. Today was really tough. Our appts. fell through,
and we had done practice lessons and found scriptures to helop teach,a
nd everything. None of our contacts were good, either. But I found out
how to make contacts easier. I try to make myself as happy as I can
and it just flows. I WANT to talk to people. Also, Sister Devora made
me a new bag for my laundry. It`s about 20 gallons and waterproof! And
she didn`t charge me. That`ll help when transfers come. Now I`m going
to go rest and wake up happier and awake-ier.

Sunday: So, today was Mother`s Day. We fasted today, because we had
forgotten to do it last Sunday. We fasted that Merta would be able to
come to church and feel the veractiy of our message and the church
itself. When we called her house, her grandma answered and said she
was sleeping, but that she would wake her up. When we got there, I was
like, "Dude, she`s not gonna come." Elder Calaway was like, "She`ll
come out smiling and ready to go." 3 guesses who won. She came out
(smiling to boot) and was ALMOST ready. She had to tell her dad
something. That`ll tach my comp. We found her a friend in the church
and she stayed with her the whole time. I saw her reading the Personal
Progress book during SAcrament Meeting. She said she liked it and
wanted to come back. We had visitors while eating lunch with Hna.
Teresa. They loved me. Every word I said was funny to them. They
didn`t want me to go. I loved it. Then we spoke with the family. Elder
Calaway went first. Then me. I loved seeing my family! I told mom that
she was beautiful and meant the world to me. I told Dev and Cass to
take better care of her than I did. I told Mom and Dad that I mised
them. I felt safe with them. I didn`t want to say goodbye and go be
the "big boy" again. Out on his own in the big world. But I leanred no
one wants to say a last goodbye. That`s why I`m here. So that other
families can be together forever. Tonight was just a reminder of that.
I feel good.