In spite of the entire cist-induced
experience, last week turned out to be really good!
...you know...comparatively….
The fact of the matter was that
this next week turned out to be a doozy, in the offices and out on the streets
of Guatemala City. I’m having so many experiences that I’ve started losing
track of them all, they slip through my fingers like sand before I can even get
to my journal at night and write them down.
So, I’ll see what I can remember
for you guys…
Saturday was rather bland as far as
P-Days go. After sending last week´s epic-ly long letter we went to Taco Bell
and then to the store to buy milk…and then we took a nice afternoon nap and
finished off the day teaching a lesson to Baltazar.
**A Word on Baltazar**
Investigator with baptismal date
He´s 18 years old and has as much
faith as he does gumption
…but he’s progressing himself
Mainly because his Girlfriend is a
member
On Sunday Baltazar came to church!
He and his Girlfriend Stephanie sat by me for sacrament meeting and LOVED IT.
He has been an Evangelical his whole life, but now he is very excited to be
baptized (on the 17th), and he loved the Hymns…
In fact, he loved the hymns so much
that he asked me to sing a solo of “Hark All ye Nations” during the next
lesson.
We finished off the last week with
23 lessons taught: A new personal best! We were truly being blessed for our
labors!
That was great…because the next
five days were killer.
It started on Monday in the Mission
Offices….I think that I’ve already said it before but, Mondays are the hardest,
most stressful days of the week…there´s just so much to do! But we were getting
along pretty well by most standards. The greatest part was that I received a
package from my family! Included were a Tie, a CD, a Journal and a How-to-Draw
Disney book! I spent a good deal of time doodling this past week…
On Tuesday we went on Divisions
with the Zone Leaders in Santa Caterina Pinula: An area that looks a lot like
San Juan Sacetepequez. It was tucked behind the mountains with an incredible
view of Zone 10 of the Capital. I went with Elder Largespalda, from Honduras,
it was a generally good day albeit having all of our scheduled appointments
fall through.
**An Observation**
There is a “Curse” that comes with
Divisions
All of your appointments fall
Always
I learned a lot though, and wore
the new tie that my parents sent me…so that was fun.
Wednesday however, was not fun.
In fact…it was….
…just, not fun.
Elder Gil and I had forgotten our
umbrellas and rain jackets in the White House and had left to go and work in
Montufar. We started off looking for a reference that we had received by the
Bus Terminal, an area that was unfamiliar to both of us. It soon became
apparent that this was…not the very best part of town. Everyone started looking
at us like, “Mormons with Money!” as we walked past…after fifteen minutes we
decided to throw in the towel and start walking back.
And when we did…the rain came down.
So everybody ran home to take
shelter. Just, not us. We kept working.
And one by one, everything that we
had scheduled in our agenda dropped.
Every last appointment.
So we were stuck in the rain, with
nowhere to go and nobody to talk to, in the dark and in the cold without
umbrellas.
But we kept trying until 9 o´clock
rolled around and we retreated home. As we did so, a ginormous semi truck
passed us by, honking and spraying a wave of filthy rainwater over the both of
us.
It´s one of the funny things about
life: no matter how bad it is, it can always get worse.
It made me think: We didn´t do
anything at all that day, we didn´t teach, we couldn´t tract, and nothing
extraordinary happened…would it have made a difference if we hadn´t left the
house at all? We would have been happier; dryer…was the effort we put forth
that day worth it?
When in Personal Study I came
across this scripture in Moroni,
And now, my beloved son,
notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we
should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in
this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness,
and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.
I had a thing or two to learn about
diligence.
This rest of the week dragged along
like reluctant feet on carpet floors, days filled with driving (Turn here!
Where, I don’t see an intersection! There! By the Legs! Sure enough, there was
a billboard with two long and slender legs marking the way we needed to go…like
an odd, scandalous Liahona) and a slew of things to do.
But that’s okay, because if there
were no problems in life…things would be very boring.
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| This is a cartoon drawing Tyler did of Nephi obtaining the gold plates... Awesome! |
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