Week 17: My Favorite Things

Dogs didn't bite, nor did the bees sting....I just kept feeling sad. So it looked like I needed to remember some of my favorite things So I wouldn´t feel so bad....

Also, because there´s a white paper package tied up with tape on the bottom of my dresser with my Christmas presents all stuffed inside and it takes all my willpower not to tear it open and make the holidays come early.

Because, about now, I need a pick-me-up.

So while I was on divisions with a tri-lingual Brazilian (he`s fluent in Spanish, Portuguese AND English....how cool is that?) Elder De Carvalho, we were ready to think outside the box. While my companion`s blueprints for the day was to have us knock on doors all day while he conducted baptismal interviews we changed it up: taking all the pamphlets and Books of Mormon we could scavenge we set up a table on the side of the main road, right next to a popular Tenida (there like a thousand little shops all over everywhere, they`re like tiny little service stations with even lower prices....America needs this) and waited for the golden investigators to come to us....a stark reversal of roles. As a person passed we would contact them and try to set up a visit.

After about an hour of little to no success (would you like to learn more about Jesus and God to give you eternal happiness? ....no? oh...its just your salvation at stake, nothing too important...)

We dropped down to the truly desperate stage: Knocking on doors.

aaaaannnnndddd....we got nothing. Zilch, Zero, Nada, Nope. Although I DID learn some new words in Spanish that I`m never allowed to repeat.

The week continued likewise with failure stalking me like obvious paparazzi. My feet started feeling magnetic against the cobblestone roads, every time I blinked it was a new day...and I had nothing to show for the last one.

¨Raindrops on roses....and whiskers on kittens¨ I began to sing to myself at every downhill slide and failure..¨Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens...¨ another doorstep, the investigator doesn`t want to go to church.

¨Brown paper packages tied up with string...¨ I have a white paper package waiting for me, sent by a family that loves me more than I know. And that`s a blessing that I can enjoy.

¨These are a few of my favorite things.¨

My companion and I sat down last night for a very long time....until around one in the morning...and tried to resolve things. This week had been a bad one between us, and, I know that the Lord`s not going to going to send us the people he`s prepared if we`re fighting and have bad feelings between us. And all I know is....things ought to be getting better from here.

So look for the good in the world. Its there. Even if its hidden behind rainclouds and all those other cliches. Do your best...your very, very best and the Lord will carry you the rest of the way.

Its like what Samwise Gamgee says, 

Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something. 

Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam? 

Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.

So let´s go to war.

Week 16: Oh, there you are Perry

At the zone council this Tuesday, Elder Walters went to every elder and sister sitting at the table,

pointed at them and said, ¨Elder, (or sister) _____, ¿Quien es? (who is he)` He made his way around the circle and when it was my turn I was barely able to reiterate the ¨Un Hijo de Dios (child of god)¨ that everyone else was able to sputter out....which is true, but I didn´t feel fufilled.

Yes my friends, this week I had a nice identity crisis. The age-old question that has lingered in the heart of every man since the dawn of time....WHO AM I. And for a while this week I kind of forgot...the chains of resentment and tolerance had kind of made me irritable.

Who Am I?

But on the bright side...I`ve had a good deal of welcome ¨alone time.¨ Mostly in the mornings from 6:30 until 8:30. I`m counting the extra study time a blessing, it gives me time to read more and more of ¨Jesus the Christ¨ by James E. Talmage I`ve gotten to page 450 in two weeks and have soaked in every word. After breakfast I enjoy a nice session of Companionship Study on my own, fighting off the vexing inklings that bother my brain every time I pass over another picture in Preach My Gospel that shows two missionaries studying and working together in unity.

There you are Perry!

So I took things into my own hands.

If the Robot was malfunctioning, I was in line to reboot èm.

I tried as hard as I could to do what I was able to, plan everything, contact everyone and set up all the visits we would go on in the following week....one thing was for certain, I was not about to waste more time..

So as I put my shoulder to the wheel I started to experience more joy. This is the work of the Lord! This is his kingdom! I was ready to go and build it up!

And it was then that I started to find myself again. I know who I am, I know God`s plan! It was like in Phineas and Ferb, where the boys spend all day without their beloved platypus and finally after it all gets wrapped up, it walks into the back yard, ¨Oh, there you are Perry!¨

I started to laugh again and experience joy so...that was pretty neat.

Elder Tamayo and I

Week 15: A Bug`s Life

¨Good night, sleep tight....¨ affectionately says the anti-protagonist Gru as he tucks in Agnis, a newly adopted orphan, ¨....don`t let the bedbugs bite. Because there are literally hundreds of them...oh, and there`s probably something in your closet.¨

BED BUG BITES!

Yes, the bedbugs really do bite....and then it itches like crazy.

This week I went to war. Both physically and spiritually. Since the beginning of this Cambio I`ve been getting eaten alive every night by tiny malicious pests...so I went and bought some SERIOUS, heavy duty sprays and doused my mattress with bug-killers, and lathered myself with bug-repellent as I climbed back under the covers.

I woke up thirty minutes before my alarm....and felt a good dozen of bugs crawling and chowing down on my flesh....Let`s just say that this Halloween I got myself a new fear.

After soaking my mattress and cleaning my sheets again I think I`ve finally finished off the little devils...or at least, I HOPE that I did.

I also HOPE my area can survive another three weeks until the next cambio, when my companion goes home....I know, I shouldn`t say that but...San Juan is in bad shape, and the Robot has thrown in the towel and wants nothing more than to coast to the finish line. We taught a grand total of 5 lessons this entire week...and two of them were in a graveyard.

 Why in a graveyard you ask? November 1st was Day of the Dead! Essentially, It`s like Memorial Day in the states, but people come and have picnics with the dead guys.

As a district we went to the graveyard and did some contacting, singing and consolidating. We explained the Plan of Salvation to a good majority of the people and sang hymns in front of this GIANT statue of Jesus.

 We did some good seed-planting for future missionaries to reap.

But for now not a lot of reaping is going on in my area. I`m trying as hard as I can to motivate my companion to endure to the end but....his dedication has definitely taken a nose dive....

This is San Juan... please pray for our area, we need all your prayers!

Week 14: Divide and Conquer

DIVISIONS!

If I have nothing else to look forward to in my hectic life right now I can always take peace in the fact that I will have divisions at least once every week. And I`m sure you`re asking, what on earth is that? It sounds like a punishment more than a recluse...on the contrary, my dear friend, it`s a temporary 24 hour companionship exchange with the other missionaries in your district or zone.

matching watches!

You go to their area (or they come to yours) bid adieu to your comp and spend a day learning from the different teaching styles of more experienced Elders....there`s always so much that a person can discover with a different comp....and a different comp was exactly what I wanted...and needed for the time being.

The Lord knew that I needed a break so, I had divisions twice this week! The first time was with the Zone Leaders...and it was a testimony builder and a half! I made the trip down to the Capital and proselyted in their area with another missionary from Tooele, Utah (He goes to Stansbury), Elder Walters. The day was packed with visits and great food, and every corner we turned down the hand of the Lord was made manifest in our labors...we were always in the right place at the right time! Death in the family? Missionaries were there to teach the Plan of Salvation, Wanna know what church is true? Hey, whatddaya know, Missionaries. Random girl sitting across from us in a Pupusa (It`s like a tortilla MADE with cheese....I quickly deemed it my new girlfriend) Restaurant? Missionaries. At the end of the day it was just like a breath of fresh air, and a reminder of why I was out here in the mission in the first place.

On Thursday I definitely felt refreshed and ready to conquer a new day with my new comp in San Juan...and it wasn´t any ordinary day...It was my 3 mission month anniversary! Woo Hoo! Time sure flies out here in the field so much that I decided to write a poem about it to prove to myself that I`m not going to loose my English!

Allow me to share it with you:

Passerby: By Tyler Monson

Ugh! :)

Blink open your right now eyes

and realize that that moment just died.

Wading waist-deep in time`s own neglect

and treats your enemies with the same respect

Jostle and sway an the turns

of a hand-made highway

Scamper and dance across the pages

The cages are open, and ambition be paid

There are three passerby seconds

with the decadence of a sideways glance

Grasp ahold or snatch at threads

blink much more and we`ll all be dead

.....yup.

At that point I was anticipating another bout of divisions with Elder Bento, a Brazilian who`s about an inch taller than me (and I though I was too big for this country...). While we didn't have as much success as I did with the Zone Leaders it was still a welcome bit of relief.

So we divided...and how was the conquering? Frankly....devastating. After committing all of our investigators to come to Church....none showed up, not one...but someone very important did. The mission president. Unannounced, just sort of drove right up to the chapel and walked in like it was nobody`s business (like a boss). He and his wife spent the Sunday services with me and my comp...and asked to speak with Alvarez in private...

So, who knows, maybe I`ll see the fruits of that visit in this week.

I`m keeping a positive attitude...I have divisions again on Halloween.

our zone

-Elder Tyler Monson

Week 13: Real Steel

There is a movie trope that heralds back to the dawn of film making: The Robot Movie. Say what you will but the majority of these pictures go something like this: Perfect society, everything is clean and functional, there`s robots and they do their job to help humanity, they´re a little creepy, but...who cares? There`s always one who has doubts on how much humans rely on the technology and things are  brought to a boil when...the robots become self-aware and start taking over.

It`s a pretty good metaphor for how this week was...and, admittedly, it was the hardest one yet.

Elder Hernandez got transferred and I had three new elders to teach the area of San Juan to...it was a lot of weight to put on my shoulders, but I was pretty sure that I could make it through respectively unscathed.

This is about how I feel right now

My new comp? Elder Alvarez, and out of sheer serendipity, he comes from Tuxla Gutierrez Mexico, the very city where the other Elder Monson is serving! ...and he`s a robot. His movements are mechanical and driven, a slave to the rules. Things were very...very...trying... I felt like I stood in peril at every hour, I began reading the Missionary Handbook like it was his user`s manual, like it had the keys to the riddle that masked his persona. We only got through 12 hours until our first argument and 18 more until the 2nd. I started to slip into a kind of EXISTENCE...a depression, a smooth blanket of sadness that coated my heart. I related very much to the second verse of the Hymn "Master the Tempest is Raging" when it says: 

found this while reading the scriptures... inspiring!

Master, with anguish of spirit

I bow in my grief today;

The depths of my sad heart are troubled—

Oh, waken and save, I pray!

Torrents of sin and of anguish

Sweep o’er my sinking soul;

And I perish! I perish! dear Master—

Oh, hasten, and take control.

All I wanted was my old comp back and for life to go on like normal because it was taking a great deal of my own energy to make it through every day.

And then something happened.

It just sort of...stopped. The winds and the waves obeyed the will of the Master and I was delivered. The clashes between my companion and I just sort of subsided as I tried to find ways to serve him the best I could and realize that everything is for a purpose. I`m here in San Juan for a reason and I have this comp for a reason and so I can definitely pull through!

I turned my problems outwards and started focusing on the area here in San Juan...which, is admittedly...dead. This last week we contacted 331 people and didn´t get a single visit out of it, none of our investigators are coming to church and...so we have...nothing to go on.

And my comp, the Robot became self-aware. He only has six weeks left of his entire mission and he just stopped with all the diligence and dropped off the map. His personality did a 360 and he STOPPED caring and I started doing all the work while he broke rules!

AAAAUUUGGGHHH....so that`s the story of the week...It`s been a trial...but I can make it through!

...wow. Sorry this letter`s a downer....I'm sure next week will be great!

(Pray for Elder Monson and Elder Alvarez and the people in San Juan)