Babysitting

Trucho

Getting right into things, this week we got absolutely bamboozled, fooled, tricked, and downright made fools of. 

Basically this member told us about her friend. She's been talking to her friend about the gospel and she really thinks that her friend would be open to learning some more. So we go over to her friend's house and we knock and we talk to this woman, let's call her Sarah. So we talk to Sarah about the gospel and ask if she'd be interested if we passed by another day to talk some more. 

She's enthusiastic and says yes! So we write down her phone number, plan to come by bright and early the next day. So we wake up, rush to get ready and basically run to her house which is a nice long walk from our apartment. 

We get there and she says "Pass right on in, my mother in law is waiting for you in the back!" We're confused, but we follow her, she takes us to a little house behind her house then says, "I've got to run to the store but I'll be back soon." 

So we're sitting there with this mother-in-law, who is quite up there in age, and as we began talking with her, we realized not fully mentally there. So we chat with her a bit, try to understand her ramblings, talk about the gospel, all the while waiting for Sarah to return. After about 45 minutes we realize we can't wait anymore because we have a lesson to get to. 

So we leave and we knock Sarah's door. She opens it (apparently returned from her shopping trip) and says "Oh you're already done?" And we're like, "yeah we've got to go. But when can we come back to share with you?" 

She goes "Come by whenever you want, my mother in law can't really go anywhere so she's always bored!" 

And we go "No. When can we come by to teach you?" 

And she's like, "I don't know, I'm always busy, but you have my number so we can coordinate, my mother in law is always here." 

Quick recap, we babysat this woman's mother-in-law and now she wants us to come back and do it again

Translado de Emergencia!

I've been noticing a trend in this mission. For those who don't know every 6 weeks we get a call that tells us whether we're staying in our area or changing city. So every period of 6 weeks is called a transfer. An Emergency transfer is a change of area that happens in between these 6 week periods. 

Basically I've started to notice that every other transfer is a transfer full of emergency transfers! Last transfer, there wasn't any, the transfer before that, a bunch, the transfer before that, nothing. Anyways right now we're in the Transfer of Emergency because there are transfers happening left and right! 

To sum things up, 

- My beloved ex-companion Hermana Robbins left the zone :-(

- My district leader Elder Maldonado got exchanged for Elder Castillo

- 2 different sets of Hermanas in my zone are being replaced by elders

- My district leader and his companion received another companion today making them a trio

There were a lot more emergency transfers than just those ones, but these are just the ones happening in my zone. Anyways prayers for me and my dear Hermana Orellano because I do not want to be separated from her. 

Other thingssss

- Invited 2 people to be baptized this week! They both said yes but not right now 🫠

- Our Mission Leader got changed and he's a young ex-missionary who gives awesome advice! 

- Had the best Consejo De Districto ever and now me and my companion are more motived than ever before 🔥

- We tried to play matchmaker for some of the young single adults in the ward 🤭

- A missionary just got home in this ward and watching him reunite with his family got me feeling trunky 🤪

Spiritual! 

Read "The Imperfect Harvest" from April 2023, by Elder Stanfill

Elder Stanfill talks about when he was a child on his dad's farm and how they had a machine to harvest their wheat, he says, 

"After [my dad] was satisfied with the adjustments to the machine, I found some kernels of grain in the chaff on the ground and presented them to him with a critical look. I will not forget what my father said to me: “It is good enough and the best that this machine can do.” Not really satisfied with his explanation, I pondered the imperfections of this harvest. A short time later, when the weather turned cold in the evenings, I watched thousands of migrating swans, geese, and ducks descend onto the fields to nourish themselves on their long journey south. They ate the leftover grain from our imperfect harvest. God had perfected it. And not a kernel was lost." 

I love this talk and I wish I could share all of with you. I encourage everyone to go read it if you're feeling imperfect or like your efforts don't matter. This week I've struggled with feeling inadequate, like my Spanish isn't good enough or I'm not learning fast enough, like I'm not as good of a missionary as this other person, or this person didn't get baptized so I failed. 

But I love how in this talk the father says, "it's the best that this machine can do." We are all different, some "produce a hundredfold, some sixty, and others thirty. All are part of His perfect harvest." 

Some people will be better at something than you, someone will always be richer, smarter, a faster learner, a better basketball player, a better mom. But you're not competing with them. You are part of God's perfect harvest, your race is not against others, it's against yourself. 

Comparisons with others either leave us feeling prideful and like we're better, or depressed and discouraged. My invitation is to choose today to let go of the comparisons and focus on being better than the you from yesterday.