Day 178... The locals are starting to accept me as one of their own here. It's thrilling really, all their strange customs and appearances are almost second nature now. It is strange I will be in a different place after all I have learned here.... haha
Anyway this week has been pretty crazy. One of the most thrilling yet slow and painful yet. I know that doesn't make much sense but it will by the end of this I think. The first reason I find it so crazy is that I've been out six months now! Isn't that something, half a year spent on the mission and only 1/4 done. I've heard time flies after the first six though but most people who have told me that haven't served two different missions, so we'll see what life brings our way.
Anyway the first thing I want to write about is zone conference, usually one of the most inspiring things you can go through in life. It was a great conference, don't get me wrong, but getting there was no fun at all. We had to get up at 5 and catch a 2 hour bus ride to Santa Monica to get there on time. It wasn't fun, but what made it worse is that we found out we didn't have to do that! We got a call about half way there from the zone leaders telling us we actually had a ride set up for 7! They had sent out a voice mail the night before but our phone tends to not like their messages so we never seem to get them. So that was a bit frustrating and we were too tired to really enjoy the conference and that is a bit sad. The good news is I met a Sister that is actually going to my mission out here! Her name is Sister Greeene and she seems cool but I guess the only thing to really report is that we are both going to PAN mission.
On a brighter note though we did have a really cool miracle happen a bit later in that day. We have been meeting with this girl Alejandra who is going through a rough patch in her life and we texted us asking if we might be able to find her some cheap diapers for her son. After a bit of talking we decided it was worth it to go buy her a 5 dollar pack to help her out. After we got there she walked in right after us and we actually got to hand them to her and talk a bit. She was having a hard day and her son was really sick so we offered to give him a blessing. After a quick lesson on what a blessing was we gave one to her son and asked if there was anything else we could do for her. The response actually came from her cousin, requesting we give Alejandra a blessing of comfort and council. It was cool to see the faith in us two boys in white shirts and ties who she had just met these past few days. We haven't heard back from her except that her son actually went to the hospital, so we pray they are okay. After that we also picked up a new investigator in her building so we know that we were inspired of the Lord to buy some diapers, haha.
The next day I went on splits with the new DL's companion, Elder Eddy. He's pretty cool, he's a soccer player from the mothership (Utah) and we spent a good day together. The highlight was went we met the member daughter of one of our investigators. We were out working when I realized we had biked to the wrong area and I was about to turn back when I got a little whisper to call him. As we did so he started off making excuses as to why we could visit but then he said that she was coming over, so we asked to meet her. Little did he know "It's a trap!" haha! We got there and met her and she got our vibe really quick. We told her about his baptismal date and almost immediately started bearing testimony of the power of baptism and her own conversion. We have her number now so we can coordinate with her. We're setting up a visitor center tour with her and him so we hope that'll help him move along faster. We also have a Priesthood BBQ later that day, so he should be all but swamped in the church then, MU-HAHAHA!
Yet another cool story happened Friday. We were out hunting down some former investigators that we had lost touch with when I got another little whisper to go try and find this old referral. We had tried her house several times when I was with Elder Phelps and we actually found out we still needed her apartment number, but I figured I should try to listen to the spirit, so we went. As we got near the hotel there was a lady standing out side sweeping the gutter (don't ask, I don't get it either) and we started talking to her. She was pretty interested and actually said she would want to come to church some time, which of course is like cat nip to a missionary. We asked her name and it turned out to be the woman we were looking for! It was super cool and we stopped by later and gave her a BoM later too. She didn't come to church but we know the Lord wanted us to talk to her for some reason. We have high hopes for future lessons.
We had dinner that night with an older couple named the Whites. Sis. White is a convert of about 5 years who still has a lot of confusion about some stuff but is super nice. They took us to this restaurant called Philippe's which the careful observer will find IhS OmUmT OgF TkHsE MgIfSfSqImOfN. But it's okay, it was for dinner so President says we won't be sent home or anything, haha. Anyway, while we were there was this girl that ran up to us and said "Hi missionaries, I'm Cheyenne!" She was super pumped to meet us and actually asked to get a picture with us. Her mom came over and took it and guess what, she's served in the Missouri Independence mission, my home mission! It was super cool and fun to meet them but that wasn't the end of it. I actually found one of my investigators from Redando there! If you remember a Fran Oremsbee (sorry if I butchered that Fran) she was there too! We caught up and had a grand time, it was really one heck of a night.
The last thing I want to write about is being sick. It's terrible as a missionary. Especially on bike, when you have a big area, with many hills, and 5 appointments that day so you can't stay in. It was one of the worst days of my life honestly. I said many-a-prayer begging for strength to finish the day and I got it. I swear I felt God's hand pushing me up some of those hills. I honestly don't hardly remember anything from these past few days till last night. We got a golden investigator out of it so I'm happy enough for us. We also got an awesome meal at a member's house last night with the district so that was pretty cool. I know that God had some reason to test me that day and I hope I did well enough and passed.
Anyway, that's pretty much it for this week! You all have a good one and I'll write more next week!
-Um no exercito de Deus
Elder Teela
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