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| David and Landon Watkins at the Provo Temple. |
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| This is where David is now - Grand Prairie, Texas, just a little south west of Dallas.
Hey Fam!
Holy tolito where do I even begin? My flight was fine, I wrote
you a letter the day I got here that should come soon with the picture
of me and President Durrant. My first day was very exciting! We spent
most of the day in that church that you see
all the pics of on the Dallas Mission fb page. We had a little bit of
training, got to know President and his wife, and they got to know us a
little bit. President Durrant is awesome. He is ginormo, but a real
softy. He is funny, he makes up songs, makes
us laugh, and knows how to have a good time. He is also very spiritual
and has a funny way with words. He only has a year left of being a
president, and I don't know how often I'll see him or how much of a
relationship I will form with him, but I really
hope we can form a good one. Very few missionaries got their
companions Monday night and left to their apartments. So we had about
30 missionaries stay in one apartment that night. It was a small, low
class apartment haha. I slept on the hardwood floor
with a giant shower cap for a blanket. It made me think: "wow, THIS
IS THE LIFE OF A MISSIONARY!" So I didn't get much sleep that night.
The next day we had a little bit more training at the church and we got
our companions. He called up all the male
Spanish speaking newbies, and all the male Spanish speaking trainers.
And he said "stand next to your companion". So we had to guess or "feel
inspired". Very few guessed right, but my companion guessed me on the
first try!
My companion is Elder Sheffer. He is 18 and from Phoenix Arizona.
what a coinkadink! He graduated from high school when he was 16. He
only has two more transfers than me. He is the youngest trainer in the
mission which I think says a lot about him.
He is a very good missionary. Almost two good, but if I could be where
he is at within the next three months I would be golden! He knows
Spanish quite well. He understands it all, can speak well enough to
carry a conversation, he makes people laugh, he
makes jokes, and that just seems impossible for me to ever do! But he
works hard, never have we taken a break, even when we have nothing to
do. He kicks my butt on the bikes. I can't keep up! He knows his
stuff, that's for sure.
So it turns out that my companions companion before me was a total
boss. He is the best American Spanish speaker in the mission.
Everybody loved him.. Every time my Elder Sheffer introduces me, they
get really sad and ask where Elder Talbot is. He was
super charismatic gave toys to the kids, made everybody laugh, and he
was handsome. People literally were in love with him. One lady got
baptized just so she could have a chance with him. Multiple others told
him that they want him to marry there daughter.
He turned this place around from being the least productive area in the
mission to the most productive area in the mission. The average number
of baptisms in the Dallas mission is 8 for the entire 2 years. In the
last two transfers, Elder Sheffer and Talbot had
8. I have some big shoes to fill.
This week I have mostly just been a shadow in lessons. Most of our
lessons are in Spanish, but we have had a few in English, even though
they are with Spanish speakers but just prefer English. ?? I can kill
it in English! I'm pretty good! but in Spanish
I am totally lost. I can say a few parts of lessons, but I can't
understand their questions or comments. I can start a contact in
Spanish, but as soon as they say something I just look at my companion,
which his cue to take over, bc I don't understand!
I was okay with being a shadow for the first couple days, now its
starting to get frustrating.
We live in an apartment, just the two of us. My first day of
actually being out proselyting was rough. We assemble the Liahona, and
then walked to the bike shop to pick up his bike. It was a long hot
walk. We picked his bike up, and no more than 30
seconds of being on my bike, I hit a curb and the wheel breaks. Green
slime everywhere! I had no idea they put slime in tires! I should have
taken a picture, but my mind was elsewhere. So we had to go back to
the bike shop, which was embarrassing, and
they fixed the tire. They don't believe in slime tires in Texas bc
it's too hot and they break often. Turns out that we didn't put the
Liahonna together correctly at all. We did it without instructions haha
I lost them pretty much immediately. I didn't
even have breaks! So they obviously pointed that out, fixed everything
I did wrong, which was everything, and then we got on our way. Can you
say ROUGH START?!
Hey, sorry. We are at the library and we only have 45 min at a time. So now I am on my second session!
I forgot to tell lyou, I am in Grand Prairie, Texas! No clue where that is, look it up!
We are on bikes. My legs are terribly sore. My bum is killing
me. It feels like we are always riding into the wind. I can't keep up
with my companion, and by the end of the day I am absolutely drenched.
I'll get used to it though! I have already
had a crash haha I clipped a mailbox, knocked it over. But we got a
good contact out of it. The owner of the house was in the front yard
when it happened, a big black man. He tried to get us to play pool
with him but that is not allowed. We talked for
a bit, he gave us a hard time and kind of just wanted to argue with us
in a light manner, but he told me that he wants me specifically to come
back. Normally, if they don't speak Spanish, we have to give them to
the English missionaries. But he doesn't want
to talk to any other missionary but me. And I believe that I clipped
that mailbox for a reason.
Elder Talbot left tons of food. For lunches and breakfast I have
been living off of trail mix and granola bars all week. He left a bag
of ghirradelli choc chips that are muy delicioso! We eat dinner with
members. The food is good! but I just have
a hard time trusting it, if you know what I mean. But it is almost
always good. No bomb bbq yet.
There are kids everywhere here. I really like them. they like us
and always come talk to us. I get my Spanish corrected by 6 year olds.
which is humbling. The people here for the most part are really nice.
I find it difficult to love them simply
because I can't connect with them when I can't speak Spanish. But I do
see how these people could be loveable. It is not difficult to find
Spanish speakers, but a lot of them will speak English to us even when
we talk to them in Spanish, which probably slows
down my learning rate. I feel like I don't speak enough Spanish here
and it is going to take a while to learn!
wow. I'm a missionary. We have had people swear at us, make fun
of us, throw a cup at us. We have been viciously rejected by that old
southern Baptist lady. I'm tired all the time. THIS IS THE LIFE OF A
MISSIONARY!
I feel like I had so much more to tell you, but that is all I can
think of for now. I have lots of pictures to send, mostly from the mtc,
but I don't have the stuff necessary to send them right now. I left it
at the apartment. So you are going to have
to wait another week.
idk what I want to do about shoes. The only place I have seen
around here for shoes is payless, and I might get just a cheap pair to
wear in the rain. But for now I am probably good with the ones I
have. However there are a couple things I would like.
I could use some old hand towels, maybe cut in half. It would be nice
if I had some towels to wipe the sweat off my face. Just some old ratty
ones if you have any, or if you have a better idea, I'll trust you with
it. I also need a Spanish scripture case.
hopefully you could find one of those at deseret. Spanish scriptures
are longer so they need a bigger case.
My testimony has already been strengthened in many ways. The
Lord is preparing his people to hear our message. Sometimes it is so
much easier than I ever would have thought! Prayer works. When we
aren't having success, we pray. When we pray, things
turn around. When I get overwhelmed or anxious, I pray. When I pray I
can overcome those feelings. Hard work pays off. Often times we will
take a risk by making a long bike ride to someones house when we don't
even know if they will be there. and usually
they aren't there. But the Lord always makes those trips worth it
through someone else. Satan is real and doing all he can to keep
people from hearing our message. Whenever we share the first vision,
say a prayer, or finally get someone else to pray; whenever
we reach the peak of spirituality in our lesson, nearly ever time, a
phone goes off. someone comes in the door with groceries. The kids
come running in and scream and cry. We are constantly getting
interrupted at the worst times. We are, however, having
success and getting lessons in.
Mom, remember what Dr. Pulver told me about missions the last time
we went in to see him? He wasn't kidding. It is very early on but this
is far more than i ever expected. But there is a scripture in D&C
that I really like. It keeps me going and makes
me want to hang in there. D&C 58: 4.
I miss you all and I am wondering what I have got myself into. I
saw a dog bow just like Toby does the other day! I also saw some pups
the other day for sale. Gosh I miss that dude! But you people
more. Sounds like all is well and todo bien con migo!
3001 S Carrier Parkway apartment #2403 Grand Prairie, Tx 75052
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