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| Elder Sheffer - David's first companion and trainer! |
Hola mi amores!
So this week was really good. My first transfer in the field
is already over! Looking back, its insane how fast it went by. The
last six weeks seem like just one big long day. Every thing from the
day I met Elder Sheffer til yesterday all seems
like it was just yesterday! You know, the mission is reeeally short
when you look at it in certain ways, or really long when you look at it
in other ways. And I go back and forth between thinking that it's super
short and super long, but I still can't get
over how fast this transfer went by. A departing missionary gave us
some advice when we first got here: "be the fat kid at scout camp and
just jump in!" I feel like I haven't really jumped into the work yet.
I've kind of been tip toeing in like the skinny
kid at scout camp that you can see all of his ribs. Almost going
through the motions, and relying on my companion a lot. I've still been
working hard, don't get me wrong, but I could be doing more, and loving
the people more. So now that this transfer has
come to an end, I know it's going to be the same thing when my two
years are up. It's going to go by so fast and I will wonder where all
the time has gone! It's really easy to have regrets when time goes by
like that, so I am determined to JUMP IN this next
transfer!
So nothing too exciting happened this week that I can remember,
other than Elder Sheffer and I crashed on our bikes. We were being too
goofy and I rode into him and we both fell! It was hilarious,
especially because we fell right in front of some
guy. He probably thought we were such dummies! It's times like that
when I really wish I had a camera crew to follow me around! Wouldn't it
be cool if the church made every mission a movie?! Just a little food
for thought.
This week I was able to get a glimpse of how big an impact we
can really have on someones life as missionaries. Familia Soto is a
family that was baptized the Sunday before I got here, a mom and 6
kids,, ages 3-15. Her life is ridiculously hard,
as you can probably imagine, and she spends all her time working or
sleeping. We have grown really close with the kids bc they are always
outside. So we can rarely catch the mom, bc she is always sleeping, but
the other day we visited her and she said she
has no food, and no money to buy food or pay the rent, and her and her
kids hadn't had anything to eat all day. And for some reason she fed
the sister missionaries the night before with the last of her food! So
we, along with the sister missionaries, rounded
up some food and took it over to her that night. It felt good, and she
LOVES the missionaries. She cries nearly every time we come over. I
see like three women a week cry during our lessons, just because they
are having such a hard time and they trust the
missionaries and believe that we can help them with their problems. I
can't, bc I don't understand what they are saying, but Elder Sheffer
does a good job of comforting them and helping them. I just say
"Hermana, tenga fe y todo bien." Or something along
those lines. I wish I could help more than that, but it still feels
good to help.
Yesterday and church we had fast and testimony meeting, and I
bore my testimony! It was weird, I didn't really get nervous, and my
Spanish flowed really well. I didn't say any "umm's" or get stuck or
anything. The bishop only corrected me on one
thing too! Even though I still don't understand much haha it is crazy
to me how much Spanish i have learned in not even three months. It's
even weird to pray in English now! Elder Sheffer forgot how to say
"significance" in an English lesson the other day
and it was hilarious! He said "signifkie" and he knew it didn't sound
right as soon as he said it but he couldn't think of the word. I hope
that starts happening to me soon! He has fallen in love with the
language and I really admire that and his approach
to learn more. He has taught me so much and set such an awesome
example for me.
But sadly, I am leaving him tomorrow. The last couple weeks
there has been a little bit of drama here in GP. There are eight
missionaries here, English speaking elders and Spanish speaking elders,
and one of each as well for Hermanas. All are on
bikes except for us. We cover the south part, which is the biggest
area, and the hermanas cover the north part, much smaller area. And
this new transfer they are putting a third pair of Spanish speaking
missionaries, so we have to divide up the area now.
Ultimately, President makes the call but the Obispo has a lot more say
in it than we do, and none of the missionaries here were in agreeance
with his decision. I just couldn't believe he wore ankle socks to
church, but Elder Sheffer and the Hermanas were
quite upset. But we all figured it is in the Lord's hands and we will
go where the Lord wants us to go. So between talking with the AP's,
President, and Obispo for the last week, we thought we knew for sure
what was going to happen this next transfer: we
were going to go to the NE corner of GP and the hermanas would move to
our apt to cover the south side. It was practically set in stone. But
we got a call from the AP's Saturday night saying that Elder Sheffer is
going to train another new missionary, still
in GP, but I am going to Lakewood with Elder Crockett! It was so
unexpected and I didn't even know what to think. it took me forever to
fall asleep that night. I was really looking forward to another
transfer with Elder Sheffer. I haven't met Elder Crockett
yet but he was in the mtc with Elder Sheffer and Sheff says he is super
funny. I don't know where Lakewood is, but the few people we asked at
church said it was downtown Dallas and a really rich area, but nobody
sounded to sure. Come to find out, after
talking with a missionary that served there, it is one of the most
ghetto areas in the mission with muchos morenos y espanicos. I'm so
excited! It is sad to leave Elder Sheffer, but a change of scenery
isn't going to be a bad thing.
So sometimes I feel super happy, sometimes I feel a little
down. But one thing that picks me up is thinking about the people I
have met and the friends I have made just in the first few months, as
well as the people I will meet and the friends I
will make in the next 21. That makes me really excited for what has
yet to come. You can't get this anywhere else.
Yeah, so that's the big news for the week, I'm heading to Lakewood
tomorrow morning! So hold off on the packages. I got the ipod package
and a few letters from Sister Peterson, but that is it. I am super
sorry about the address mix up, sorry! Because
I got that book a while back from grandma, I figured you had the right
address. But everything else I have had to go check with the front
office for. I am going to check with apt 2403 today to see if they have
gotten anything of mine, but I don't know what
else I can do about the shoes. This makes things difficult, but I have
faith that they will turn up!
-riding a bike has gotten easier, but I definitely haven't
developed a love for it, and my legs have never stopped being sore, but I
am used to it by now. Elder Sheffer and I take turns leading, so I can
usually keep up with him unless we are in a hurry,
bc his hurry is mas rapido than mine. Idk if i'll be on a bike or in a
car in Lakewood, but I am fine with either one.
-it's been hot here, haven't seen rain for a while. But people say
it is still only going to get hotter. What scares me is that people
also say this is a mild summer....iyiyi!
-Em- I miss you BASTANTE!
-I just started cooking eggs and throwing them in a tortilla which
is really good and much more filling than what I have been eating. but I
eat yogurt and granola(so your granola you sent me is perfecto!) as
well as pbj's and hot dogs and microwave burritos.
-I don't need anything at the moment, but i'll send my new address
next week and i'll make sure it is the right one this time. So any one
that wants to send me something can!
Holy tolito my emails are long! Be honest with me, are they too
long? Like do you look at this and think "ugh why does he do this? I
have to read this whole entire thing?" Because that's what I think when
stuff it too long. Just tell me the truth would
ya?!
Alright so that's it for this week. I hope I remembered
everything. Sounds like life is good back home. Thanks for the iPod!
Elder Sheffer has good music but it was nice to hear something
different. Josh Groban is magical!
I can't wait til Monday comes around again. Quidense mucho y que tengan una semana magnifico! Hasta la proxima lunes!
con muchisimo amor, Elder Williams
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