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| David and his friend, Lilo! |
Howdy y'all!
That is so awesome that you got to meet the Durrants! and Elder
Haskell's mom! I am really glad you went and enjoyed it. We met
President and Sister Taylor on Saturday and they are just as incredible!
President Durrant and President Taylor are similar,
yet very different. It will be interesting to see how the mission
changes with him. At the meeting, we took about an hour for everyone to
shake hands with President and Sister Taylor. I was really impressed
to see the genuine love that they had for every
missionary that they met. They just barely met us! The amount of love
they have is nearly inhuman. I was very impressed and touched by it.
I've never seen anybody more excited about their calling. They are
going to be great leaders of the mission, and
I can't wait to get to know them and learn more from them!
There was a baptism in Lakewood on Saturday for a lady named
Marie, but unfortunately I was not able to go due to the meeting with
the Taylors. Elder Haskell and I found Marie in December and started
teaching her. She is a good friend of a less active
member. She was always very quiet and timid with us, but she was
diligent in going to church, and she got baptized when she knew she was
ready. I'm so excited and happy for her! I'm learning more and more
all the time that conversion takes time. As missionaries
we often want to rush things and expect people to get baptized within a
month or two from when they first started to learn. While it is
possible that somebody can be converted and ready for baptism in a month
or two, it is rare and not fair to expect of people.
Conversion is a process and takes time. The people that stick around
after being baptized and stay faithful are those that took their time,
took it seriously, and were sure of themselves. Being a missionaries
takes patience, understanding to put yourself
in the shoes of an investigator, and trust in the Lord that He has a
time for everyone.
I was able to go an entire year in Texas without being fed
menudo. I have always dreaded the day when I arrive at a member's house
for dinner, and they put a bowl of menudo infront of me. I have heard
lots about menudo. Very rarely do I hear anything
good about it. Members joke and tease about menudo a lot, trying to
scare us by telling us that we are having menudo. It's like everybody
knows that nobody like menudo. I don't get it! But that dreaded day
finally came on Tuesday. Hermana Mondragon told
us we were having menudo, and I prayed she was kidding like the rest of
the people that had told me that before. She wasn't. I didn't like
it. Could it have been mental more than anything? Maybe. But I had to
eat it and hope I don't have to face it again!
I was kind of sick for a few days this week. I don't know what
was wrong with me, but I had a headache and felt kind of like I had just
gotten off of a spinny ride at Lagoon, I had no appetite, and I was
really sore, especially my neck. A member told
me that I might have a virus in my stomach, and suggested I just take a
lot of vitamin C. So I did, and I feel almost all better today! So
that made it difficult to work, but we had an okay week. The fourth of
July was far from anything special, just a regular
day with the exception of a couple of member bbq's.
Transfer calls came late Saturday night. I'm staying with Elder
Packham here in McKinney. The only change is that they took Hermanas
out of the branch, and we are taking over their area. So our area
pretty much just tripled in size, and we now cover
two entire stakes. It is going to be difficult at first, getting to
know their area and their investigators, but I am okay with that. I was
disappointed at first. I was really ready and hoping for a change in
area and companion, but at least we got some
sort of change. I won't have any problems surviving 6 more weeks in
McKinney with Elder Packham. We just got a bunch more on our plate, and
we should be super busy now!
-the Spanish is good and not really a problem anymore. I feel very comfortable teaching and talking to people in Spanish.
-yeah people are crazy about the world cup here. Maybe not as
crazy as they are in south America and England, but everybody watches
it. I've never had any desire at all to watch soccer until now. Is Tom
following and watching Brazil?
yesterday we had a really good lesson with an ex-pro soccer
player from Mexico. He is young and cool and humble and genuine. I
have a good feeling about him.
That's my week. Love and miss you! Until next time!
Elder D. Williams
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