04/20/2010 (Mayaguez)

HOLA FAMILIA

CHACHO!!! (that means WOW! in Puerto Rico haha and it’s going to be hard for me to quit using that word when I get back I think haha) but it sounds like things are going good and crazy back home. Missionaries coming home and leaving and volcanoes and airplanes! haha Sounds pretty exciting!!

This week has been really good for us. We had some cool experiences. First off one of our investigators, William Lopez, he’s an awesome guy. His friend is a member and he’s been going to the church a lot to help with the unemployment program here. All of a sudden one day he walked up to us and we didn’t know who he was or anything and he said I want to be baptized so we told him alright we’ll see what we can do to help him. Haha! It was awesome! So then the first time we went to the church to teach him and we sat down and he said ok what do I have to do to get baptized haha it was crazy! I didn’t think I would have an experience like this in Puerto Rico!) But we explained what a testimony is and how that all works and how he has to gain a testimony for himself and then we taught him the first lesson and read and prayed and all that good stuff! So he came back and he said after the lesson he was reading and he prayed and he asked to know if he was doing the right things. He said he really didn’t get an answer until right after he decided to go to Walgreens and his ex-wife and daughter that he hasn’t seen for like 3 years was there and she yelled at him and said come over and see your daughter and that she wanted him to be a part of her life and that she was going to let him see her once a week. So he came back two days later for the second lesson and he said he got his testimony and he was telling us all this stuff. He’s learned about the church and it was really awesome he is a way way way smart guy. He’s a doctor but an herbal natural doctor (I think kinda like Wendy’s friend but he does a lot of chiropractic stuff too). But yeah it was really cool and he asked us if we could baptize him that day but we told him we have to wait and teach more and keep praying and reading and yeah it was really cool. The only bad thing is that he has cancer and he gets really sick. So Sunday he ended up not making it to church and we couldn’t teach him one day but we saw him yesterday and he’s doing better again and really excited for his next lesson. It’s been a pretty awesome experience.

And now a funny experience … so two nights ago we went to a lesson and we had to leave to go eat dinner with some members. We were supposed to take the other missionaries to eat with us but when we called them a member answered their phone so we thought they were just joking. But I guess some how they accidently did something with the phone and the lines got crossed so every time you called the missionaries it was the member’s phone. But we were late and my comp thought the members were joking and so he was getting super mad and we couldn’t find the missionaries and then they called and we were already there and my comp was still all mad and then the other missionaries were getting all mad cuz they didn’t know what happened either, So everyone was getting all ticked off and I was trying to calm them all down and remind them of President Monson’s talk about not getting mad cuz anger only destroys. It was a pretty crazy night but at the end we gave them a ride home and everyone figured everything out and my companion said he learned his valuable lesson of not getting mad no matter what the situation. It was a nice little mission learning experience but yeah it’ll be one I’ll have to expound on for you guys when I get home. :)

But other than that, things are going great and we are having fun. Don’t worry about the ties just keep checking they’ll come on every once in a while just make sure they are polyester and old and not clip ons haha. My buddy accidently got some clip ons.

It’s really hot and we have been doing a lot of service and I ate a chilly and then worked in the sun all day and fried my upper lip really bad. We all got a good taste of picapica … the worst plant in the world … worse than stinging needle! Haha!

Tell Kori I said hi! I can’t believe that he’s home. Chacho that’s crazy and today I’ve been a missionary for 11 months :( time really does fly! Well I’ve got to go but I love you guys and have a great week!

Elder Ward