Don’t Worry, Be Happy
Hey Everyone! First week in my new area and it’s going great!
Monday:
I got to my area at like noon and right as I walked into the terminal, by accident met the Branch President of my area. Waited about an hour for my comp, Elder Vargas to get here. Dropped off our stuff and went and ate at an Argentine McDonald’s called “Mostaza”. In the city I’m in there are 5 other Elders right now but they split the bottom half of the area and we have the entire top half. The central part of the city just looks like a regular city but sketchier the farther out you go. Monday night we only had time to visit one member that is inactive because she’s old and can’t make it to church.
The rest of the week:
We hit the ground running in our area. My comp is a chiller but he’s also super hard working. He was baptized about 2 ½ years ago and is the only member in his family. His mission is actually in Spain but because of current VISA issues, he is in my mission. He’s a GOAT and I was wrong. He does know a bit of English, but mostly just random phrases. One of the main ones is he’ll sing the lyric “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” or he’ll say random out of pocket stuff haha.
We’ve already met most of the people that the last Elders were teaching. One family is 2 girls and their grandma. Supposedly they originally started teaching them because someone had a vision of the house they live in. Another one is the boyfriend of a member and he just sent us a message Saturday night that he doesn’t want to continue learning from us, but I’m pretty sure he just has doubts about the Plan of Salvation packet we hand out. One guy named Pablo is a reference that called us after we had already tried contacting him. He’s bipolar and has problems with the Word of Wisdom but wants to learn and improve. We have found a few other people and had some good lessons already.
We organized the area a bit yesterday for weekly planning and we have like 30 people to teach and a bunch of recent converts to teach every week. Hopefully we organized it so we don’t have to walk as much every day.
We get lunches every day from members so I don’t have to cook as much now😭🙏
Wednesday we got wifi in our apartment so we didn’t end up doing anything that morning. The worker was asking me about the US and thinks that literally everyone is racist. He was also confused about how missionaries can learn the language so quickly. He’s been taught by missionaries before but has 0 desire to do anything ☹️
The power in my entire Zone cut out 2 nights in a row. Mind you it’s if the power went out in an area the size of the Valley and with the heat of like mid to upper 80s at night. Safe to say I didn’t sleep too well.
Carnival is going on or about to happen so at night a few nights the ground got really interesting😬😬
Spiritual Thought:
This week Elder Matthew S. Holland, son of the recently passed away Elder Holland gave a devotional at BYU. It is an amazing devotional where he talks about both of his parents. He talks about how often the Book of Mormon speaks about a “wilderness” or a “strange land”, to which he states that it is mentioned 336 times. He specifically quotes Jacob 7:26
“I have written according to the best of my knowledge, by saying that the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream, we being a lonesome and a solemn people, wanderers, cast out from Jerusalem, born in tribulation, in a wilderness, and hated of our brethren, which caused wars and contentions; wherefore, we did mourn out our days.”
He says that many times in our lives, we feel like we are wandering in a wilderness, however it may be. Thankfully, however, we have an “Iron Rod”, a “pillar of fire by night”, and a “pillar of a cloud by day”. Mormon put together the speeches and stories that we would need today in our lives to guide us, to help us get through our experiences in life. The Book of Mormon is not just a good book, but the best book because it was written for each one of us personally. In the words of President Thomas S. Monson, “If you haven’t read the Book of Mormon, Read It!”
I pray that all goes well at home or wherever you are, if you are reading this far. Please send me emails: mwcurtis@missionary.org or join my Google Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/g9K5EHgzbJLtD3wC8
I would love to hear from you guys! I love and miss you all!!
– Élder Curtis
They have McDonald's in my town.
