Bums and Hamburger Buns
What the flipper dipper is up everyone? Week 2 transfer 2 was nuts but also not that eventful. We kinda just worked a ton so this week went by insanely quick. Just a bunch of bummy people and cooking. Oh yeah, Happy Halloween!!!
Out of nowhere, there were some cold and rainy days early in the week. Like we turned the heater on in our apartment it was that cold. We went and taught some people in pouring rain so that was fun because I didn’t know if I’d ever wear my rain jacket.
Woke up to my comp giving a lesson in Spanish in his sleep. It was like 4am and I woke up to him sitting up in his bed saying sum like “El Don del Espíritu Santo”. I thought he was possessed but just went back to sleep and hopefully he wouldn’t kill me in my sleep, which he didn’t.
This one lady we were doing a first contact with impressed us because she legit just like walked away without saying anything. Like we were introducing ourselves and she just walks away with her kid and we’re like “oh you’re leaving” and she looks at us and is just like “uh huh”. Like not out of “I don’t want to talk to these guys” but more of a she wasn’t all there in the head type. She was also like almost taller than me so it was scary.
The girl we had on date and her family we kind of dropped them. We’ve been teaching them for over a month now and so we had kinda a last lesson with them where we asked the girl, Dulce, if she thought about if she’s willing to be baptized. She said directly that she wants to wait till she’s older. We also talked to the dad and asked if he will come to church and if he believes our teachings and the Book of Mormon. He told us that he does believe us and he loves the Book of Mormon, but he specifically said he is unwilling to go to church or at least our church. So after hearing these 2 things, we just shared a scripture and talked to them about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the Church. We shared our love for them but told them that we must find people that are ready and willing to follow the teachings, example, and church of Jesus Christ. Once my comp wrapped up I shared my testimony and it was probably one of the strongest testimonies I think I’ve given. I testified to them with all that I could that if they continue reading and praying about the Book of Mormon, that they will receive a testimony and witness of its truthfulness and not if but when they receive that witness, that a witness of Joseph Smith and the Church will follow. We then asked them to please invite us back if their minds ever change, if they have questions, or ever need our help with anything.
The 2 girls we baptized the 2nd week of my mission told us that their dad is a bum. He is never home because he’s always working in the fields and he’s just a sucky dad in general. They told us that he doesn’t want them coming to the church anymore because it’s too far and so the whole family is going to go to the Evangelical church that is nearby. Mind you neither of the parents have ever gone or had the desire to go to church or do anything, so we are trying to work with the members to find some way to get them picked up for church.
A guy we’ve been trying to teach for a while now annoyed us a bit on Saturday. We were walking to a lesson when we passed by the guy’s apartment and noticed he was home with his door open, so we decided we’d ask if we could share something real quick. He told us he was busy so we just invited him to church to which he kinda crashed out. He said he doesn’t need to do anything because he “has God in his heart” to which my comp asked a pretty rhetorical question of “but isn’t God a god of action?”. The guy got annoyed and said that because he has God in his heart, he will never go to church or anything.
I’ve been cooking a bunch these week thanks to my mom for sending me recipes. We get fed lunches Thursday-Sunday but Monday- Wednesday and dinners we are on our own, and in my pursuit to not lose a ton of weight on the mission, I’ve been trying to cook a lot. This week I made my mom’s Spanish Rice, Sloppy Joe’s, I think I’ve about got my mom’s pasta down, I learned how to make Smash Burgers, and I even made Rice Krispy Treats for a movie night activity we had on Saturday! We watched the Book of Life which I had never seen all the way through before. I’ll send the pictures I do have so someone can be proud of me for trying.
32/52 Cards, 2 Jokers
Spiritual Thought:
So yesterday my comp and I were kinda bummed a bit because we worked so hard last week and we feel like we found a bunch of good people who could progress, but then legit no one came to church. We had 1 convert and 0 investigators/friends. After planning we had a devotional by the Mission President and his wife and during the devotional, I was kinda paying attention, kinda just thinking about the week and how it sucks how there was not much “fruit from our labors” so to speak. Then the thought of Simon Peter and Andrew being called to be “Fishers of Men” popped into my head.
“18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Moreover the thought of when I was just starting to learn to fish how everyone would tell me “it’s called fishing not catching”. I thought about that for a bit and it’s also true for a mission. We are not guaranteed anything. Not baptisms, not church attendances, not even investigators, but yet we try the best we can and “control the controlables” as Coach Norris would say. To draw an illustration, the bridge would be:
– Where to fish (river or lake fishing could be what neighborhood or street you go on and what holes to fish could be what houses you knock on)
– How to fish (if you’re rod or fly fishing and what lures you use depending on what fish you are trying to catch could be how you adapt your teaching to the people or area you’re in)
– How to prepare (what and how to study and what we are praying for could be how many Meps I plan on losing because of how many times I get snagged or the food I bring out with me)
– And who we learn from (My Grandpa Gardner and his decades of experience, my uncles who still fish, and my brothers because they all know how to fish way better than me could be compared to the Prophets, Apostles, Trainers, or anyone that is or has been a missionary/ someone with experience with the Lord being the best missionary or “Fisher of Men”)
The uncontrollables would be: weather (the siesta makes it a dice roll everyday of who we can find), water depth (size of the area), time of year, and how perceptible the fish (the people) will be to the lures (teaching methods) even if you are using the best ones (teaching with the Spirit).
All of this to say that I and we must work to bring people unto Christ trying to control what we can and letting the Lord handle the rest. I am blessed to be in a mission where we baptize about 80 people each month, but that doesn’t mean I am going to baptize in crazy numbers. What I can count on though is as I stay patient and through my faith, diligence, and obedience the Lord will bless my consecrated, intentional efforts with connecting to the people, learning the language, and growing my testimony and conversion.
SEND. ME. EMAILS!!!!! Love and miss you all! Hope everything is going good and super spooky Halloween was so good!
– Élder Curtis
