Happy Tuesday everyone!
By the way, I sent my last email last Tuesday, but for some reason it couldn't go through and I wasn't able to figure it out. It was delivered mid week, but it was sent on Tuesday.
It's been a good first week out here in Brawley. Here are a couple of observations:
- It is a bit toasty. The high, according to the car temperature reader, was 107, but this weather website says it was 100. I'm not sure who to believe more, but the website is probably more accurate. Regardless, it was a little warm, but it's gonna get worse. As the summer goes on, the high should increase by 10-20 degrees. To avoid the heat as much as possible, we normally try to work in the mornings, and in the evenings, and then do our studies mid-day so we can be inside. It's hot, but I cannot complain. Missionaries used to be on bikes out here. Not only that, but there was a time in human history when air conditioning wasn't a thing! Who would've thought? I cannot imagine people living out here when it's this hot without a/c.
- Brawley is a pretty small town. It is 2.5 miles wide, and 2.5 miles tall. It doesn't take very long to drive through or around the town, and even though I've only been here 1 week, I feel like I'm getting to know it pretty quickly because of the size. Our area covers Brawley and two other "major" towns: Westmorland and Calipatria. I say "major" because they are bigger out here, but still super small compared to San Diego. Calipatria is smaller than Brawley, and Westmorland is smaller than Calipatria. Westmorland is less than a mile wide and tall, and around 2,000 people live there I think. It is pretty tiny. Most people live in town, but there are also random houses out by the fields in the middle of nowhere. The whole area is always pretty quiet which is kinda nice. It is definitely a different pace than San Diego county, but I like it a lot. It reminds me a lot of Arizona, which it pretty much is.
- People are a lot nicer here. Whenever we talk to people they just seem more happy and genuine. The members are awesome too, even though it is a pretty small ward. Most of our members are white Americans, but a good percentage of the overall population are hispanics.
(According to the car, it was 102 degrees at this time)
The Spanish has been coming along. I have begun studying on this church app called "Embark" designed specifically for missionaries. So far I have found its phrases to be much more applicable to missionary work than Duolingo. On Duolingo I learned things like "Tu comes pan?" and "Yo tengo una bicicleta". I guess those are good things to know, but who actually says those things? Earlier this week I learned a new phrase "Nuestro mensaje es para todos" on Embark and it came at a time of need! Later that day, we were out tracting, and a Spanish lady said she belongs to another church. I pulled that phrase out, and the conversation resulted in her letting us take her phone number to give to the other missionaries! So that was cool. I feel like my Spanish is still pretty bad, and a lot of times it's Spanglish, but I remember more than I originally thought.. Instead of just carrying "The Book of Mormon" when we knock, I also bring "El Libro de Mormón".
It's been a decent week. I cannot complain because I know I am blessed. But I'm a little tired because the first week of a new area, transfer, and companion is always a little slower just because everything is new. I think the Brawley area has some good potential. We have a couple of people that have expressed interest in Baptism, and are hopeful for their progression. My favorite lesson this week was with a lady named Yolanda. We went over on Wednesday and taught the first half of the Plan of Salvation. She has previously talked about Baptism, but she is very busy with work and taking care of her son who is disabled, both physically and mentally, due to a really bad motorcycle accident. Her participation in the lesson was pretty good. We talked about Baptism, and how it is done by the Priesthood. When we explained what the Priesthood was, she started crying because she imagined us healing her son, and it was a comfort to her to know that the same power is on earth again. She didn't ask us to heal her son, but I wonder if she might, and what would happen if she did. I've given blessings, but I have never healed anyone before, in the immediate way the Savior often did when He was on earth. It's a scary thing in a way because of that, and I don't know really what will happen, or if anything will. We'll see. But my favorite part of the lesson was near the end, when I decided to share John 14:26. She said she had good feelings about what we teach and I told her that those good feelings come from the Holy Ghost, and that it sounds familiar because she knew these things in the premortal life. The Holy Ghost is just bringing these things to her remembrance! That scripture was the same thing that a member shared in one of our lessons from my Week 84 email. So it was cool to share again and it is a really good scripture. I felt like a beast after sharing that. So we had a good lesson and I think she understood what we were telling her. Since the lesson on Wednesday, Yolanda hasn't come to church and didn't show up for our follow-up lesson, but we're still hopeful. She's been taught for a long time so we're not sure how or if things will change, but we'll keep trying. We plan to challenge her to be baptized by a certain date which might help her keep more commitments, but we also might need to reset expectations so we're on the same page.
Thank you! Love you guys! Talk to you again next week.
- Elder Wride
No comments:
Post a Comment