New area! New companion! New house! New watch! New members! Everything new! Almost! Except for this guy! I'm not new!
So yeah, this week was the first full week here in Matamoros 2. I'm in the Florido Stake, and it's basically last stake in Tijuana on the east side. If you go further than our stake, you start heading to Tecate or Mexicali. Thank goodness too. I'll be able to ride out the summer here in Tijuana, and when we hit August/September, it will already have finished, and it will start getting cold there. That means I will never have to deal with the heat in Mexicali, seeing as I get home in June of next year! HOORAY FOR SKIPPING SUMMERS!
But in all seriousness, this is really hard. We don't know anyone, we have no way of finding new investigators because we don't know how to find very well, and above all, I'm very very VERY hungry all the time.
I keep hitting a point where I'm always thinking negatively. I think that people aren't going to accept, or that I'm not going to teach right, or this or that and it keeps bugging me. Why do I think so negatively? Elder C keeps talking to me and telling me that I need to think more positively, but it's hard when I keep hearing the SAME THING:
"Es que sí, me gustaría escucharles, pero pues la verdad no sé si voy a estar. Para qué les voy a echar mentiras? Si yo les digo que sí estaré aquí, y ustedes vienen, me quedo mal con ustedes."
In English:
"It's just that yeah, I'd like to listen to you guys, but like, really, I don't know if I'm going to be here. What point is there to lying to you guys? If I tell you that I'm going to be here, and then you come, I come off bad to you guys.
I swear, I hear that so much it's ridiculous.
But whatever. I'll be fine. We'll find new people this week.
Okay, so I had my first mission experience that was just absolutely terrible. We showed up at a house, and we started talking to this lady. Well, she had a little kid there running around, and all of a sudden, the kid comes running over to her as she sits down. This lady then pulls up her shirt and well... starts feeding this kid.
Not joking. No blanket, no nothing. Just kinda like did it right then and there. Holy cow. THE worst experience of my whole life right there. We will not be returning. The kid was like, 1-2 years old even! It was already old enough to stop that kinda stuff! Gotta love Mexico.
Not joking. No blanket, no nothing. Just kinda like did it right then and there. Holy cow. THE worst experience of my whole life right there. We will not be returning. The kid was like, 1-2 years old even! It was already old enough to stop that kinda stuff! Gotta love Mexico.
We also managed to get into a house that was REALLY hard to get past. This lady is named Sister J, and she really doesn't accept much from any other religion. However, I had an idea.
I just casually passed by the house, and saw that they were all there on their patio, and so I, being the absolute genius that I am, decided NOT to contact them by saying we're missionaries, but by asking where we were.
"Hey, do you guys know where Michoacan Street is?"
"Yeah, it's two blocks up from here."
"Two blocks? Like, we just get on this Boulevard right here and follow it two blocks?"
The lady then comes over to show me where to go, and in THAT moment, I knew I had to do everything right.
We started to talk to her about us, and about what we shared as missionaries, and we found out that one of her daughters died around 10 months ago. Well we put a single appointment together.
"I will only allow ONE appointment. That's all."
Well, trusting in the Lord, we knew that was all we needed.
We got into the appointment and started to teach, when suddenly she started talking about her daughter. We listened for about 30 minutes about how much she loved her daughter, and then, we testified about the Spirit World, and left her and her other daughter with Alma 40 as a committment. Then the major turning point came.
We got into the appointment and started to teach, when suddenly she started talking about her daughter. We listened for about 30 minutes about how much she loved her daughter, and then, we testified about the Spirit World, and left her and her other daughter with Alma 40 as a committment. Then the major turning point came.
"Is there another day we could drop by to see how it went?"
We held our breath. This was it. We had that one chance to just push the Spirit with all we had. We had testified and listened and spoke the truth. This was the last chance we had.
She thought for a little bit and then said:
"Sure. When would be the best for you guys?"
We were so incredibly happy. The Lord really blessed us there. He knows his children, and somehow, My companion and I helped her feel his love and the truth of what we share.
So stoked for that. it's going to be great.
Just a couple of cool things that happened. I have pictures, but I cannot share them because this internet is super slow. It doesn't upload pictures fast enough. Next week maybe.
Just a couple of cool things that happened. I have pictures, but I cannot share them because this internet is super slow. It doesn't upload pictures fast enough. Next week maybe.
ADIOS FAMILIA! LES AMO MUCHÍSIMO, Y ESPERO LO MEJOR PARA USTEDES!
Elder Carter
