We got a baptism this week. It was pretty cool. I'm going to talk about that a little bit, and a few other things that go with the pictures I took and all of that. But first, I need to go with the first things.
INVESTIGATORS
Juana - We are really going to leave her here in a bit. She's just not talking with her son. He's come 3 times now, and after the scares of the fact that he went to jail and everything, you'd think she'd just take any opportunity to talk to him about it. According to her, she was going with him TODAY. So We're going to see what happened later tonight. If he didn't come, we're going to share 1 Ne. 3:7 and end it right there.
Aaron - Teaching him is REALLY hard because he just understands nearly NOTHING. So we have to be really patient and teach the same thing like 5 times so he gets it. But he goes to church on his own, so it's pretty darn cool. He'll be baptized in 2 weeks, I think.
Outside of them, we're sitting on nearly nothing. We keep contacting and going to houses where it turns out they don't want anything or aren't there. It's an endless cycle.
FUN
1.) Alright, well, this week, my district leader assigned me the Christlike Attribute that we have to give in our District Meetings. Normally, we just get assigned to do it, and we choose what attribute we want. Well, our leader decided he was going to assign me one because he thought it would be a good idea. And he assigned me:
Altruism
What the heck. Like, that word doesn't even show up in scripture. I don't even know what it means, much less in Spanish. Not only that, but what in the world does that have to do with missionary work anyway?
Well, I called him a couple days later after looking for the word and I just basically sat down and was like,
"Look, if you assign me this attribute, I'm going to look like a complete idiot. I don't know what the word means, and it doesn't appear in scripture either."
he thought for a second and then said:
"Okay, then you have to do it on Bravery."
Oh yeah. Much better.
Whatever. I just whipped out Sons of Helaman and said what I could and called it good. I guess I'll just have to deal with it. Ni modos.
2.) The baptism! It was cool! We actually had to SCRUB the baptismal font, because our chapel was recently renovated. What ended up happening is they replaced everything, literally EVERYTHING.... but the baptismal font. And it's pretty gross. There is dirt or mold or whatever it is that has been there for so long that you can't even get it off the tile. I guess that's fine because it doesn't go up with the water either, but still... It's kinda gross, you know?
Anyway, so we SCRUBBED that font, and then the next day, started to fill up with water the font.
We opened up the valve for the hot water, but it came out cold. So we started calling people to find out which one was hot water, changed back and forth between the two valves like 10 times, and then finally found that the one that was hot was the first one we had opened. But it was still cold.
So we went back to check the boiler, and we couldn't open the door because no one has keys to it. Just wonderful. More problems.
Then, we manage to peek through the cracks to see that it's good, and all it needs is to get gas to start heating. So we grabbed a broom, stuck it through one of the holes in the fence that was keeping the tank, and then pushed the valve handle to the "open" position. Then we rushed back to the boiler to see if it was working and....
There's no gas.
We just gave up then and filled it with cold water. 2 hours of running around for nothing.
3.) Elder Cepeda, now Ivan, speaks to me in Tu. It's kinda weird, because he spoke in Usted before. Sometimes I can't understand what he's telling me because I'm used to hearing the Usted conjugations.
4.) It's decided. My dream calling in the church is to be the Primary pianist. I would love that calling.
I have played the piano in Sacrament Meeting now 2 weeks in a row, and I actually like it. It's hard, nerve-wracking, and quite honestly makes me feel like I make things worse rather than better, but I end up doing okay, and I like the idea of just playing piano for people.
After thinking a bit, i realized that there was a calling that would just be awesome in the church: Playing piano in the primary. Of course, I wouldn't get to listen to good lessons, and I'd have to deal with kids all screaming during "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" on the part where they're like: suuuunnnn BEAM, but it would be so fun for me. I'd love to practice piano every day just so I could fulfill my calling. Plus, it'd be something fun for me to do with my kids: just sit down and play whatever song i wanted. (Yeah Mom, I regret not practicing piano more at home...)
5.) We found out a couple days ago that my companion had less than 20 days left. That made me SOOOOOO trunky for a bit. Like, MAN! I've still got a full 8 weeks left, and he's sitting on only 15 days! Wow. It's going to take a long time it seems like....
6.) We found this bus that says "Transportation for Turistic Missionaries." I took a picture just because we have bikes and they have a bus. And they're turists. AND better looking than me. (Who knows how they did that...)
Um.... And, well, nothing really that important apart from what i've explained here. Just normal stuff. Knock, contact, get rejected, write down some address that doesn't exist, beg people to take cards, etc.
But honestly, thank you all for your support and love in my behalf. I don't feel like I deserve so much, but I get it anyway. That means a lot.
Love you all. See you later!
Elder Carter
