Friday, February 23, 2024

Week 5: Standard Week


Sorry guys, nothing too crazy happened this week. Lol, I'm sorry to disappoint you. This week was when we started our "solo español" week. We're supposed to only speak Spanish in all situations, but I keep forgetting. Hermano Bautista said that I have to also write in my journal en español, but I'm not going to do that. I want my kids and mi futura esposa to read it, and how're they supposed to read it if they don't speak spanish. Anyways, I'll share one or two things, the most interesting thing that happened though, and then a spiritual thought. Oh, I also learned how to solve a Rubick's cube

One thing: Ties & Prayers?
We've done lots of tie trades here, and that's been fun. This morning we went to the temple to do endowments. I'm literally typing this on the bus right now. Anyways, they have a little store at the temple, and they had some really really nice ties. There were two ties, and some small "future missionary" that I really wanted. I wanted the ties for me, and the tags for my little brother's, but I only had my card, and they only accept cash there. We have an ATM machine here, and I felt like I should get some cash out of it, but I didn't. Maybe that was a prompting. Listen to the spirit guys. The lady said we could try my card, but like she said, it didn't work. I have a little bit of cash at the casa, so I asked her if she could hold the ties and tags for just one week, cuz we go to the temple every P-day. At first she said no, but then she said yes, and I was really grateful. But, Elder Allen said, after we were already on the bus, that he can guarantee she went and put them back on the shelf as soon as I left. That made me sad. Like Elder, don't rob me of my hope. Anyways, so I said a prayer that the lady would be true to her word, or that if she isn't, no other missionaries will notice/want the ties. We'll find out in a week if I can get them. They're just ties, but you guys are welcome to pray too.



Or two things: mini fridge
So Elder Allen and I became zone leaders for zone 8, and the previous zone leaders gave us a gift. It has been passed down, zone leader to zone leader for about 3 years now. That's just what they said. It's a mini fridge, which is actually nice, although I probably won't use it, because I don't drink lots of soda, and it's not cold enough to keep an ice cream cold. It's still pretty funny tho, and its covered in signatures and stickers, and we get to add ours when we pass it on to the next ZLs.
The most interesting thing this week: Latinos
Ok, so there are lots of Mexicans here at the Mexico MTC, and they're normally only here for 3 weeks because they already speak Spanish. Anyways, a little context, Elder Wilcox is lowkey famous here among the elders. Not for his miracle tho, he's famous for cutting hair. There is a lady who cuts hair here, but she doesn't do fades. So Elder Wilcox gave his comps fades, and then everyone in the casa wanted fades. I didn't really want one, but I got one. Next time I'm just gonna do a taper. I do want to buzz my head at some point on the mission tho, just to see what I look like. And since I can't date on the mission, there are no consequences. Anyways, everyone in casa 23 got fades, and then every night after that, we'd always have a few elders show up for fades. And then 3 nights ago, I'm not even joking, we had 20 Latinos show up at 9:20ish, and they ALL wanted fades. Elder Wilcox was known the middle on his 2nd, and then one Latino Elder ran over and said that President Allred was at their house to join them for their house devotional!! I've never seen Latinos run so fast. The guy getting is hair cut only had one side of his hair cut. Then we did our house devotional, and spent 30 minutes wondering if we were gonna have an angry President Allred at our door. And then we heard a knock... and ALL OF THE Latinos walked in!!! One of them even brought a ukulele, and so people were singing and getting hair cut at our house until we were able to get them out at 10:27, 3 minutes before lights out. Apparently, what happened was they brought President Allred in, and he sat down in the living room. There were still like 3 Elders at the house, and so two Elder kept him busy, talking about who knows what, and the other ran to our house, and told everybody that the president was at their house. When they all ran back, they walked in through the BACK door, and then told the President that they were just hanging up their clothes to dry in the backyard, and they didn't get in trouble. For those reading this that are future missionaries, please be honest to your mission president, and more importantly, please be more obedient than we were that night. The quality of your life is greatly dependent on your obedience to the Lord.

Spiritual thought
So we had one of the 70 come and speak to us on Wednesday, and he shared a lot of really cool stuff. I've taken more notes from his talk than anyone else I think. One thing he said was that there a lot of rules as a missionary, but there is a reason for it. There are a lot of things that people use to relieve stress in life, like music, family, friends, social media, sleep, etc. All of these things, are things we're asked to leave behind for 2 years as missionaries. You aren't allowed to listen to certain music, have to wake up at 6:30, go to bed at 10:30, no scrolling on social media, you can't hang out with friends, watch movies, and on and on. Surprisingly, a lot of missionaries don't like, and don't obey these rules. It reminded me of something Elder Holland said though. He said "Show me your level of obedience, and I'll show how your mission experience will be." I've tried to apply that to my mission, but it also applies to your life. Those who are happiest, are those who keep the commandments of God. That's just the way it is. In Mosiah 2:41, it said "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." When you're not feeling happy, usually there is something you're needing to change. If you're not having the time of your life living the gospel, you're missing something. When serving a mission, are you serving a mission, or are you being a real missionary? Are you having kids or are you being a real father/mother, someone who raises their kids? In this church, are you simply being a member of the church, or are you being a true disciple of Jesus Christ? There is a very big difference.

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