"Yes, Yes, I Like That"

Well it's good to hear that everything is going well. This week has been interesting. First it started out sucky because haha I tried fixing our shower. The tube from the bath tub faucet to the shower head is broken and I failed miserably trying to fix it. That afternoon we bought a new one for dirt cheap, but of course the hose we bought was too short. Haha, so yeah, it didn't go too well. Now our shower is worse than before but it's all good; it's not too bad. Then on Sunday I figured out that my wallet was gone. I was sitting in church and I felt my pocket to look at my ministerial card and it wasn't there. I figured I had left it on my dresser, but after church I looked and it wasn't there. I tried to think back to when I used my wallet last and I hadn't used it in like 3 days haha. I'm pretty positive that it was stolen though. Anziano Dean thinks that I lost it but I disagree. So yeah, I will be sure to let you know when the new debit card gets here.

Our week got a lot better though, and the wallet thing didn't bring me down really. I was more mad at myself for letting someone steal something from me. Hopefully he will see my ministerial card and realize I'm a missionary and return the wallet....yeah it wont happen. On Monday we had a really good district meeting that our zone leaders came to. They taught us a little bit different way of doing casa (tracting) and teaching. It is something we kind of already do but not as much as we should. Basically once they open the door we teach a quick principle and then ask them a question pertaining to the principle. We follow that up with a testimony then the other missionary does the same thing. After we do that we ask to come in and talk more. It isn't like way different then the way we usually do it, but it allows us to really connect with the person because we are able to bear testimony to them and help them feel the spirit. It can be hard though because there are so many people here that shut the door right after they see us.

Any way, we had a lot of success with this new approach. We got in because of it twice yesterday and taught a couple lessons. We also met this super nice lady from Albania that is Muslim. She has three kids and her husband left her 5 years ago. We were able to tell her that our message brings happiness and comfort. We could not go inside because there wasn't a man in the house but we will go back this weekend with a member. It was pretty sad while she was telling us about herself but we felt the spirit and were able to give her some faith with the short message we provided at the door.

We also met this African named Sunday the other day and last night we went to his house for an appointment. We got there and nobody answered so we kinda stood in the hallway on the floor below thinking about where we should go next. We also made a few phone calls to set up appointments for the following day. So after like five to ten minutes, Sunday come running out and yells, "Elders!". He started apologizing and saying sorry I didn't come to the door. Apparently he was cooking and couldn't hear us but saw that we had called him on his phone. haha he let us in and we taught him. He is from Nigeria and doesn't speak very well. Even though Nigerians speak English, it's English that we cant understand very well(pidgeon english). It was funny though because every time we would say something about Jesus Christ he would get all excited and say "YES YES...I like that". He said he would come to church this week so hopefully he comes.

Our other investigator Gabriel, from Ecuador is also super solid. He is the nicest kid and is very interested. He totally understands that if he reads the Book of Mormon and prays with faith that he will get an answer. It sort of sucks because he is living with his girlfriend.

Another funny thing that happened this week is when I called one of our new converts Robin. Robin is like 20 years old and is Nigerian. I called him to see if I had left my wallet at his house and that I had lost it or someone stole it. When I told him that he yelled into the phone "OH NO...OH NO" haha it was so funny. I called him the next day, and he said it was not there. I told him it is OK and then it got brought up that my credit cards were in the wallet and he yelled again..."AHHHHHH"...haha it was hilarious the way he did it though.

So yeah we had a really fun week and I learned a lot. I have started speaking the language more often and it's still just coming along slowly but surely. Hopefully I can just keep progressing. It will be interesting when I can finally fully understand haha. So I read a really sweet talk this week in the Liahona General Conference addition from last conference. It is by Elder Patric Kearon of the Seventy and its titled "Come Unto Me With Full Purpose of Heart and I Shall Heal You". It was really cool. He tells a story about a 92 year old man that served in WWll when he was younger. He was driving through a minefield in an army jeep and the jeep ran over a land mine. The driver was killed but he lived. It goes on to say that, we must always follow the exact path of the jeep ahead. That if we deviate to the right or to the left, whether from laziness or rebelliousness it can be fatal. Returning to the track from which the land mines have been removed brings enormous relief.

Elder Kearon goes onto to say "No one can find peace in a minefield." I really like that because it is so true. We can't surround ourselves with evil things and expect to be OK. We can't justify that just watching a little bit of a bad movie is OK or that it wont do any harm. He quoted President Faust(I had actually used this quote in our last weeks district meeting because it was super awesome. "When obedience becomes our goal, it's no longer an irritation; instead of becoming a stumbling block, it becomes a building block." We must also rely on the Great Physician like Elder Kearon said in this talk. We can rely on him to heal us, but we must always strive to hold to the iron rod.

Obedience has really become one of my main focuses this past transfer. I have strived to work my hardest, to study earnestly, pray diligently and just try to do everything as if the Savior was by my side. I have really seen the blessing from doing it this transfer. Although we haven't had any baptisms thus far and our numbers aren't anything to get excited about, I have grown a lot. It will be fun to see how much more I can grow throughout the mission. Maybe I will be blessed enough to grow in height as well!...doubt it...chances are it will be in the waist band if anything.

So yeah, do you have any transfer predictions?...transfer end next week and we aren't sure whats gonna happen haha. A lot of the missionaries think Anziano Dean is going to be a trainer which means I would most likely go somewhere else. This transfer really cruised by. The mission definitely has been going by fast. Well, I hope all is going well.