I have been a little selfish the past few weeks keeping Chandler's letters to myself. Here is a compilation of a couple of his weekly updates.
We have one investigator that truly wants to be baptized. Her name is Meli and she is about 60 years old. One of her sons was killed by one of the drug cartels in 2003. She has many long stories that I don't understand. I think I will get to baptize her though so I am thankful for that opportunity. If she goes to church this next week she will be able to get baptized on June 6th.
We
had a lesson with her this week on Saturday. I was so frustrated
sitting in the meeting because my companion talked the entire hour. He
only gave me time to bare my testimony. This frustrated me, but it made
me even more frustrated that I couldn't think of anything to say! I
wondered deeply of why Heavenly Father wanted me to come here, when He
knows that I could so much easier teach people in English. I often feel
like I would be a much better missionary if I were in an English
speaking mission.
After the lesson, my companion could tell
how frustrated I was. He really is a cool dude but he bugs me sometimes.
We went to a pulpuria or a little store after to get eggs. I asked the
lady, tiene juevos? which I thought meant do you have eggs? but it
really means, do you have balls? she said something smart to me and
everyone started laughing. I was so so upset. I know it was funny
looking back but I am still so upset that I feel like I cant communicate
in a way that is normal for me.
Elder Lorenzana is a good
guy. He always is willing to talk about the things that frustrate me. He
has brought a lot of comfort to me. He is very knowledgeable of the
scriptures and has a scripture for just about everything. I want to be
like him in that way. He is super tight about the rules. its Pday today
and we are wearing our church clothes because we didn't play soccer
today. Last night I wanted to hurry and plan for the next day so we
could take off our stupid clothes. He gave me a lecture on what the
white shirt symbolizes and how I need to love wearing church clothes. I
gave him the silent treatment after that one. ha ha I will wear these
clothes but don't tell me to love them! ha ha
Also his dad was a mission president in Guatemala so he lived in Guatemala for a while too, i think since he was 13.
Another
investigator of ours, Mark Williams doesn't answer our calls or answer
the door at his house so that is frustrating too. We really only have
Meli as an investigator that is ready for baptism. Other than that we don't have many people to teach and that is frustrating. But I am pretty
sure every missionary that ever lived has had that problem.
A
good thing that happened this week is we have been inviting a 21 year
old less active member to go with us to lessons. He is super funny and
has become our friend these last few weeks. Yesterday he told us that he
was going to go on a mission! I thought that was awesome. He said he
wanted to be like me because I talk to everyone, even though I dont know
spanish haha.
That was nice of him to say.
I love and miss you all and the comforts of home!
Love
Elder Dowell
This week was a trial. It was super hot all week and we walked a lot, but there were many blessings that I often don't see until I am
writing them.
We visited a different area because we were
invited for dinner by some members. The ride to the colonia named
Zapotal was amazing. The area I am in is the city of San Pedro Sula, but
Zapotal is more on the outskirts and so it was full of green trees and a
small little river. The first thing we saw when we got there was a
horse that dislocated his knee. That image will be forever burned into
my mind. It couldn't walk because the bones of its knee were literally separated and its leg was dangling. I felt so bad. It seemed pretty
normal to everyone around though.
One last match with Elder Merlos
Meli, our investigator that is getting baptized on June 6th,
was in the gospel principles class. she started crying because we were
talking about repentance, and she felt so bad because she still has hate
for the gang members that killed her son in 2003. We will meet with her
this week to explain more about forgiving others, but what was funny
was after she was done crying, she started laughing and told everyone in
the class that she loves it when she sees gang members die or get
arrested on the news. Not something that everyone would say in a gospel
principles class but she is sincere.
Honduran Netflix
The heat got turned
up a little bit and so did my temper! I find myself so much more
frustrated than usual, both because of the heat and Spanish. Everyone
speaks so fast that I often have a really hard time understanding. I'm
guessing everyone that has ever learned Spanish has had this problem so I
really need to get better at being patient. that is probably my worst
quality as a person is patience. I am thankful that Heavenly Father is
showing me my weaknesses.
I love you all so much and I think of you too. Have a great week!
Love
Elder Dowell
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