WEEK 11*

Hello, everyone! I hope everyone has had a great week. In all honesty, this was the hardest week of my mission, without a doubt. Nothing went our way this week. My companion crashed our car, we lost our house keys, my phone got stolen by a homeless man, my companions have been sick, and we got put on bikes in an area that is way too big for bikes. That's not to say their haven't been successes though. Transfers are in a week, so I should be getting transferred here pretty soon.

Today was our P-day. I got a haircut at a barbershop that is owned by a member. Me and my barber talked about sports, my mission, and his time he served in the military. While talking about my mission, he said, "The things you have to do on your mission sound exactly how it was while serving in the Army," which I thought was pretty funny because it's so true.  After getting my haircut, we got to play volleyball and basketball with multiple zones, which was really fun.  

I got to talk to my family, my friend Jake, and my cousin Jaxon, as well. We ended the night by having our weekly English class. At the end, I was able to share a spiritual thought about baptism and repentance.

On Thursday, we started the morning by teaching a man names Alejandro Prado. He is a Columbian man, and Columbian Spanish is really difficult to understand. I couldn't really tell what we were teaching him, sadly. We had district council afterwards and we talked about the importance of filling out our PMG app, which we have been so much better about. 

After our comp study, we had weekly planning and my mentoring session (which is my least favorite part of the week). Our lesson with Cristina Lopez didn't happen, but we ended up teaching a man named Cleto. We talked with Cleto about baptism and how we follow in the footsteps of Jesus when we are baptized. He said he believed in God and Jesus but not in baptism, which made me pretty frustrated, in all honesty. We finished the night by teaching a man named Tony Florez. We read 3 Nephi 9:14-16 with him.

On Friday, since my companions are Zone Leaders, I was able to attend MLC with them again. A couple of days ago, my companion had the bright idea of driving over the median, which damaged the pipes underneath our car. So, we had to turn our car in for it to be fixed. Since it's considered an accident, we have to wait for the insurance to respond and our Sr. Missionaries aren't pushing the agenda too hard on trying to get our car back, so we're on bikes.  

After MLC, I had my interview with President Larson. He told me I got put with Zone Leaders as he felt that I would be a leader early on in my mission, which made me pretty nervous but excited. We had some lessons, participated in sports night, and ended the night by having our weekly correlation meeting with Alejo. During the meeting, we realized that we had left the keys in our car, which was in the shop. So, we had to get a ride to the Mission Office and then get dropped off by Brother and Sister Meldrum. We ended up getting home at 11.

On Saturday, we started the morning by trying to contact and teach some people but had no success. We came back to the house and did some language and companionship study.  We read 2 Nephi 2 with Anderson and his family and clarified what true joy actually felt like and why we experience trials and hardships as humans. They really like me for some reason, always calling me Tom Brady. Also, they say I look like one of the Jehovah Witnesses that stop by in their area, which was pretty funny. We invited them to come to church! After, my companions were pretty hungry, so they went to McDonald's!  

I wasn't hungry so I decided to instead use the bathroom.  While my companions were ordering food, a homeless man next to us stole my phone while we weren't noticing. I was so frustrated, to say the least. We ended the night by having a lesson with Nelson and reteaching him about Joseph Smith and the Restoration.

We had a great Sunday! So many people came to church today! Diego and his wife, Nelson, Gerado, Marialena, Milvian, and a bunch of new people from the Sisters and us. We had around 80 people in Sacrament meeting! After church, we met a man named Manuel Machuca. He was cool; he told us that he had met with missionaries before and already had a Book of Mormon; because Anderson and his Family missed church, we went over and taught them about prophets and the scriptures.  We met a really cool man named Osama Khan while leaving the apartments. He had just recently moved from Dubai and was working for a financial company. He was so excited when I told him my dad visits Dubai all the time. After dinner with Sister Borgress, we had to go to the Mission Office to pick up my new phone. The Meldrums were kind enough to call my family, since we're not allowed, and help me set up my new phone since I had forgotten my password...

On Monday after our Zone and District Councils, where we talked about faith, goal setting, meeting new people, setting our key indicator goals, etc., we went over to Marialena's house and gave her a blessing since she hadn't been feeling great. I was able to anoint the oil on her for my first time in Spanish. After some contacting, we had to bike to the Mission Office for my companion's interviews. It was about an hour bike ride on the highway; not to mention it was pitch-black outside. Definitely an experience I won't forget. We ended the night afterwards by teaching Oscar Ruiz and his family about baptism and shared 2 Nephi: 14-18 with them.

On Tuesday we had exchanges with a Tagolag Elder named Elder Cauilan. We were able to meet and teach a lot of new people today. After calling up some members/doing some member work, we taught Cristina Lopez again. She's really close to baptism, she just struggles with severe depression/anxiety and currently has throat cancer. She always is happy when we come over! We read in Mosiah 18 with her, which talks about baptism and the waters of Mormon. We biked almost 20 miles today!

-Elder Copeland