Another Week down! I definitely had my ups and downs this week. My Spanish has definitely been the most frustrating part of my week. I guess it's something that might take me a little longer to pick up than others, which is something I've come to accept. I've always been able to learn things pretty easily, but this isn't one of them. I'm definitely praying and trying to learn as much as I can every single day. I definitely need to start pushing myself outside of my comfort zone a little more and start speaking it more often. I already have a hard enough time as it is speaking to others in English so adding Spanish to the mix makes it nearly impossible 🤣. I'll be fine though: I just have to keep working hard at it. My mission experience would definitely be more enjoyable if I was able to speak Spanish. I'm the only one who can change that though through hard work, diligence, pray, faith, etc. Other than that things are going ok. My companion and I still get along well, I love my Area/District/Zone and the ward down here is amazing. I'm very excited for General Conference next week! It'll be interesting to hear what they have to say this time around!
WEDNESDAY (3/27/24): Pretty chill P-day today. Me and my companion were pretty slumped today so we rested, went shopping, and talked with our families. One of the members in our ward is going through some pretty serious health problems at the moment. I was able to give him a blessing as he prepares for his upcoming surgery. Giving blessings are always such spiritual and uplifting experiences.
THURSDAY (3/28/24): We had to clean our car before Zone Conference the following day. Cars get graded on cleanliness and overall appearance at each Zone Conference. So me and my companion spent a good chunk of the day getting our car really clean. After, we had a pretty long lesson with our friend David again. David frustrates me because I want nothing more than to start seeing him succeed and begin feeling better (both spiritually and emotionally), yet he isn't willing to do any of the invitations or things we ask of him to help him progress. He won't change his sleep schedule, he won't read the scriptures, he won't listen to General Conference, he won't come to church, he won't look for hobbies, he won't go to school or get a job, etc. I know I'm sounding pretty harsh, but I genuinely want the best for him. It frustrates me to see him living the way he is living at the moment. I'm definitely going to continue loving and working with him. We read 3 Nephi 11 with him and talked about it with him. We talked about the Atonement and how we can apply it to our lives. After the lesson, we didn't have much success. Lessons canceled on us and we didn't have any success with our contacts.
FRIDAY (3/29/24): We had a really good Zone Conference this morning. We had individual breakout rooms for each point on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I actually learned a lot and took some pretty good notes. After, President Larsen gave a really spiritual devotion on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and ways we can celebrate and remember him as we celebrate the Easter Season. It made me realize and appreciate the Atonement even more than I already had. After Zone Conference, we came back to our apartment, weekly planned and then had our lesson with Lucio and Teresa. Teresa is working towards baptism which is awesome! We just need to explain and teach her a couple things here and there and then she should be good to go! We finished the lesson by bearing our testimonies on the Book of Mormon, which went over really well with her! We were also able to talk with their kids for a minute, which went well. We had some contacts go through, but we were able to talk and visit with some inactive members.
SATURDAY (3/30/24): We began the day by helping the ward hide Easter eggs around the building. We were supposed to have the egg hunt outside, but it had rained the night before. Everyone still had a great time! After, we had a lesson with our friends Lázaro and Reina. It was extremely difficult to teach them since they knew very little Spanish. They solely speak Mixteco with one another. I now understand how it feels when people try and speak with me haha. We tried our best to teach them about the Book of Mormon but it was pretty hard for them to understand. Also, they asked us if we had any money for them so we had to explain to them that we were only here to serve and teach. After, Elder Johnson had to give Jose Ponce a baptismal interview. Jose Ponce is a friend the other Elders had and have been teaching for a while. Unfortunately, they had lost contact with him for a while due to his telephone number changing. One day while on exchanges, me and Elder Butikofer felt inspired to take a different path home. To our surprise, we found Jose walking around by himself. We talked with him for a bit and got his new telephone number. A couple weeks later, he's getting interviewed for his baptism today. While I never got the opportunity to teach him, I was able to reactivate him which I'm really happy about! Jose is such a great guy! After his interview, we tried visiting and inviting as many as we could to church. We talked with a friend Marcos, taught Sister Jones about the Plan of Salvation and the Kingdoms of Glory, and Ramiro about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
SUNDAY (3/31/24): Easter Sunday! None of our friends pulled up to church today which was pretty discouraging. All is well though, we still had a good amount of people in attendance today! After Sacrament, we had the baptism for Jose Ponce. I gave a talk in Spanish about baptism, the covenants that we make at baptism, and the promised blessings that come from doing so. After giving Jose the gift of the Holy Ghost, we went to the Salden's house to celebrate Easter. They're a funny family. We smashed hard boiled eggs with them, ate dinner, opened our baskets they made for us, etc. After, we had night service. We ran out of bread so we used tortillas instead haha. After the Sacrament, we all sat in a circle talking about the Atonement and the importance of it and how we can apply it in our lives.
MONDAY (4/1/24): A bit of a slower day today. We taught Norah about praying and receiving revelation through the Holy Ghost and the need of Priesthood Power. Since she had been baptized into a church before this, we had to go into depth about how and why authority is necessary. We shared the story of Jesus Christ being baptized by John the Baptist and other accounts of Jesus Christ and his Apostles giving the Gift of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of Hands. She understood what we were teaching her, but was skeptical. We testified at the end that the best way for her to receive an answer to what we're teaching her was by reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it. Christopher practically has dropped us at this point, which is pretty sad. We stopped by his house and left him a card saying that we'd always be here for him if he regained interest. We had some contacts fall through, but we were able to have a lesson with Salamon and his family. We read Mosiah 18 and talked about baptism with him and his family. They've been taught for almost two years now. Our goal is to try and finally help them progress.
TUESDAY (4/2/24): We taught Lucio and his wife Teresa about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Teresa has a strong desire to get baptized, she just wants a couple things cleared up. We gave her a baptismal bookmark and have been helping her check off each box. After, we didn't have much success either. We had some lessons fall through and our contacts weren't home. Luckily, we had a really great lesson with Orlando. We read Mosiah chapters 2 and 3 with him and discussed it with one another. He opened up to us and discussed some personal matters that he's going through. We helped him overcome some of the things he was saying. He told us that after reading the scriptures with us and discussing them, he realized and felt the urge/need to start going back to church and progress toward getting endowed. It was a fire lesson! After, we got to take a tour of the Duran's Cooler where they store and distribute their strawberries: It is a massive building! I've also never felt so cold in my life. Elder Copeland
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