Oh man, this week has been a week of so much growth for me. It has also been a week of MIRACLES, as small or as big as they may seem.
To start my week, I opened my wallet to pay for my bus ride back to my area on Tuesday morning and realized that I didn't have my mission-money card. Just about every thought went through my head. "I just got a new companion. Can he please not hate me? How am I going to tell the financial secretary? I'm going to starve. I have no food, and now, NO MONEY. I'm almost out of deodorant and need to buy more. I'm going to smell like a 13 year old kid who refuses to accept the reality of his changing body. THE WORLD IS GOING TO END." Finally, after a brief moment of PANIC, I thought, "You know, I should probably do exactly what everyone has been telling me to do for my whole life, in a time like this." So I said a prayer. It was a simple prayer, nothing special. But I immediately remembered that I had left my card in the ATM in Centro. I quickly said another prayer that we would find the card there. I had this overwhelming feeling that EVERYTHING would be OK, and that the world WOULDN'T end, whether the card was there or not.
We show up to the bank, they play this little "protocol" to make you feel guilty for leaving your things on their property, but sure enough, MY CARD WAS THERE. And the world didn't end.
We had interviews with Presidente y Hermana Ávila again this week, even though we had just had interviews 2 weeks ago. Hermana Ávila talked to us about the importance of talking to everyone we see, even sometimes people we've already talked to before. Everyone deserves the opportunity, and sometimes a second chance, to receive this Gospel. Whether it be in the street, or in one of them super ratchet camiones, I just need to open my mouth and speak. These people deserve the opportunity. I left my interviews feeling newly reanimated and excited to find those who have been prepared, as awkward as I may be when it comes to talking to people.
My choir sang in the Stake Conference, and they pulled through. And I'm glad it's over.
People still ask me why I'm red. But now they also ask me why I'm güero, and I'm shorter than my Mexican companion. Ok, so I'm short. Fight me.
We had an earthquake in Acapulco last night. It woke up both Elder Cerda and I. A couple hours later, there was a cat meowing at the foot of my bed. I just about killed it. Later, some dude that lives behind us started burning his garbage at like 4 am and it filled our house with smoke and set off the fire alarm. We also ran out of drinking water, and I got thirsty, so I opened a 600 ml ginger ale right before bed. I didn't want it to lose its fizzy so I drank the whole thing. I'm tired.
Yesterday, we passed by one of our investigators, Yesenia. We showed up and she had a couple friends over. We sat down and started talking with them. They started saying some pretty negative and contentious things about the Church, and I was getting pretty worried. Suddenly, Yesenia steps up and starts to defend the church. She begins to testify that the Libro de Mormón is true, that we should follow the example of Christ and be baptized in the way that He was baptized. She answered every question her friends had by testifying of the things we had taught her. It was truly an amazing experience and the Spirit was present so strong.
We also went with Hermana Angeles to visit her daughter. We arrived, met her husband and her kids, and learned that her 10 or 11 year old son has cancer and has been receiving treatments in Mexico City. We taught the Plan of Salvation and it went really well. At the end, we asked Amanda her feelings about the things we had talked about. She looked at her husband, then at her mom, then back at us, let out a deep breath, and with tears in her eyes said, "I say my prayers every day. I know that God answers prayers. I never thought that my mom's church would ever be the one for me, but I think sometimes God answers prayers in the way we least expect, at the moment we need it most."
It has truly been an amazing week and it has been amazing to see God's hand actively working in my life.
PICTURES
1&2) Birthday package!
3) #CLASSIC
4) Trump's Muro and how all the Americans are going to make it back.
5) Yours truely and his new Mexican comp.
Before I leave, I want to give a quick shoutout to my big brother Caleb and his awesome new wife Ashlee! Love you guys! ¡Felicidades! See you guys in 18 months, and AFTER the honeymoon phase is OVER.
I hope everyone has a great week! I love all y'all!
-Elder Aldrich
