I was just called to be District Leader! Woo hoo! Kill me please. I spent all day Tuesday and Wednesday in Cuernavaca at the mission offices to prepare for the change (transfer). Tuesday I had a training for new leaders. I was kickin it in Presidente's office with my good buddy Elder Paul from the CCM, his hijo (trainee) in the mission, Elder Schmitz, and Elder Contreras, who looks Mexican, but he's definitely whiter than me. I was hoping to come out of the training having learned something that would help me feel ready to be a leader. I learned nothing new. But I take that as a sign that I'm ready to be District Leader and that chances are, I won't screw things up to bad, so that's good.
After 3 hours of that, we had 3 more hours of Leadership Council, where the sister training leaders in our zone just made fun of me the whole time because I was pretty confused the whole time and they've been going to consejo for months.
Wednesday was another long day of sitting in Leadership Council. 9:00 in the morning until 3:00 was a long time for somebody who doesn't sit still very well. But after all that, I think I'm ready to be king. So, Bienvenidos al Reino de Elder Aldrich.
Thursday we did divisions and I went with my good buddy Elder Manriquez to his area, where I taught a new investigator who lives in Galeana! His name is Oscar and he's in love with a sister from barrio Obrera. He reads everything we give him and he answers questions we don't even ask. Let's just hope we help him gain a real testimony before this lovely sister dumps Oscar and he inactivates forever. Sorry, just being realistic.
We also found a new family! They went to church last week in the next ward over. They have all kinds of problems. Family problems, money problems, legal problems, "you looked at me weird so I'm going to kill your family" problems that are way too common here in Guerrero. But despite their problems, they say that whenever they listen to the missionaries or go to church, they know that everything will be ok. They are such a cute little family (eww I sound like an hermana) with 3 little kids and it makes me so flippin happy to see them taking these steps closer to Christ.
Yesterday they came to church and in our Gospel Principles class, the subject was on the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The lesson talked about the way the Holy Ghost communicates with us, and it explained that normally, when people talk about how the Holy Ghost speaks to them, they say something along the lines of "I had an impression."
My whole life I've heard my whole life people say, "I just had an impression that I should" do something, but I never really knew what that meant until I was like 14. I remember one night, Caleb and I and some of our friends had bought a pizza and we went to a park with the intentions of consuming said pizza there. We arrived, parked the car, and we all just felt super uneasy. We all had the impression that we shouldn't be at the park and that we needed to leave. So we left and ate the pizza in some other location desconocido. The next day, we were talking to some other friends and we learned that they had gone to the same park that we had wanted to go to, and around they same time we arrived, they were robbed at gunpoint.
I got it. I understood what an impression was. And I was able to see how directly the Holy Ghost protected me from danger. I'm so thankful for the Gift of the Holy Ghost in my life. It truly is a gift, and it is PROOF that our Heavenly Father loves us. As I shared this experience with Jaime and Lorena, they were able to see a glimpse of the blessings they will receive as they come to know the gospel and choose to be baptized.
Saturday, I took my last trip to Chichihualco. Today they assigned missionaries to work there. It made me kind of sad because I fell in love with that little town, but also relieved that they didn't assign me to open that place.
Today was... *drum roll please* CHANGES! And I'll be staying here in Galeana! But my companion Elder Guerrero is off to a super hot place called Cuajinicuilapa. (I hope you guys are just having the time of your lives trying to pronounce these places I keep talking about.) My new companion is Elder Hernandez. He arrived today from Cuajinicuilapa, where he was the branch president. He's from Mexico City and we arrived in the mission from the CCM together. I'm pretty excited for this change and I'm looking forward to all the success that awaits us here in Galeana!
I hope everyone has a great week! I love all y'all!
-Elder Aldrich
PICTURES
1) Our new mission offices finally got a plaque for the mission!
2) Un año de Jardineros. (All the missionaries who have served in Jardín, Acapulco in the past year, minus Elder Guerrero.)
3) The album cover
4) This bird is named Elder Kerr. New goal: I want a super cool bird named after me.
5) Elder Kerr fell asleep on my shoulder.
6&7) The road to Chichihualco was covered in clouds and it looks like it comes straight out of a horror film. It would be even sketchier if homeboy was carrying a machete, which wouldn't be that out of the ordinary.
8) Una hermana in my district went home today, so I put a moño above her door. I don't know if it's a Catholic or a Mexican tradition, but it was hilarious.
