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| Elder Barraro |
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| Elders Brenchley & Tueller are trying to teach me Spanish (and they don't speak Spanish) |
On Wednesday, we had a meeting for all the missionaries in
training, which was so cool since I got to see all (except Sister Boyle who is
serving in Arizona) of my MTC district! Although we weren't able to talk for
very long, we all got to catch up a little bit which was so amazing. I've
missed them all so much! The meeting was really great, the Assistants to the
President, Sister Phillips, and President Phillips all gave lessons on
different topics, and it was such a great meeting. I learned a lot! That night
Elder Barraro, one of the Assistants, came on exchange with Elder Brenchley.
He's a really cool guy and such a great missionary. It was fun to get to know
him a little bit.
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| Elder Gauthier and I had a great time |
On Thursday and Friday, I had the opportunity to go on an
exchange with Elder Gauthier, one of our zone leaders. He's from France and is
so cool! He is basically a genius. He got two masters degrees from Columbia,
and wants to go back for another! And he's only 25! He worked in DC at the
French Embassy for a summer, and it was cool to talk to him about it a little
bit. He is also extremely good at contacting, specifically on the metro. He
helped me a ton, as I was struggling a bit with contacting, and I was able to
find 6 people on the metros that day in only 2 hours! It was so awesome. I also
was able to teach a couple of lessons in French with him, which was so cool to
be able to give my first real lessons in French. It was such a great exchange!
On Friday night Elder Colunga and I went to the Lemos Family for a dinner
appointment, and they were so nice! It's always awesome to eat real food. We
then went to the chapel for Elder Colunga to do a baptismal interview for one
of the Sister team's investigators in our district. She's getting baptized this
Saturday! So cool!
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| Some weird stick figures we found in the city while we were lost |
Saturday pretty slow, and all of our appointments fell
through. We had three lessons and an appointment with a member, and all of them
either weren't there or told us they couldn't do it when we got there. We were
a little bit discouraged, but it wasn't bad. We had a ton of time to do
contacting which was great! There are always going to be days like that on the
mission, but it just opens up opportunities to do other things. We had another baptismal
interview with one of the investigators from the Elder's in our district, and
he got baptized on Sunday!
Sunday was fairly average, went to church which was always
great. Later we had a great lesson with a less active member and her husband
and their two kids. Her husband is progressing fairly well, and he will
probably be baptized eventually which is great! We also went with the Bishop to
a less active member's house and just checked in to see how everything was
going. The Bishop is super cool. He is Chilean, and speaks Spanish SUPER fast,
so sometimes I can hardly understand him, but my Spanish is continuing to get
better so I've been able to talk to him a little more.
Monday was also fairly slow, but we got to do a lot of
contacting. We visited Hermano Mendoza in the hospital again, and he has
another surgery that we hope goes well. But he has a ton of faith and hope,
which is amazing to see. Most of our other appointments fell through, but it
wasn't a bad day!
I'm starting to get the hang of missionary life, and
although it's hard, I'm enjoying it more and more as the days go by. It's so
amazing to see all the miracles that allow us to work, and I keep seeing them
every day. I've also been able to notice how my French and Spanish are
improving, and it's been amazing to see, but I definitely have a lot of work to
go. Luckily my trainer is super helpful so I know it'll get better.
I hope everything is well! I'm having a ton of fun, and I'm
loving it out here. Love you all so much!
Elder James
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