Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta

Greetings to my beloved family, friends, and ward family,

The subject-line of this email has a purpose, and I suppose I should address it sooner than later so I don't confuse y'all. To preface, I really don't like random holidays.

There is a celebration in San Antonio every year in the month of April that draws somewhere around a half million people at a time to the down town area. Many of the people we've met this week explained where it came from, but it's hard to summarize. Essential it is a 10 day string of celebrations in this month that occupy most of the down town area, and it draws a bunch of people there. Whether the people are taking part of the festivities, working among them, or working additionally because of them, Fiesta affects many people. Other celebrations precede and follow it, occupying April completely.

The funny thing about Fiesta is I wasn’t sure what it was up until it happened. But as soon as we entered into the 10 day period of Fiesta, it made it difficult to contact anyone who was involved with it. I had no idea how much I didn't know that I didn't know about this local holiday. Essentially, there are names for the different festivals and parades, but Fiesta is an umbrella term. We have "the Holidays" for Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, etc., and "Fiesta" for all the random events and things that are in April.

Karla was almost impossible to find. She worked in a restaurant in the middle of downtown, so the only way she could get in was if someone dropped her off and picked her up at the beginning and end of each work day. We only finally caught her on Saturday because she cut herself on the job and had leave early. Sad for her pain, but glad to finally see her again, we'll visit with them later this week. Other people were also hard to find, but specifics evade me at the moment. Fiesta became such a common reason for missing people, that whenever we couldn't find anyone at home, we would sigh, "Fiesta."

On this last Wednesday, we had exchanges. I went with Elder Hart and worked in his area, which means I worked in the same area, but we looked for Spanish speakers. Elder Hart and Bertelsen were lacking miles, so we were going to bike to nearby places and contact some people who had potential to start investigating the church. We took our bikes out, but I learned that Elder Hart had never used his new bike before, and it had been a while since he rode a bike. We spent some time adjusting things, I shared some tips for riding that I learned in Windcrest and Universal City, and eventually we headed out. During this time, his kickstand snapped. By the time we actually headed out of the complex, it started to rain a little, and we decided not to use our bikes, just for safety.

Then the world began to pour.

Rain everywhere. On our way out of the complex, lightning struck the complex, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I screamed so loud, Elder Hart thought I was hit, even though we were underneath the walk way. (Hard to describe how loud that crash was) we began to venture out of the complex, and we were soaked before we could cross the river. Did I say river? I meant to say river-like street. We only got so far when we got a call from Elder Drennan and Elder Bertelsen, with Elder B on the phone, chewing us out for being outside walking in this weather, in a loving way. We hid under a tree waiting for them to rescue us, and saw someone outside so we jumped to go talk to him. Eventually, we realized we could have just walked back to the complex, when they showed up, took us home, and we changed into some dry clothes. The raining stopped at that point.

Elder Drennan and Bertelsen on exchanges, visiting the Fernandez family and their donkey.

Later in the evening, we went searching for baptismal clothes for a family that was getting baptized in their ward. I had fun using Spanish, and feeling a little more confident about it. Elder Hart was excited, and I felt his love for this family. Heavy rain hit us severally times in the middle of the night this week, and we took some fun pictures.

Rain looks cool with the camera flash.

Yesterday morning, Elder Drennan and I woke up throwing up. I seem to get sick at least once in every area that I serve in. We were worried because we expected many people at church, and we didn't want to set a bad example for them. We made it to church however, but only for sacrament where we proceeded to return home, and I slept for almost 5 hours, off and on. It was a little sad, because we had appointments set up for almost the entire day. We feel much better now, but we are still recovering. I believe that I ate two bowls of cereal, one of which I substituted water for milk, not wanting to throw up what I ate. That was my diet, save for plenty of water.

I really liked a verse in Mosiah, specifically Mosiah 23:14 that teaches us that we should trust no one to be our teacher, except that person is from God. With all the different sources of information, we need to make sure we tap from the best ones, and limit the others.

How are Gregg and Yesenia doing?

They are doing well. Not much to talk about. We shared a little bit about teaching and learning with them, and they fed us some great food. They've been coming to church consistently, and I'm doing my best to include them in my prayers more often. Often, it seems, diligence in prayer allows us to receive more blessing, and for those blessing to fall more abundantly on others.

How are Jonathan and Sandra, and Karla and her family and Chrystal and Alex?

Unrelated to Fiesta, we weren't able to visit with either group during the week. Sandra made it to church, and it was a little funny, because we saw Jonathan leaving the church parking lot after dropping Sandra off at church.

Chrystal and Alex were out of town, and then busy for the rest of the week. Well, we'll catch up with them later.

Questions and Answers

How has the Lord's Spirit infused you with courage this week?

Maybe not the type of courage you're talking about, but I feel like I've had courage to overcome all the random dog experiences we have weekly, and even bi-weekly or daily. This area is dangerous if you aren't careful, but y'all need not have fear for me. Randomly this week we saw a pigeon get taken out by a boxer, and we did what we could to distract the dog (on the other side of the fence, we were in no danger ourselves) to allow the pigeon to get away, but it was to no avail. I believe another pig bull almost followed us as well.

Talking to everyone and inviting people to make big changes in their lives is scary. People, though they have hurt spirits and are seeking relief sometimes don't look or act at all how they feel. They can be intimidating. But I feel that situations that would normally cause me to shrink don't affect me as much. That is, of course, if I choose to heed the promptings that urge me to be courageous.

And where did that courage take you?

We found some great new people this week. As normal, I probably won't mention them until/if we meet with them more, but I'm excited for people to progress.

How are your ward members?

They are well. We are working our best to increase activity in the ward though visiting those less active members of the ward.

What sorts of flowers and flowering trees are growing in your area?   

Pretty ones, I guess. I'd have to ask the locals here, I have not idea what any of the flowers are called.

Do your dog friends like flowers?

Maybe. Who knows?

  

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-Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission