Dandy as Dandelion Candy

Dear loved ones, etc.,

I'm growing to love Spanish. No offense, but the gospel sounds way better in Spanish that it does in English. It's more hopeful. The word, "esperar," which means to wait, also means to hope for, to wish for, and to expect. In English we search for "potential investigators" and hope that they accept the invitation to listen. In Spanish they are "futuros investigadores," or literally future investigators. The faith oozes from every phrase, practically.

So the other night I wake up in the middle of the night. Next thing I know, I hear a cat loudly meowing. Elder Lawrence sleeps like a rock. Elder Bartier learned the proper mode of avoiding my snoring, earplugs. I was the only one awake to hear it, and the cat got louder practically each time it sounded. Irked, I got off the top bunk and tried to get the cat to follow me. It dashed the opposite direction. Finally, I give up and open the back door to let the cat leave. It darts for the opening and leaves. When we all woke up the next morning, neither of my companions believed that I heard and saw the cat. I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't seen it. How on earth it ever got in, I'll forever be puzzled.

We had a great Zone Conference. President Slaughter showed us some statistics about the mission -- how many of us considered ourselves exactly obedient, how much we used certain materials to study, and so on. It was interesting to note that a large percentage of the mission did not consider themselves exactly obedient, while President Slaughter disagreed. He said that we have a tendency to second guess ourselves, to believe that by marking ourselves obedient, we are not humble and therefore are not obedient. It was interesting. We saw the upcoming video for the Christmas campaign. I'm pretty excited to get to use the pass along cards and bring Christmas back to the person it was founded for, well, you know who.

Our trio has often labeled itself as very odd. I would often agree. Elder Lawrence has said that he is a complete opposite to me. I've yet to see that come to fruition, but he can believe it if he wants to. One day this week our zone leaders took Elder Bartier from us so that they could teach a single lady. (A rule we have is that we cannot enter the house with a member of the opposite sex present without having at least 3 of our own.)  Being in a trio has its advantages because the rule does not negate us in a tripanionship)

When we exchanged with the zone leaders I fully expected the need to translate for Elder Godfrey, who came to our area. All of our lessons were in complete English, and oddly enough he was able to contribute to the lesson. We taught S, an older mother who was hit by a car some weeks ago, and is still recovering. She asks deep questions, and was extremely interested in the plan of salvation.

We also have been trying to keep tabs on J and J. They are a couple that has been meeting with the missionaries for a while. They both got sick just as we began the transfer, so we haven't been able to meet with the just yet. They seem to be a down to earth couple. José wants to know for sure if baptism is right for him, as he has been baptized a few times before. He doesn't want lukewarm commitment.

There are still plenty of people to find in our area. Just before I arrived, the area had been through a lengthy finding dearth, and hadn't found anyone new to teach for a long time. We are hoping to change that.

This is Elder Bertelsen's last transfer. He'll be leaving fairly soon. Ugh.  Running out of mission time…

Maybe the last ever photo with Elder Bertelsen. Woah is me!

Questions and Answers

In your sparkling new area hablando Español, are your ward meetings in Spanish?

Yes. I would find it very strange if they were not. The meetings are Spanish, the speaking in Spanish, everything is just Spanish-tasic I suppose.

What is your ward like?    

Not too large. It seems like it became a ward just in the recent few years. A fair amount of Puerto Ricans, Chileans, Mexicans, a few from the Dominican Republic, and I'm sure there are others too. The bishop is a gringo though.

Are Elder Lawrence and Elder Bartier rock climbers too? 

Nope.

Is it nice having two companions to talk with, pray with, and work with?    

Of course. As previously stated, it's handy to have three to enter all homes. They are fun.

How has the Spirit guided you this week in your teaching or other insights?  

I've come to realize that I'm sometimes not behaving the best. I'm not swearing, or hurting others, or anything extremely mal-natured, but I realized that I should probably act more mature. A nice spiritual-rebuke I suppose.

Are you in a car always or biking sometimes? 

Huebner Creek covers the whole entire San Antonio West Stake. Biking might be possible, but only in the very closest wards. We mostly use the  car.

Elder Hall

Texas San Antonio Mission