This week was full of ups and downs. There was a heat wave, and it was in the high 90s with humidity, it was nasty. There were times where I just dreaded hopping on my bike and going to do missionary work. Even though I'm doing things that I would never choose to do regularly I am seeing blessings. There was one day, it was just baking hot and it was about to rain. When it rains here it pours. There was a couple trying to get their bags of gardening dirt from their car into the yard before the rain started. We quickly piled all the bags of dirt in the yard, out of the car. They invited us in to avoid getting stuck in the rain. They were such a nice couple, they fed us cookies and gave us water. We had a really good conversation, we hope to teach them sometime soon.
I have felt like I'm not doing much as a missionary because we have dropped a lot of people who were not progressing or interested, and in turn we have been doing a lot of street contacting and tracting. This was super tough going out in the heat and not teaching as many lessons. The plus side is that we got to meet tons of new people and schedule lessons with new investigators. We had 8 investigators at church this week and we got 3 new investigators. When I have felt at my lowest and had no desire to go out, but I go out anyway because it's what the Lord wants of me, I have really been given strength and comfort. Its these times where we are struggling the most where we can rise or fall. Our opportunities to grow the most are at the times where we want to give up but push on anyway. Jeff Harmer always told me "do hard things". That has been a motto for me the last year or so and has pushed me to be a better person and a better disciple of christ.
Today Elder Judkins and I played some pool with Kenny at the community center. We found Bernard finally, but he has a beard now. This community center is like a resort for old people. They don't work so they just play pool, cards, pickleball, and air hockey all day. There is a lot to look forward to after we retire.... hahaha
This week we got to take Gene to the temple for the first time, he was so happy to see the inside and feel the spirit that is there, it was great to be a part of that.
I've been trying to learn as much Amharic as possible. There are a lot of Ethiopians here and they are so happy when you can say something to them in their native language. I also want to learn some Creole and Twee (chwee). The only thing that I ate that was weird this week was some dollar tree vegetables. We asked Paul where he gets his tasty vegetables and he said "oh the dollar tree has great prices for their frozen vegetables". It was a warm display of brownish red green and yellow peppers. Yum! I don't remember if I said anything about eating Pakistani food last week but we did that. It was a little spicy and Paul was very vocal afterwards about how it was overdone and gross. I thought it was very tasty. The goat was probably my favorite. This week we made them a calendar telling them when we will come and what they have to do in order to be ready to be baptized on August 5th.
Uzma the mother told me about how her family is being terrorized and tortured in Pakistan for being Christian. She gave me her phone number and address for back home, but I'm not sure what to do with that info. Her neighbors back home in Pakistan are terrorizing the family. They cut her sister's throat trying to kill her, they pushed the mother down the stairs and a few weeks ago they burned half the house down. They are seeking political asylum anywhere they can go, it was crazy to read the request paperwork she gave me. In the report it said they went to the police but they refused to do anything because of their religious views. I'm so grateful to live in a country where I can be free.
Andreas baptism was postponed a week. She wants a few more days to feel prepared, so this friday she is going to be baptized. Whenever she says it she says "I promise I'm going to be bapticized" it's super funny. We are still working on Donna. The issue is that she doesn't want to read the Book of Mormon sincerely to know if it's true, and is frustrated when we ask what she thinks of it. We hope she finds the desire to open up the book and read it to find the message it has in there. The message of the Book of Mormon and the spirit you feel when you read it will change your life. It has changed mine, and has changed many of the people I have met and taught here as well. Brother Kuipo got a new job at the airport. He is hoping to find out if he can get Sundays off so he can come to church. I am praying he can get Sunday off because if so, he will be baptized, I'm sure of it. He is so converted to the gospel, he knows the Book of Mormon is the word of God and knows that Joseph Smith and the Prophet today are true representatives of God.
I'm hoping that this week we see the temp cool down. It's my companions last week in the mission before he goes home to Utah (originally from texas). He is making all these plans for after the mission and some days I feel so jealous. I can't wait to look back on all the hard work I've put in and feel joy and relief, it will be such a great day when I can go home and start school again. But the harder I work now the better that day will be, so I might as well give all of myself while I still have time.
Thanks for all of your emails guys, and thanks for sending pictures!!
Calvin
