On the way home we were starving so we grabbed some pizza. I was already irritated about the glasses when a lady begged me for a slice of pizza and I told her no. Elder Savage gave me this look of disappointment and disapproval for being selfish. I told her if she gave me her pack of cigarettes she could have a slice. I gave her the slice and she didn't fork over the stogies. I'm trying my best to be patient but I've never been so close to snapping.
This week was super hard, but I can also see how one day I will look back and see the growth that happened during this hard time. I'm trying to do my best at being patient and diligent. Training is not easy... I had an exchange with the zone leader, that was probably the highlight of the week. He said his experience with training was similar and that he understood what was happening, it was a relief. We also biked up superman hill in the rain, it was super hard. He was wiped out and physically drained afterwards. I told him that we had two more hills just as big the rest of the night and he looked at me with disbelief and horror. He slept well that night. He gave me some good tips on training and communicating with my trainee elder Savage. Since then we have had a better companionship and I've been less irritated and stressed. It's hard because I want the area to succeed but I need to focus more on elder savage, I think. It's a weird concept, but without a unified companionship there can not be any success in the area.
This week we had interviews with President Huntsman, he is so awesome I love him. I've sent some super irritated emails explaining my view of the struggle and expressing the effort I am trying to put in to make this a successful companionship. In the interview he expressed to me how proud he was of me and how great I'm doing. He said he thought I was doing a great job even when I don't realize it. He shared the story of abinadi and how he never saw success. He was a prophet who never saw one convert and died at the stake probably feeling like a failure, yet he was probably the most influential prophet in the book of Mormon. Without him alma would have never heard the gospel and the rest of the book of Mormon wouldn't have happened. He expressed to me that elder savage is learning from me more than I know and that even though i don't see success the blessings will come. I think elder savage and I are way different, mainly because he grew up in the utah bubble and we have no common ground to talk about anything. I think we are put through this trial of not seeing as much success possibly because he was expecting to see miracles left and right because of his perfect obedience and dedication. He feels lost and confused because he doesn't see any results from his efforts. I'm trying to teach him to just love the people, period. If all you do for two years is view people and talk to people like you have something to learn from them, and loving them all you can you are fulfilling your job.
I'm excited for next week. I'm hoping to have more patience and also to talk to way more people. We are working on stopping while we ride to talk to strangers, it brings a lot of joy for me because it makes me feel like I am uplifting at least one person at a time. Seeing people smile and making connections with people is the best, it's awesome learning to communicate with people you don't know and have totally different cultures. I love asking people to explain their cultures and backgrounds to me.
Not many pics this week. I will try and be better this week and take a bunch for you all!
-Calvin
