Hermano Rubio is the best!

trying out my new hat in the snow from tyson..it's so warm!

So the week started out with a fun shoveling snow experience. What do you get when you have two missionaries shoveling snow side by side with metal shovels? A split open pinky. It was just a bad angle, and then all of a sudden the metal blade went like a quarter inch into my pinky. So I haven't been able to bend my pinky all week, but we used some gauze, and it eventually stopped bleeding. So that was fun. I guess it's a good story maybe? I guess it’s not that cool.

We went grocery shopping today and laughed about how easy us Utah missionaries have it. We had unlimited sushi earlier this week, chicken salad the next day, and then grilled chicken. I am just talking about lunch-time, not even at dinner. Elder Shaw leaves in a week, and we cook together...everyday… until he leaves. We are having Santa Fe steak, couscous, and grilled tuna sandwiches. Life is pretty hard for us. We are going to President Reyna’s for dinner today at five, so that will be good, too. 

We went to a fireside last week on Saturday, because we needed to help clean up, and I was playing the piano for the Spanish number. It was put on by a lady named Janice Kapp Perry. (I think?) She wrote, “Army of Helaman,” “I Love to See the Temple,” and like a thousand other things. My favorite part was when she just had us all sing primary songs together. There was lunch after, so that was good. We brought enough leftovers home to feed like forty people. Then when the women ate, we went outside (there was a snow storm) and cleaned off the snow off their cars…I should have brought a jacket. It took an hour to clean up all the chairs. 

 So I found a huge problem that I have that I already knew about it, but I re-realized it. I set like 30 goals a week and don't do any of them, because I can't focus on all of them at once. But as soon as I set one goal, I remember another one I want to do, and 30 seconds later I have a page of goals for the week. I don't know how to work on that.

So Hermano Rubio gave a talk in sacrament, and it is THE best sacrament meeting talk I have ever heard in my life. You remember Hermaon Rubio…baptized four months ago, splits everyday, home teacher of the whole ward, every activity there 15 minutes early with his kids. He is Alma 48:17 Mexican version. Anyways, we went to his house last week and had so much carne asada that I couldn’t walk. Anyways back to his talk on Sunday. So he went up and set his papers down and was very obviously not looking at his notes. He just started crying and then started to talking about the Peña (with the canyon sound over the n…you know...the twirly thing over the n.) family. The Peña family got baptized on the same day Hermano Rubio. He basically said that he was trying to keep active and visit all of the recent converts in the ward, and he couldn’t do it alone anymore. He said the missionaries are doing their job and bringing us beautiful families, but we aren’t doing anything to keep them here with us. He is very humble; he was not at ALL bragging, but he talked about what he has been trying to do to keep them activated, and he tries to get people to come with him, but they won't help them. He thanked everyone for how much they have taught him in his four months as a member. But he said I miss Hermano Peña. When we got baptized, I wanted to learn with him, and now I am all alone, because you won't help me bring him here every week. It was really powerful. He gave several examples about how ward members have helped him. This will demonstrate his humility. He thanked a brother over the pulpit, because the brother told Hermano Rubio not to come to church without shaving first. Most people would get offended and go anti but Brother Rubio just started shaving everyday. He is the best. He talked about how the choir lady told him he didn’t know how to sing so now he practices everyday in his house with his brand new hymn book from his favorite store, Deseret Book. And then of course, he went on talking about how much he loves us the missionaries. He ended his talk saying that he didn’t look at his notes once, because all he said came from the Spirit. Then he ended with some Isaiah scriptures (those ones are his favorites). Then the bishop stood up and put his arm around him and told the whole congregation how much he loves Hermano Rubio. That is the first time I have heard our bishop say a nice thing to anyone. So that was a great day...(by the way…that night Hermano Rubio’s sister and her kids got baptized).

So Elder Cabrera and I have been doing better. Well I think that I see it better than he does. Last night he mentioned that it isn't going too great for him being with me, but I am trying my best. We have had almost all cancelled appointments this week, but that’s ok; it’s normal. Got to love finding mode. We are trying to work more on working-with-members. There are very few in our area, but we started "the candle lesson." It was an idea from Elder Martinez's mom's mission. We bring a candle with a scripture from the savior to a member. Then we teach the restoration and Matthew 5:14-16 and tell them the light they have. Then we share President Monson’s quote, “If you don't share your testimony you will lose it.” By the end of the week, they have to give away the candle, and they keep a picture of the Savior we give them on the fridge. The aggravating thing is that members are just as flakey as potential investigators.

Elder Ruiz got here yesterday; he is Elder Martinez's next visa waiter. I think it’s his fifth time training. We had a leadership training yesterday that I loved! It was a great learning experience. We learned about repenting ourselves before asking our investigators to repent. We also learned about not gossiping about others since that is a problem here. They are doing a big push for more Christ-like music which this mission really needs. Little by little this mission IS changing. Bring on the eighteen-year-olds.

Sorry this may be a short letter this week. Not too much going on. Lots of good food, basketball (morning exercise, either that or lifting depending on how I feel that day), finding (tracting/member-lessons), trying not to be sarcastic, and studying. Same old, same old. 

Excerpt from my letter to President's Hiers: (nic stands for need/interest/concern)

A couple weeks ago we baptized a boy named Miguel. His aunt/uncle/cousins are all very active, but his dad has always been cold towards us. We felt prompted to change plans and go pay his dad a visit. It was just the four of us (father/son/missionaries), and we had a good conversation and finally found his real NIC. After having him kneel and pray for the first time, we had a long silence to let him ponder. Then I asked him Mosiah 18 style what was impeding him from being baptized. He told us that he does not feel worthy. (In the past, it has always been fake concerns about how he doesn't believe in the prophet or other things we knew weren't true.) We told him to read and pray and decide for himself a date. We know that will follow through with our prayers and the help of the Lord. 

Love you all!

Take care,

Elder Bassett

PS-OK some very serious questions I need answered. I need someone to find out if it is proper etiquette to wear lapel badges on my right shoulder. Elder Ward says it is, and he is the only one in the mission, but if he is right then I will follow him. Can you find that out? 

Also, I still can't roll my r's, and it still stresses and angers me. Can you ask Matt how he learned? I remember you saying that he had to learn on his mission, but maybe I am mistaken.

Also, dad what kind of pen do  you use? (this is important) type, color, needle/point size.

I have a few tools that I like. We write our number on pass along card the day before, and if we need to write something specific I use post-its. I have grown to hate ballpoint pens. The pentel one sounds like a dream come true for me.

Did you hear about the new Scottsdale mission? or is that just a rumor in the newspaper here?

HUGE DEAL-are we supposed to floss before or after we brush?

And has anyone looked into that water flosser? What’s that all about? Is the box right, and it’s really three times more effective than string floss? They sell them at costco here, but I don't know how much. I am just curious

Also, can someone give me a paragraph, watered-down version of what is going on in the government/Obama?

Just driving through Huntsville. The picture may not show it, but there were like 30 deer roaming around people's houses following the turkeys.

This was today..zone basketball tournament...double elimination...teams of three...half court games...Elders Norton and I won with the help of Elder Carpenter for the first couple games and Elder White for the second two games. Elder Norton is one of my zone leaders. He is the navajo with the spikey hair, a little bigger guy.