So this week was great. We started off with a good district
meeting last week. Then we went to costco for lunch. While we stood there,
three different people walked up to the five of us standing there and gave us
50 dollars total. Life is good. So I got a package from Amy this week. It was
awesome. She sent me a weighted jump-rope to do between sets so no more Mexican
ladies will be calling me fat, ha-ha. A Men's Warehouse opened up next to Olive
Garden, my two favorite places. I went to get my suits pressed last week, and I
decided that’s where I want to work when I am going through college: men’s
warehouse.
So, there are dust devils in Utah, as well! We were making a
u-turn with all the windows down and one of them attacked us and covered us in
dust. We just laughed for like five minutes; it was the weirdest thing. We
spend a lot of time laughing. Elder Pyne is the best visa waiter ever! We get
along with him really, really well. He isn't timid at all about contacting and
understands almost all Spanish. People love him and he makes everyone laugh. He
is really short and has a permanent smile on and always has squinted eyes. He
was a diver/swimmer/wrestler in high school, so we have wrestled a couple times
just for fun without making the people that live underneath us too mad,
hopefully. Send us a few of your favorite jokes, because we tell each other
jokes when we are going to bed at night, ha-ha. Elder Pyne is awesome. They
gave us the best of the group. We are pretty lucky.
We had a sistrict meeting yesterday for the first time. The
sisters had gotten a specialty training from Salt Lake and presented it to the
zone. We had Elder Pyne conduct. We felt it was appropriate for April Fool’s
Day. It was pretty funny. We have had a lot of funny moments making him call
the dinner appointments. He still can't quite understand Spanish on the phone
and just says, “OK, that’s great,” to anything they say (in Spanish of course).
We just die laughing the whole time, because he has no idea what is going on. Whenever
he wants to say ‘you all’ he says ‘us’ instead, and it makes his sentences
really funny (he does nosotros conjugations instead of ustedes).
Elder Pyne’s first Mexican hot chocolate experience was
funny. We had a FHE with a part member family (the sister just moved here from
Sacramento). There are eight little kids living with the two sisters (they are their
kids, but their husbands aren’t there anymore). SO we taught them with our ward
mission leader and played the egg game that we use occasionally. So the egg
games is where you have a big bowl and several pieces of tiny candy. You have
all the little kids gather around and you throw in one piece of candy at a time
and the kids race to pick it up. At the end of the game, whoever picked up the
most pieces of candy wins. The kids are all really loud and the whole time you
whisper "careful with the egg," but they aren't listening, they are
just trying to be the fastest one to grab the candy. So on the very last toss,
you fake a candy and throw the egg in the bowl, and they all throw their hands
in the bowl and get egg all over their hands. Then we talk about how they were
so focused what they were doing that they weren’t listening to what I was
saying about being careful with the egg, and we relate it to the Spirit and
yaddda yadda. So at the end, they brought us all out hot chocolate and Elder Pyne
got the first cup which was the top of that pot. I don't know why they made it
this way, but they put SOO much chocolate in I swear you had to chew it. Elder
Pyne got all the foam, and it was so hard to choke down so he is convinced that
he hates Mexican hot chocolate from that experience. We were just fighting not
to laugh watching him drink it the whole time.
So we did not have any baptisms this week. Lots of stuff came
up after our mission fast that slowed us down. Our zone had a goal of eleven
for that week, and we had 15 dates set and ended up with ten baptisms that
weekend. It was rough. The mission fell short of the goal...disappointing. It
showed the mission though, that that sense of urgency is important to have all
the time.
Nothing too new with Robin, finishing up the lessons with
him. He still won't quit smoking, but he got a job and had a good experience at
church. His ex-wife showed up and took his son for the weekend (she takes him
for holidays, and he watches him the rest of the time, kind of rough for him,
but he doesn't want to get mad at her like he used to which we are very much
discouraging, so he let it happen). So he went to church alone. He sat next to
a black guy and started complaining about his problems, and that guy looked at
him and basically said, “Look around. We all have problems here,” and Robin
realized that life wasn’t too bad compared to others problems, and he said it
comforted him.
Sister Ramirez has not been taught this week. Her son-in-law
is a returned missionary...and I'll say this in the nicest way possible, but if
I get home from my mission and care as little as he does about the salvation of
human souls, I hope someone hits me in the head with a frying pan. HE (not her)
cancelled three lessons this week: Twice just because he didn't show up,
because he was eating dinner, and the other one because he had a tummy ache. I
don't know if I am capable of being passive aggressive enough to talk to him,
but the bishop just laughed and said, “Yeah that sounds about right,” when we
mentioned it. And he won't let us go and teach her unless he is there, so we
can't bring another guy member instead. Can't figure out what his deal is.
Karina we found outside and taught her a lesson, and she is
currently praying to know if she should get baptized. We visited Juana and Ruby
this week (first baptism of the mission), and Ruby is having a rough time. I
won't tell the full story, but basically the young women in this ward are the
cliquiest people I have ever met and decided they don't want to be friends with
Ruby...to the point of trying to beat her up at school. But she is going to
church anyways. The bishop is very aware and wants us to visit Juana and Ruby
to encourage them while we can. It made me really sad to hear the whole story
about how the young women are treating her. Keep her in your prayers. And yes I
know there are always two sides to the story, but the moms of all the girls
have been talked to and all admit Ruby has done nothing wrong, and the other
girls just decided they want to bully and hate her. But like I said, she is
still going to church. Juana sat her down and told her that she shouldn’t
punish God for what the other girls were doing by not going to church. Juana is
awesome; she is keeping her strong.
Other than that, we have found people and not found them
again at return appointments this week. Spanish throughout the mission has
really been struggling lately, but we were praying Sunday night as a
companionship, and I promised to make this the best working week of our mission,
so we will see how that goes!
So we got a package from mom and dad with cookies plus some.
Thanks for the package! Ties always make a package 100,000 times better. And
also in her package, Amy sent a ton of cookies, so we are eating more cookies
than ever which is just a great life. The three of us went through four gallons
of milk this week…doin work. I guess it’s good that we are drinking skim milk,
ha-ha.
What else what else? The chapel filled up a ton this Sunday
because of Easter...all those good old Catholics coming to the closest church.
They live for Easter… then break time until Christmas! We went to the hospital
to give a blessing to Luis who is a new investigator. His appendix exploded. I
forget how to say that in English, but there is probably a less dramatic way to
say that. We went in, and someone told us to go give a blessing to a lady in
delivery, and we kind of freaked out and were not going to do that so we found
a nurse that looked like he was wearing garments and had him go do it instead
ha-ha.
We went to Olive Garden again yesterday, then went to Mi
Puebla for dinner. We all got orchata and mole, so of course it was fantastic!
We also had Kneader’s french toast again before district meeting. I had four
this time; still can't make myself do five after the fat guy comment.
I taught district leader training by myself, because right
when we started a drunk Mexican guy came in. So Elder Ward took him to the
other room with one of the Hispanic district leader buddy's to teach him lesson
one just because. Why not? So he said he wants get baptized, but he was also
drunk and homeless. Whose area is that anyways? Gotta love Central Ogden. Also
he said he is in love with the young women's president.
I got letters from my siblings! I am glad they had fun
skiing and shooting stuff. Sounds pretty manly. I loved Amanda's letter. I am
praying that she goes to the college the Lord wants her at and that will have
the program she is supposed to be doing. We are beyond excited for general
conference and even more excited (not really) for chipotle between sessions. The
line will be so long. I think every missionary from our mission is going there.
We don't have tickets, but no one could resist Elder Pyne's smile, ha-ha. So
life is good!
Love you all…my new favorite scripture of the week was
opened up to in the celestial room in Moroni 10 about perfecting yourself and
denying ungodliness and all that good stuff...take luck!
Elder Bassett
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