This week we did not have a car, because it was ‘Walk Week’, and that poses a problem when you are supposed to cover the whole stake…haha…but it was fun to just walk around and we saw a lot of miracles. On Monday we talked to a guy who took the lessons about 15 years ago in Mexico, and he remembered Gordon B Hinckley. Something I’m noticing is that this man is the reason for a lot of people getting baptized. Some people say that the first time they saw his picture, they knew he was a prophet and felt the Spirit so strong.
On Monday night, we did exchanges with The Chapel Hill Elders. I went with Elder Hamby to Chapel Hill and it was pretty fun. I love that guy. We went to the chapel that morning so he could watch his grandma’s funeral over Skype. He is such a good dood. After that, we went to Chick-Fil-A, which I had 3 days in a row this week... We got to teach a 19 year old recent convert named Yuri who was pretty cool.
Wednesday was probably the most nuts day of my entire life. We started off by dropping Elder White and Elder Moore off at the library so they could do some stuff called “My Plan” which just preps you for going home. Then Elder Hamby and I went and gave a blessing to some people at KU Med. They were super cool. The guy has cancer, but it seems that it’s very likely it will be treated well and cured. We had to go into this part of the hospital that is air sealed and everything, because he doesn’t have a lot of white blood cells to fight off diseases and all that good stuff. After that, I went and gave one of the hardest baptismal interviews of my life. I can’t really share anything, but the person who is going to get baptized has gone through literally everything.
The person got baptized on Saturday, and I am so glad about it. They have been the most prepared person ever and have applied the doctrine of Christ fully; it was awesome to see.
That night, our ride to a lesson with our most solid person 25 minutes away (driving) cancels 15 minutes after we were supposed to be at the appointment. Rip. So Elder White called almost everyone in the ward while we were walking the streets. No answer. He is on the phone with someone and this stupid dog starts coming at us, super mad, and so I started charging at it while Elder White is on the phone. The dog was kind of circling us and barking and then all of a sudden it just puked its guts out right there on the street. SO much puke. It was pretty funny and honestly probably the highlight of that day.
Anyways, no one could get us to the lesson at the Corona’s house (getting baptized on the 24th btw), so we Face-timed him while in the ghetto walking around at like 8:45 pm. We find a bench to sit on. We are teaching him (in Spanish) and this old white lady comes out of her apartment and asked Elder White who we are and he tells her while I am teaching Juan. The lady goes back inside and then comes out again and tells us to leave. We ask her to give us like 2 minutes and she yells at us and tells us she’s gonna get the other neighbors. Then she goes inside and comes back out and does it again. Then she goes inside, and this time she comes back out, just yelling and cussing at us to get the ** outta there. So, because the person we were teaching could hear it, we started walking up the street (luckily Juan doesn’t speak like any English haha.) We were off the apartment property, and she was still yelling at us!! Telling us they didn’t need church people or Spanish speakers there. We were literally doing nothing to her. She just yelled at us as long as she could see us. It was one of the most frustrating things ever haha but it was pretty funny. but yeah, what a day.
On Thursday we had a pretty sweet lesson with Carmen, who is going to get baptized on September 14th. We brought a recently returned missionary with us, who is the only member in her family. At first, she was a little hesitant to get baptized because she wanted to know more, but when she saw how Luis, the RM was, we think she wanted that change in her and her son too. It was an awesome lesson.
We also ran into a lady who just moved here from Chihuahua Mexico, who is a member! She was walking with her family when we first met her. She is living here with her husband, who has lived here like 15 years, and he isn’t a member, so this should be really good! She came to church on Sunday and is really cool. Then, right after that, we got a text from Juan, saying "ya no tomo" WHICH MEANS THAT MAN ISN’T DRINKING COFFEE HALLELUJAH It was sweet.
On Friday we walked for like 10 years to get to a referral’s house. When we got there, we met this Honduran guy who is probably the most humble human being on the planet. We talk him while his family was visiting from Honduras and it went really well. He is also fairly wealthy. He drives a pretty nice Range Rover, has a nice house (even though it’s in the middle of the ghetto) and a sweet motorcycle, and is still so humble. He works in concrete and does not speak a lot of English, but still went to an English ward like 2 weeks ago. He is trying to get closer to God and I can’t wait to see him progress. He is so cool.
On Saturday we were walking to an appointment and there was this crazy dood just yelling at everything walking with this girl. Elder White asked him if he needed help. He politely responded with "No I f*** don’t." Elder White then said "Ok, well can I give you a little card?" He then, SO POLITELY, said "you cant give me s** homeboy." I don’t know why, but I almost cried laughing. The man was so angry over nothing haha!
We met this really drunk guy who said he was from Portugal. He said this in Spanish and was clearly from Mexico. We asked him which part of Portugal he was from and he said, "se me olvido" which is, “I forgot”. The moral of the story is to not drink. Ha!
[I have learned that] we can’t make decisions for anyone else, and it’s supposed to be that way, but we can love them and bring them closer to Christ so that they have the desire to change. Avoiding drama and being kind is what we have covenanted to do at baptism. In Sacrament meeting, someone quoted President Monson (I think) and they said "treat people as they can become, not as they are." If we just see people without their potential, that’s what brings us to gossip and hate, a lack of charity. But the opposite of that brings great results. Repentance is real, so we all good!
There were a ton of miracles and it was a great week. I love you and thanks for your example.
Elder Ogden
