Thursday, May 29, 2014

Chapter 11: Break In, Break Out, Break Down, and (nearly) Break Up

Interesting title, no? I would have added break dance, but I don´t know how to do that. Maybe Broken break dance :P

Anyway, to explain this title a bit more: Break in- We locked our keys in the house so we had to remove a piece of the window to get to the keys so that we could get back into the house when we returned. Break out- the stupid humidity with my sweat is making my forehead break out with Zits (the giant amount of chocolate that Mom sent in the package doesn´t help either). It got really bad one day and a less active member brought it to my attention. She thought it was a rash and I had no Idea how to explain the concept of "zit" to her. Break down and (nearly) Break up- The difference in culture between my companion and I got really bad and I broke down in frustration, exhaustion, and tears. I may or may not have yelled at him through sobs. Luckily, we figured out exactly why I felt the way I did and we solved it in a snap. It took a while to heal the wounds, but we had at least put in the stitches to speed the healing process. But that´s in the past now and everything is good. :D

It was really nice to see my family again and I can´t believe how long I´ve already been gone. I won´t waste too much time on this part, because every missionary in the world is saying the same things :P

So this week I had a spiritual experience that was weird for me because there was a principle of the gospel that I didn´t feel like I quite agreed with so here´s the story:
My companion and I decided that we were going to make a lesson about prayer. I normally do a process of, Bible dictionary for basic definition, look up a few scriptures, then go to Preach My Gospel and other church Library stuff, but this time I went straight for the True to the Faith book and read a bunch of good stuff. I then, however, came across a part that says "Seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost so you will know what to include in your prayers" and I thought "so basically Heavenly Father is going to tell you exactly what to say in a prayer. That´s like me telling my friend to tell me something again. If he already knows what we´re going to say then why do I need to say it?" It was a good question for me and I kinda felt like it was wrong, but then I looked up the scriptures in this section : "Romans 8:26; 2 Nephi 32:8; D&C 46:30." After reading the scripture I still felt a bit skeptical, but then I decided "you know what, We always invite the investigators to act on what we taught" and since then, my prayers (when I remember this lesson) have never been the same. I challenge you all to do this small thing, listen for the spirit to help guide your prayers because Heavenly Father knows your faults and will always guide you to a way to be perfected in Christ if you trust in him and listen.

This week, also, we stopped by the investigator that dropped us and he is doing well. We cleared a few doubts, but he´s still a bit... I don´t even have a word for it. Anyway, he´s given us another chance and I really hope he can follow through.

Also, We had our first Noche de Hermanamiento. The missionaries here (myself included) are trying to get it set up again because it was here before they took the missionaries out of the area. It was a bit rough for our first time (especially my part) but it turned out well. Then we played a version of charades (which was difficult with my vocabulary) and Do you love your neighbor? in Spanish. It was really hard sometimes to know if I should move or not, but I never got stuck in the center. ¿Noche de Hermanamiento numero uno? ¡EXITOSA!

last few things. If you want motivation to be better, read 2 Nephi 9. If you need help with English, Jessica (a member here) says I´m the best, and I started my "Large Plates" (my journal) and "Small Plates" (my study journal).

Here is me and my companion singing "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" in Spanish
James and His Companion Singing

That´s all for this week,
Elder VanderMeyden

P.S. My companion got "Dear John-ed" today :(

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