Last Monday at 4:00 in the morning Elder Reyna left for Chitre. Elder Cranney and I got to work here in El Empalme until our new companions came. Since we look rather similar, many people, when we were teaching side by side, gave us some of the funniest reactions. A lot of double takes... Wait your not…so…uh…Eghh…When?...How?... It was hilarious.
My new companion Elder Lopez, barely made it here arriving at 9:00 at night. In his last area, he lost his wallet, which included his identification and everything that proves he is a missionary. On the way here, you have two points where they randomly check people for the ID and passports before you get to the town of David. I don’t know how he was able to continue on after being picked at the first stop.
By the second stop, he starting to be questioned as to who he was, why he was here and where his papers were. He was able to pull out a crumpled-up photocopy of his passport and at that point they pulled him aside and asked him why he didn’t have a passport. They questioned why his name didn’t match the name on his plaque (name tag). He was then able to explain that he had lost his wallet and that ‘Elder’ was only a title, but they would not accept that. They started to ask for anything else he had that could prove who he was and he at that point remembered that in his bag he had one document from the Church with his name on it, which happened to be his Patriarchal Blessing.
He ended up with a second very angry warning, but with a strong testimony that his Patriarchal Blessing will bless him throughout all his life. In ways, he
My new companion is from Guatemala. He lived by the border of Mexico and so he has a very strong Mexican accent. He is 5 feet tall and has been telling me that I am old because I will be coming up on my year mark. He isn’t a man of many words, but his words are very direct. I am learning how to talk a lot more. It has genuinely made an interesting balance with two different personalities working together. I think that this balance is exactly what will lead to success. We both have adapted and made small changes to be better.
This Sunday we had Gospel Principles class. It was the first time I ever had to teach solo. It was interesting how much I really knew, and how much involvement of the class guided the lesson. It was not where I had planned but ended up being led by the spirit and it led to what was needed to be heard and discussed.
This weeks letter from my Grandma had a great message that she shared with me. In her ward, during Relief Society, they shared a message given by President Monson:
When the Spirit speaks, write it down immediately. At the end of the day, make sure you do God's list first before you check off your own list of “To Do’s.” He explained that the Spirit never hounds or pounds at us, but rather, comes as a prompting, a brush or a feeling—that’s why we need to write these impressions down so as not to forget.
I absolutely loved this and I am going write my promptings down!! Thank you Gram for this thought. I am always thankful for the messages and letters from family and friends.