A ver. Que pasó en la semana..? O! Ya me acuerdo! *
This week was super busy with concilio and getting visas ready. Concilio is the monthly meeting that President Whitehead has with all the Zone Leaders, all of the Hermana Capacitadoras [trainers], y con los asistentes [and the assistants]. There they talk about the results of the past month, the zone leaders give reports on their zones and how the work is there. There are talks and capacitations [training], and usually an awesome lunch afterwards. Naturally, as the secretaries, we were in charge of getting everything ready. I have decided that the secretaries are to the mission as the techies are to a play. It's kind of interesting to see how everything works.
And the visas are visas. Nothing too interesting. Except for a little something. I was working on a visa for Elder Rigby, an elder from one of my old districts, and then I realized, "Hey. He doesn't have THAT much time in the mission..." And then I realized that he does. And it hit me like a freight train in the face.
I will complete one year left in my mission in three days. ...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....
I still feel like I have a couple weeks in the mission. That is so weird to me. If anything has inspired me to give even more it is this! I have so much to do and change and improve! I am nowhere near where I need to be (where the Lord wants me, in other words), so I have my work cut out for me.
And this starts in my proselyting area. Our investigators are dropping as quickly as we can find them. So as we are starting fresh, this is the perfect time to apply all of the changes I want to make in my mission and life.
Gotta dash for now. ... Haha. There is never enough time to write all that I have on my mind... I look back on some of my past emails and they make me sound like the worst missionary ever... :) Haha. Hope that you are all doing great, and enjoying life to the maximum. I certainly am right now.
Church is true!
Elder Kennington
*Translation: "What's up?! How are you? I've been fine, but with so very much work. I love that. Being busy for me helps me to stay focused. Let's see. What happened in the week ..? O! Now I remember!"
Preguntas Bien Rapidito
Q: So are you shopping some place besides the gas station now?
A: Yup. ... We found a Costco. :) The Church is true. I feel so spoiled and guilty every single time I walk in. Too bad everything is around 150 pesos when I only have 100 pesos to spend for the week. :)
Q: Do the missionaries have any encounters with known gang members? Do the cartels down there present you with many concerns?
A: The big cartels, not so much. There are people selling drugs everywhere here though. That is commonplace. As far as gang members, the missionaries are actually protected by a gang out there in El Oro. Story time!
There were a couple of elders there about a year and a half ago walking in the street. As they were walking a car drove up right alongside them. The guy in the car pulled a gun on them and told them to get in the car. With no other choice, the missionaries did. As the elders got in the car the guy pointed the gun at them and said: We are going to a fight right now. Pray for us so that we win.
The elders prayed for them and got out of the car.
And that gang won the drug war. :) Since then, there has been a distinct lack of problems in the area... :)
There was one time a few weeks later when the missionaries ran into a couple of robbers. One pulled a gun on them asking for their money, but before the missionaries could do anything his partner said: "No! Son los hermanos! (No! They're "the brothers")". Hurriedly the guy put his gun away, apologized, and the both of them ran off. Yup. The church is true. :)
Q: Do incidents with the cartels make much news down there?
A: All the time. The media philosophy here is that if there is no blood, guts, and gore AND photos to prove it, then it isn't worth printing. And it just so happens that the cartels here is really good at making new stories for the media.
Q: Is it easy to tell those who have more European Spanish descent from those who have a more indigenous heritage?
A: Not really. The religion that the Spaniards brought with them stayed and became tradition. The culture and how people interact with each other comes from way before that. Some things I can see reflected all the way back to the Book of Mormon. :)
Q: Did you find some glue to repair your shoes? How did it work out?
A: Oh yeah, I need to repair those... Haha. I put the pair of shoes in question out of the way for "safekeeping" and then forgot. I'll drag them out of my suitcase and get that glue. :)
I found a broken orange ping-pong ball and carved it into a clown nose. Elder Medina the assistant thought it was hilarious.
Me, sacked out for the night, about to go to sleep, and realizing I hadn't sent a photo for ages.
Pictures of my room.
We went to the temple to drop off an elder who was going to spend the night there in the missionary housing before he went to Guatemala the following day.
 |
| Elder Kennington and Elder Lowe |
No comments:
Post a Comment