Hola Madre!
There is a lot to write about this week so let’s dive right in.
I started this week on a strange note. To my absolute surprise I, and a couple of other Elders, were informed that we were to go to Querétaro. So we effectively dedicated our Preparation day to travel. With no money, no clothes, and no idea what was going on or what we were doing. It turns out we needed to get our green cards. So we show up to Querétaro at 7 pm. Then got split up into different missionaries apartments, basically wherever they could fit us (literally). Anyways the next day we got up early to go take pictures for our immigration stuff (so enjoy that mug shot 😂) I cleaned up pretty good for not taking a shower or shaving.
Then we spent 6 hours in the immigration office on some pretty awful seats. Too bad I couldn’t bring my phone to take photos. But these chairs were legendarily bad. Literally metal pipes in the shape of a chair. After obtaining my green card we got on another bus on the way back to San Pancho. It was a trip of several ups and downs. And honestly I was quite peeved for not being informed that it was happening.
So for the first night I was way mad. But as I was laying on my makeshift bed sandwiched between two other Elders. I realized something (with the help of my awesome mom) that I was going to be laughing about this whole experience very soon. And I totally am. In all seriousness I actually really enjoyed the adventure and 100% improv trip, with no resources and no real understanding on what was happening. I learned to trust others and most importantly the comfort the spirit brings. Something that surprised me was how calm I was. Also just FYI they basically sent a group of greenie young adults to a big city where we don’t really understand the language. To accomplish a pretty complicated task. If that ain’t a good explanation of how a foreign mission works I don’t know what is Haha.
As soon as I got back to the apartment I took a shower and had to take a picture of my 2 day old beard and just exhausted look Haha.
The rest of the week was pretty great. Let me paraphrase with a simple scripture. 1 Corinthians 13:2
“… though I have all the faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”
Though I was still faithful that everything was going to work out. I was not very charitable with the situation. When I changed my mindset to be more charitable the whole trip changed for me. The rest of the week basically became dedicated to serving others.
There is an elderly American in our area. He happens to be married to a member from Mexico. Anyways long story short he needs to go to Oklahoma to take advantage of his free healthcare for being a retired vet. So he needed help loading up his stellar camper van. Helping this guy build a bed frame and pack up his car makes me want one. He has had his van for over 30 years and it has served him well. I have loved serving others while being out here on a mission. I have learned that it is literally the back bone of missionary work. And like Paul said without it, [we] are nothing.
I would like to finish up this post by saying; General Conference was awesome. My favorite talk was from the Saturday session from Brad Willcox. I really liked something he said;
“Worthiness is being honest and trying”
A basic truth in this life is to never give up. Just dust yourself off and keep trying. Because when you fail you will learn. And when you learn you grow. So don’t ever stop growing!
Till next time,
Elder Service
