¡Muchos Intercambios!
Hello Family and all! I think things are picking up a little bit. In the last week we have had a good amount of success, we are going to have two baptisms next week, we have had two exchanges with other companionships, and we are going to have two baptisms next week.
This week we met a man named Enrique. The other Elders in Apizaco were teaching him, until they realized that he lives in our area. Just like a surprising number of people, the best place for us to meet with him is actually his work, in a mental health clinic. Because it's not in our area, Enrique's work is closer to the center of the city than we normally go. Nevertheless, it was fun to be in the more busy parts and see the cathedral. When we got to the clinic we had to call him to let him know we were there, but he promptly came out and welcomed us into his office. His office was relatively small, but several trinkets and a little but of a mess made it feel well lived. There was a computer in the corner and several large shelves stuffed with books. I should have known that you could tell a lot about a man simply by the state of his office. Enrique quickly informed us that he turned to God because he's going through a hard time in his life. Smoking and drinking had gripped him, but by the time we visited him, he was already three days clean. Everything he spoke was with a very humble and sincere tone. He told us that he unfortunately had to cut off all of his friends in order to cut off all temptation and access to substances. Though solemn, he gratefully accepted a Book of Mormon, and our message about the Doctrine of Christ.
Since then, we've been trying to get him hooked up with the stake's addiction recovery program to no avail, but he's still clean. Enrique did not go to church, but we will having another lesson with him and will get him hooked up with some members to be his friends.
We were grateful to see Alberto come back from visiting his dad in the hospital in Mexico City, only to learn that his dad died. We decided to give him some time to contact us when he was ready, but he stayed in contact anyways and my companion had a lesson with him while we were on exchanges. Elder Haymore informed me that he was able to make peace with his dad before he died. He seemed very down at church, but he allowed me to give him a hug and he thanked us and the members for welcoming him. In a situation that anyone else would use as an excuse, Alberto goes to church anyways. Alberto is also commited to stop smoking!
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday went as follows:
Exchanges with a new missionary in my area, a day with my companion, and exchanges with the zone leaders. First I was with Elder Paralta, who is very new to the mission. It was pretty stressful because I was the only one who knew the area, but it was still very fun. I learned that I want to better prepare myself for when I need to train by improving my navigation and time management skills. This means I will need to ask my companion to allow me to take the lead more often so I can improve.
In my time with Elder Palmer, our zone leader, I was inspired to become more dedicated to the Lord and his work. I learned what it means to love the people. Not just to love them enough to teach them the lessons, but to love them enough to spend some time talking, mourning, laughing, or whatever else it might be that they need. No matter how dedicated and busy you are, there is always time to sincerely love the people. Elder Palmer also taught me how to effectively "elevar la expectativa" and set firm dates with every contact.
The future is bright! There are many opportunities in the missionary work here in Apizaco, and I still have a lot to learn in many different aspects. Please send me the emails of anyone who you think would enjoy my emails, and feel free to write me back so I don't forget you exist! Love ya'll!
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