November 2, 2015

Hey everyone!

Last Monday was super difficult. We went to a market that they have here called the chanchería (pig market). It’s got everything you might ever need. But, I was very disappointed to find out that they didn’t have a rain jacket in my size that I was looking for. They sell like Chinese sizes here, and the biggest one is a XXXXL, which is about the size of an American medium. It wasn’t very fun because we looked for about an hour and a half. The power went out almost all day in our house, and at night it went out when I was in the bathroom... Anyway, when the day finally ended, it was a lot better. Not gonna lie. I don’t want to relive last Monday. It was rough, but, phew, it’s over.

Other than that day, the week was a good one. The family that we are gonna baptize this weekend had their interviews, and they are so ready to finally make this covenant. They get married this Friday and baptized the next day, Saturday. I’m so excited for them. Another less active man, who came home about 6 months early from his mission, says that he’s so much happier without the pressure that he felt as a member. He doesn’t feel like every little mistake that he makes condemns him anymore. He said some really scary stuff, like he recognizes that he might be being deceived by Satan and if that is the case, then he would want to thank Satan for the deception because he’s so much happier now... It was really weird hearing that stuff, but it wasn’t new for me this time. I had heard it before from the guy in my last area. It turns out that he’s not even sure of the existence of God anymore or that Christ is the Savior of the world. He’s not sure about anything that he believes now. He does pray sometimes, making the situation even odder. I read him the scripture in 2 Nephi 28:21 about Satan lulling us away into carnal safety and he thinks that might have happened to him, but he’s grateful for it. His dad used to be the stake president, and he felt a lot of pressure from everyone else as if everyone was watching the stake presidents perfect family. He didn’t like that. Anyway, that was an interesting visit this week. Haha. Yesterday, we invited a 17 year old, Rick, to be baptized. He said yes very enthusiastically. He’s been coming to church for about 2 years now. He says he wants to finally change his life for good and one day share the gospel with others as a missionary. He’s gonna get baptized December 5. I’m  really excited for him. This Thursday we are going to the temple as a zone. I’m excited for that too. The only bad part is that we have to be there at 6:45 am on Thursday…hmmm. It’s fine.

I’m doing really well, sort of kicking it up a notch on trying to lose weight. I’m eating less and concentrating more on running in the mornings. So far, there has been progress, and we’re getting there. Me and my comp are getting along well. I love my area. I love the families and I’m trying to gain the courage to open my mouth more and share the gospel. It’s not a switch that just flips one day. It’s not even easy for a missionary, I promise. It’s hard, but it’s one of my goals for this week.

This week was a really good week. I had an interchange with a Bolivian missionary, Elder Choque. We had just finished eating lunch, and we sat on the couches to rest for a bit. We started passing a ball around and before you knew it, he had thrown a bad throw and had broken this red elephant statue. Supposedly, the elephant statues with their trunks facing upwards give good luck. So as he was anxiously trying to super glue the pieces back on, I decided to get a pic of it. My family will recognize the similarities in this situation, because it reminded me of the movie Goonies (the part where they break the statue and glue the "piece" back on the wrong way). Haha. I thought it was funny. I imitated it with the elephant’s trunk. Also, Sunday was fast Sunday. So, after eating lunch and coming home to get ready to leave again, we ate our prized Halloween version ding dongs that they sell here. We bought it on Saturday to culminate our Sunday fast. It was awesome. The pic of the hole in the ground is a type of sewer drain that is in the closet of our room. There is a SUPER BIG rat living down there. We had covered it with electrical tape and 2 pieces of cardboard. The rat had eaten through the tape and pushed away the card board so that it could get out. Needless to say, there is now a giant brick on top of the hole so that it can’t get out anymore. That’s the explanation of the pics. Enjoy and have a great week!

Love,

Elder Wilson

P.S. I got a card from Grandmom and PopPop because they love me for my Bday. Please tell them thanks for me. I love my family and my amazing grandparents!! I also got a letter from Denise’s family. Tell them thanks for me. I love them and am so grateful for them!!