younger than me in age - he's only 18! And for the first time in more
than 5 months I didn't lead district meeting. But I did receive a call
about halfway through because another first time district leader had
lost two of his missionaries. I panicked, but it turned out they were
just lost in their brand-new area and couldn't get to District
Meeting. Crisis averted.
My companion and I went shopping today cause we're out of food - and
we decided to buy food together to save money. And as we went through,
he started asking for things like cookies and chips and French fries,
and then! He told me he doesn't like fruit. Or vegetables. Or whole
grain. But breakfast cereal is fine....... And since I volunteered to
be the companionship cook (excellent option - service, food choice,
first showers, and he has no idea which way is up in the kitchen),
I'll have to get pretty creative to make him not have a heart attack
at age 30. Wish me luck.
Conference was Excelente. President Monson's two messages were my
favorites. Along with President Nelson. He was one of those apostles I
didn't really know, up until his talk yesterday (or maybe it was
Saturday.... We watched 3 sessions yesterday). And it was great! I
felt that he was the man for his job. And the new apostles looked like
the Lord had called them. Here, everyone was so excited about all the
non-Americans they could call - but "They" don't call them. He does.
We had a really sad experience when we went to find one of the
Bishop's less-active worries. Paco, because someone wasn't perfect at
church, will never come back (that's what HE says. I'm not so sure).
We bore our testimonies, but he kept telling us to be quiet and ignore
the subject. I asked what sort of service we could do, and he won't
let us. I finally asked why on earth he had let us in - he knows who
we are. He said, "I cannot close my door to anyone. But I won't talk
to you while you're in here." Vaya.
We're going to have a baptism on Sunday! Her name is Maria and she's
from Trujillo, Peru. She has been progressing very well and she even
came to church yesterday, despite having worked all night! We had a
pretty funny experience last week as we taught her the law of
chastity. She asked, "could I get married if my husband wasn't a
member?" Which is a tricky one cause technically yes, but I've seen a
LOT of great women here in Spain who get married to bums and then
leave the church. So we explained how hard it would be without a
supportive husband and encouraged her to marry in the church. And then
she said, "ok good, because Lizandro just proposed and I told him no
until he gets baptized!" Next time we came over, he was there with
lots of great questions. We'll just have to make sure he gets baptized
for the right reasons and that they both have the temple in sight.
My companion had an interview with someone to get baptized on
Sunday... And he didn't pass. It was the third time, and last time the
hermanas almost had my head. But I was proud of him for listening to
the spirit and his gut, and the candidate will get a little more
preparation before his date. It's so hard to make those decisions and
have people who are supposed to be on your team get angry - I needed
to remember which way I faced, and I was glad he did the same.
Spiritual thought, by Elder Maxwell: "Sometimes we pound on the vault
door for something we want very much, in faith, in reasonable
righteousness, and wonder why the door does not open. … Our rejected
petitions tell us not only much about ourselves, but also much about
our flawless Father."
Love, Elder Maxfield.
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