Holy cow! Lot´s of questions to answer. And tons of awesome news
from you guys! Dad that´s awesome what happened on the plane! And
that´s sooo cool about Alex! I wish I could see him play sooo bad.
Haley it sounds like you´re keeping busy and staying awesome. Keep it
up! I love hearing about your high school experiences. I remember
thinking the same thing as you regarding how cool it was to finally be
driving and hanging out in high school. And then before I knew it, it
was over! Slow down and enjoy it when you can. It goes by fast. Mom
I love that scripture you shared. The thing you said about sharing
the message about Joseph Smith is very applicable here. Most people
believe in Christ, the special message we get to share with them is
how Christ´s true church is on the Earth. Sometimes they think it´s
really interesting and other times they get offended at the idea that
all the other churches aren´t Christ´s church. Even though we explain
that those other churches are wonderful, they simply lack the
authority of God. It´s tricky, but when we follow the Spirit we
always know what to say.
This week has been tough. So now Elder Herrera and I have the whole
area to ourselves. It´s a big responsibility, and I want to get going
on things again. Things were slow last week because of the sudden
changes and leaders coming through to check on us. We didn´t get much
done and my companion was really depressed for a couple days. Also,
one of our investigators was hit by a car and passed away. It was
really weird even though we hadn´t taught her much yet. But we had
the opportunity to talk to the family about the gospel and we´re going
back there tomorrow. Also, we had a meeting with the Branch
leadership and the two counselors in the branch presidency said they
would not help us with missionary work. My companion patiently and
admirably tried to explain the benefits of helping with the work, and
they yelled at him. It was weird. President Maravilla is coming this
week to our Branch. I think he might be coming to see if this area is
going to have missionaries after this next change. It´s been a crazy
week haha ahhh
So it´s always hot. The thermometer on my alarm clock says 81 to 84
every night. But I´m getting used to it. I have trouble sleeping
sometimes, especially when I get a freaky dream or something. I had
one last night that kinda threw me off and I couldn´t sleep much after
that haha. But I might take a nap today because nobody´s playing
soccer for P Day. Lame.
Haha but I think we´re gonna clean up around the house and buy some
food. So that´ll be nice. Yesterday we had bread and butter, rice,
and water for dinner. It was a caused by a misunderstanding on how
much food we had in the house.
Sometimes it´s really tough to love somebody you live with, especially
when you come from different cultures. I can rarely understand my
companion, but I´m getting better at understanding other people. I
ask him to clarify or explain things and I get even more lost. It´s
really weird. I don´t think he does it on purpose, but I don´t
understand why it´s getting harder to understand him the more Spanish
I learn. But I´m focusing on the fact that I am learning so much!
It´s great!
We eat lunch at the restuarant on every day except Sunday. The owners
are the landlords of our house and they´re like our grandparents.
Hermano Kike is a member of almost two years and he´s awesome. He and
his wife are really old and cute and they like to talk to us when we
come home at night. It´s fun to talk to them, they make my day.
We eat lots of chicken, beans, eggs, rice, and bread. And sometimes
steak, I eat a lot of cereal. We eat well. I love the food. One of
the members wants to make an iguana dinner for me soon. That´ll be
cool.
I can remember names, but I can´t remember places very well. I´ve
never been good with directions, and it´s harder when my companion
tries to explain where stuff is haha! Ahhh but I´m figuring it out
finally.
I gave my first talk in Spanish yesterday! It went well I think.
Hermano Kike said it was good, but that was the only comment I got. I
spoke about the importance of working together in missionary work, how
every member is a missionary and we need the help of the members. I
invited the branch to pray about people they know who we can visit and
that we would be asking them for references in the coming weeks. So
hopefully that will help things pick up.
I´m still getting used to the concept of not having personal space.
Haha especially with kids. They walk past me so they can feel my
white arms. It´s uncomfortable, but whatever haha!
Some of the members here are soo awesome and they´re willing to help
us with anything. I love visiting members´homes, they always help me
feel welcome.
So I´ve been thinking a lot about what you said, Dad, about not
waiting to be great. I´ve been trying to figure out how to leave
things better than when I found them. As a greenie, I´m not taken
very seriously, so I´m trying to patiently change one thing at a time.
We don´t use our time very well, so I use extra time to study. And
that´s helping me learn a lot, but that´s not what that time is for.
Sometimes I feel guilty for not using time more wisely, but I don´t
know what to do. I obviously can´t go contact alone, but I don´t know
what to do. Sometimes I feel like, as a greenie, I should just sit
tight and learn as much as I can while I figure out what to apply
later when I have the opportunity to make a difference. But then I
feel like I should be applying that stuff now. But I don´t know how!
Ahhh it´s bugging me. I guess i need to rely more on the Spirit.
It´s been an interesting week, but I´m loving the work! It´s been
cool becoming accustomed to this environment. I´ve learned a lot
about myself and I have a lot to do and become. Julio wasn´t home
twice this week, but we talked to him and his uncle last night. He´s
going to come to church next week even though he doesn´t feel like
he´s gotten an answer to his prayers yet. He likes what we have to
say and he has a strong desire to learn. I keep praying that he will
recognize the Spirit. I gotta go, but it was awesome reading your
emails! I´m sending a few letters today, just a heads up! I love you
guys and hope you´re loving life! I read Romans 5:1-5 this week and
it´s cool. It helps me keep a proper perspective. Love ya!
Elder Austin Tyler
