Conference+Citizenship+Big Drunk Peruvian

¿Qué pasa, todos? Hope y'all had a good week and were able to watch conference, and if not, go watch it right now (I know you're not too busy). This week was really good, so here we go...

Monday

P-day ended up being really fun! We all met up as a district and played spikeball for a couple of hours. Elder Wilkens and I destroyed the district 2v2, so we ended up going 1v1 against each other. It was such a close game that I was literally sweating, but I came out on top, 12-14. We then all got lunch together and played Cover Your Assets while we were there. Fun fact: one of the Hermanas in our district's grandpa is the guy who created Cover Your Assets along with the other games, so that's lit. The rest of P-day was just emails and naps before proselyting.

Tuesday

It was a pretty slow day. We had District Council in the morning and watched President Holland's video about the Atonement, which always hypes me up. Like always, we got ice cream after. Then Elder Wilkens had a 3-hour Zoom leadership meeting, probably about something unimportant, because no meeting should be that long. So we got out pretty late. Unfortunately, a lot of our lessons didn't end up happening, but we did put one of our friends on date! His name is Jefferson, and he wants to change some bad habits. He’s actually really cool, so we're hoping he'll stay that way.

Wednesday

We had to wake up a little earlier to head to the offices because today, Elder Wilkens and I were getting our Peruvian citizenship cards! We went with a few other missionaries I came in with, so that was a lot of fun. We got there a little too early, though, so we got lunch at a mall while we waited. When we returned, we all got our cards, officially making us legal citizens! On the drive back home, I sat by Elder Coleman from Paraguay, and it's crazy to think about how much my Spanish has grown over the last couple of months. Don't get me wrong, I'm nowhere near independent with my Spanish, but there is some improvement.

Thursday

We were supposed to have an appointment basically as soon as we woke up, but they didn't answer us, so we bought avocados and Takis for breakfast instead. I started making this avocado milk that one of our members sometimes gives us, and it's actually so good. While we were out, we knocked on Jefferson's house, but he wasn't home. Before we could leave, this chubby guy came up to us, shoving his face with bread while trying to talk. He offered us some, and although I didn't really want to take any after seeing him talking with his mouth full, I thought he’d get mad if I refused. He then started speaking slurred Spanish that I couldn't understand, and suddenly, he just started crying and went in for a hug. Well, I don't know where this probably drunk, bread-filled man is right now, but I hope he finds Christ in his life.

Friday

Exchanges! For this exchange, I stayed in my area with Elder Medina from Colombia! Even though we can't communicate with each other that well, Elder Medina has always liked hanging around me, so I was actually really stoked for the exchange. There was one moment when our door was jammed, so I had to crawl partway through our tiny vent and use a broomstick to open the window attached to the door so we could open it from the outside. Skills. The rest of the day went really well, and Elder Medina went hard. He tried to put two people on date—one was a no, and the other was a maybe, but it was still really cool. He's an awesome teacher. When we finished our day, we got salchipapas and made avocado milk. Then we went through each other’s photos before going to bed. Once we were in bed, we talked about deep personal stories in each other’s languages—him in broken English and me in broken Spanish. It was a vibe.

Saturday

General Conference! When we met back with the other Elders, Elder Wilkens gave me another Rubik's cube as a gift! Yay! We spent the whole day with the other Elders watching General Conference. I know this is cheating, but I watched the entire thing in English. Call me a sinner, but I got a lot more out of it. My personal favorite talks from that day were Patrick Kearon’s about joy and Kirstin Yee’s about change. They were so powerful. We treated ourselves well that day by getting burgers and ice cream between sessions, and then a bunch of junk food while we were watching. It was awesome!

Sunday

We all met at the Stake Center because it was being broadcast there. None of our friends or recent converts showed up in person, but quite a few of them watched it at their houses, which was great! I don't think I've ever enjoyed conference as much as I did this weekend—it was honestly such a spiritual boost. The rest of the night was just hitting contacts before going to Pamela's house. I love visiting her, and we always have a member named Renzo come with us. They're both so fun. We just talk for a bit, have a good lesson, and eat together after, so it's always a good time.

TL;DR: I'm number one in spikeball, Jefferson is on date, I'm now Peruvian, met a guy eating bread, Elder Medina lore, and General Conference.

Spiritual Thought: My favorite talk from Sunday was by Bradley Wilcox. He answered the question, "Why do we have to be so different from the rest of the world?" By being part of our church, we are given many more expectations and rules to follow, but it's because God trusts us to lead, find, and guide people back to Him. We'll receive a much more blessed life for following His commandments.

Thanks for tuning in! I hope y'all had a good week. Transfers are this week, so we'll see what happens. Remember to say your prayers!

—Elder Mitchell IV

Photos:

Just a good boy

Candid photo

A Peruvian

Conference party