Hunting Down Iker

Wow, it's actually been a wild week. I'm still getting used to the new transfer, but it's been so fun. Anyways, I forgot to write in my journal this week, so we'll see where that takes me in this email...

Monday

Same P-day, different area. We got up, cleaned for a bit, then went to play soccer with the district. I kinda miss the fields we played at in Deporte, but it was still a lot of fun. And then the miracle of the day was realizing that our area has EL OLIVAR! I was so hyped to find that out because I love that place. It reminds you a bit of what it's like to not eat chicken, rice, and French fries (it's wings and French fries instead). I think it's kind of random how common French fries are here, but I'm not complaining.

Tuesday

Pretty basic day. We had the opportunity to meet with some people on date and had Andy come out with us. He's been a recent convert for about 10 months but probably already knows more about the Gospel than me with about 10x the energy, haha. The lessons went really well. The only bummer is that this family, who had their date set for this Sunday, had to cancel, which wouldn't be a big deal if it weren't for one of their kids named Iker being way behind on his lessons because he's always playing soccer when we visit his family. Because of that, I literally scheduled appointments multiple times a day just so we'd be on track to baptize this kid.

Wednesday

Yup, so today we met with Iker's family in the afternoon and had another time planned at night. We gave them a good lesson in the afternoon, then left for our other things. Our area is freaking huge though, and it was about a 30-minute walk to our next appointment. We spent most of our day in that area. For another one of our dates over there, we ran into the most powerful women in our ward, who asked us if they could help us. So we got to the house with a huge gathering of people, and I didn't even teach a lesson but just kind of let these people do their thing to try and reactivate some of this family. Then night hit, and we had to go back to Iker's family, BUT GUESS WHO WASN'T THERE! Iker once again was out playing soccer, so we just had to get ahead on the lessons with his family and catch him up hopefully another time.

Thursday

I realized in this area we're teaching tons of kids, so I bought a huge bag of candy to buy their trust (I think I get it from my dad). But it honestly works so well! The kids love me now, haha. We had a meeting at the church at the same time Iker's family conveniently had to be there too, so we scheduled a lesson. We saw the two daughters there, but can you guess who we couldn't find? IKER. He was so behind on his lessons, and the interview was on Saturday with the baptism already getting prepped for the day after, so I was beyond stressed. But her mom had been clutching up because she was also desperate to have these baptisms happen and said we could try and visit on Friday as well.

Friday

Zone conference woooo! Awesome message from President about our missionary purpose and importance of going to church. Zone conference is still way too long, but it gets me hyped up, and it's a blast to see the other missionaries there too. We got back and finally had that lesson with Iker and caught him all up to be ready for his interview the next day. Then we just got to know some other members and called it a night.

Saturday

Today was heavily focused on just inviting people to church. In the afternoon, we helped these two really old ladies remove these bricks that were in their shower because they were scared they'd fall on them. #herooftheday. Then at night was the interview for Iker and Vania. We got there to find the DLs already waiting on them. But there was a certain someone who we couldn't find... MY BOY IKER! This time we hunted down his parents first so that they could find him while Vania did her interview, and I'm happy to say they passed with flying colors.

Sunday

Such an awesome day! Both me and Elder Hone had to give talks, and I felt decent with how it went. We had lots of friends pull up, which was awesome! Definitely, the highlight was the baptism that we had after church though. The family knew Elder Hone better, so the two daughters wanted him to baptize them. But can you guess who wanted to be baptized by me? IKER PRECIADO BORJA. It was honestly so happy with how it went though, and all the kids gave phenomenal testimonies, and the mom was super emotional. It was definitely worth all the crazy Iker chase-down for how spiritual the baptism was.

Spiritual Thought: I'm reading about the sons of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon right now, and it's awesome to read about all their different experiences in their service to God. I am so grateful for all my friends and family who are serving/served missions because now that I'm out here, I really do recognize the blessings it brings.

Thanks for tuning in! Read your scriptures, say your prayers, and have a good week!

Elder Mitchell IV