Worried about Pops at Home but still working hard!

Preface:  Darin’s Father has been battling kidney cancer since last year.  Recently he has a growth in his lung that had doubled in size and he is scheduled for surgery on August 2.  Trying NOT to worry Chad too much, we didn’t tell him 6 weeks ago when he had the biopsy done.  But we promised to tell him this time if the news was not good.  We wrote and told him of our concerns and also talked with the Mission President to alert him in case Chad was not as focused or if he was overly concerned about his dad.

Buenos Dias Padres!           11 July 2011  

     I will enlighten everyone with my typical email from the week so that it will be able to be posted on the blog. This week was pretty difficult for me. I was all over the place emotionally. It was pretty tough to stick to the every day grind, while trying to balance all these crazy emotions and trying not to think too much about Pops. It was hard, some days I was just in this "blah" mode where I really didn’t want to do anything but to just sit there and think about everything that is going on. (Which is exactly what we didn’t want to happen as we informed him of his dad’s health concerns.)  But luckily I have a really good companion that helped keep me going and doing what I needed to be doing. He wasn’t too pushy, he just understood that it would help me more to go and do the work I have been called to do,rather than sit at home and have a bunch of time to think. So I was blessed that once I started to work, I had a clear mind and worked hard. (That’s our Chad boy!! J )

The weather is always a big subject right? We have the weekly weather report from down here, it was unusual for this part of the country, or that is what everyone told us. There has been constant humidity here the whole week. This area is usually extremely dry and hot, but this week it was still hot, but just add the humidity. So we were trying to stay positive, but it sucks when we are outside dying from heat and humidity and sweating more then usual. (See picture of sweaty backpack the elders carry around.)

I talked about Martin last week, and we have even better news this week. He is going to get baptized, but not only him, but his wife, or future wife, will be getting baptized together. They aren’t married, but they will be getting married here soon, and then baptized. His wife has been saying how she has noticed a really big change in Martin in that last few weeks that he has been meeting with us, so she is now listening to the lessons too. It is going to be pretty crazy! It just goes to show how the Gospel really does change lives.

I had a weird experience this week. We were knocking doors and this lady comes up to us and she asks us if we were the missionaries. Before she even said a word, she just started crying. We were like "uhh... what are we going to do?" Well she told us this crazy story in between her sobbing and then she asked us for a ride. (We were with a young guy that is going on his mission in September and he was driving us around.) So we gave her a ride to this shelter thing, and she asked us to say a prayer with her. So I said the prayer and the whole time this lady was crying again. The weirdest part was when I got out to hand her duffle bag to her, she said thank you.  I stuck out my hand to give her a handshake, but she just wasn’t having that! She bypassed my hand and just went for a full on hug! So here I was with this 60 year old lady, just awkwardly wrapped around me, while she was crying! This was seriously one of the most random moments of my mission so far. The whole rest of the night, I was in shock and awe. The kid we were with took it better than we did.  He was like "wow, it is amazing that we were there to help her out, even after the door we knocked didn’t open." So I still have a lot to learn, and I am being taught by everyone, everyday.

Lately I am starting to become a little bolder and more upfront with people as I talk to them. When I first started my mission, I used to think "oh when I have more time out on my mission I will be more bold or more upfront." But I have been realizing that the time to start being bold is now! My mission is almost half way over, so why should I wait to try and be more upfront with people? So it is a good thing that I am finding out at this time. Well that is pretty much my report of this week. transfer calls are this Sunday, so I will have some more news with that this upcoming week. I am pretty sure that I am leaving this area, but I have heard of crazier things happen here. I guess we will just find out this Sunday! (The mom is anxious to know if he will remain in St. George or be elsewhere so I can be sure to get his birthday package to him by the 30^th of July!)

Well take care and have a good week!

 Live it, Love it, Preach it!    Les Amo     ELDER D