March 23, 2009
Alrighty then family - Sorry I'm late again. But, here I am.
So we had another good week here in Catacaos. I guess you could call it a good week, because nothing severely bad happened, so I'm not complaining. First off, a shout out to Grandpa Royal for the 75th birthday – quite the accomplishment in my book. And also, to Jason for his 21st birthday. Hooray!
Alright, so we had a few interesting things happen this week – no we did not have any baptisms, no I didn't get robbed, but I did almost die – we'll get to that later. (Na ah ah . . . no reading ahead. Stay focused. Ha.) So there is a rather frustrating thing going on with our investigators: no one is committing to baptism (at least not in the last couple weeks). I guess that's supposed to be weird here in the Piura Mission, but I have to say that up until this point in my mission, I have never worked with so many people that have been taught so many times, and have attended the church so many times (which is also a requirement for baptism), and who are not sufficiently motivated to enter the waters of baptism. I have to say that it's weird, and sad because we have so many people that are ready, believe it, but are just not moving forward, doing something about it. Ugh. But on the other hand, it's good to have so many people progressing – something good will happen. I'm confident in that.
We had a few encounters with some weird guys this week, one that was drunk or at least slightly drunk, and in the middle of a lesson that we were actually doing on the sidewalk, he interrupted us and started saying all this stuff about "Americans" and how they changed religion and are all racists. He kept going on an on and my answers gradually became more sarcastic (which is ok because they don't pick up on sarcasm down here) and after 10 minutes of his drunken retardedness he says: "I know you aren't understand a word I say and your friend here will tell you about it later and you'll just laugh." I guess he forgot that we had been talking for 10 minutes face to face. Like I said, slightly drunk. And he kept touching us, shaking our hands and slapping (lightly) our shoulders and stuff, and then he kinda did this laugh thing and slightly patted my comp's face. Oh boy, at that moment I thought that was it, that my comp was gonna lose it, he had his fists clenched and stuff (and remember, he is a trained fighter), and then another drunk came and the guy away. That seriously took a lot of patience, I must say. So that's a story that I think I went on about for too long. Another one, a guy named Segundo, who was also slightly drunk I think, caught us in the street at like 8:30 at night and says… 'you know God doesn't exist, right?" And he gave us his reasons and what not - really sad life he's had, absolutely no faith whatsoever. To be honest, I saw it as a great opportunity to be able to talk to a guy like that who was completely without hope, who could then experience the incredible joy of the gospel. We talked for a bit, but he didn't want us to come to his house. So, he told us to meet him again on the street in the exact spot the next night, same time. He then said that he'd be there if he didn't commit suicide. We went the next night, on time, and I had been anxious all day to meet him again, because I felt something different about that guy. I really did. And we waited at the same spot for about 30 minutes – but he never showed up. (Well, I built that up pretty well only to shoot it down, eh?) I don't really think he killed himself. I think he was being overdramatic, and I think we still have a chance of finding and helping him because he has a connection with an active member. So we'll see this week. I'm really hoping that we can find him again.
Oh ok, so I figure you're probably waiting to hear how I almost died. Saturday night I think it was, we were walking along the highway, on the left side, and a bus was coming from behind, but I didn't think anything of it because we weren't on the road. My comp turned around and goes "Woah!" and he grabs my arm, pulls me over about 2 or 3 feet, and the bus passed by going about 60 mph and still almost grazed me after getting pulled to the side. So there it is. I was about a half second away from being road kill. But it's ok Mom, I'm not. You can thank Elder Machacuay for that one. Haha.
My pension's son returned from his mission this past week, which is nice, because she's happier than I've ever seen her - which is actually great because now she doesn't yell at me for no reason anymore. (Like: "WHY IS YOUR PEANUT BUTTER ON THE TABLE?!?") So she's in a better mood most of the time now. And she bore her testimony at church yesterday, which was my first time hearing it, and to hear that come from a person who has struggled so much lately with her testimony, with the recent death of her sister, and other family issues - it was awesome to hear. I was really happy for that.
What do I want for my 20th birthday, you ask? How about a sure fire cure for warts? I need something to forever destroy the warts on my body. I refuse to believe that there is nothing powerful enough in our modern medicine society that can get rid of a stupid little wart. That would be well appreciated. (Yeah, I've tried Super Glue and no, it didn't work (even if Jordan says it worked for him), and I don't think duct tape will work. The dumbest ones are on the tip of my fingers, tough to keep duct tape there.) Glad to hear that Jordan is enjoying volleyball. Tell him to keep working hard (and then I'll slam him when I get back!). Oh, and since I do my share of complaining about the computers down here, I got a good one today, which is really a nice change of pace. And Dad, I love the Dear Elders. They are awesome.
Okay, I think I'll wrap this up now - pretty long. My Spanish is coming just dandy. I have to say that I can speak and understand pretty well now – just have to expand my vocabulary. But it's coming along really well. All kidding aside (and I know I do a lot of it in these letters), the mission is definitely difficult, but definitely the best thing I've ever been a part of. While I have greater struggles than ever before, I feel the spirit and help of the Lord much more often, and its influence is so strong in my life. But, I know the struggles will just keep getting bigger, which is why it's so important that we stay close to the Lord, so that He may help us. There is nothing more important in this life. I'm grateful to be apart of this awesome work. Live it, because it's true. And this is my new quote, an Elder Royal original that I thought of all by myself (ha ha). "Happiness comes with progression." We have to keep learning and moving forward, flowing like a river! Woo hoo! Spread the love for me. You are all awesome, and I love you very much.
Elder Royal
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