Tirando Barra

December 13, 2010

what up fam?

This week was busy and fast paced, we have like zero time to do anything just jumping around from appointment to appointment, trying to squeeze everyone into our already tightly packed days. I like it, it feels more fulfilling, to come home each day exhausted. But only about half of all that is actually useful work, that is helping people make commitments and progress, a lot of it is being full time home or mostly visiting teachers. Elder Green kind of has this mentality that we should be like bishops or something, basically doing the ward's job, today we even went and got a prescription filled out for a homebound member's medicine. I've talked to him about this before, about how we should get the ward involved on what they should be doing but he seems content on doing it ourselves. Now I have no problem with helping out people outside of our responsibility but doing that without trying to get the ward to get on the bandwagon, thus making it our responsibility, is a problem. He's also concerned about certain members and their worthiness and whatnot, again I told him that's between them and the Bishop, we're not to get involved in such things. But Elder Green is rather stubborn, I have the the opposite problem with him than I did with Elder Lamoure. Elder Lamoure was lazy and wouldn't do anything, which is irritating but at least I could see that we got things done the right way. Elder Green is not lazy at all, but as an inexperienced greenie he doesn't know what he's doing, but he thinks he does, and tries to do everything. So I end up having to mend the fences along the way, everywhere we go. It's tiring but at least it's better than last transfer.

So... Amusing anecdotes of the week. On Wednesday we had 3 dinners with members, it was really good food, caldo de verdaduras y pollo, enchiladas rojas, mole, and of course with each meal lots of arroz, frijoles, and tortillas, it was a ton of food we were so full we wanted to die. And now that I'm in the ghetto we were getting REAL mexican food, so real that the next morning we were taking turns in the bathroom for several hours. We both got pretty sick from it, it was the first time I'd ever been really sick on my mission. Luckily the day that we got sick we had only one appointment, so we went to that and then crashed for the rest of the day. We were back up the next day, just fine and again went about everywhere at break-neck speed teaching people.

As aforementioned the ward council refuses to give rides to investigators, we have to go around them and individually ask members to give people rides. Anyway for sunday we had a plan, we had two investigators and a part-member family who live pretty close to each other and we were going to try to get them on the bus to the church. From the previous week we found out that simply telling people where the church was, telling them to take the bus, and hoping to see them there, isn't enough. So we tracked down maps of the bus routes and asked members who use the bus and formulated a plan. Sunday morning we were to go wake everyone up at 10:00, go back to the church to correlation meeting, then go back, and walk each family to the bus stop, get them to wait there, while we went and got the others and walked with them to the bus stop, once they were all there the active member who also uses that bus-stop would come and be with them on the bus and herd them to the Church. The only thing we lacked were sheep dogs.

Well our plan was a complete failure, one family had some family visiting so they had "other things to do" that day. Same with a few other investigators, the only ones that were ready that morning were Maria and Katrin, an older hispanic woman and her 10 year old daughter who is actually a member who was baptized a year ago. Now to all of these people we had carefully explained the plan, so when we came to pick them up and walk with them to the bus-stop, which was actually like a half mile away, they walked out of the house and straight to our car. They assumed that we were just going to take them to church in our car. As I started to explain to them the plan all over again they both stood there, wrapped up in there jackets and things, shivering and as I was telling them that they were going to take the bus I saw their faces fall. I kind of just slowed down and stopped talking, it was really cold, there was this nasty biting wind, the bus stop was a ways away, and they might or might not have a few bucks on them for the bus fare. They did what the dog likes to do and gave us the big brown eyes, this little old mexican woman and her kid. Then I told them to get in the car, we would take them this time and show them where to get on and off the bus and everything, but next week they were going to take the bush for sure. Their faces instantly brightened up and lept into the car. Elder Green, who was struggling to keep up with the conversation saw them get into the car and, realizing what we were about to do started to protest but I told him to get in the car and we drove them to church. So yeah, we broke the rules, we can't have investigators or even members in our car unless they're Melchizedek priesthood holders, etc, etc, etc. But whatever, we took them to church, and they had a good time. So of all the 8 or so investigators we expected to come to church only one came, that we drove there, there were some others who were supposed to come independently but didn't show. Maria and Katrin did take the bus home though with a member so we didn't have to take them back. I don't know, Jesus would have probably given them a ride....

So yeah.... Oh and sunday was 'El Dia de la Virgen Guadalupe'. I had forgotten all about it, which may explain why none of our investigators came to church. It's basically a holiday in which mexicans celebrate their worship of Mary. Apparently back in the day some mexican, Don Miguel, or something prayed and Mary appeared to him and ever since them they started calling her Guadalupe, for who knows what reason. But on the day previous to it we were in a teaching appointment, and the family had their front door open because they were cooking and it was hot in the house, and down the street as we were teaching comes this huge crowd of mexicans, we didn't see them because the door was parallel to the street but we heard all of this clanging and voices and then one lady shouts: "!SALUDEN A LA VIRGEN GUADALUPE!" literally: 'salute virgen guadalupe'. And then there was cheering and stuff and much clamour, I wish I had gotten a video of it, it was pretty funny.

Okay, I'm out of time. I sent y'alls Christmas box today so it should come later this week. Nothing's wrapped so don't open the box till Christmas. And Dad's present is actually in the box that I sent home a couple weeks ago, but there's a note inside of this box explaining all of that. So yeah.... Oh and mom I hope you got from the e-mail last week that I needed a couple of my hoodie-jacket things, I hope they're in the Christmas package, if not please send them ASAP. So I love y'all and have a good week.

-- Elder Arroz