P-Day update week 19, 06/27/2022

 ¡¡Hola a todos!!

I write this email to you all on the brink of death. The rains kept coming and I've caught a really bad cold! I guess I only get one week of health and 18 of sickness haha!! But besides rain and sickness it's been a slower week, so not too much to mention :/

My new companion, Elder Mendoza.

This week has been pretty interesting, a little stressful, but that gives flavor to life. I started the week off by staying Monday night with the closest companionship to Zacapoaxtla, two Elders who live in Tlatlauqui, about 45 minutes away. It normally wouldn't be anything interesting, but because they ran out of gas, I had to take a shower by heating up some buckets of water and showering one bowl at a time! It was so cool. I felt like an olden times knight showering after a long day of battle! The next day was even more fun! I had to chance to help one of our Zone Leaders receive the new missionaries. It was interesting to think that just a few short months ago I was being received by the Zone Leaders, and now I'm a real missionary! But the rain unfortunately didn't want to help us out, so the majority of our trip was pushing heavy suitcases up steep hills and getting pelted by heavy rain! But it made me feel important at least haha! I also I picked up my new companion! I can't remember if I mentioned anything about him in my last email, but his name is Elder Mendoza. He's from Texas and has 10 months in the mission, he's really cool! He's a really funny little guy, even though I don't think he always tries to be funny. He just always is hahaha! Since he doesn't know the area, it falls on me to lead the companionship and that's where a lot of my stress came in this week. But I was reading some notes I had from a few weeks ago and it basically just talked about trusting in the Lord. I know the Lord didn't give me this responsibility if he didn't think I could do it! We have another companionship in Zacapoaxtla again so our work load isn't super crazy like it was before. The new companionship is super cool so it helps the house feel more alive :)

I feel like it's about time to talk about our branch president a little more. For the past 13 weeks that I've been here, Presidente Luis has been a real rock for our companionship. Just about every time we have a problem or need some extra help, he is always there. These past couple weeks in particular he's been a big support! Since we've been sick he's always made sure that we're getting better, whether that is giving us soup, some medicine, or just telling us some jokes! The truth is, it's hard to imagine my time here without him and his family and we actually rent our house from him too, so we wouldn't even have a place to stay without him haha!

I found this cool jacket the day we received the new missionaries. 

We had the opportunity to meet and teach some new people as well as some people we've been seeing for a while, so that's made the week go pretty well. First I'll talk a little about our friend Terry. Terry lives in Cuetzalan, a local tourist city, and owns a butcher shop. We taught him one time about 3 weeks ago, and he's gone to church with us two times. We've been really excited to teach him again. We stopped by his place on Friday, we got there in the morning and headed to his shop, which also has his house on top of it. The lesson was amazing. We taught him the message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was one of the best lessons I've ever had the privilege of teaching! We started out by answering a few of his questions about Mormon, who he is, why it's called the Book of Mormon, and why its important. After that we jumped right in! In our mission we have a teaching model that all the missionaries use to be fluent and effective. It also helps two missionaries who barely know each other, teach a coherent lesson. There are three steps: 1. Teach, 2. Testify, 3. Evaluate. It is honestly soo nice, and very helpful, and since it comes from our mission president, every time we focus on it, and use it well, the spirit dwells with us! In this instance in particular, the spirit was so strong with us that as soon as we finished the opening prayer I could feel that this was going to be a great lesson! And it was, every time I opened my mouth, the words just flowed out, we said exactly what we needed to say and we said it with the spirit, and nearly perfect Spanish! This experience was so empowering, I felt like the Lord was doing all the work and I was just there. It is honestly hard to explain, but the spirit that was felt there was almost tangible. Like you could reach out and touch it. At the end of the lesson we invited him to pray on the things we've taught him, to ask God if they're true, and if he does. He'll receive an answer. This lesson is not one I'll forget anytime soon!

Video of Chimochiua.

We've also been teaching some new people, mainly just one new family. They're a family that lives near Morelos, in a town called San Miguel Tenextatiloyan. It's a town famous for its artisanal product, and I've been wanting to go for a while, so I was very happy to have the chance to go and teach a lesson. This family has been going through a very rough time, their son got sick a few months ago and has been put on dialysis. They've been having a hard time keeping their family and faith afloat. Then one day when they were in the hospital the mother Sally saw an advertisement talking about missionaries who help people come to Christ. She told us that she never gives away her data to things like that, but this time she felt like she should. A few days later we gave her a call and set up a time to meet. When we got there we could tell this family desperately needed Christ in their lives. They had a lot of questions and a lot of discouraging events happen to them. But they were ready and willing to hear the gospel. It was a beautiful chat we had with them. We didn't actually get to teach a formal lesson but we did share some scriptures and gave them some peace! And that's what it's all about, we will definitely be seeing them again soon!

An angry cat.

I know this has been a fairly short one this week, but I gave you all the highlights! The rain has been killer but we're not letting it stop us! And that's actually kind of my spiritual thought for the week. In the Bible we read about the Israelites being fed with mana while in the desert, that during their trials, God was always there. So that's been something I've been wanting to focus on, even though sometimes we feel like we're in the middle of the desert and desperately alone, the Lord will always give us mana. Or rather, even when we are going through hardships, Heavenly Father always gives us way to make it through, even if it's the tiny little things that keep us going. Like a phone call from a friend, you have just enough ice cream for another bowl, you find a nickel on the street. These things come from God. There is no such thing as coincidence, and all good things come from our Heavenly Father. So I challenge you all to see how the Lord has given you mana during your time in the desert, and maybe try and see how you can be that support for someone else who is going through trials. Let the spirit guide and trust in the lord!! I love you all!!

-Elder Garnica