P-Day update week 77, 08/07/0223

Bueno entonces!!

Well another week in the books here in Independencia! We're still working hard out here trying to keep things rolling!!

Billiards

Honestly this was a pretty hard week, first off we lost basically two full days of work! And the days that we did have were full of lessons that fell through. But at this point in my mission I'm used to the normal day sports we get sometimes, so we're making sure to keep pushing forward! It's interesting that when we have success in an area there almost always comes a time when you feel like all the momentum you've gained just drops off and you feel kinda stuck. But I have seen from personal experience that if we don't give in and just keep doing what we know we need to do the success will come! Please pray for our friends so they can continue progressing towards their first covenant with God!!

So like I said we basically lost two days of work, those two days were Interviews and the Zone Conference! So the day of the Interviews we had to leave the house pretty early to go open the stake center for President. We got everything opened and were able to plan our day there at the church as we waited! Once President arrived we greeted him and helped bring in some boxes for the Zone, I got a few packages for my birthday as well (thank you!!). And then the first companionship arrived and we were able to start the interviews! But because of the assignment my companion and I have we had to stay there the whole day organizing the interviews, making sure everyone gets in with both President and Hermana Villanueva without taking too much time! My companion and I went last since we were going to be there the whole day anyway! It was awesome to have a one-on-one talk with President! He is so cool! He's very different form the other Mission Presidents I've had, he's really funny but has a strong presence, it makes it very easy to want to follow him, he's a beast!!! We talked a little bit about my story and why I'm here and a little about the Zone, we had a really great interview! After I was done my companion hopped I'm and I was able to talk with Elder Moreno and Elder Buer for a few minutes! They were both in my district in Xalapa so it's always nice to catch up with them and see how they're doing!! Once my companion came out we got ready to leave but we hit a little roadblock! So throughout the whole day we had been trying to organize our food appointment around the interviews, we had thought that we were agreed on at 4. But the interviews lasted a little longer and we didn't finish until 5, and when we looked at our phone they had sent us a message that made us think that they canceled on us :/. We sent them a message back to confirm and he just said "thanks". Oh well, we started thinking about where we were going to eat when Presidente overheard us and invited us to go eat with them! Of course we couldn't turn down the opportunity to eat with the mission President (and eat for free as well haha)! So we hopped in Betsy (the mission minivan) and we headed to a nearby restaurant called "Citro Gambas". We all got in and sat down to order our food, and not 10 minutes passed before a lady came in asking if we had a silver Toyota Sedan, the APs do in fact drive a silver Toyota Sedan. And it was getting towed. So the APs and President went running out to go save Juancho from being taken to car jail! They were taking a long time so Hermana Villanueva canceled their food and we just ate while we waited for them. My companion and I were ready to go at this point but unfortunately all of our stuff was in Betsy which was on its way to the car pound! So we had to just wait it out, but we took advantage of the time to talk with Hermana Villanueva and learn a bit more about and from her!! She's also a beast!! But after a little while President and his Assistants came back, finished eating and gave us a ride home to drop off our stuff! We were super beat from doing nothing haha but we had a dinner appointment with a family in the ward who is moving in a few days! So we made our way over there and got ready to eat waffles for dinner after having just ate a whole meal haha...it wasn't as fun as you would think! It was a really battle to get those waffles down but we eventually conquered them, said goodbye to this family and headed home!! A very weird day!!

Birthday!!

Cat card!!

Oil lamp like the ones mentioned in the parable of the ten virgins

Two days after our Interviews here in Martinez we had our Zone Conference! Like always we got up en headed to the bus station nice and early to catch our bus that left at 7:15am! Everyone got there right on time which was awesome and usually doesn't happen haha!! But we got on and made it safely to Teziutlan. When we got off the bus the air was so nice in Teziu, it was actually pretty cool! Almost 8 months of my mission there and I still and so happy every time I arrive and feel something not hot haha!! Once we got to the stake center we had a quick breakfast and got right into the Conference! This time President asked both companionships of Zone Leaders to sit on the stand with him, he told us it gives us a "different perspective". The only problem is that they often used PowerPoint and the projector in the Conference so we had to keep getting off and going back onto the stand, but it's alright! The Conference itself was great as always! We talked about a lot of stuff, I'll put it on here as bullet points:

● We talked about how in Chapter 18 of 1 Nephi, Laman and Lemuel start to "Be merry" on the ship. In Spanish they use a different word to describe this which is more similar to "be idle" or "to take ot easy". They warned us about the importance to not forget who brought us this far, it's okay to be happy and have fun, but we can't lose ourselves in pride or commodity that leads to Idleness.

● They talked about studying to Missionary standards by focusing on one part and getting really good at it and really acquainted with it to give it more significance.

● They mentioned the new way we plan our weeks, which us now 100% digital so everything goes straight into our calendar when we plan every Thursday!!

After they taught us for a few hours we finished, had lunch, took pictures, and headed back home to Martinez! It was a great conference, and first conference with President Villanueva and Hermana Villanueva! (Did I mention that they're both beasts?)

So usually when we have Zone Conference we don't plan to do many things that day because of the fact that we have to travel far away and come back pretty late. And this time was no exception, but the only problem is that we got in a lot earlier than we had thought! So my companion weren't sure what to do, but we did know that we had a big box of missionary supplies that we had to drop off at the church! So we left the bus station when we got in and headed to the MTZ stake center, when we got there we opened up the gate and someone grabbed our attention from behind us. It was our friend James that we met when we Elder Beltrán first got here! In fact it was pretty interesting how we met James, one day we were looking for inactive families when a man stops us and asks us how he can join the church! We tell him that we are missionaries and help people who have desires like him to strengthen their faith in Christ and prepare to be baptized! He said he was on board! We set a day to go and see each other at the stake center and have a lesson, and we gave him our number since his doesn't work. But the day of the lesson he didn't show up, :/. So it was a miracle that he saw us and came up to us the other day, and because he had just gotten off work and we didn't have anything to do we were able to give him a brief tour of the church and teach him about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! We see a lot of potential with him! He has desires to learn and be a member of the church! But there's a few things he wants to get sorted our before that can happen, but that's why we have Christ in our lives, to help us grow and change!!

Elder Garnica and Elder Beltran, missioneros prfesionales!

Serious meal

Very loving street cat we found!

Well that's all folks! My spiritual message this week is focused on prayer. Have you ever lost your keys (or wallet, phone, cat etc.) And been so worried that you pray to ask Heavenly Father's help? Well I know I have, and it happens a lot because...well I don't know but it happens a lot!! And I've found that the Lord just helps! I've made so many prayers like that, and as I look back on my life and my mission I've seen that it always works out! I don't always find the thing I lost, but I've always found peace in the end! This last week I lost a pair of Mandalorian socks that Nicole and Princeton sent me. I loved those socks, and even though they were a little "Casual" they were my designated P-Day socks! But one day I came back from the laundromat and they weren't there, I went back and the Lady that works there said she hasn't seen it, but hopes it'll come back soon! That was about 2 weeks ago, and I've been praying to be able to find it. But we went back a few days ago and the Lady said that it's most likely that those socks won't show up again because they were cool and people rarely return cool stuff that is accidentally put into their bag. Now nothing has changed, I still don't have the socks and they haven't recompensated me, but I feel okay! It's embarrassing to explain how sad I was to loose that pair of socks, but now through prayer and a desire to live the Father's will, I'm okay! THAT is what prayer can do for us, put our struggles and trials and needs in the Lord's hands and let him take care of it! It's basically a cheat code! We have the all powerful Father of every man, creature, and plant, creator of all on speed dial, and he always picks up, and he always helps. How awesome is that?? I can't explain how it works but he always gives us a hand and in the end we finish with peace. Whether I end up finding my cool Star Wars socks or not, I can have confidence that it is in the Lord's hands, and if I do all I can to help I will finish with greater peace in my soul. You can do this too!! (So do it, like actually, whenever you need to, talk to him, he has connections in all the places)

I love you all so very much and I hope you have a wonderful week! I will see you all soon!!

-Elder Garnica