Skinny, eh? I dont know what is going on. I have never changed anything. Maybe it is one of those huge figurative analogy things. Like when i started the mission the weight and stress of the work was really plumping and cushioning me up, then when i started to quit relying on myself, the Spirit, which, as everyone knows, is made of helium, began to take over and is lightening the load.
Or maybe its just because we walk alot and its really hot.
I love being the offspring of a latin mommy and a cali daddy. Content when their kids are tubby and concerned when they are nearing average. I eat lots. Oh, and as for ceviche, i think it is my fivorite food ever, which is wierd, but true. I am also gaining a love for brazilian food. There is a group of about 6 elderly brazilian single women who love feeding us. We are like their vending machines. They put food in and in return i entertain them with my broken brazilian (i refuse to call it portuguese because i can understand brazilian portuguese just fine but whenever i run into a portuguese person i just smile and nod). I think brazilian requires more role playing ability than actual knowledge. Just have to picture that you are a drunk french guy trying to speak spanish. Way easier.
I just realized that the whole beginning of this email would have been a huge and useless sidenote had it not been for the fact that i started out with this... Now this is the side note.
So as for the new companion situation i am extremely pleased. Its like sharing the gospel with a buddy just becuase you both want to. I was super excited when i first found out, which was actually well before i was supposed to. I went on exchanges with one of the assistants to the president and my favorite game to play while i am visiting is the "lets see whats in this drawer" game. Found a lot of cool stuff. Amogst the stuff found was the paper with all the transfers on it. Oops.
As for the actual week, it has been so flip turned upside down. Gosh. Let me just scrape the surface and throw it at you so you can get a sample.
Oh, and before i forget, i would like to request lots of pictures from powell once again. You have done splendidly in the past and i would like to request a repeat. I will reward with many loves and kisses, no matter who you are. Be warned.
Back to the business of the crazy week. We got a call from a guy who had been contacted a few months ago but lived in england so he dodged it with his excuses. The elders who talked to him did manage to give him a card which apparently has been burning into this said individuals concience for the past few months until he came back to spain to visit. When he got here he called us and said he really wanted to hear what we were all about. That was a first for me. While teaching him he said that he was very confused and starting telling us all about his life and i remember vividly that the thought that went through my mind several times as i struggle to focus and listen, which has always been an inward battle, was the thought, "this guys sits really wierd." He continued explaining his interesting story and sitting uniquely until he realized the two utah bubble boys in front of him just were not getting it, so he came right out and said it. Turns out hes gay. That was a first for me. Explains the sitting uniqueness. He was really nice and got a lot of stuff to think about and is actually going to keep learning in england. We will see how that goes down.
Not long after this experience, which caused us to feel a little strange, as you can probably imagine, the Lord sent 3 californian girls to get us back in line. We were waiting for an investigator so we couldnt really escape anywhere and they came to visit the temple so it is not like we could avoid it either. I think it is sufficient to sum up that whole awkward talking experience by saying that i had no idea what to do with my hands while talking to them. Apparently a temple missionary was supervising the activity and she was proud of my brave effort and ensured me i would figure it out someday.
Not long after this experience, which caused us to feel a little strange, as you can probably imagine, the Lord sent Danny, one of our sweet investigators to cheer me up. He was in awe when he realized that we had real names. When i told him mine he tried it out a couple of time (destroying it like they always do) and said, "your name sound like a transformer." That was a first for me.
Not long after this experience, which caused me to feel awesome, as you can probably imagine, i was awkwardly caught up in my first profession of love from one of the young women in the ward. It was wierd. I am going to have to write the whole experience down somewhere because it would make great material for a soap opera. She has helped us a lot with some of the investigators we have of her age, you know, befriending and what not. After sacrament meeting was over she just walked up, let it all out, told me she couldnt work with me anymore, and went on her way, Nothing you learn in Preach my Gospel prepares you for that.
Not long after this experience, which caused us to feel a little strange, as you can probably imagine, we saw a lizard. It was so sweet! We were coming home at the end of the day and there it was, just hanging out on the fence. I chased it for a while and then caught it. We were going to give it as a gift to the new missionary that we live with (he is actually dating a girl from MV that graduated with Jason.), but as i was triamphuntly gitting off the ground with my lizard (it was quite the tussle), my pen fell out of my pocket, and as i went down to get it the lizard slipped out of my hand and started crawling up my arm. That freaked me out so of course i screamed and dropped the lizard. As i chased it again i almost got it and then everything fell out of my pocket, as always happens to me, and it got away.
Not long after this experience, which caused us to feel a little strange, as you can probably imagine, we went to work for what was supposed to be an awesome day. We got a call at the last minute changing a few of our plans but it was no big deal. When we got to the first appointment, it turns out the guy was a bum so we had to change plans. Because of the plan change we ended up with an awkward window of time. Too little to follow through with what we had for a back up plan, and just wandering would be useless. So we made a choice. Contact as far as we could up a street towards the next appointment and catch a bus if we were not going to make it on time. We started out on the course that this silly man who showed tons of promise had put us on. Immediately i saw a man organizing his bags from the shopping trip he just had and thought we should offer to help him. I have loved doing this my whole mission, mostly just because it is way fun to offer my companions help, but also because they never say yes. We feel good for trying and we dont even get tired because we dont do anything. Win win, with just a little loss in the middle. Well, i kind of brushed off the thought because there were a ton of other people we could talk to and we were a little down on our goal for contacts. Luckily the Lord loves to give second chances, (at times i even feel like a walking second chance (not sure what that means but it is true)) because i turned after walking around a kid, tripping, and dodging an old man to see the very same guy walking right next to me with all of his bags. I gave in and offered help. He accepted. That was a first for me. We started talking and he was super cool. He even went so far as saying that he had never met anyone like us before. He then asked who we were. After explaning a bit he kind of got quiet for a second and said, "my wife and i have been looking for a church to go to for a long time." He asked if we were allowed to accept a drink from him. If there is one thing i have learned on my mission it is to always say yes to everything that gets us to have more one on one time with them and even moreso allows them to serve us. He served us and we met his wife and his two apartment mates. They are all amazing. When we had to leave he said he would walk us out. He not only walked us out, but walked with us almost all the way to the church. He said that ever since he got here he had been really sad and was looking for something he didnt even understand. He said that for the first time he had felt it with us.
It is incredible how much the Lord is in charge.
Hugs and kisses,
Elder Carr-emelito
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