Elder Don DeFreese: The Weekly Semana

December 3, 2012
Dear family and friends,

Firstly, I have to comment on what mom said about the new (she IS new in the ward, right?) sister, Claudia Gonzalez. Woohoo! That makes me super happy and excited, because I am definitely going to need to practice my spanish and eat some good ol' Mexican food! Mmmm..

This week I was seriously thinking about how in the world I would be able to live without fresh made tortillas, beans, and especially my new favorite chile pepper, chiltepín. Alright, so it isn't a new favorite, but it IS a new obsession. Before, I liked it. Now I ask for it every time we eat. They say it's really spicy and hardly eat it themselves and they're all shocked that I eat so much of it, but I do like it quite a bit. Sooo good.

Anyway though, now I'll be able to live in peace knowing that Sister Gonzalez can teach me how to make all of that stuff up there in La Casa! Woohoo! =D

Alright, but moving on into the week...

So this week was pretty good, pretty normal and all, but good.

On Tuesday we had our normal District Class, the only difference being that we had to have both districts of Teziutlán in the stake center (our chapel) because the Assistants came up to do a little training with our District Leaders. Each of the Assistants took one of the classes and taught the majority of it, focusing on our calling as missionaries and the power and authority that we have, or that we SHOULD have, if we just trust and believe in that. It was a really cool topic, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Then we got some practices done and they gave us all a few pointers as we went over a few teaching principles. It was good.

After that, each of the assistants accompanied one of the District Leaders and another companionship to go to their teaching appointments and such. They didn't come with us, but the Elders said that it went well for them.

Hmm, what else... Oh yeah! I got my package, thanks mom! 'Twas nice to get that super early this year. =P Now I've just put it under my bed so that it doesn't tempt me having to wait until Christmas. My companion keeps telling me to open it so that I can share american candy with him, seeing as how he's going home the 18th of December. He's the first companion that I've ''killed'' as they say here, seeing as how going home is ''dying'', so that's kind of a weird experience seeing how his attitude and habits change bit by bit. He's still working hard though, so it's all good. Sometimes the missionaries get pretty lazy when they're finishing up. I'm of the opinion that doing such is like starting a 25 mile marathon or something, and on the last mile, being in first place and still having energy to go, you just decide to walk until you get there, letting others pass you by.

In other words, I think it's stupid, to be frank*. Haha, but I'm making sure that doesn't happen to my comp, and I won't let it happen to me either. =D

What else??? Well, this week was a bit of a roller coaster as for the progress of investigators, seeing as how we've had a drop a couple and such. But I can definitely testify that if we're LOOKING for God's guidance, and we're WILLING to change our plans to fit with His, He'll guide us quite a bit.

This week their were various moments where we were going to one appointment or plan and one or the other felt to check someone else instead, and from that we found really great people to teach. One of those experiences was that we were going to visit some old investigators that we haven't seen for a while to check up on them and see if we can get them going again, but as we were on our way, I remembered this referral of a young guy in our ward named Luís, I'll explain a bit more about him in a sec... But anyway, I remembered that he had mentioned how his cousin wanted to go to church because he'd seen a lot of good changes in Luís, and wanted to change his life too. The only problem was that Luís wasn't sure when his cousin would be working and when he'd be home, but I felt to check that referral. So, as we were already close to where Luís works, we went and asked him for the address, and we searched his cousin, Edgar.

We got to the house miraculously quickly (only people who've tried to search addresses in Mexico will understand me, I'm afraid...=P), and Edgar answered the door. We went in and introduced ourselves and he just opened himself up and let us know all of his trials and problems, family issues, etc. and how he has such a desire to change who HE is to be able to help those around him as well. He talked to us for a good while and we gave him an introduction to the gospel, talking a bit about the atonement of Jesus Christ. The spirit was pretty strong.

Then we taught him about prayer, and asked him to say the closing prayer. He said he didn't feel ready, but I explained to him about how Satan tries to make us feel that the farther we are from God, the harder it is for him to hear us as we pray, but that Jesus came to earth for the sinners, not for the just, and that the moment that we feel less worthy to pray is when we have more need to do so. So, we testified to him of that and re-commited him to say the prayer, which he did.

It was one of the best prayers I've heard in the mission, filled with emotion and real intent. I felt the spirit super strong as he prayed and we know that he'll progress and be able to make those changes that he wants so bad.

So that was a great experience.

I know that God loves us all and really desires to guide us in our lives, if we just humble ourselves and accept that guidance that He wants to give us. Let's all be a little more attentive to the spiritual promptings we receive, because we ALL receive them. I know God will guide you all as well, and you'll be really glad that you follow that guidance, because you'll have more peace of mind and more happiness as you go about your every day lives.

I hope you all know I love you a ton! I liked Jared's ''dying words'' from Korea. Love is definitely key in this work.

Until next week,

Elder DeFreese