This week was crazy. I got a bunch of calls from angry dueños (landlords). But
if I remember right, none of them were really the missionaries' fault.
I've got most of it figured out though. There was one dueño that's
completely bonkers with what was happening there.
Basically he was wanting us to pay a power bill for him even though
it's in the contract that he has to pay them all. I've talked to the
areas office about it and he's the one that really needs to pay it. The
sisters there don't have any electricity though
since it got cut off, so we're getting them out of there ASAP. I've
tried calling him a lot. When he finally answered, he was really
insulting and wouldn't let me talk at all. He kept cutting me off
jajaja. I just took it though and didn't say anything. At
the end, he threw in a "You really need to answer when I call you
because it's a huge sign of disrespect if you don't." (I was in two
lessons when he called me a while back.) I was kinda like, "Well, I
called you 4 times and you never answered." I didn't get
to say anything other than that though because he hung up on me when I
said that jajaja. Oh this dude. I would laugh more about it if I didn't
have to worry about the 1100 soles or so on the line that I need back
from him for the garantia (deposit). So that's that situation
there. I've got it pretty under control I think. Our investigator Mario
is getting baptized tonight. When we first met him, he had a super bad
case of asthma, like he could barely breath after climbing a couple
flights of stairs. He had some Word of Wisdom
problems. Nothing too serious, he just likes his coffee. Even though it
was hard for him, he agreed to stop drinking it. That night that he
agreed to stop, he filled his coffee thermos with manzanilla (chamomile) instead
when he went out. He accidentally dropped it and
it broke. There was a vapor that came out that he breathed in that
literally cured his asthma. He hasn't had a single problem since then.
God sometimes works in mysterious ways. I know that the word of wisdom
will bless us with better health if we can obey
it. That's what I've really learned this week. Have a good week!
-Elder White
Saturday
Elder Wilcox told me today about how he has an aunt that was born in the covenant and has been an active member her whole life. Then she recently got mixed up reading some anti-Mormon things about the same time he left to come on his mission She gradually shopped wearing her garments and going to church. Now she completely denies the faith and takes all of her kids to other churches, which causes a lot of stress on their marriage. It's super sad. A great talk that addresses this is Stand Forever by Lawrence Cornbridge. I've come to the point in my life where I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is His true church, and if it's not, then exactly 0 of the other churches are right. I don't know where I'd be in life; that's not a world I'd want to live in. I'd argue that anti-Mormon stuff is even more toxic than pornography. I know that this is God's church. No doubt about it. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Elder Pardo is the heaviest sleeper. No sound is capable of awaking him. I have to throw my chanclas (flip flops) at him in the morning when his alarm goes off. This morning he slept through 2 alarms and 2 chanclas, so we almost missed our soccer match against Vitarte. We lost like 10-8 or something. You might say, "Wow Elder White, you stink at goalie," until you learn that they had a shot on goal on average every minute and half of our 90 minute match. It was fun. Today I was part of the 501st (Star Wars reference). Pday was pretty standard, nothing new or exciting there. I did take a minute to call my family today. Bryan married Hannah yesterday. Sounded like a fun wedding. When I called my mom, she was out with all the ladies buying stuff to decorate Bryan's car with, among the which were some unmentionables. Certainly interesting decorations. While we were out tonight, we stopped by the Valasquez family and challenged them to bring friends to church tomorrow. We were going in to eat dinner when the Bishop stopped us and was like, "I was talking to my wife and we're really impressed with the work you guys are doing and the animos you've got, especially since you're office Elders. I was in the office, so I know how hard it is; I couldn't do much. But now the ward has 14 baptisms this year, almost all of which are from you guys. The most our ward has ever seen before was 12 when I was ward mission leader. But it's only November and you guys have 10 more with fecha. I'm excited for the work and to see how next year is too. Thanks for what you do." That was a super nice compliment!
Sunday
I know that patience is, indeed, a virtue. If we learn to exercise it as such, we will find blessings in the future that perhaps aren't available to us right now. We need to trust in God's time. For example, I can name probably more than a dozen people (6 in Alameda alone) who I met and helped, but weren't ready in that moment for baptism. But then shortly after I left, they got baptized. Ya gotta plant the seeds. I know that the Lord's knowledge and timing are far superior to ours, so we need to trust in Him. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Renzo got confirmed during church today, so that was great. I loved the ward today, everyone was going up to him and Mario today. Monica came a little late. We also had a street contact come in too. It was a good day. The primary program was today. It was pretty well put together, I really liked their first song A Child's Prayer. There were some funny parts; just kids being kids. Mario said the program made him cry a little (flash backs). After that, we went to go eat lunch with la familia Trufino (Ciara, Gustavo, Andrea, and their mom). It was a fun lunch. Then we went and did some weekly planning and what not while Elder Wilcox also did some stuff for some Elders that are ending this week. A little more than a week ago, Elder Wilcox and I got into a disagreement on who's taller: Hermana Houghton or Hermana Black. He said they were the same height while I said Hermana Houghton was easily at least 4 inches taller. We bet a Cinnabun on it. I called them on Friday with random questions about the alquiler (rental), then threw in that Elder Wilcox need to know how tall they were in order to cancel their Peruvian visa. Hermana Black is 5'3" and Hermana Houghton is 5'9". That was a very worthwhile bet. We had a correlations meeting tonight. We were there for an hour and a half before we had to leave to go to our appointment with Mario. I mean, I love working with the ward and all, but to be honest, I still despise going to correlations and ward council. I just get bored super fast. Our cita with Mario went well. He transitioned from coffee to Ecco. #ConEccoYoPeco. He was hesitant about tithing at first since he's literally broke, but it was humbling to see him accept it when he understood the blessings. We all decided to move his baptism to this Saturday. He asked what he needed so we told him "Chanclas, towel, underwear." "But I don't wear underwear. It worsens my allergies." "..." "Ha Psych!" That was funny. He also teased Elder Wilcox for not responding "in a while crocodile" when he said, "See ya later alligator." We ran into Israel tonight. He seemed well.
Monday
Everyone knows the scripture, "Judge ye not ye be not judged." It's a personal favorite of mine to quote when I'm about to do something foolish, but I recently understood this scripture. The whole "no judge" thing has always made sense. If you were to have asked me why though, I wouldn't have been able to tell you much past that you just shouldn't because it's bad. But then I heard someone say something: if you judge and decide that you're better, it leads to feelings of uncaringness, a lack of love, and pride. On the other hand, if you judge and decide that someone's better than you, it leads to feelings of self pity, envy and worthlessness. Judging others causes us to sin in those ways. It's dangerous, so don't do it. Today was a very busy day. There was a lot of people coming in and out of the office needing things. I've just had relentless problems with dueños as of late. It seems to me as if half the dueños (not that many really) all took crap then threw them simultaneously at my fan. I ran some errands to the bank and area office this morning. I had an emergency side quest at the area office to get a contract signed ASAP for a triggered dueño, but that distracted me and made me forget the real reason why I went there: to drop off the monthly expense report. Oh well though, there's always tomorrow. We had a missionary come from Huancayo today named Elder Sanchez. Elder Reed went home today. I don't like saying bye to Elders that are going home because it's like a reality check. It's also just sad to say bye. There's been a problem of missionaries going to the doctor without permission recently, which is a bill that I have to pay. So we had to make a video to tell the mission not to do that. Well, I got a little bit too excited while I was roasting everyone. We decided it's be best just to let Elder Armstrong handle it. We had a cita with Monica tonight. Elder Wilcox's favorite food is papa rellena, so she had their maid (Basically hired servant), Carmen make some for us. The lesson went really well, but I'm a little nervous that she's possibly only in this for Camila, and Camila accepting or denying could change everything.
Tuesday
I know that the church of Jesus Christ was restored through the ministration of angles. At one point in my life, I was kinda like, "Angels coming to Joseph Smith?" That sounds a little extreme, am I sure that happened?" As I thought about it some more, I realized that it made sense. And not only does it make sense, but that's literally the only way that it could've happened. The priesthood was completely 100% lost. There was no one on Earth with the proper priesthood authority, which means that the only way Joseph could have received it was through Jesus' apostles, which were angels. The best part of being here in Latin America is that no one has problems accepting that. Religion in that sense is already a huge part of their culture. I know that Peter, James, John, and John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith to restore the priesthood keys. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. We got up early this morning to play soccer with Mayorazgo. The only reason I agreed to go was because I thought I'd be able to play basketball too. Jokes on me though because the box to lower the hoops was locked. Elder Alcas and Elder Rivas went home today. Today was a super busy day in the office for me. I spent a good chunk of time organizing all of the house contracts. The Las Flores contracts from Lima Central were super unorganized, so that took a hot minute. While we were working, an earthquake rolled though at 4:48. It wasn't huge, but it was definitely noticeable. We had a cita with Israel and Mayra. When we got there, Mayra said, "I know I said that I'd cook for you guys, but I didn't have time. So I ordered some instead." So we had some good tequeños, wings, french fries and chicharon de pollo to eat first. Those guys like a good conversation. It's kinda funny how much they bagged on the Catholic church. Israel hates them and Mayra is traditional. Mayra was like, "We all bluffed our way through Catholic school since our parents made us," and later, "I know it's not a true church because it costs 1000 + PEN to casarse (get married)." Then they also bagged on it based on their month long Europe trip. They're pretty good. Mayra still hesitates about baptism because she "doesn't want to leave behind her catholic traditions." I don't think that'll be a problem though. They do a lot of self motivated learning on the internet. We went to go do the pre interview with Mario tonight. We ran into him outside his house and he jokingly hid behind a light post. He's just the purest old man. I love him so much.
Wednesday
I know that Christ has given us this marvelous gift called repentance. I am so eternally grateful for the sacrifice that Jesus made for me and everyone else in order to give us this ability. It was an extremely selfless and magnificent act of mercy. I know that God will forgive us of our sins when we follow the process of repentance on his terms. I know that when we really, truly repent, we will find more spiritual freedom and happiness. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. We're all pretty exhausted when we come back for the night. For example, after planning and getting ready for bed, I came into my room and sat on my bed. Elder Pardo followed me in and started talking to me. He took off his plaque and grabbed the phone charger. He tried unsuccessfully to plug it (his plaque) in a few times before he looked down and then realized in defeat what he had tried to do. I was laughing for a solid 10 minutes. Today was a busy work day at the office. It's kinda funny; there's days where I can miss because I have to run errands all day and I'm fine, and there's days where I'm drowning in my paperwork. We went to consejo distrito this morning and then went to the area office to drop off somewhere near 200 pages of paperwork. But here's the thing about the area office; it comes with a curse. As soon as you go there to do something, there's always something that comes up a few hours later that makes you go back, usually me receiving a bill too large to pay in my office. I feel like a few of these dueños just hate me. In Tilda, something was really weird with the power bill--normally the bill comes back around 30-50 soles, but in October it spiked 1000% to 308 soles. Obviously something happened there because the Hermanas did nothing to change their power usage. Well, the dueño wanted to make me pay for it. So I had to call him and explain that in the contract he signed, he agreed to pay all the utilities as part of monthly rent payments. It's not our fault the power company screwed up. Well, he wouldn't listen to me. He even tried the "I can't believe someone who claims to love Jesus would..." line. That gets me triggered. I had to hang up and call him later. I said a prayer for comfort and guidance, and then felt impressed to hit shuffle on my hymns play list. The first song was Where Can I Turn for Peace? That helped a lot. (The dueño didn't answer though.) Mario passed his baptismal interview tonight. The other Elders have an investigator named Chezel, so Elder Wilcox and I always quote, "Oh Chezel, we will get married in the morning!"
Thursday
I was studying Nephi's last testimony during my personal scripture study this morning. The last sentence he wrote really stood out to me. It says in verse 15, "[I do this] because thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I must obey. Amen." That's the best way he could have ended it. To me, Nephi's story is a story of obedience. Every couple of chapters, he reminds us that if we keep the Lord's commandments we'll prosper, but if not, we'll perish. Nephi was always great at exercising faith and obeying quickly with exactness, and we can see the blessings that he had because of that, but also Laman and Lemuel's misery due to a lack of that. Just as we're taught in D&C 130:21, Nephi recognized that his happiness came from the blessings received through obeying those commandments, and he recognized that he must obey in order to continue receiving blessings. We must also obey the Lord. I know that as we do so, we will find joy in it as did Nephi. In the name of Jesus Chirst, Amen. So the other Elder's have an investigator named Pilar that was supposed to get baptized on Saturday with Mario, but then this morning she called them and told them that she couldn't do it. Apparently her ex boyfriend from the jungle found out and threatened her if she did because he didn't want their daughter to go to church. So that kind of stinks. Satan's not a very nice guy. Today I got calls from 3 more dueños with problems ranging from missionaries destroying their rooms to me walking through old houses to decide how to use a garantia. Those dueños are causing a lot of stress and problems for me. I called the hermanas in Tilda. The electricity has been cut off to their room, but they're all being good sports about it. I tried calling the dueño a few more times and he didn't answer, so I sent him a text asking him to call me too. Naranjas (Oranges). Well, all of our citas fell tonight. Israel and Mayra sent me a text saying that they were making compras (shopping) in Central de Lima and wouldn't be able to make it. I sent a text mildly expressing our disappointment and asked if they had read the Book of Mormon. They never replied. We happened to pass by their house at the time the cita was planned, and their lights were on with their windows open. Not quite sure what happened there, but ya gotta give them the benefit of the doubt I guess though. Monica got back from work late and we weren't able to do it. Elder Wilcox had to do a interview for the assistant's investigator for her baptism on Saturday.
Friday
I know that because Jesus conquered death and was resurrected, each and everyone of us will be blessed with that same gift someday. We will return to see our loved ones. We will have a perfect body. God loves us. I love the scripture that says, "Be thou patient my son, thine afflictions shall be for a small moment..." and then comes the blessings of Heaven. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. There was an earthquake training for all the leaders in the mission today. We couldn't get our new mics to work for a while, but then Elder Pardo figured it out. He made guacamole and bought chips for the break, so that was tasty and original. I had a busy day in the office filled with caja chica reimbursements, paying receipts, talking to a child Tilda's dueño, etc. Oh, Tilda. I called their dueño again today and he actually answered this time. I was like, "Hey man, so we've revised the Hermana's house and we haven't found any way they could've used so much electricity, so we're not gonna pay your bill. And they told me you planned to kick them out at the end of the month, but since they got their electricity shut off, they'll be moving out in a few days." This man, I just can't with him. He's got the thickest skull. He didn't let me talk the rest of the call; he'd just cut me off when I tried. He kept saying, "Well who's going to pay the utility bills for November?" He wouldn't let me say we already paid November's rent, which includes utilities. Then he moved to trying to guilt trip and insult me. He wouldn't let me talk still, so I used the Peruvian "ya" a lot, among other things. "I'm a good man." "Ya, chevere (cool)." "This situation is totally unjust." "Totally." "You guys are being so dishonest." "Oh I hear ya." "At least I can sleep at night with a clean conscience." "That's so cool." "I don't know how you can carry yourself ripping people off like this." "Oh, I agree." etc, etc, etc. Then at the end he was like, "I'm gonna talk to my dad then call you back. That's another thing. When I call, you need to answer (he called me in citas). It's a huge sign of disrespect if you don't answer your phone on me. You..." "Hey (x10), I called you 4x and you never answered me." *Beep Beep Beep* He hung on me. It's kinda funny, but also stressful since there's 1100 PEN on the line. I just want someone to laugh about it with. We visited Mario tonight since his baptism is tomorrow. I realized something: he used to have super bad asthma. Then we taught the Word of Wisdom and he promised to obey it. That night he had manzanilla in his coffee thermos. While he was out, it fell and broke. He inhaled some of the steam that came out, and since that day hasn't had a single problem with asthma. God works in mysterious ways, but also always follows up on promised blessings.
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