I can't believe its been a month since I posted. At first it was because we were so busy getting Nathan ready to go, then I didn't want to blog because I was missing Nate and blogging made me think about his being gone. Well...I am back to being a well-adjusted missionary mom again. So here are AJ's last two email. I will post his pictures in a separate post.
December 4th...
MELIPILLA! MELIPILLA! MELIPILLA! MELIPILLA! Thats the sector that i got sent back to, the exact same one that i started in. Yesterday we had changes and when I saw my name up there on the board next to melipilla 1, I couldn’t believe my eyes almost. This almost never happens in this mission. Before now, ive only heard of 2 other missionaries going back to the same sector twice. And that’s with almost 400 missionaries having passed through the mission in my time. Its amazing. Its like every missionaries dream to be able to go back to the first sector at the end with the same knowledge that they have at the end and do things over and im gonna get to do that. I get to visit all my converts, see the members again, and finish it all where I started. I know for sure that I was supposed to be here for something now though because I got taken out before when I was supposed to stay. So if im back, there is someone that is still waiting for me here or there is something to do and I hope to do it. For sure the first thing that Im gonna focus on though is getting all my converts reactivated because all but one of them are inactive now. That’s gonna be the first thing. And then from there I hope that we can just take out the trash here. Its gonna be awesome.
Other than that, I would say that I had a pretty boring week but it really wasn’t. we got almost nothing done as far as missionary work is concerned cuz we spent all week doing other things. Monday through Friday was just about cleaning the old house out getting it ready for the people to come back. So we didn’t do almost anything then. But it made those days go by realy fast cuz then when we did go out to work, we did like one thing and were done. So we moved over with the zone leaders from maipu and lived with them and that’s where they will be til they find a house. It was a ton of fun and we talked so much every night. I swear we didn’t get to sleep til about 1 every night cuz we were talking so much. I guess that’s what happens when you put 4 gringos in the same pension that all like to joke around and laugh.
Saturday night we went with the familia Gomez parada to this Christmas concert that they are having at the temple these 2 weekends. It was a ton of fun and im glad that I got to go with them. There was a singer there that is kinda known, her name is Rebecca Lopez Not sure if any of you have heard of her. But along with the singing they had dancing also so it was fun. We ended up getting back to our house really late that night too though but I think that it was worth it.
Sunday was a crazy day cuz we had Segundo`s baptism. It went all really well and im glad that he got to get baptized before I left. It really was cool to see though how he changed and also cuz elder nilsen and I both found him and baptized him. That doesn’t happen very often either. Then afterward I just went around saying bye to everyone. Its weird as the mission has gone on, I feel like I get closer to the people quicker. So its sad having to leave them all after only 3 months but that’s just how it had to be. The one family that I will miss the most though is Gomez parada cuz I got really close to them over these last several weeks. They became like my family, especially the kids who are like my brother and sisters now. I hope that they keep progressing and can all take the step to be baptized. They know its true, they just need to do it.
Anyway that was my week, action packed and just full. Im super excited to be back here in melipilla and I really hope that I can make these last 3 months count and just take care of everything that I need to. I hope that you are all doing well, take care
December 10th...
wow what a week. it felt like a dream come true really. seeing all the people from before. knowing everyone already and walking the same streets. i loved it. it honestly has made me feel like im not going home soon cuz i just feel like i did when i started just wanting to go work and strengthen the branch and the sector and the people. it was awesome. one the first things that we did this week was try and pass by and visit with all the people that have been baptized in the last 2 years. cuz there isnt a single person in that list that i didnt know before. and they were all so happy to see me too and have me back, especially some of my converts like melanie and ursula. it was so cool to see them again. one of my biggest goals these next few weeks is to get 100 percent retention which means having all those people come to church on sunday. and i think that i could do it too. other than that though it was a semi tough week with other things. cuz i was left with 3 investigators here which is basically nothing so we are almost starting from scratch. but i think that i can handle it seeing as how ive had to do that like 3 times before in the mission and cuz i can get the members involved right away since i already know them.
wednesday we found a good family. it was cool finding them cuz it was just after everything had fallen through and we just went over to contact houses and found them on the first house we knocked. so hopefully they can progress some. i also got to see several of the members at night cuz we went to the church for a meeting and they were all shocked to see me there. no one could believe that i was back and were all happy about it. and then later that night i met our "best" investigator named maribel. she is a little crazy cuz she is a 40 year old who thinks she is still 18. i think that she already knows its all true she just doesnt really want to change yet. so we just need to help her do that.
thursday in the morning we went to district meeting and i felt really weird being with only 10 people in a zone again after being in one of the biggest zones in cinco de abril. i feel like there is no one there. and they are all latin except for me, elder duce and elder vance and we all live together. (by the way elder vance is my comp. he is from utah, typical mormon boy from salt lake city, not really athletic, plays piano a little, big family, all that) then thursday afternoon was just a day full of contacts and not much else til we went to the church at night to practice for the activity on sunday.
friday we visited familia garrido diaz, which is melanie and her family, the one who got baptized the week after i left here last time. and then just a lot of contacts again til night when we visited the other decent investigator, a 19 year old named sebastian, and then after him we went to familia cabello, the ones who made my scriputre covers.
saturday was even tougher cuz we walked around from 330 til 915 just contacting cuz no one else was in their house and everything failed (i planned this week a little better, setting good citas everyday so that that doesnt happen again) and finally that night we got into a house of a member and were only there for like 20 min and thats all the time we spent in a house all day.
then sunday was by far the best day. church in the morning brought back so many memories from before. and i got to see lots of people again. it felt so good coming back and being able to show them my real self this time and talk to them like normal and not just standing there not understanding anything. im pretty sure i shocked some people with my personality cuz they all thought that i was just this serious person who didnt talk a lot. then in the evening we had an activity where some active people came and we went out to look for less actives and bring them to the church for the second part. and in the second part we sang a christmas hymn, shared scriptures about christ and watched a video about his birth. and then after just had snacks and it was very successful. i was happy to see so many people come, especially cuz some of the less actives that went are people that were active when i was here before or that are recent converts.
so that pretty much sums up my week. it was such a roller coaster and i hope to just get back to normal again this week and work hard. i hope that you are all doing well. take care
