He sounds grown up, he sounds mature, and he can't speak English very well. Haha. There was more than one time when he couldn't think of how to say a sentence in English, or he would just be talking along and all of a sudden a sentence was in Spanish and he didn't even realize it. Despite all of this though, he is still the same kid. One little thing would set him off into a typical Hoots reaction. As my dad put it "You don't have to dig very deep to get Hoots." We all enjoyed the short time we had talking to him and begin the countdown to Christmas when we get to talk to him next.
Hoots also moved areas this week. The area he is not as nice as the ones he's been in so far, and presents new challenges. He says they hear gunshots every day, but that it's no big deal. And because they are the two guys walking around in white shirts and ties, they are pseudo-celebrities in the area. But nobody messes with them because they know that the missionaries are there to help. The map on the side has been updated with his new location (Iztapalapa) and his mailing address (on the Contact Page) will remain the same.
Aside from getting to talk to him this weekend, May 11 marked his official 1 year mark in the mission field. Which means he is half-way done.
He also wanted me to tell everyone thank you for all the support, letter, packages, etc. They help more than you know and keep him going. He always plans on thanking you all in every letter, but his time gets short and he just forgets.
Read his letter below.....
Hello Y'all.
This week was good. It's a little bit hard here in my new area I am not gunna lie. We do have a lot of people listening right now and that is really positive. But other than our appointments with them, we don't really have anyone else. We do have nine people who are ready for baptism, so that is exciting.
La Familia Romero Lopez
There is five of them. Three kids, a mom and the grandma. They all are supposed to be baptised this week but I think it will be next week. Funny story about this family. So their great grandma is dying, the mom of the grandma. So the priest from the catholic church came over and told the grandma that her mom is dying because she is listening to the Mormons. And they told her that she will be cursed until her mom dies. So she told us she wasn't going to talk to us anymore until her mom dies because she doesn't want to be cursed. haha.
Anali and Alberto
They are a couple with a little kid. They aren't officially married so we are trying to get them to get married. They are awesome people and are really supportive of us. Nothing really crazy happened with them. But they are good people.
Dario, Sofia and Cecia
Dario and Safia are the grandparents of Cecia. They are really awesome. We talked to Cecia this week and she said that she has prayed and she wants to get baptized, but her dad wont let her. She is funny. She tells us "when my dad goes to work I pray and read the Book of Mormon. And I can go to church on Sunday because he works on Sunday, so that's good." haha.
Dario and Sofia are Baptist. They have been listening and told us they are searching for the truth and they feel really good about the church. I told them to just keep praying and searching and they will find it, because it is here for them.
I had a strong experience this week that I would like to share with you guys. First of all, being on my mission is pretty hard. Away from home and friends and everything. I know that sometimes I say things that make it seem that I don't really like it out here, or that I don't appreciate it. And out here I always hear missionaries say how much they want to just be home, but on Saturday I experienced something that I will never forget.
We visited a house. La hermana said that she couldn't talk to us because her son was sick so she had to take care of him. When she said her son was sick, I automatically figured he had a cold or the flu or something like that. I said to her "well hermana, we would like to give your son a blessing if you will let us." She agreed and let us in. When we walked in the room, I saw a 20 year old kid, laying in his bed, he couldn't move, couldn't talk, couldn't blink and he weighed about 100 pounds. After the blessing his mom told us a little bit about what happened to him. Really, nobody knows what happened. She told us that he was a regular kid. Kind of chubby and loved to play soccer in the street. Right when she said that I thought to myself "hey, that sounds like me." hahaha. But then one day, something happened. Nobody knew what, and they still don't. But now he is just like this and can't do anything.
It made me take a step back and check myself. I shouldn't complain about this thing that I'm doing. I am lucky that I have the ability, strength and potential to do it. Because one day it may all be gone. I know that that kid would do anything to even do one part of what we are doing right now. I know that he is a special person. And even though he is suffering, he will be blessed by God. So right then and there I decided I am done complaining. I am done because one day, out of the blue, I may not have the ability to do what I am doing, or even do anything. And then I would regret that I didn't take advantage of the opportunity before me and do the best that I could. And that goes for everyone. Things happen. We can't always wait for better things to come along because we will miss all the great things and blessings that are right in front of us. From now on, that is how I'm living my life.
I love you all and miss you all a ton. Have a good week.
Love,
Haden
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to use the comments as a forum to share your thoughts with other followers or to communicate with Haden. I will forward all comments to him weekly.