P-days are the greatest! Temple trips are my favorite thing for sure. The supermercado trips are also super fun. Anyway I'm going to start bringing my journal with me so I can remember stuff while I'm writing. So last Thursday we took a trip to Interpol to get our IDs started. It took around 6 hours. This place was seriously like the DMV but ten times worse and there are no chairs. So we all stood around in suits sweating our heads off, making church raps as we stood around. Elder Thorpe is our beatboxer and Elder Manzanera, Elder Wilson, and I spit the verses. Pretty fun stuff. Here´s one:
Don't worry about what we white boys lack,
Cuz what we lack we make up for, we on the right track,
But we ain´t here to tract, we just here to contact,
Predicad Mi Evangelio, but that's just a fact...
Anyway that's really not what our best work involves. Elder Manzanera and I are teaching like crazy. We teach about 4 lessons every 3 days if that makes any sense. We have two new investigators for our mock lessons. Julietta and Juan. Our Spanish is getting a lot better but we still have a lot of work to do. We are doing much better in our teaching, as far as the back and forth stuff goes. We just need work on our attitude. I guess you could say we lack conviction, but these are fake people so its a bit hard. Anyway we have had a ton of lessons on one very difficult subject in particular. Obedience. But not just doing what we are supposed to be doing, its being exactly obedient. Waking up at 6:30 exactly, shaving every day even if its only stubble or peach fuzz, showing up to class 10 minutes early, wearing your suit in the chapel and outside the CCM always, and tons more. It's really a tough thing but they say the blessings will be poured out to us if we are exactly obedient. Brother Hansen, one of the Branch Presidency members, taught a great lesson on this and he said, ''If you are almost always obedient, you will almost receive the blessings." I know I need to work on that and I know that waking up at 6:30 exactly is almost the hardest thing in the world to do, at least for me. but I know it's part of being a missionary.
Elder Wilson and I were given the opportunity to move up with the Latinos for the last two weeks seeing that we are progressing fairly well in the language. That would mean all day every day in Spanish. We would leave our districts and go sleep in their rooms, we would have classes with them, eat with them, have p-day with them, and all the other good stuff. But they have given us a few days to think about it. I'm still not sure what to do. I've been praying about it but I'm still not formulating a for-sure answer so well see in the next couple of days. I'm conflicted because I love my district and I'm still nowhere close to knowing Spanish well enough. I can barely teach a full 30 minute lesson in Spanish. I would not be learning anymore Spanish (at least not through grammar lessons and practice -- only through being fully immersed) and I would only be learning doctrine in a language I don't know but I know I'd learn a ton. We shall see.
That same night I had the opportunity to give a blessing to a Sister and felt almost unqualified. I knew I was worthy but it was just a testimony to me of their unwavering faith in the power of the priesthood, even the power of a 18 year old kid's priesthood. Anyway I gave the blessing with my companion and it turned out to be a blessing to me as well as the recipient. My testimony of the priesthood was magnified tenfold and I felt surprisingly happy and peaceful. I felt honored they asked me and was glad I was worthy. I can't imagine how horrible it would feel to tell someone I couldn't help them. I am so grateful to be a missionary and a priesthood holder.
'Til next Miercoles,
Elder Wilcox
Top row from left - Elder Thorpe (Denver), Elder Jesson (Las Vegas), Elder Wilson (Seattle), Elder Wendell (Denver), Yours truly, Elder Manzanera (San Antonio)
Bottom row from left - Hermana Beatty (St George), Hermana Vernon (Cedar City), Hermana Cox (Logan), Hermana Alder (Utah?), Hermana Samuels (Tallahassee)
Elder Wilson, Elder Manzanera, y Yo
A real live Peruvian soccer goal!!! (Those aren't my clothes. Mine are
stuck in the washing machine in a puddle of water that won't drain!)
The District
Me and Elder Wilson
Ping Pong!!!
View from a CCM window.
(These are all on my companion's camera cuz mine got taken away.
Apparently it's a fine-print rule here that I can't take pictures inside, only
outside the buildings. So I won't get it back til I leave the CCM. Kinda
ridiculous if you ask me. But I shoulda read the fine print I guess)
(These are all on my companion's camera cuz mine got taken away.
Apparently it's a fine-print rule here that I can't take pictures inside, only
outside the buildings. So I won't get it back til I leave the CCM. Kinda
ridiculous if you ask me. But I shoulda read the fine print I guess)
The bus we take every p-day
This is Elder Turin. He's my favorite Latino so far. Such a sweet, nice guy.
He's going to be a great missionary. He loves us and loves speaking in English.
The District with Elder Turin
#ElderWes
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