9-24-12

¡Hola familia!

 

Wow, has it really been over three months since I left? I have a hard time believing that. I love being updated with life at home, although I feel like I'm missing out on a lot. I guess that's the same for you when you think about me though! 

 

We met this week with the area president, Elder Arnold, and it was really good. He's really big on obedience and gave me some great ideas to improve my missionary work. Dad, I haven't used the Wilford Card yet, I need to try it!  Mostly everyone I run into here in the ghetto is disillusioned about religion and doesn't give it a second thought. It's tough - and that's an understatement. Everyone either lives in apartment complexes where missionaries aren't allowed or in houses surrounded by gates, which makes a door approach super hard. The only possible way to conduct successful missionary work is through the members. Thankfully, there are great members in this sector, but it's still hard even for them to find anyone, and Elder Smith and I know because we've talked to them and they try and try. On the bright side, I think Elder Smith and I are invigorating the members even more. We use ward activities as a tool to bring nonmembers to church.

 

Speaking of ward activities, our investigator Ignacio is doing so well! He actually reads what we leave him to read and more! He's super analytical though and said he's studying the Old Testament with the Book of Mormon to check all the facts like Nephi's reference to Jeremiah and such. He loves the ward though, has been to church twice and to two ward activities. He actually lives outside our sector so we're trying to hand him off to the missionaries in his sector by introducing him to them and sending him to institude where he can meet people in his actual ward.

 

We accidentally invited someone with schizophrenia to a ward activity on Friday haha. Elder Smith and I just finished some service and were walking back to the pension to change before the activity and this one man came up and started talking to us. He was with a friend of his who is a less active member and they asked us when the ward plays volleyball (since we played last Monday). We told them we didn't know but that there was a ward activity in 20 minutes. They looked at each other and said "Vamos," [let's go] which caught me by surprise. After we got to the church and sat down, the bishop pulled Elder Smith and I aside and told us that they're both schizophrenic... We ended up having to babysit them basically that night to make sure nothing bad happened. Then, the one that was the worst of the two showed up to church yesterday! Although I know you should never turn someone away from church, Elder Smith and I might need to figure something out if he keeps coming. He's nice, but he could possibly become dangerous really quickly and he's already drawn too much attention to himself. So, those are my "best" and "worst" investigators for the week haha.

 

Spanish is going well, I'm just trying my best. I'm always getting better even though I don't always feel like it. It's kind of like working out. Sometimes I get so exposed to Spanish and I try so hard to learn it that my brain gets tired and I feel like I'm doing worse. But later after some time and rest, I find that I've learned a lot. Hopefully by Christmas I'll be good to go!

 

I gotta go.

 

Con muchisimo amor,

Elder Hill