What an amazing week I have had with a new companion! Yes I will miss
my old companion, Elder Schuhmacher, but I have loved being with my
new companion so much!
I hope you all had an amazing week last week, because I did!
Also I will have a lot of pictures this week and next week, so
hopefully you don't get tired of them!
Week of October 12-18 2015
Monday:
Today was a really good day today!! We had the opportunity to go to
the library and go shopping in the morning so we had a little time to
go to the altamesa stake center to say our good byes and also to play
one last time with a lot of the missionaries who are moving and
leaving to go home!! So many missionaries are leaving this week it is
crazy!! However, it just means I am one step up forward from where I
was! On Wednesday I will no longer be a greeny so I need to pick up my
language studies more than before and keep working hard!
Here are a few pictures of the day and also we went and visited the
hospital so elder Schuhmacher could say his good byes to the Peñas
before he goes this Wednesday!! We had a lot of pictures so here they
go! Also tonight we are staying up till around 11 or 1130 and we are
at the church, because our zone leader is loosing companion to a
bigger calling and needs a companion for tonight until Wednesday! So
he will be staying in our small box house for a while!! So we are
helping him with some reports at the church before bed!! Awesome day
tho!!!
Don't be scared! He is just a prankster with his faces.
Tuesday:
The past few days have been very weird! Elder Schuhmacher is leaving
me tomorrow and going to Lewisville I am getting my new companion,
Elder Lickiss. I am a little nervous for the whole change up, because
I have gotten so used to everything and how it works, and now it is
all going to change! However, I feel very excited for the change at
the same time! I feel like getting a new companion will teach me so
much, and also I will be the companion of the District Leader so it is
pretty much 6 week training of being a district leader which I am
pretty pumped about. I only hear good from others about Elder Lickiss
and I just pray we get along right from the beginning!!
Anyways, today elder Sinaschalci hung out with us all day and is
spending the night in our dinky house, because his companion had to
leave for his other position early to be trained! I love Elder
Sinaschalci so much! He knows how to have lots of fun while working
hard and that is how I want to be! I am so grateful for his example
for me as my Zone Leader!! We taught Hennessy and Mesmerize and Martin
today and then had no one else to teach, because elder Schuhmacher had
to pack! Best thing that helped us out today was that we had a car to
travel faster and that was the most amazing thing! I love technology
used correctly!
Wednesday:
Today was a long and nerve wracking day for me, but at the same time
it was such an amazing day! So today we woke up at 615 to get ready
and took Elder Schuhmacher the the mansion, or the elders of the north
side. They took him to transfers and I went back to my house with
Elder Siniscalchi. We waited until around 11 for our new companions
and they finally showed up. I don't know why I was so nervous for my
new companion, because he is so amazing! Elder Lickiss is from
Hermann, Utah and has been on his mission for 14 months! He is very
good at the language and has so,e amazing ideas on helping me to learn
the language fast! I think the hardest thing to get used to so far is
that we go all Spanish all the time, not just outside of the house so
I am working on more vocab!!! He has great ideas and he loves the work
more that anything! I haven't even been with him for more that 24
hours and I already love the man!
So today we did more than what was planned and I feel amazing about
our progress for only one day! I know we will get people ready for
baptisms and help them to love the gospel while we are here! We went
to the chapel for me to practice my songs for Sunday and then went and
contacted and found a few people for us to teach. We called like 10
different people and set appointments and then biked like 4 miles to a
dinner appointment where our ride fell through! After we biked back
Jhonny came to the church and we didn't have time to help him with his
family history so we are going to go tomorrow and help him find
families to take to the temple and be baptized for! So we got back the
the house and it is 10 and we just finished planning!! The time I know
will fly for these 6 weeks because we are so busy! However I could not
be happier with were I am and what I am doing! From my dinner
appointment tonight I learned one thing that hit me to the core and
made me tear up. Keep the sabbath day holy and your life will change.
However not just your, but you whole families. A sister member we
taught had less active kids that partied and drank and she didn't feel
like preaching to them would do anything, so she told us she would
just invite them to dinner every Sunday so they couldn't go to stores
or drink. As they were there she would have soft church music playing
and they would just spend time together. Over time her kids started to
miss being together and couldn't understand why so she explained what
she had been doing and they all are active and are so happy with how
their mom saved their lives from the dumps they were in!
Keep the sabbath day holy and make the Book of Mormon the center of your life!
Thursday:
I am just loving the mission!!! It is still difficult to love the work
when I am biking crazy far in the weather I am in, however once I find
the people that want to hear our message or once I remember my purpose
for doing what I am doing it becomes so much easier. So today we had
weekly planning and went way over our 3 hour planning time because we
both had crazy amazing ideas come to us to help us find more
investigators through the members! I really am getting along with
Elder Lickiss and realized how well I was getting along after teaching
Martin Lopez today. He likes to teach the same way I teach, and he
understands and just piggybacks off what I am saying to make sense of
everything! Also his Spanish is amazing and he is able to help me
understand why I am saying the weird phases I am saying! So after our
lesson today we had dinner waiting for us at the church. However, my
comps bike tire popped in the exact same spot that elder Schuhmacher's
bike tires always popped. I am starting to think I am just bad luck!
So today we got really good exercise walking all the way to the church
from our lesson for dinner. After we ate I loved what my companion
said, "why don't we go and get to know the members who are here so
they actually want to help us?" I was like, um wow okay vamos! Haha so
we are getting along great! Also we speak all day only in Spanish and
at times it is hard to express myself fully, but it makes me want to
find the words that I don't know so that I can learn them to express
myself! I want to challenge you all to stop before you even start your
day and find your purpose for the day. I promise if you do this
everyday you will accomplish and be more focused on the important
things of this life!
Friday:
Today was a very tiring day! Also for both of us it was a little
frustrating! So after our studies we went straight to work at getting
a new tire or some patches for Elder Lickiss' bike. we went to Walmart
and they had now tubes that were his size so we bought some cheaper
patches because that is all they had. Well sadly we had to try putting
them on 3 different times, but every time the patches failed. We went
a total of 3 times into Walmart to buy others things that could fix it
and there was nothing. So then we decided we were going to find
another store that had tires or patches. Well we found out that there
was none even close to us in our area and so we just decided we would
go home and try to heavy glue the tire back together. Well we missed
our bus and didn't get home till around 3 from trying to fix it and
finally gave up at 4. We finally called our zone leaders and they came
and picked us up and took us to a bike shop in their area pretty far
away. By the time we got the things we needed it was time for dinner
so we are at a restaurant called San Luis, a free restaurant for
missionaries, and hurried and fixed the tire.
After fixing the tire we went straight over to a lesson with Erica
Layva and all of her family. The lesson went great, and it is so cool
to see a change in their lives from them trying to live the gospel.
You can see that glow about their faces and they don't fight as much
anymore! I also received a new nick name, Elder Splenda. They are one
of the best families to teach, but they all have some major problems
that I pray I can help them overcome with the help of the lord. After
our lesson we got home a little after nine just ready to pass out from
such a busy day or just trying to fix a stinkin bike! What a day. I
learned from this day that not all days will be full of teaching
lessons to others, but some days will be full of others teaching the
important lessons in life. My challenge today it to let someone else
do the talking. Ask them what they think. I believe every person in
this world has something they could say that would change the life our
prophet for the better!
So the pictures today we of some things I saw! I saw a fire truck at
Walmart and I couldn't pass it up!
Also it is a picture of us eating at the amazing restaurant San Luis!!
My hair looks crazy, but it is only the light shining on it I promise!!
Saturday:
Wow today was a fast day and we still were going crazy with things!
Sadly however our numbers look horrible this week with getting a new
companion and trying to get this bike fixed that still is not working!
So today we tried to fix the tire of Elder Lickiss' bike again! After
we fixed it we went to the church so I could practice the piano for
the primary program tomorrow and practiced for a baptism tonight as
well. After that we went to check on Hno. Peña in the hospital! He is
doing lots better now and is planing on going to a rehab this Monday
to start recovering fully. I really love Hno. And Hna. Peña! They are
the best members to live with and get to know personally! They have
helped me understand my purpose more and helped me see the members
point of view a lot more in different situations. So after I
introduced my companion to them and we visited for a while we left for
about an hour of contacting! We found a few houses we were looking for
with no one interested in our message, but found a sweet little lady
stretching to pick pears out of her tree! She was way to short, so we
asked if we could help her! Come to find out she barely speaks English
and only speaks a type of Japanese! She was very sweet and gave us
both a bag of pears for helping her! She showed us pictures of ancient
temples in the her old town and so we showed her pictures of our
temples and she wants to see one! So we are going to take her one
soon!! After this we hurried to the church for two little girls
baptisms!! I played the piano and it went really well and then after
we had an amazing movie night with the ward and watched meet the
Mormons! It was hard for me to understand completely, but I was
getting the most part of it! Also I heard David Archaleta sing Gloria
in Spanish and now I really want all of his songs in Spanish!!! So
today was a great day and I am sure tomorrow will be even better.
Sunday:
Wow today was such a crazy day that I am just exhausted!
We had a great time at church and I am loving the things I am learning
from my companion Elder Lickiss! He listens to my ideas and actually
one that we used today was email the ward of the things that we did
through the week with pictures of the missionaries and their numbers
for the members! We also leave them a scripture and we are going to do
it ever Sunday!! It is going to really unify us I hope and pray! A lot
of things have been happening with our bishopric and they are just not
for the missionaries being apart right now? I pray we can some how
serve them in a way that will soften their hearts. Something I have
noticed is the first response to dislike is argue or fight, but as I
realize now that it won't solve anything and that we are all children
of God, I just feel the only way to help them understand our side of
things is to serve them! So I played the piano in the primary program
today, and I don't feel like I did to bad! I only had two days of
maybe 1 total to practice 8 songs with lots of sharps and flats in
them! I only had a week, because the Hna missionary that was supposed
to play got transferred on Wednesday. I had not even a full week to
learn them and I know that God helped me play how I did today! I
actually had a Hno come up to me and thank me for using my talents. He
told me he felt something as I played and it really helped me realize
we have talents for a reason!
Also this evening we were able to go and teach a few lessons with a
priest in our ward named Carlos Delgado! He is an awesome 17 year old
and I feel we think a lot alike! He is going to be a great missionary,
and his sister is in the independence Missouri mission and has the
same amount of time that I do!
We were able to contact a lot of people tonight, and I feel like I can
just speak to my companion and the people here so much easier, and I
am finally understanding people!!!! Now I get excited to really teach
people because I know how!! I love the mission and if I could invite
you to do anything it would be to serve your enemies even if that
means you pray for them. And don't be afraid to share your talents!
God will bless you. If I could say anything else it would be that one
of the highlights of my weeks, other than receiving emails from my
family is being able to read of my friends and family members going to
serve the lord! Yes some don't make it and have to come home, but let
that be there problem! Just remember that if we aren't there to help
those who fall, who will be? We are all on the Lord team, so let us
work as a team! Remember whose team you are on!
Sorry it is really long, but I just had so many experiences I can't
shorten it!
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, and Ethan I tried sending
you a birthday email, but the email I got from my mom was incorrect. I
hope you had an amazing birthday and I love you!
I pray for you all and hope you have a great week!!
Do we love God? Because He loves us!
(1 John 4:19)
Con Amor,
Elder Spendlove
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