Quick recap first....
I lost my friend and companion.
My leg seems to be having troubles again
Our branch president called to yell at me
The other elders in our ward called to yell at me and said I stole their investiagtor
The relief society quit coming to church and said she was done
The branch president basically did the same thing
Only 9 people came to church sunday (the normal attendance is 140)
It rained every day
I think I have frostbite again
We all got scabies again
I got bit by a dog
We shower in freezing water
Someone saw my convert of two weeks smoking in the street
I had to eat intestines
I can see my breath inside our house its so cold
My new companion made me a list of everything she didnt like about me
I plan every night alone and study every morning alone
My new companion refuses to work in the rain (it rained all week)
My wallet got stolen
My best mission friend went home suddenly and I didnt get to say goodbye
I dropped my scriptures in a puddle
I woke up with a huge spider hanging above me (the worst part!)
and pretty much cried myself to sleep every night
But...the work goes on and even though I´m ready to get on a plane and come straight home (I have never felt like that before on my mission)..I know this will all pass and that every moment is wonderful in its own sometimes weird way. The mission is still great..and this church is still true!
One night (well the only night we actually worked this week) we were walking along in the rain. I was sopping wet all the way down to my underwear. It POURS here! We were shaking and super cold...walking through the street that were filled with water all the way to my waist! My companion was super mad that I was "making" her work in such conditions. I was pretty discouraged and wondering how it was possible to be so cold...when I saw a sparkle floating in the air. It landed on my face...then there were more! The whole sky was filled with sparkles! I was really confused until I realized....it was snowing!! It only lasted for about 30 seconds but it was wonderful and magical! And finally made sense why it was so cold too....
The next morning we woke up to some powdered andes! That I got to look at from inside the house since my companion refused to leave again.
I could say a lot about my new companion....but I will just say a little. My companion only has three months left before she heads home...but if she has it her way she will be home by wednesday. In fact today she didnt buy any food because she said she doesnt want to take it in the plane....
She sleeps a lot...talks about boys a lot, yells a lot....asks for my american money a lot...chews people out a lot.
We have lost almost all our investigators and trust of the members in our short time together. For the first three days she didnt say a word to be and completely ignored me because she said she couldnt understand my spanish. Then she saw a picture of Jacob and decided to be a little nicer to me so she could marry my gringo brother.
Its been an adventure. Not exactly a fun one though.
Its been a great opportunity to learn patience though!
I really tried to learn her life story...and its a sad one. I do love her and want to help her. But I feel like she needs more help than I can give. We will see what happens...but based on this week I dont see this lasting very long.
I started feeling really bad last night that I couldnt do more. Everyone said "you can change her mission and her life"...and I was feeling really bad about the lousy job I was doing at that...because no changes were happening. Then I saw a quote I had put up a few weeks ago to help my companion
All you can do...is all you can do
And all you can do....is enough.
Sometimes its really hard when we dont get the results we want. But we cant do more than our best. We arent expected to do more than our best. And if our best is what we give....then God will make up the rest.
I´ve also learned a valubale lesson on agency this week. We cant help others if they dont let us...
God always wants to help us...but are we letting him?
I expect this week to be just as hard. But hopefully I can learn something from all of this and not just go crazy.
Have a great week!
Hermana Orchard
