This week....as all....has been crazy. But first I have to say congrats to Steven on his mission call!! South Africa!! That is absolutly insane!! I have never heard of anyone going there. That will for sure be a crazy and unique experience!! I want to go!!!
Anyways, I have some things to catch up on from the last few weeks so I´ll just jump into it.
Last week we had the wonderful opportunity to be judges at a high school english contest. Us three gringos from our zone went. They gave us three seats in the front and little cookies and stuff. They did little dances and speeches in english and we just judged it all and tried not to be too mean (I really couldnt understand hardly anything) It was fun!
I eat lunch with the hermanas that are in the other branch. And they have 8 missionaries in their branch! So all 9 of us ate lunch together everyday. I thought that with 6 other elders at lunch everyday the members would feed us hermanas less....but no. All equal. It is super fun to eat with all the elders though!
So the world cup is going on now, right? Everytime Chile plays we have to stay inside all day because it gets dangerous. Basically its a party. We normally paint our faces, sing chilean songs and make a bunch of food. Of course we cant watch the game...but there is never any doubt as to if Chile has won or not. Lets just say the streets get very....festive.
So basically how I have survived without a companion...
I study and eat lunch with Hermana Lorea (Argentina) and Hermana Alverez (Nicaruaga) and then have a member accompany me for the rest of the day until the night when we all meet up and make a switch. Its pretty much the best thing ever. I still get to have companions to study and talk with....yet I can do everything on my own! And have a new member companion every day! I loved it soo much! Hermana Lorea and Alverez are two of my favorite people ever and just so easy going and wonderful. We worked a bit in their sector some days and I just fell in love. They work in the country closer to the andes and I would just walk along in a dream. We had a lot of fun togther....and everything was going great until president showed up. Again. He said he had a new companion for me since another sister is going home early. So two days ago I got a new companion. I was a little upset. Things were going along just fine. But oh well. I guess missionarys are supposed to have companions so I will try and accept it....
My new comp is a little newbie from Utah. We get along pretty well.
We have been having increasingly worse problems in our little branch. Some of the stuff I see here is almost unreal. Its more than just members being lazy...but downright apostasy! And I have just wondered....how have things gotten so bad here? What happened here?
Well we learned a little secret about the place. 5 years ago our little branch (of about 80 attending people on a sunny day) was a whole STAKE! With 6 wards!! But the members misbehaved. There was some tithing stealing...and other things. And ..oh yes....the members started KILLING each other! Elder Holland came here just to excommunicate a ton of people. And now the problems we are dealing with here make sense.
The other four elders of the branch have been really frusterated as well. After a pretty awful incident that happened saturday we got together as missionarys and decided that basically it was time to take over. We called our mission president and now basically we are in charge of the branch. I´m the new relief society president and so on....We´ll see how it goes. But it has been hard on all of us. It is a really negative situation and its hard to just see no progress at all.
And now to the not so fun part of this email. I have been having problems with my leg again. I can still walk and work...but with my leg kind of dragging behind me. I dont quite have the strength to pick my leg up all the way. Well I can...but with excruciating pain. I´ve never really experienced anything like this. I did about 8 sessions of physical therapy and at my last one on friday my physical therapist told me not to come back because she didnt know what was wrong...and I am just getting worse. I am going to go have more x rays done this week and see a traumatologist again. But it looks like the problem isnt in my back...its all in my leg. I will just go into detail in case anyone reading this knows whats wrong and can offer some help.
The pain comes and goes but is a lot stronger at night and in the morning. Most nights I cant sleep because any movement just really hurts. Its kind of like a constant charly horse. Sometimes I can walk with only mild pain..and sometimes I can hardly walk at all. Sometimes the pain is more in my hip and sometimes down closer to my knee. Buts its always in the back of my leg. Not walking as much seems to help a bit but not completly. I have been taking strong pain killers but stopped because they just made me really tired and didnt even cover the pain all the way. I have been stretching a lot. And trying to have better posture...but I dont think thats the problem. I really just dont know what is.
Anyways, my leg was really hurting a lot last night and I was limping along at an incredibly slow place. I really just wanted to go home but knew I had to keep working. I felt like we should go to a less active but really just didnt want to because she lived far away and well...my leg hurt. But we went and taught her. It turns out that she was thinking about killing herself that night. She was having so many problems with her husband and just everything..and was just done. She is a returned missionary of about 20 years and such a wonderful lady. We were able to talk with her for close to two hours and had just the most amazing lesson I have ever taught. We read 3 Nephi 17 together where Christ blesses all the people one by one and then DandC 58; 2-3 about not being able to see the eternal plan of God. It was really good....for all of us.
And so..even though some days it is really hard to work..or even just to walk. Its all worth it. Because people need the gospel. People need missionaries...and I need the experiences I have as a missionary.
This week I will reach the half mark point in my mission! I only have 9 months left...and if I have to finish those 9 months crawling or in a wheelchair...I will do it. But I would rather finish walking without pain. So your prayers would be greatly appreciated. I will also be fasting this thursday for anyone who would like to join me.
Have a great week! I will try and send all the pictures I am behind with today!
Hermana Orchard
