A Very Valuable Lesson

October 27, 2014

Hello Everyone,

Wow. It's almost November. Time flies super fast here in Honduras.

Our week was kinda rough, to be totally honest. There was tons of walking, not much teaching, and I don't think I have ever been rejected more in my life. It was super interesting. We had three families, four individual investigators, and one recent convert drop us. Basically that means we walked clear out to their house, knocked on their door, and were told that they don't want us to come back. What? First of all, that's really strange for a person from Honduras to be upfront and direct like that. The first time, it actually scared me. Happy Halloween. Haha. Secondly, it's really sad for me to watch a family refuse the most helpful thing they can ever receive. Sometimes the most frustrating thing in the mission is peoples' agency. It a curse and a blessing.

So why do I include that sad piece of information? Because I learned a very valuable lesson. Two weeks ago, a similar thing happened to another area here in Olanchito, but these missionaries just accepted their fate, and refused to work. Two weeks later, they have four investigators, and if someone in the ward has a referral, they give it to either my companion and I, or the other two missionaries, regardless of where the referral lives. My comp and I saw this, and we decided to handle our week differently. We contacted, asked for referrals, and are reteaching Old Investigators from our area book. In this last week, we have an entire new set of investigators, and almost all of them are progressing, including a man they call "Chungito."

This dude is the husband of a recent convert, and has never accepted the missionaries before. However, for some reason we "fall well with him" (that's a direct translation that basically means he approves of us) and he agreed to listen. He comes to every lesson with something that he is sure will stump us and turn us around in our lies, but all it ever does is impress him, and through the Spirit, we have answered all of his questions, and even gotten him to read the Book of Mormon. He's read all of 1 Nephi. What?

He isn't the only beacon of hope we've found this week, but he's the most exciting. I know that more will come. Moral of the story: When rough times come, we have two options. We can lay down and die, or we can kick some butt and come out happier in the end.

On Friday night, my companion gave me a little advice, and I would like to pass it on to you. If you are struggling with finding a girlfriend or boyfriend, and feel like you need a little extra help, read them 2 John 1:5. It reads, " And now I beseech thee, lady (or you could use man, but the scriptures say lady), not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another." It'll work. Promise.

Also, for those of you who are curious, I can officially make tortillas. It's pretty awesome.

I am definitely loving it here, trials and all. I love and miss you all. Good luck in all of your endeavors.

-Elder Aldrich