Hey! Right now I’m writing in a ciber (internet cafe) on the
oldest computer in the world, hearing cheesy 80s music being played from the
radio, and there is a dirty dog sitting 10 feet away from me barking. Yes it is
just chilling in this ciber.
We have been working hard with the 4 hours I’ve had to work
daily. In one day we contacted 5 references and received 2! That has never
happened in my mission.
Elder Hobbs and I were calling at a door. No one was coming
out. Elder Hobbs was petting their dog through the fence. Then I tried, and it
chomped at my hand. Then he started petting it again. Then I tried, and it
tried to eat my hand again. I’m not a dog person.
For my therapy they always do 3 things that don’t help. They
give me electric shock therapy [electric stimulation therapy] on my back, they
put hot pads on my back, and they put an electromagnetic machine on my back.
Yesterday, Elder Haddad and I went to the house of a woman he had
taught once before. She lives in a very poor area. The house is just wood
thrown together and freezing. The fog from the river and the smoke from all of
the people’s fires make a very thick fog. The lady looked about 35 and lives
with her husband who looks extremely old. I thought he was her dad. He smokes
and drinks so much to the point that he got cancer and had to have the smoker’s
hole in his neck [tracheotomy] so he can breathe. To cap the hole, he has
something that looks like a film canister shoved in there. It wheezes. All of
his breathing sounds labored. When he talks, it is just a wheezing sound. I
felt short of breath just seeing him. He is completely dependent on her and has
zero responsibility and is mentally handicapped because of the alcohol’s effect
on his brain. Sad. We tried teaching the plan of salvation but the husband kept
interrupting. We arrived at their house in the middle of a fight. And then a
drunk friend of the husband showed up. We closed with a prayer and left. We’ll
teach them in a better moment. That was one of the most weird and impactful
citas I’ve ever had.
OK, now dealing with
the subject title, "I’m probably going home."
On Friday I got a call from the AP. He told me I was having
a sobre cambio (emergency transfer?) to Osorno, and that Elder Haddad would be
my companion. Elder Haddad works in the office and is the mission secretary.
Elder Ryan also trained him. We bussed down to Osorno Saturday evening. We went
to the office. Elder Hobbs got a new comp who was in a trio in Chiloè. They
went back to Valdivia. Bussing down, I was thinking why I would be going to be
with Elder Haddad in the office if all of the office positions were already
full. Then it hit me. I’m going home. I was uneasy the rest of that bus ride. I
couldn’t nap. In Osorno, Presidente Obeso pulled me in for an interview and
told me that one of the doctors in the church offices in Salt Lake City reviewed
my MRI scan and said that I need to come home. He said that my back injury can only
be healed with rest, and I can’t get adequate rest in the mission. He asked me
how I felt about that. I started crying and told him that I didn’t want to go
home, but if it was God’s will that I go home so I can get better and come back
out I would be willing to go home. He told me he will talk to the doctor, and
see if there is a chance that I can work in the office until I get better. I
asked him when I will know for sure if I stay or if I go. He said we should
probably know by Tuesday (tomorrow).
Afterwards, I went with Elder Haddad to our ward’s talent
show. It was the best activity I’ve ever seen in Chile. It was amazing. This
ward is amazing. They have the best bishop ever here in Overjerìa.
Later, I talked more with Elder Haddad. He said I’m probably
going home because of how the cambios are working out. He was just with Elder Wertner,
who also went home for back problems. He said we seem to be in the same boat.
That night, I couldn’t fall asleep just thinking about it
all. Yesterday in church helped me out a ton. I felt the Spirit extremely
strong as I took the sacrament. Also in priesthood meeting, a lot of things
touched my heart. An hermano said something that helped me and it made me
think: "God has a vision so much grander than mine. He’s only giving me
what is going to make me the most happy and help me become the most like
him."
I feel calm. I trust in God. Some scriptures that have
helped me are 2 Timothy 1:7 and Doctrine and Covenants 68:6.
The night I received my sobre cambio call, we taught a
recent convert in the ward of Martinez de Rosaz named Juan. He is amazing. We
went to go over the plan of salvation with him. He told it to us perfectly, like
as if he was a missionary. We were amazed. We invited his non-member wife to
come and listen. She asked the question of what happens to kids who die, what happens
to them when they die? We were able to show her Doctrine and Covenants 137:7-10
where it talks about that. What joy! I felt the Spirit. Then I felt the Spirit
prompt me to ask them for a reference. They said their neighbor’s first grandchild
was a stillborn child. That happened pretty recently. We took their address. It
feels so great to be an instrument in the Lord’s hands.
Earlier in the week, I was reading Jesus the Christ. On page
519 and 520, it was narrating John 12: 27-36 and talking about Christ’s last
week of life. He was in Jerusalem teaching, healing, shutting down all of the Pharisees,
Sadducees, and scribes’ attempts to trap him in his words. And he was thinking
about the end of his life. He was weighed down with the thought of atoning for
the sins of the world, suffering scourging, being betrayed and rejected, and
being lifted up on the cross and crucified. He cried out to God in a prayer and
asked for strength to follow along with God’s will. He finished his prayer
saying, "God, may thine name be glorified." Then God’s voice came
from heaven and all the multitude heard it. God said, "I have glorified it
and will glorify it again." I felt the Spirit very strong. Christ was
pleading for comfort, and God gave him the assurance that he could atone for
the sins of the world. That he could do it. And that whatever happened, God’s
name would be glorified. I felt that applies to me right now. I don’t know what
is going to happen with me. I feel that I am going home. But I know that God is
going to glorify his name with whatever happens. Whatever happens will be the
best thing for me and for everything else, and it will only serve to move God’s
work along. Only good things can result from this. I trust in God. I feel like
that was something that was drilled into me from my time in the house, full of
fear, and worry, and wondering if I’ll go home or not. I learned that I just
need to trust God and that he has a perfect plan made for me. So I can just
relax.
I share that with you Mom, Dad, and kids in the name of
Jesus Christ, Amen.
Elder West
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| Me, Hobbs, Garcia and Davis. |
