Week 7

Mondays are my new favorite days.  I sent Mitch a "greenie" package to the mission home and it got there safe and sound.  We don't have an address from his apartment yet so if you want to send him a package just mail it to the mission home.  Without further ado here is the latest letter from Mitch.

 

So I have made it to Cali, made it to my casa, and made it to the real part of missionary work.  I wish I could just soak all of this up and remember all the details and experiences.   P-days are so stressful cause I always remember something I wanted to say and the time I have to write, do laundry and what not is so limited. P-days are suppose to calm you, not stress you!  Oh well, I am grateful and happy I get to hear from family and friends anyways.  My p-days are Monday now just FYI.

 

So first off I got your package and I loved it.  I could tell you put so much thought into it and I felt so loved to get it. Thank you!  Those animal cookies were devoured in no time. SO good.  It was a perfect house warming gift.  And trust me our house needs some warming.  Not that its cold just that its...sketchy.  Second day here we found a roach...he must have been hanging out with the ants in the kitchen.  Hopefully putting an end to him will put a wrench in the critters operation but I'm sure they will be back. My bed is as close to a rock as it can get without actually being a rock.  It's good that I am so exhausted by the end of the day or else I don't think I would be getting any sleep. Also there is the standard mission food situation.  Dinner with members is basically mana from heaven but I am getting pretty creative with Ramen and Macaroni.  But all in all I count my blessing every night to live in such an amazing house...hot shower, stove, carpet.  It's the little things.

 

My companion/trainer is Elder Speth.  He is from Sandy Utah and was a Jordan beet digger.  He is super loving and hard working.  Our personalities are different.  He is a complete goof and has the goofiest sense of humor.  But we work well together and that's what matters.  He is training me really well and I can honestly say we have been obeying every mission rule with exactness since day one.   And I intend to keep it that way.

 

Mission work is just moving along like it should.  We are in a biking area which is hard because I got the hand me down bike of the mission and it is a beater.  My butt is SO sore.  Hopefully I'll get some jacked legs though.  I like biking though because we can talk with everyone on the street.  I am so surprised how unafraid I have been in talking with everyone I see.  And I mean everyone.  A couple of times we have even passed someone and both gotten a feeling to turn completely around and talk to them. The Spirit is a great GPS.

 

Everyone says my Spanish is amazing. One of the members asked if I had been out for a year but when I told her it was my second day she about dropped the plate she was carrying.  That being said I need to learn so much more.  I can teach and talk in Spanish but I don't feel like I am getting close to the people I meet.  I want to be part of their lives.  Be their friend and confidant but my Spanish just isn't letting me get to that point. Con tiempo. Con tiempo.

 

So I'm going to be honest with you Mom.  This week has been hard.  Physically I am tired, sore and hungry.  Emotionally I miss my family, my friends and my support system. Intellectually I don't know the street names, the people, or their background stories.  I am trying to learn everything so fast it is like drinking from a fire hydrant.  SO much is just loaded onto you.  Elder Speth is trying to take some of the burden, I know that, and my Spanish helps my get by...but honestly at the end of the day I just don't know how I got through it all.  All this being said, I love it.  I love working and pushing myself.  I am becoming the person I know my Father in Heaven wants me to be.  It's hard, it really is. There is a lot to take in, but I love it.  I love the moments in the day when there is only one set of footsteps in the sand.  When I am no longer the only one pulling the handcart and my yoke isn't just on me.  A successful mission won't come quickly or easily but it will come if I work hard and continue to be obedient.

 

Don't get me wrong we are seeing a lot of success.  So much so that yesterday was my first baptism.  I say that not because I was the one that baptized but that I was part of the teaching process.   Honestly, when I find, teach and baptized someone all the way through that will be when I can say I got my first baptism. The investigator's name is Veronica and she is amazing.  She was found by Elder Speth and Elder Robinson two transfers ago and has just been soaking up the lessons. I was able to teach her about tithing and the law of chastity but before that she was basically ready to be baptized.  It was awesome seeing her make her first covenant but I want to see the process full circle. That is what I mean by I don't feel part of these peoples lives.  I am new and basically a stranger.  I pray that, that part will come with time though.

 

I have been here a week but I have seen so many miracles already.  And I mean miracles in the fullest, split the Red Sea kind of sense.  I wish I had time to tell you all about them but maybe in future email's when things get settled down and I can actually calm down and think.  I love you more than you know. I pray for our family everyday and I feel so thankful I have you as support.  Thanks for all you've done.  Stay strong!  And I'll do the same.

 

Con Amor

Elder Bagley

Mitch with Veronica and Elder Speth at her baptism.