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| The "blessing" of a few minutes of air conditioning |
HOLA a todos!!! How are you!? I am super hyped up right now I don't know why I just LOVE being a missionary!!!! Think about a hyper Elder Plowman... that is how I am right now hahaha but let me tell you guys all about my week!!! I noticed last week that I titled my email Carnival in Calkini and I didn't even describe why! That was dumb of me, but basically once a year there is a carnival in all the little pueblos in Campeche and last year I was here for it and this year too! The carnival gets super crazy here and on Monday night and Tuesday we couldn't even work because of it. But on Tuesday it was super awesome because we were in our district meeting in the church building here in Calkini and I got a phone call from president Ruíz which always makes my heart skip a beat and he asked me where I was and I was like uhhhh in the church, and he said, see you in 5 minutes!! President and Hermana Ruíz showed up and were with us in the district meeting and they each shared a message with us and then after an Elder in our zone named Elder Salas was having his B-day so we ate cake and sandwiches and chips... which I know at home isn't a big deal but in the mission it totally is. It was super nice to have them surprise us and visit us here in Calkini because honestly it is far from Merida and they don't come out here too much.
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| Lunch after district meeting with President and Sister Ruiz |
But he talked about how Calkiní is the weakest part of the mission in terms of success because they are the hardest pueblos in the whole mission but he talked to us about how to have success and always be optimistic, which was super great!! We then talked to him about the situation with the Carnival and he decided it would be better not to work Tuesday, because there is something called the paint war where people throw paint on anyone they see, and the paint is filled with acid and eggs to hurt people... oh the traditions!!
On Wednesday Elder Capulin and I had a hard day... I guess I probably don't talk about the hard days all that much. It was just one of those days where everything went wrong. At about 6pm we sat down on a bench and were talking about our feelings to help each other out and a girl literally walks up to us and tells us we need to go visit her son. It was just crazy to see how the Lord puts people in our path. I share with you this experience about having a bad day because honestly sometimes it is so hard as a missionary but it is all worth it to just have one GOOD day. I learned a lot about humility and appreciating the good and always being an optimist.
On Friday we had to wake up at 4am to go to the Mission Leadership Council in Merida! It was super great and president Ruiz taught us a lot about a new training plan in the mission and how to always have the faith to baptize converts. It has been super cool to see President Ruiz grow as a mission president these last 8 months and he is really starting to put his own ideas and change the whole mission. It is super great to see. We then were in Merida till Saturday because we did divisions with the assistants, which was a great experience. It was super weird for me because it was the first time in my 10 months as ZL that they finally did divisions with me, but I learned a lot from them! Now comes the title of my letter... A Blessing. The church sent 80 air conditioner units to the mission a couple months ago but the mission hasn't given any of them out yet, because they weigh a ton and there are a lot of logistics behind it like transporting it, or installing it. The only people that have them so far are the assistants and the secretaries. Well having them as my friends was super great because I convinced them to let us bring an AC unit here to our house in Calkini :) That thing weighed a ton but it was so worth it. On Saturday night we spent like 2.5 hours installing it and lets just say air conditioning is the thing I miss most from home (except my mom). We only can use it like 1 hour a night because if we use it a ton the light bill will be a lot, but it sure is a blessing!!
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| Mangos |
So on Saturday we got to teach Andres. Wow. This guy is the most converted person to the gospel that I have met in my mission i think. He has had so much opposition against his desires to be baptized and his parents are against it, but he is so convinced. We asked him about his testimony and he shared it with us and he started crying as he talked about how this has changed his life and his testimony about the prophet Joseph Smith and this church. We told him that we feel he is ready to be baptized March 11th instead of March 18th and he accepted the date. So this Saturday he will be baptized. I am so happy and I can't thank God more for giving me the chance to be an instrument in His hands. This is His work. I have none of the glory, it is all his. It really marvels me how so many miracles happen. He has to be doing this work, because none of this would happen if I were doing it alone. Also, we taught Williams family, who are getting more active in the church. William will be baptized March 25th I think, so he can prepare more. We were teaching them the plan of salvation and we ask him what he has to do to go to the celestial kingdom one day and he says "i have to die." and it was honestly super funny to hear an answer like that because he is a little kid and it is so true what he is saying but it just made me laugh haaha. Also, Mayte's family went to church and she accepted the baptism date of March 18th! Also, Johann will either be baptized March 11th or March 18th, it just depends if he wants to be baptized with another kid or not! Honestly I feel so blessed to be here in Calkini. We are finding a lot of people to teach and I am trying my hardest to finish out my mission strong. I am so thankful for this work and I know that Jesus Christ died for all of us. I love you all!
Elder Plowman
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