I have been so tired lately. I realized that it has a LOT to do with the amount of water I drink. The heat here is getting WORSE. I don't know how that it possible, nor why it happens, but it does. Semana Santa, the Holy Week, is coming, and supposedly that is the hottest week here in Nicaragua. We'll see how I handle it all.
Okay, now to get going...
Funny Experience:
SO this week my companion and I were walking to visit one of the families that we are teaching. We were walking to their house rather quickly to inform them that we would be arriving a little bit later that night with a member to talk to them and help teach them. We were on the road walking when we saw a bucket full of tar with rocks and stuff all over it. I thought nothing of it, as we see trash all over the place in the city, and so we kept walking. Soon enough, we walk up to a drunk man, also a very common occurrence here, but this one was different. This man looked crazed, there was something really wrong about his whole person. He got close to me, touched my shirt and name tag and told me that i had to give him 20 cordobas, i.e. 1 dollar. I told him no, and hit his hand off of me (mind you, he looked like Satan incarnate). He pestered my companion, so we decided to keep walking. We took about 5 steps and the man started to STONE my companion! I was absolutely amazed. He literally threw rocks at us and hit my companion. Well, our investigators came outside and started yelling, throwing rocks and sticks and saying mean things to this Satan man in Miskitu. He fled and we remained completely surprised.
We also witnessed the biggest guilt trip from the Aunt of one of our investigators when we asked her if he could get baptized. She went off on how he knew who he was, when and where he was baptized, but that he could make his own decision. Then, we went to go take him to church and he had "left with the pastor" of the Evangelical church. Apparently the Aunt didn't notice anything, she was too busy working inside the house that she didn't notice that anybody had come or gone. Lie #1. She then said that she didn't know why the pastor had come by to visit her nephew (question: how did she know that the pastor came to visit her nephew if she never saw either one?) and that maybe it was because he hadn't been to church in a while. Lie #2. She drove me nuts. So, actually being polite, I said thanks and left with my companion.
Quote of the Week:
"I told you that I was teaching a family in your area and that they were going to get baptized." Favorite line of the week.
"Do any of you have questions about the Priesthood?" -My companion asking a question to Melchizedek Priesthood holders. Silence. Then the response: "What's the Priesthood?" Classic.
Lesson Learned:
This week was full of lessons. Mainly I learned the following: never trust a missionary. They will do anything to baptize, they will do anything to be right, and they will not hesitate to be brutal about pretending to be honest. My companion and I have had some funny experiences with the missionaries in our zone this week. I find them funny and slightly frustrating at the same time, but this is a time of growth and learning, so I'll enjoy it while it lasts.
I also learned that the reasons why I have dreams that I am at home. #1: I am afraid, deep down inside, of going home and being out of the expereinces here in the mission and having to deal with my own personal problems instead of the problems of others. #2: It's so that I can secretly escape my mission and do things i used to do like read books, watch movies with my family, go to church in a well-established area, being protected by the law, you name it. So keep comin dreams!
I love this place, the culture, the languages and the many opportunities that I have to become a better person and to work really hard. I love you all so very much and hope that you might find happiness and success this week in your lives.
Sincerely,
Elder B
