The Place of Becoming: Micah's 7th Week in Ciudad Frontera - And a New Companion

New haircut and visiting with mi abuela favorita.

Happy New Years! I come home next year, and I'm already more than one eighth done with my mission, so yup.

Well I started off the week with going on divisions with my previous district leader, Élder Camarillo. So for that, I got to spend a day in Carmen. We played Mario with some members, so that was pretty rad, and we visited the beach at night (no to swim, just to look at)

Earlier in the week, Élder Christiansen and I ventured a little further from town, and that was also pretty rad.

Thursday, Élder Christensen and I parted ways, and I am now in training with a new companion, Élder Avila. He's a native, and speaks very little English. My Spanish has already improved a ton in the last 2 days. I guess being forced to speak Spanish forces your brain to remember other words you've learned.

Over the past couple weeks, we've been teaching a woman named Arelis. She's the cousin of the wife of one of the presidency members in our ward, and she's been progressing beautifully, so I've got high hopes for her.

So, my first week in México, Christensen and I met an elderly woman named Vicky. We've tried teaching her, but ever since the first visit, she hasn't shown her face to us. Instead, we've been teaching her grandson, Jael. Well, it didn't seem like he was progressing much, and the past few times Christensen and I had gone to visit, they didn't answer, so we were considering dropping them, but a neighbor across the street told us that their family was having a hard time at the moment, so we decided we'd keep them for one more visit. Well, now Élder Christensen is gone, and I went back to their house with Élder Avila, who, as I understand, recently had a very close friend pass away, so he's been struggling with that. So we knock on their door, and no one answers, so we begin to walk away, when Jael (age 13-14 I believe) opens the door. We talk for a minute, and he tells us that his grandma (Vicky) recently passed away, so they've been struggling a lot with that. My companion then proceeded to share a small message about the Plan of Salvation, or the Plan of Happiness, and how God has provided a way for us to live with our families forever. After we were done, Jael agreed for us to return.

I don't know what will come from this, but I believe it was a great blessing that Élder Christensen and I weren't able to contact them during this time, because I don't think Élder Christensen would've been able to sympathize and relate in the same way Élder Avila could, given his recent loss.

I know God is aware of each and every one of us, as we are all His sons and daughters. This doesn't mean life will be easy, as our lives on earth weren't ever intended to be easy, but it does mean we can have peace, no matter our circumstances.

Yesterday, my companion and I had the goal of finding 5 new people for the day. We were coming close to the end of the day, and my companion was feeling discouraged because we only had found 2 new people. I told him "Well, we've still got 50 minutes. Let's start knocking doors!" And by the end, we had 4 new people for the day.

Just tonight, as we were walking home from the store, a lady stopped us, and asked if she and her 2 children would be able to attend church this Sunday. We, of course, said yes!

The mission isn't easy, quite the opposite. And the missionaries aren't perfect, nor our leaders, but this is the Lord's work, and it goes on, and it is a perfect work, even though the people aren't.

"Sometimes you gotta dance through the darkness,

Sing through fire,

Praise when it don't make sense.

Sometimes you gotta stare down the giant,

Worship from the lion's den.

Sometimes you gotta shout it from the mountain,

Louder in the valley,

Trusting that he's gonna get you there.

Sometimes you gotta welcome the wonder,

Wait for the answer,

Worship with your hands in the air."

(PRAISE YOU ANYWHERE by Brandon Lake)