Week 31: The Great Dunkening

June 12, 2023

Week 31: The Great Dunkening

Mariah got baptized! Sorry thought I'd just start off with that because it's exciting...

Hey y'all! Happy Monday! Hopefully it's not as hot where you are as it is here. Things have been continuing to heat up and get more humid, so it's kind of brutal sometimes. It's been hotter here than in Arizona right now! (and humid so it feels way worse) Should get up to 112° this week so that's uhh exciting I guess?? Hopefully I survive if I just keep drinking tons of water.

This was a pretty crazy week. We had 10 lessons! Granted, several of them were just Mariah as we prepared for her baptism, but it was a still a pretty busy week for Cotulla. We had three lessons on Tuesday with our friends Devlin, Joe, and Mariah. Devlin and Joe are kinda new, and they're both great people! The lessons are often pretty freestyle, but they turn out great. And obviously Mariah was great too haha. We really just spent the week preparing her for her baptismal interview and teaching her one or two things a bit last minute oops. Worked out though!

Wednesday we had exchanges (so I was here with Elder Perez) and we had two more lessons. One was (you guessed it) Mariah and the other was an impromptu lesson with our friend Jackie and two of her kids! We were just doing a stop by to set something up, but it turned out to be the perfect moment. Great family and we're planning on meeting again this week!

We got to volunteer for the Food Bank again this week in Encinal which was good as always haha. When we got there the food bank truck hadn't arrived yet, so we and the other volunteers started up a game of basketball! Started off great...until the basketball decided to rearrange my face. See, here's what happened. We were shooting for teams and the person before me got the ball stuck between the rim and the backboard. Elder Perez decided a GREAT idea would be to chuck his shoe at the ball to dislodge it. Because that would tooootally work. He throws it and...misses. At the same time, someone else gets the ball down and passes it to me (and hard too) BUT I was still looking at the shoe off to the side. Needless to say, a hard pass to the face doesn't feel very good. Fortunately I still have two eyes, a nose, and all of my teeth, so that's nice!

Two more lessons on Friday! Yes yes one was Mariah. The other was with a man named Mike and that one was pretty good too. Not sure if he's going to progress, but we can hope!

That same evening we scooted down to Carrizo for a baptism for a man named Sergio! He's been taught by the sisters in our district and he's pretty hilarious. What else was cool is that they got permission to do TWO confirmations that evening as well! (Sergio's and the one from last week, Robert) It was a great service and it made us even more excited for Mariah!

Saturday was sweeeeet. Honestly just for two reasons. One, we had three more lessons, and two, we met Joseph! Joseph is basically as good as it gets. He invited us in right away, they have a beautiful little home, he was really interested in what we had to share, he's married, they're both super nice, suuuper attentive, and he invited us back! Oh man, he's gold. I don't say this often, but mans is elect. And I don't throw that around! Really really looking forward to seeing where he goes. (The other lessons this day were good but not really of note)

Game day!!!!

Sunday was awesome. Church was kind of weird actually because hardly anybody was there because it was branch conference so several people were in Eagle Pass. And when several people are gone in Cotulla then there goes half the group. Mariah's baptism was super good though! I had the opportunity to perform the baptism (which was decided by an epic rock paper scissors match) and it was just a great experience. AND the McDowells brought homemade pineapple ice cream which made everything even better.

We also had a really cool lesson with a man named Josh that evening! We had talked to him briefly before, but we caught him at the perfect time and ended up talking for the better part of an hour! He's a great man and really wants to come closer to God. He might go places as well!

Today will probably mostly be spent in Carrizo with the district. There isn't really much to do in Cotulla. We'll do the usual shopping, board/card games, talking to family, and maybe even chuck water balloons at each other! Should be a good day.

I'll pop in a little spiritual thought from my personal study that comes from a quote by Joseph F. Smith regarding how the Lord -prospers- His people.

“The man who stays with the kingdom of God, the man who is true to this people, the man who keeps himself pure and unspotted from the world, is the man that God will accept, that God will uphold, that he will sustain, and that will prosper in the land, whether he be in the enjoyment of his liberty or be confined in prison cells, it makes no difference where he is, he will come out all right” (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], 257).

Note that he says the Lord will always prosper us, even though our circumstances may seem bleak. Prospering doesn't mean that our life will be free from trials, but it does mean progress. No matter the trial or situation, if we trust in God then our progress cannot be halted.

Welp!

Overall it was a pretty productive week! This has been the most lessons I've had in a week so far. And my first baptism! We also technically "found" 7 new people to teach! A heavy numbers week for sure. Super fun and quite rewarding. Our hard work is paying off!

I love y'all and I hope that you have a great week. I say it every time but I mean it!

I'll catch y'all later

Sweatily,

Elder DeWitt