Week 32: I Think I'm Melting

June 19, 2023

Week 32: I Think I'm Melting

Hey y'all!

As the days get sunnier and hotter, I keep getting tanner and blonder. Yes, my arm hair is turning blond and it's very strange. My companion and I were talking this week about getting some hats (a kind that's approved for the mission of course) to keep some of the sun off. Might be smart. We have been biking a lot less recently because it's just way too hot and humid. We are blessed with the option of using our truck, so we're taking advantage of it now hah.

This was a pretty good week, but it was relatively uneventful actually. I did get a flat tire on Tuesday and had to change it. Nothing crazy ha. Definitely a missionary tire though because the tube already had I think four patches on it. It was time to retire it. No pun intended. That night we also had to air up one of our truck tires because THAT'S been losing air too! Tuesday was just full of rubber.

We did have a chaotic lesson with our friend Zeke though! Turns out when the person you're teaching has to babysit his niece and take care of his daughter, things get pretty hectic. Overall actually went great though and he loved the message!

Per usual, we had our weekly district council and then we had a delicious meal provided by the McDowells. Elder McDowell smoked some ribs and they were soooo good. Everything they make is just stupidly good. Can't beat mama's cooking though!

We had a lesson with Mariah later that evening followed by a lesson with some members (the brothers Jason and Jesus) and we taught the Restoration! Something we like to do sometimes is have lessons with new or lifelong members and teach them the missionary lessons. One, it's a good refresher, but it's also a good way to get members excited about missionary work and feel more comfortable joining lessons with us. It's a pretty good system!

I finally got to do some rolling this week! As you probably understand at this point, Cotulla is...different! We don't quality as a branch yet and we don't have a proper building yet so we meet in the group leaders boxing gym/jujitsu dojo. Don't imagine some serene Karate Kid Mr. Miagi dojo with bamboo and a coy pond. Imagine...a concrete floor, very very little insulation, and super underpowered wall AC units. Oh and ceiling fans that only blow hot air so they're never on. Now that you have that mental picture, imagine wrestling on a mat trying to choke the other person out or put them in an arm bar. Yeah. That's rolling. Super fun! It really is actually pretty fun. Jose teaches us how to do it right and what we should do in the real world, so it's pretty sweet.

On Friday we met with Art...who is a person. Not a painting. Just thought I'd make that clear for some reason. Anyways, this was an interesting experience. Basically it was just him showing us his crazy collection of Funko Pops and cards for half an hour. He's an interesting fell. After that though, we drove out to stop by our friend Gilbert and had such a bomb lesson with him. Very impromptu, but our conversation lead perfectly into a restoration lesson. By the end he was basically testifying of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith by himself! He didn't make it to church this week, but this could be a turning point for him!

One super cool thing that happened was I got to watch a baptism over zoom! Not just any baptism though, it was a man named Julio that I taught in my first area! Julio is an absolute legend and I'm so proud of him. He's one of those people who are unstoppable once they put their mind to something. He became truly converted and it was SO cool to see. (My trainers were there for the baptism so I got to see them too! They both finished their missions but came back for Julio. He's THAT special hahah)

The rest of that was was honestly so boring. We walked for so long just knocking on people's doors. What we'll do is drive across town, park, then just walk around that area for a while making contacts and tracting. Saves us miles, but dang it's so hot out!

There are days like these all the time on the mission. Something super awesome might happen at one point and then the rest is really lame hah. Missionary work (especially in this area) really is WORK. It's very grindy, but the payoff is still worth it.

Happy belated Father's Day!

Sunday was a bit crazy but awesome ha. Church was great and Mariah was confirmed and received the Holy Ghost! It was super awesome. She was the first person at church too. That evening we were invited to a father's day BBQ at a members house where we had just about every kind of meat you could think of. That's Texas BBQ for ya!

We got transfer news last night and Elder Ashby and I are both staying in Cotulla! Should be a good one.

Today will probably be pretty normal! Shop, hang out with the district, play some board games, start a rebellion, overthrow The Empire, etc. The usual. We actually have a couple of lessons this evening after pday technically ends, so that'll be good!

That about wraps it up for this week. I hope y'all had a great father's day and that this week treats you well! I appreciate all of your love, support, and encouragement. Remember God loves you!

Love,

Elder DeWitt

~God Bless~