Week 37: The Great Roach Empire

Hey y'all!

Sorry it's been so long. These last few weeks have been pretty hectic. A couple weeks ago we had our p-day moved because of a temple trip (which resulted in a crazy busy day with little to no time to write), and that kind of messed up my schedule for writing. I'm a little behind and I got a bit lazy, so I'll just recap some of the big stuff. Which there wasn't much of to be honest, but here goes anyways ahah.

I would like to add that throughout the following events was a copious amount of tracting during the day which means hours of walking just DRENCHED in sweat. Gotta love it!

First off was the 4th of July! Tells you how far behind I am...

For being such a small place, Cotulla went pretty big with their celebrations. Texas being Texas, I guess! They had a parade and some live bands and a DJ performing as well as a bunch of booths selling food and other random things. The best part was indisputably the firework show. The courthouse is pretty much the highest and most central point in Cotulla, so they made the obvious decision to set up the mortars and other fireworks in the parking lot of it. Perfect spot. What makes it even better is...guess who lives directly across the street from the courthouse? That's right. Us. We had the BEST (and definitely most dangerous) view of the firework show in the whole town. You could feel the explosions in your chest cavity, we practically went deaf, and ash and cinders were raining from the sky but it was AWESOME. It was about an 11 minute long show of constant explosions. I'm not exaggerating. There was so much going on hahah! Easily the biggest and best firework show I've ever seen. Did our lawn catch on fire? Yes. Were we slightly scared the mortars might tip over and shoot directly at us as we were standing on our porch? Yes. Were we screaming like possessed howler monkeys? Probably, but I couldn't really hear over the sound of the explosions. Either way, that was an experience I don't think I'll forget.

We had a few opportunities to serve this week. Some...not as glamorous as others. We helped someone add some siding to their trailer with a member, helped out at the library again organizing books, and we also helped a lady move some stuff out of a trailer. That last one was probably the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. It was absolutely infested with roaches. (Infested doesn't seem like an adequate word to describe it. Maybe conquered will do.) The trailer had been conquered by the Great Roach Empire and they had claimed it as their own. I have never seen so many roaches in my life. The walls and floor were basically moving. We just had to keep our feet moving as much as possible and stay in the light so they wouldn't crawl on us. The smell was unbearable. We just grabbed the stuff she told us to as fast as possible, chucked them into the bed of the truck, dropped it off at the LZ, and booked it out of there. After that we went to McDonald's, washed up like surgeons, and rewarded ourselves with a "McSpecial". We just ordered a 1/4 lb-er and a McChicken and put the McChicken inside the burger. It's an oddly good combination. It's supposed to be a spicy McChicken but we messed up. Oh well. It was a great way to forget the trauma we experienced in the Roach Empire either way.

We went of a couple companion exchanges which were pretty good. Getting out of the area for a day is really nice. They're usually pretty chill and a good change of scenery. I got to go to Crystal City which WAS the spinach capital of the world...until the spinach factory shut down. Now it's just a little town with no jobs :|

It's a funny place. But we did get to move some couches and then in the morning dig some holes for the posts for a shade structure over a chicken coop. Fun stuff! There is zero sarcasm there. Service is the best. 

We were going to go to the temple again to do baptisms with Mariah last week, but we ended up having to cancel because she had some scheduling/health conflicts. We're pretty bummed about that, but we'll get her there! 

We were asked to speak in church this Sunday! Surprisingly this was the first time I had been asked to speak in my 9-ish months of being a missionary. We spoke on miracles and it went pretty well. I would highly recommend reading or listening to Ronald A Rasband's talk "I Am a God of Miracles". In his talk he says "Many of you have witnessed miracles, more than you realize. They may seem small in comparison to Jesus raising the dead. But the magnitude does not distinguish a miracle, only that it came from God. Some suggest that miracles are simply coincidences or sheer luck. But the prophet Nephi condemned those who would “put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain.” Miracles are wrought by divine power by Him who is “mighty to save.” Miracles are extensions of God’s eternal plan; miracles are a lifeline from heaven to earth."

This is so true. Seeing the hand of God can be very plain at times, but more often than not the miracles are much more subtle. We likely won't see angels or part the red sea, but as Elder Rasband said, the magnitude does not distinguish a miracle. I invite y'all to pay a little closer attention to the simple miracles and tender mercies in your life. I promise that they are there. Additionally, write them down every day. At least one or two. Try it for a week and I know 4hay it 2ill help you to see the Lord's hand in your life and appreciate the small and simple things that He uses to bring to pass great things. 

So there's your spiritual thought hah.

Anyways, Brother Priest (formerly known as Elder Priest) came into town yesterday for church! He finished his mission several months ago and decided to bring his family to Cotulla. An odd choice in my opinion, but it was really cool to see him and hear all the stories from his mission and the time he spent here. He made a really great connection with the members here. I hope to be able to build those kinds of relationships with people on my mission as well. Really sweet. 

Those were the big things that happened these last few weeks. We're headed to Eagle Pass for zone sports today which should be pretty fun. Since our zone is so spread out, we only do zone sports once a transfer. We'll have to trade vehicles today for the last week of the transfer to get our windshield replaced finally hah. Well have to drive an Equinox which I'm very sad about. I like the Tacoma.

 

This is the last week of the transfer, so next week I'll have some news for y'all! I suspect I'll be staying and my companion will be leaving. We shall see. 

 

Well, I hope this week goes great for y'all! Keep it real and hold to the rod! 

All in TSAM! 

Love, 

Elder DeWitt

 

District Temple Trip!

Enjoying some delicious brisket