Week 40: All Kinds of Crazy

August 14, 2023

Week 40: All Kinds of Crazy

Hey y'all!

Sorry I didn't get a chance to write last week. The day ended up being much busier than I expected. I started writing this one yesterday so I actually have time hah

Really the only things of note from last week are that my sister got married (and I got to call home for that. Absolutely made my day) and we also got in a car accident! Yeahhhhh not so fun. Second day with my new companion and we crash. It was a pretty gnarly crash, but fortunately everyone was just fine. My companion got a bit of glass in his elbow and sprained his shoulder and I've got some nasty bruising on my ribs and shins, but otherwise nobody got hurt. I was sure feeling it for the next week though (still kind of am) but it's really a miracle it wasn't worse than it was. I'll attach pictures of the truck :)

Because of the accident we didn't do a whole ton of work (by order of the mission president) so we could recover. Believe it or not, when you get T-boned by an F-250 Super Duty at 40 MPH you feel like...well, you feel like you got hit by a truck! Imagine that. We still did some calls and stuff while we were out of commission, but we also took a trip to Dilley with the McDowells to scout out the area. Which brings me to my next point. We're a branch now!

The Cotulla, Pearsall, and Dilley groups were combined into the new Cotulla Branch last week and we met for the first time this Sunday. It was awesome! It's really great to have more structure and support out here, which will be really helpful for our missionary work. Anyways, the reason we were in Dilley was because the McDowells were assigned the task of finding a property to eventually build a church! It'll take a couple years to get it approved, purchased, planned, and built, but it'll be super sweet when we eventually get one. Obviously it'll be WAY after I'm gone, but maybe one day I'll get to come back and visit when it's built! That'll be a really cool day.

I mentioned my new companion, but I didn't really introduce him. His name is Elder Winward and he's from Preston Idaho! If yall have seen Napoleon Dynamite, that's where it was filmed. He went to that high-school and worked in that chicken farm. I think it's hilarious. He's a good sport about pretty much everything and he's a hard worker. Good stuff.

This was a bit of an odd week but it was good! We had a lesson with our friend Joe who is probably the most consistent person I've ever met with. Definitely the most promising person we're teaching in Cotulla! He's been reading and loves meeting with us, and we should be able to get him to watch church once we get a Zoom set up. His big obstacle has been his work schedule, but he's always been interested in coming. Hopefully he's able to start watching and growing more.

We did a good chunk of stop-bys this week. Having a new missionary in the area is the BEST because it's a great excuse to knock on people's doors mor. We didn't have a ton of success there, but we just have to keep the faith in it. If we find just one person doing it, it's all worth the effort.

We got to do service In Encinal with the food bank again which was fun. The regulars (volunteers and receivers alike) all know us and what we do, which is one of the reasons we do it. Obviously to love our neighbor, but it's also a great opportunity to be seen by the people and show them what we are and what we do. It's sweet!

This Sunday was fast Sunday because we had district conference (stake conference's younger sibling) last week. We actually had some really great testimonies this month! Our numbers have drastically increased and we have several more solid members in our ranks now. Then afterwards we had a "break the fast" which was super delicious. The McDowells made one of the best briskets I've ever had and some bomb homemade nectarine ice cream! There were also three pasta salads for some reason. Always seems to happen. I think it was a great bonding experience for our new branch.

Quick spiritual thought. Sorry I always seem to forget to include something!

One very simple but absolutely vital truth.

God. Knows. You.

He knows you better than you know yourself. And He loves you more than you as a mortal can ever understand. So, when you're beaten down and broken, when you're lost and feel alone, when you're facing trials that seem to big to beat, remember the promise God gave to the Prophet Joseph Smith in D&C 121 (one of my favorites)

"7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; 8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. 9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands." IF you endure it well, you will be greatly blessed and overcome those challenges that seemed so great.

"...all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." (D&C 122:7) (another favorite verse of mine :)

Well, I think that's about all I got for this week! Thank for taking the time to read it. I appreciate each and every one of you and I pray for you all every night. Thank you to each of you who have played a role in my journey to where I am now. Big or small. These last almost 10 months now (oh dang) have been some of the best and happiest I've ever had. God is good and I love you all!

Full of brisket,

Elder DeWitt

Visiting the church peanut farm in Pearsall

Big VERY expensive tractor (that I'm technically allowed to drive since it's a church owned vehicle and I'm an "employee" hehe. This thing has massaging and temperature controlled seats! So cool)