Simple Pleasures - Carl's Jr and unlimited refills! - June 6, 2016

Hi there,

So this week was super busy. We are trying to fix a bad birth certificate for the M****-V**** family, and spent an entire day going from one junta to another seeking docs and fixes and only got a portion of the process done. That was Wednesday. Tuesday most everything fell through and we spent the day contacting.Thursday was district meeting. Friday we spent the morning setting up a date with a judge for the legal marriage of the M*** family next Friday so that they can get baptized next Saturday. Saturday we did exchanges, and had a cosecha to get all the less actives to church for ward conference Sunday, for which we had to get there early so I could play prelude with the choir (Elder S**** was in the choir). Today we left the mission (woot) to go to Agora (we got special permission from Pres Corbitt), and Elder S**** bought a guitar. There they have a Carls Jr, and it is the only place in the DR I know with UNLIMITED REFILLS XD!

Jessica: I wish I could say exactly how my patriarchal blessing is helping me, but I can't because I haven't diligently studied it in a transfer or so. That is actually a great idea, so I'll put that in my goals for this week. Thanks! :)

I'm ahead of you as far as a challenge goes, mom! (In my letter to him I challenged him to find an aspect of being a missionary that he has not fully thrown himself into and change that this week.) I want to work a LOT more on discerning the Spirit. Because of past mistakes and lack of focus, I never really developed the habit nor the ability of listening to the Spirit unless it was a super strong gut feeling. I feel sometimes like a kid on a bicycle--I know when I have the Spirit with me, but I don´t know what to do with myself to keep the balance. I don't yet understand which way or what word or to whom the Spirit is indicating. I get insecure in that sense, and am still dependent on my companion for that. For example, Saturday we were out and about, and I felt bad, as though something had happened or was going to happen to someone, or that we shouldn't have been where we were, or who knows what. I prayed with my companion, and still wasn't sure about what to do. I had a couple of names of people pop into my head that we should visit, but those people always pop into my head, and so I was unsure of whether that was me or the Spirit speaking. My companion decided to help me be more independent, and waited for me to give an answer. We wasted like 20 minutes standing around and praying before we decided to get moving and I kind of let him guide me. I felt like we should pass by the M*** family's house, so we did, but...we had an appointment later that afternoon anyway, and it seemed that we didn't avert any crisis by passing by early. 

All of this is not sign that i am doubting being out here--it is just that I am frustrated by my seeming inability or incapability, even almost 9 months into my mission and over 11 years into my church membership, to understand what the Spirit is telling me to do, say, or avoid.

That is my goal this week--to better it. Anyhow, love you guys, and until next week! 

Élder Rowe