Sunday, July 7, 2013

IT'S OFFICIAL I'M STAYING IN MESA

JULY 1, 2013
Como estas? Well it's official I'm staying a Mesa missionary just like I was called!! No big changes or surprises still residing in the Kimball East Stake with my buddy Elder Salesulu. President Jenkins arrived on Thursday, I am yet to meet him but come Wednesday I will shake his hand! I'm pretty excited. Our new mission home is also in function. The new address if you want to send me things is 2525 N 32nd Street Mesa, AZ 85213. Crazy, crazy. The work is definitely hastening! Our mission is pretty small. It's honestly just Mesa. Everyone says there's like one area down in Globe haha. So Mesa and Apache Junction are where it's at! But I don't have to worry about that I'm going to die in Kimball.
The work is still going! So many people out there need the gospel, I wish they could all see it but I'm grateful to help them recognize the truth. Even if they turn away I know that I'm still doing my job!
This week went pretty well. We're still struggling to find people but we're trying! For a little there I lost the habit of talking to everyone on the street, which is very bad and I had to repent. But we've been doing better this weeks and we placed a couple copies of the Book of Mormon and sent in a couple of referrals. We were heading over to the Argenta apartments the other day and there was a shirtless old man wading in the fountain out front, so we stopped and talked to him. He's just gotten hit by a car on his bike but he was ok. He was pretty nice at first, talked a lot about praying and how he always thanked God for everything. He had had a pretty tough life drugs and what not but he said he was trying to clean up. He was possibly going to get a house or something, sometimes he didn't make much sense because he hit his head when he got hit. But all of a sudden he got really aggressive. I asked him his name and he was like "I don't know... Toby!" Kind of angry like. IF you're going to lie to us please don't say I don't know first. We're not stupid. That's what I thought, I didn't say it. And then he asked for 50 cents and I told him I didn't have any many with me. He asked to borrow the phone and we just kind of started leaving..... He yelled at us to come back. Nice guy.
Remember Kace? 14 year old with a baptism date? Well he moved. I was super bummed. Like on the verge of falling into a deep depression. And then I thought, 'Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul. Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions. Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.' And then to my surprise I beheld that Nephi had thought this very same thing! But seriously I was down and Heavenly Father loves me enough that we got 5 referrals the very next day! I learned a good lesson there. I had a lot of doubt but I know that if I just continually put my trust in the Lord even when we go a month and a half without a baptism or 2 weeks without a new investigator I don't have to be down. I can look to Him for hope. And I love that!
Sarah is doing awesome. She still can't get baptized because she can't get married but she said once we get things figured out and they can get married that she would get baptized the next day!! She has come so far it's insane. She's going to join us in a fast this Sunday and I'm so excited to see the miracles that follow her faith. We're going to get a letter from Jesus tomorrow about his probation and see how long we're going to have to wait until he can get baptized. He's on 1 Nephi 13 now which is super awesome because he used to have such a hard time reading the Book of Mormon and all of a sudden he reads 13 chapters in 1 week! Miracles for days out her in AZ.
I went on an exchange with Elder Cabrera. He's from Honduras and he is the best. I was in the Spanish area for the day. Every single appointment canceled. All of them. After they'd cancel he'd say, "So.. we'll just waste our time here until our next appointment." I think he was half kidding but I think if I'd said ok he would have just sat there. But I said no and we went and talked to some other people I couldn't understand! It was a good day.
I had an interesting experience this week. We stopped by a member, Bro Alger, to get some water. He invited us in. They had this paper for their family reunion that had the names of all of the missionaries from their extended family and where they served. I was just looking, there were a lot of names. I got to the last name on the list and it says "Dallin Hazelgren El Salvador East 2013-2015." I was just kind of like, ha I know a Dallin Hazelgren. As I continued to sweep the papers my eyes also fell on "Bj Hazelgren" and "Colby Price." What in the world! So if you get the chance tell Dallin congrats and good luck on his mission! Lucky for him he gets to escape this Arizona sun.
Oh my goodness, get over that wimpy 100 degrees haha. Just kidding seriously it's just hot. 120 or 100, it's all just hot. Even with glasses I feel the sting of a thousand needles piercing my eye ball as we ride down the street. But I love it a lot. Sweating isn't too bad, it makes me feel like I'm working hard haha.  Apparently it's about to get real humid and that's going to be fun. It's monsoon season and I can't wait! My shirts are turning yellow and I have plenty of minor stains and I love it!

I think about you oft whenever anything America is mentioned. Sister Cotter (wife of our ward mission leader) is a high school history teacher and she loves America a lot, and she loves to talk! You too would get a long great, you'll have to meet her one day.
Well pop good luck with your pageant this week, send me some pics! I'll carry my love for America in my heart always. A long side my love for the Lord, and you and mom.
Thanks for the prayers. I'm very grateful for them and can feel them. It's really so crazy to me some days how happy I can be when i'm exhausted and everything is going wrong. Haha Heavenly Father cares for those that care for Him. I know that for sure, He loves us but He expects love too. It makes sense.

Well that's it! We're going to see miracles this week so stay tuned! I can feel them just on the horizon. I'm grateful for a God of miracles. That loves us enough to send miracles in the times that we need them most. Thank you for raising me in this gospel. I sometimes think about why I was so blessed to be born into the gospel and learn of it's truthfulness from birth. I'm grateful that I still had the chance to pray and ask of it's truthfulness and that Heavenly Father listened! I'm grateful for sunglasses and sunscreen too. And all of the people that I love. 
<3
Elder Alexander

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