First a funny story. We had the Bishop over to our apartment for breakfast and a meeting. I made one of Don's favorite Hawaiian dishes called "Loco Moco". It's a hamburger patty with a fried egg and gravy. Anyways, the Bishop ate it, liked it and we had our meeting. That night we saw his wife and she said that the Bishop really enjoyed breakfast, but didn't have the heart to tell us what "Loco Moco" meant in spanish. Crazy Boogers! Oh my, we had such a laugh and we still chuckle to think about it.
It's hard to even conceive writing about all that we learned from Elder Neuenschwander during our Missionary Training. He focused on specific concerns.
Elder Neuenschwander changed the way baptismal goals are made. No longer is the Mission to dictate the goal for the missionaries. The goal is to start with each companionship and the total compilation of their goals would become the Mission Goal. It will be interesting to see how they implement this change.
Elder Neuenschwander also spoke about companions for a long time. He spoke about how a companion can make or break your mission. Not only your mission, but how you live your life. He spoke of his first Missionary Companion (Trainer) and how the Trainer told him to set his alarm an hour early in order for Elder Neuenschwander to learn the language. He talked about how his Trainer taught him to work hard and that he has never forgotten the work ethic he learned from him. He mentioned how he was surprised a few months later when he had a companion that wanted to sleep in. He didn't think anybody would sleep in and that all missionaries got up early and worked hard.
We were thrilled to learn this morning that our son, Brent, who is serving in North Carolina will be assigned as a Senior Companion and a Trainer tomorrow. This is wonderful and we are so thrilled to see that he is serving strong. We know he will make a difference in the new Elder's mission and his life. Brent has only been in North Carolina for six months. Many of the missionaries here don't get that opportunity until they have been here for a year.
On Friday, we had the opportunity to help Brother Zavala prepare for his immigration oral exam. It's where they have to answer all of these questions in English. He can't hear and so we spent most of our time working on pronunciation of words like: legislative, judicial and branch. It was a good visit, since they only speak spanish. We left the Spanish/English dictionary at home by accident so we were on our own. Needless to say, I was quite shocked at the questions that are asked. The responses must be exact to all 100 questions.
The best part was that they fed us lunch. More authentic food. This time from Venuzuela. Don called them Chicken Doughnuts and Banana Soup. It was really "Chicken Empenadas", but the dough is so sweet Don says they taste like a doughnut. We also had soup. It was a chicken soup. Some of the ingredients I found in my bowl were: chicken with bones, potatoes, and half of a green banana! It was very good. Don was disappointed, because he didn't get a banana in his bowl. Needless to say, it was fun and we were glad we had taken allergy pills earlier in the day. Brother Zavala takes his immigration test on Valentine's Day so we will work with him a few more times.
Saturday we had the wonderful experience of hearing an Apostle of the Lord. Elder Uchtdorf came with the Elder Anderson of the Seventy. It was really nice to see so many people attend and to hear him speak on Jesus Christ and faith.
Elder Uchtdorf spoke of the importance of sacrifice and asked each one of us to consider what it was that we really wanted. Then to ask ourselves what we were willing to sacrifice to get it. What am I willing to sacrifice to receive the blessings of Heavenly Father?
Elder Uchtdorf challenged everyone to read the scriptures. He said if you are not reading, start by reading them for 60 seconds a day. Then build up to 90 seconds, 120 seconds and then five minutes. He promised blessings if we will read the scriptures in the morning, that our day will be different. He did clarify to say that if you are already reading for 30 minutes, it doesn't mean you should go back to 60 seconds.
We have been blessed to really love these people and we can feel their love for us. We have been here four months and we are finding more and more people to love.
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