Monday, April 15, 2013 - "Oh, Whatever Are We Going To Do...."

Hola Mi Familia! Well, this has just been quite the craziest week ever! I don't even know where to begin. So much happened. So many good experiences and memories. But we'll get to that in a minute. I know you are just dying to know what happened with transfers and everything, but you will just have to wait and be patient while I explain my beautiful week chronologically. Tuesday, we arrived with the lady that got baptized and she broke the news to us that the bishop had asked her to speak the coming Sunday in Sacrament meeting! Ha! Imagine that! She doesn't even have 1 month since her baptism and now they are asking her to give a talk! She was kind of freaking out and nervous, but we helped her. She was asked to speak on Obedience and so it wasn't too hard of a topic. Later that day we went with the Family that we are teaching. When we arrived, the sister told us that she was thinking about us and hoping that we would pass by that day and we did! She said that in the last couple of days her family was experiencing quite a few problems and was in the middle of a crisis and her mom had stopped talking to her for days. She was upset and was looking for some words of comfort and she knew that we would be able to give her that comfort. We went on a scripture rant for a good bit sharing our favorite scriptures about adversity and trails. I shared one that I have always liked that is Lindsey's Harris's favorite scripture as well. It says something along the lines of "fear not little flock, though heaven and hell combine against you if you are built upon the rock, you cannot fail." She was comforted and we proceeded on with the scheduled lesson. At the end of the lesson her mom miraculously called and they recon ciliated. She said that this happened because we were there and what a blessing it was for us to be. That same day I heard word from a sister in our ward that used to live in Nacozari, that the Nacozari branch would be going to the temple that following weekend. I basically flipped! Pres. had told us that if we have more than a year of not going to the temple we could go if our ward had a ward day or something. I heard this and called the zone leaders asking them to ask permission to be able to go to the temple to complete with my one year of not going and also to see Nacozari! :) They called Pres. and he told them to make the decision and one of them had not gone to the temple either, so they said yes so that we could both go together! It was lovely! Thursday, the zone leaders called me saying that Pres. wanted to put another companionship of missionaries in the zone and they asked if I thought that my district could use more missionaries. I told them that the sisters in the other ward could really use more and that they needed help. The assistants approved and we spent a good half of the day look for another house to rent to move missionaries in. It was quite difficult and a long day, but we finally found something that will work. Friday night we went to sleep at the zone leaders' house, so that me and one of them could go that next morning to the temple. The first session was early at 7AM and so we were up about 5 getting ready and all. We arrived a little late to the temple, but just in time to make the 7AM Session. It was great! Upon arriving in the session, there were quite a few wards doing sessions that day and so it was a full session. We were there and another pair of missionaries as well, but unfortunately none from Nacozari made it into the 7AM session. That was disappointing. The session was so wonderful and it felt so fantastic to be back in the temple after not going for a whole year-this past week marked 1 year in Mexico (1 whole year outside of my country) and 1 year not going to the temple. I loved every moment of it! Afterwards we got dressed and were heading out and I saw 2 sisters from Nacozari that we entering the next session! It made me really happy to see them. Upon exiting the temple, we went to greet some member that the missionary that was with me that I knew. One sister say my badge and asked me my first name and I told her, and she said that she was Carmen's mom! That was super exciting to be able to meet her! Ever since I arrived in the mission, I was hoping to meet someone in her family and I finally did! That was super awesome! We later went to the distribution store to buy a few things and saw a few youth from Nacozari and a few more sisters! It was so fun to see them and we took pictures. Unfortunately, I never got to see my Mexican parents, the branch pres. and his wife, and a few other members, but it was really fun to see those that I saw! Saturday night, we went with the teaching family to watch a movie with them, "The Testaments" and they really enjoyed that. Then I broke the news to them that I had heard rumors that I was going to be transferred (because I had heard rumors from quite a few.).They basically freaked out and began to cry and be all sad. They had really come to love me quite a bit and thought of me as one of their family. They said I was the only Elder that really understood them and what they needed and how to teach so that they could understand. They began asking what they could do to get me to stay and I said there was basically nothing. They said they wanted to do something special before I left and all of a sudden they decided to make a carne asada! We went to the store with them to buy the meat and stuff. We bought flour and I made the tortillas! We grilled the steak and had our carne asada tacos! It was quite delicious! The mom and daughter had left for a good 20 minutes and came back with present. They went and bought me a few ties! That was really nice of them. We had a good time together! I will miss them! They had a baptism date for the 4th of May and they wanted to know if I would be able to be there. I'm not really sure if it will happen, but I told them I wanted to be there in one year from now when they get sealed as a family in the temple. They said they want to go to Salt Lake, but if that doesn't happen I just may have to make a trip back out here....parents...mission tour? :) Sunday came and we received the call that I would be going to Agua Prieta (US connections again!!!) and that I would be training! Woah! What a hit that was! I spent Sunday saying my goodbyes and packing! Monday morning, I headed to the offices to receive my "son". There were about 10 missionaries that had arrived and all from Mexico....no gringos....We were all waiting around while they had interview with the Pres. and Hermana Hernandez asked me to sing while we waited and so I sang a hymn and other started to get up and do little solos as well...although they weren't that good! ;) Pres. then assigned us our companions and I have been placed with an Elder from Puebla Mexico. He is 19 years old and is a greenie! I love him a lot though! He is pretty cool and we seem to be similar in personality a little. We left for the 5 hour bus ride to Agua Prieta and arrived around 5:30PM. We took a taxi to the house and not too long after our district leaders showed up with the keys. We have a nice little place with a boiler (HOT WATER!!!) and a stove and oven! It was quite trashed from the other missionaries and so we had to clean it up a bit. Today, Tuesday, has been quite a rough one! We are, as they call it, opening the area. Basically that means that other missionaries are new to the area and they we start from scratch, from nothing, nada, zip! That has been rough! We don't even know where to begin! We don't know any members, the elders before us didn't leave us and investigators and so we are having a rough start. This week will probs be the hardest one of my mission! I am already starting to feel the weight of being a trainer and will have to basically teach him how to do everything and upon that having to find people to teach. I think he is a little home sick and is kind of freaking out. I can relate to that and I know how he feels. But we will get to working and knowing each other and will work on that. So that was my week! Well, I hope you all have a fantastic week. Here's to the longest and hardest one of my life! Love you all! ¡Yo sé que vive mi Señor! Con Mucho Amor, Elder Joyner