Well hello again everyone!
It's already been another week, and I can only believe it because the calendar says so. I am now thoroughly convinced that time passes faster here in Mexico. Or maybe it's just me. Either way, greetings from Mexico! Someone emailed me the other day and pointed out that I spend almost as much time talking about what I've been doing as I do what I've been eating. And since I'd hate to break from tradition, let's start it off with a bang! I finally went and ate some tacos. And though I know I'm going to get a lot of hate for this, they were nothing special. Honestly, they weren't even that great. In my semi-professional opinion, too much cilantro, the onions would have been better fried a little bit, and more pineapple wouldn't have hurt either. I'm reserving judgement on account of small sample size, it's entirely possible we just didn't go to the right place. Then again, I have been known to be a bit critical of food, so forgive me if I've offended anyone. In other food news, I'm going to an American style all you can eat buffet later today, so that should be pretty awesome.
Moving on from our food segment, let's talk about the weather. It's a nice solid average of about 75 degrees down here, with 25-30 mile per hour winds come sundown, and the occasional thunderstorm blowing in over the hills. I asked my companion if this was normal. He looked up at the sky, and then replied: "La verdad, estes son los Ultimos Días."
And finally, the important stuff. How goes the work, I hear you asking. Well, it goes quite well. We've got a baptism lined up for this Saturday, which will be my first of the mission! We also have three other people with set dates for their baptisms, and two of them, Hermano Hugo y Hermana Patricia are husband and wife! We're definitely super excited for them to be baptized, and they've been amazing in our lessons with them, always asking great questions, and eager to learn more. We're actually going to take them on a tour of the Visitor's Center at the temple tomorrow, so that'll be awesome too.
Sunday was another fast and testimony meeting, which of course means that I got up again and bore my testimony. And man, in the four weeks since last time, I feel like I went from a Primary kid to at least a deacon as far as the ability to share a coherent testimony. I'm very pleased with how my Spanish is coming along. I even managed to get a grasp on how reflexive verbs work! So I'm very hopeful for my progress with that in the next weeks. God is very kind to me, that's for sure.
And speaking of God, wouldn't you know it, it's time for a spiritual message! And this time, it's from the *dramatic music* Old Testament! That's right. That book. I know, I was just as surprised as I'm sure many of you are to learn that the Old Testament does, in fact, contain useful information. ;) (But seriously, if you haven't before, it's really worth a read, at the very least. Trust me, it's a lot easier than people think)
Anyway, my spiritual message for today is based entirely on a single word used in Genesis 47:9. Jacob and his family have come to Egypt after Joseph invited them there. Jacob and Pharaoh are introduced, and Pharaoh inquires how old Jacob is. Jacob replies, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years". I would like to call attention to the word Jacob chooses to use instead of life. Pilgrimage. If you look up the word Pilgrimage in the dictionary, it is rendered thusly: A journey into an unknown or foreign place, in search of new or expanded meaning about self, others, or a higher power, through the experience. I absolutely love this definition. Because really, isn't that just the purpose of our lives? To become better people, and to learn more about others, ourselves, and God? I especially love how it acknowledges that we are indeed in an unknown land, this Earth is a strange place to all of us. However, we trusted God, and Jesus Christ, and we left our heavenly home to sojourn in this terrestrial world, this Pilgrimage to Earth. But you want to know the best part about a Pilgrimage? It isn't permanent. We will all return home one day, with all the knowledge and experience we gained in this life. It's up to us how much that is, and how much better we will become.
So I encourage you, as uou continue this Pilgrimage, to remember the reason we began it. Strive to become who you are meant to be, and remember that "for this cause [were ye] born". You can do this.
And with that, I'll see you all next week!
- Elder Blankenbiller
Pictures:
1: Consejo de Zona
2: Tacos
3: Intercambios especiales, saying goodbye to Elder Figeroa
4: And welcoming a new Elder to our District, Elder Kruetz
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