Week 69 - Elder Cerron

This week I spent the rest of the exchange with Elder Vitores.  We worked in the center of La Serena. We did different things and it was kind of nice to be with him.  My last day with Elder Yaress was unusual and he was upset.

Wednesday I went to Viña.  On the bus I ran into Elder Aguilar and spent three hours with him in Viña before the meeting for trainers.

Then we got our new companions.  My new companion is Elder Cerron.  Because Elder Cerron and I live in the north, we had to stay that night.  We walked around doing contacts for four hours.   It was a great way to start Elder Cerron's mission.   Poor Elder Cerron was probably thinking "what have I gotten myself into?"

Elder Hammond and Elder Cerron

It was nice.  We got to stay with Elder Cheney and Elder McCalister that night.  They were in my group at the mission training center.   Now they are  companions in the office together.  I was a little sad for a time.  They are companions and leaders in the mission.   I got down on myself about not progressing more as a missionary.

Then that night they said something that changed my perspective on things. They said they wished they were more like me.  They said that I was a machine and had been able to bring more people into the gospel then they had.   That changed my perspective a lot. I thought about it and realized that I wasn't called here to work in the mission home or be a leader.  I was called to invite people to come unto Christ and I was grateful for the chances God has given me to help so many people do just that -- to come unto Christ.

On Thursday we took the bus up to La Serena with Sister Ramos and Sister Merril.  Sister Merril is brand new too.  She talked about how she didn't know Spanish and was having a nervous breakdown. I remembered how I was when I first got there and was so glad that at I'm not back in her position again.  I could relate to her fears and know what she is going through.

Then we pretty much had nothing.  The Zone leaders were worried about us and tried to micro manage us.  We decided we would work hard and go out contacting.  We did this for three hours Sunday night.  We hoped to show the Zone Leaders we would be OK and find people to teach.  We started with a prayer and the first person we found was an elderly lady named "F".  We ended up teaching her.  She accepted a baptismal date and we will be working with her now!

I've decided to dedicate myself to learning Spanish even better.  From now on I'm only going to listen to things in Spanish on my mission.  I could use some good Spanish hymns.