Elder Spanish Lone Wolf

Hey there!

This week was by far one of the best weeks that we've had in the 10 Weeks I've been in the field!  SO many great, crazy things happened this week that I have a lot to say... but sadly only so little time.  I've shortened down to 3 cool parts of the week.

Elder Linford & Elder Paddock

First- This week, Elder Juan had to go to Omaha for a Leadership meeting, leaving me as the only Spanish Elder within Sioux City, so I got put with Elder Linford, an English Elder.  Being Elder Spanish Lone Wolf (as Elder Linford called me) was so hard!  Elder Juan left me the phone and I had to take care of a situation with our Cuban, Norberto and since I don't usually understand him face-to-face, over the phone was extra hard.  After that we decided to go visit Emma in her tortilleria because Elder Linford, my comp for the day, hasn't seen her in a while.  Emma speaks English so we decided that'd be alright.  Three seconds into talking to Emma, Jose showed up and started talking to me in Spanish.  It was going great, just a normal conversation, until he said, "Well you're already here so I'll just ask you my questions."   Oh boy does he have a lot of questions.  First off, he's read all the way to Jacob 4 in the Book of Mormon!  Thats like 164 pages in Spanish!  Thats awesome!  But from him asking me lots of questions PLUS All the phone calls I answered,  I really learned the importance of having a Spanish Companion because answering tons of questions all by yourself (because my comp didn't speak the language) wears you out fast.  Elder Linford and I rewarded ourselves after a long day of work with going skating on a frozen pond in a park nearby :)

 On the bright side, I learned that my Spanish is a heck of a lot better than I thought!  One member commented the other day that she was surprised that I've only been on a mission since October because she thought I had a whole year at least since my Spanish is so good... It was a nice little self-esteem boost :) I guess I'm better than I thought!

Last cool thing.  WE MET WITH MARTHA AGAIN!  Its been almost a whole month since we last saw her because she's always so busy!  Once again she let us in, we talked for a couple minutes and she said, "Ok I'm ready. Teach me something, please."  Aw she's great!  We talked about Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  Since she didn't make the date that we originally had set for her baptism (because she has to work on Sundays and can't come to church) we invited her to be baptised again.  She said that the Gift of the Holy Ghost would be a huge blessing for her and her family and that of course she'd be baptized after she knows more and comes to church!  She's so great!  At the end of the lesson, she expressed to us how she's been feeling really sick lately.  Elder Juan and I explained to her a little more about the Priesthood, that we have it, and that we are authorized to give her a blessing of healing if she desired it.  She quickly accepted.  I did the annointing and Elder Juan did the Blessing.  The Spirit was so strong.  In the end she was crying because she felt the Spirit so strongly.   She's so great.  She makes a lot of the hardship and rejection we go through worth it.  I'm really happy to be a part of her progression through the Gospel onto Eternal Life.  

I love this Gospel.  I love my Savior.  I love being a missionary.  

I love you all and I hope all is well!

Lots of Love,

Elder Zack