Burnt A Hole In My Pants

Well, well, well, to start off, I hate writing emails again, just so you guys can know, one more time, that I hate it. Although I do like to let you guys hear my stories, honestly, I'm highly considering going MIA for like 3 months like other missionaries, but this week I'll write.

We had a crazy Tuesday this last week. So, we were driving and saw a guy with no tire, so we stopped and talked to him and helped him change his tire.

We also gave some guy that lives in a trailer my space heater (and it was such a random prompting). Then, we found some super cool guy named Alexis.

Went to zone conference and saw all my homies. I love zone conference, I learned a lot. One thing I took away that was super cool was that we don't "need to worry what to say because by the time we say it and it hits the hearts of our friends, the spirit has already changed what we said" - President Skinner.

I have evidence of this this week. We passed by the house of Gisel and taught her the restoration finally (we did 35 hours plus of service for her). She lost her son at 13, and it was really sad, so we've just been serving and loving. And something is telling us not to teach yet, but finally, she asked, so we taught the restoration. Two days later, we came back to her house and taught her with a member, and she goes, "I love these boys, they're my new sons and my angels" to the members, and then she's like, "Last time they taught me about baptism" (we didn't mention baptism), and so we were like, "Yeah," and nodded at the members. Then, after, we told them we didn't mention baptism once.

Yoinked some food into my pocket again like usual.

Gisel and her daughter came to church, that was sick. Then, after, she asked us about covenants and temples, "¿Qué es un convenio?" So we talked about it. Family history stuck out to her. She will be baptized. Her son is helping us, so is the spirit. I know that there is life beyond the grave and that her son helped us find her, so pray for Gisel. Then her daughter told us that she's in chapter 5 of the Book of Mormon, and we were so shocked, we're like, "Wait, what? You mean verse five?" No, home girl read 5 chapters in 3 days, and I was like, "Dang!" She also got teased about serving a mission by our branch president because she's 23, and she said she would, so now I am super convinced her brother and Gisel's son is working super hard with the spirit right now. It's super cool.

Anyway, I hate typing. That's a rough draft of my week.

I was cold because it's been raining a lot. There's lots of flooding on the north coast, and I am in the mountains, and it's like 50 degrees, and we don't have hot water, so I shower and I am freezing. So I say, "Well, my heater is with a homeless guy now. Might as well use my blow dryer." And I set it down and forgot and burned a hole in my pants and my leg. Lol (don't worry, Mom, these pants were the ones that were way too short, so they needed to die anyway).

President Skinner told me I grew, so that's cool. Hopefully, it's true.

Maria told us this week that her family is pissed at her, and we're like, "Why?" She told them she wants to get baptized in our church. So they're all mad at her, and we're like, "Well, if they're already mad, might as well send it," but she doesn't want them to stop talking to her, so that's sad.

We have some guy named Alfonzo we're teaching. He's a good guy. We had a super good Plan of Salvation lesson. He just doesn't understand the apostasy, but it was a super good lesson. We are going to get him, hehehehe.

In His presence, we will fall down. King of kings, Lord of lords, our Savior, our Redeemer, Son of God, the Messiah, the Mediator, Bread of Life, Lord, Creator, Son of the living God, Only Begotten Son, Beloved Son, Holy One of Israel, the Almighty, Master, Lamb of God, Good Shepherd, Fountain of Living Waters, the Rock, Christ.

All these names and titles that Jesus has (and more) remind me of the Sandlot a lot, the part where they're like, "The Great Bambino." Smalls asks, "Who's that?" And they reply, "Sultan of Swat, the Colossus of Clout, the King of Crash, man." Smalls says, "Oh, the Great Bambino. I thought you said the Great Bambi. That wimpy deer?"

Then later in the movie, they hit the ball over, and they're like, "It was signed by Babe Ruth," and go over it, and Smalls is like, "You mean to tell me that's the same guy?"

Then Benny has a dream, and something really sticks out to me in the dream he has. Babe Ruth comes into his room, tells him all this stuff, and then leaves and goes, "Remember, kid, heroes get remembered, but legends never die."

I don't know why this has been coming to my mind lately, but I just want you guys to look at the fact that Christ never died. He is a hero that gets remembered but also a legend and never died. He is living. I know that. I also like to look at the example of Smalls, and I want you guys to think about that too. How often have I been the guy that was like, "Who's that?" and then later on, when we're in a pickle, realized that it's the same guy? We need to know our Savior. How many times are we like Peter and deny knowing the Lord of lords, King of kings? Are we willing to remember the legend and stand up for His name, or are we going to be like Smalls and just realize in the end who He is? I can testify to you guys, you guys can know your Savior and Redeemer, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and I will give you the mixture:

Pray day and night.

Read the Book of Mormon daily.

Partake of the sacrament weekly.

If you do these three simple things, you will be able to have a relationship with your Savior. You will not be Smalls and not know who He is, "Who's that?" Don't be like Smalls. When the day comes, we don't want to be the virgins without the lamp. We need to be like Benny, the one that is so in tune with the spirit, we get the idea of what to do, how to testify, what to stand up for, just by hearing His voice. We need to be Benny, who has the courage to jump the fence and face the beast for the sake of our ball (Christ's name).

"Everybody gets one chance to do something great. Most people never take the chance either because they're too scared or don't recognize it. Remember when you busted the guts out of the ball the other day? Someone's telling you something, kid, and I would listen to it." "Wait... you're saying I should hop the fence and pickle the beast?" "Think about that." "Remember, kid, there are heroes and there are legends. Heroes get remembered, but legends never die. Follow your heart, kid, and you'll never go wrong."

Follow your heart. Listen to the spirit. Don't be Smalls. Be Benny.

King of kings, Lord of lords, our Savior, our Redeemer, Son of God, the Messiah.

Follow your heart, kid.