Ponce Es Ponce.......

This week was absolutely wild.

I don't even know what was happening. I have seen a total of like every missionary in the mission, except St. Thomas elders. It's weird because I was on an island isolated from everyone for about 4 and a half months. Then, in one week, I saw almost every missionary in our mission, except Elder Arreaga and Hagen, the two in my district. RIP.

It's been one of the most interesting yet good weeks of my life, but just weird at the same time, and just... I don't even know. Fun, I guess, is the word. It's not that I wasn't having fun on Tortola, but Tortola is a different story compared to most missionary life. It was just you and your companion, the smallest branch with just a building above a pizza restaurant. No lines in the street, all the complicated things are gone. Very simple lifestyle, everything you need to survive, nothing more, nothing less. Very content and happy. The missionary work is like go, go, go, go, go, no time for anything but go: find, teach, baptize. Constantly, we had an average of 25 new-found friends a week and then 30+ lessons. I left there with 5 people on baptismal date. That's like a lot of people, and a lot compared to Puerto Rico.

Then I came back, and it was just a little bit slower. Not so urgent, is how it feels. And it takes a toll on you. We were sitting at the mission Christmas party, and I just felt guilty, is the best word. Maybe a better word would be selfish. It was go, go, go, and now I was back, with people away from isolation. Just... I guess the word is having fun, thinking about myself per se. On Tortola, there is no time to think about yourself. It's all just serve, serve, serve. If you don't do it, the whole church service falls. No one's watching you, so if you don't do missionary work, then no one does. These people depend on you, and it's so much poorer than Puerto Rico, they live so humbly, and it just feels like it's all up to you. And I loved it. I loved the challenge. And then it was over. So soon. I wasn't burnt out, but the Lord said my time was done, and that was getting to me. At the zone conference, I felt selfish having fun, if that makes sense. It was weird. I should be here in Tortola, go, go, going, but I'm just here in Bayamon, sitting here in a chair with people I don't know, and everyone smiling and laughing. But I couldn't help but think of the friends I left on Tortola. Sometimes, you truthfully wish you could take them with you.

But as the days went on, there came a day when I finally got to go to the House of the Lord. And it was the thing that fixed everything, and it's not even dedicated. That was so sacred for me. It made my whole soul, I don't even know how to explain it. It was like exactly what I needed, a therapeutic visit to the temple of the Lord. I loved the temple; this is probably the best, most significant, and meaningful temple to me. It has been 18 months since I've seen a temple. The colors were exactly like old Spanish San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was insanely beautiful, the tiles in the temple are absolutely beautiful, and the chairs were colorful and bright. The special El Yunque paintings and everything. But the spirit that was there was so meaningful to me. It had been 18 months since I've had that kind of connection with the Lord, walking into the celestial room, and the spirit testifying to me that everything will be alright. I was exactly where I needed to be, that Puerto Rico. There's something special about this temple. After all the work that I've put in and the closeness I have felt to God on this island, the Island of Enchantment, it was a wonderful experience to be at the temple again. You always take things for granted until you don't have them. Then you appreciate them. Man, that temple is so beautiful.