15 August 2012

Wed 8/15/2012 3:17 PM

My world has been flipped upside down

Hey family. So this week has been interesting!  The new group is pretty cool. There is this Elder here that learned his English from watching PBS Kids.  Oh! So last Thursday, when the new Elders came, one of them, from Guatemala, gave me a letter.. and I was like, “What the?…” It was from Diego Pena! [one of Tanner’s friends from Provo] How funny is that?  He said Diego is doing well and that he is always eating. 

I also started collecting coins from all the different countries. So far I have about 20 coins from like 5 different countries.  It’s pretty cool, I think! Oh, and something else funny that I forgot to tell you, every time we turn the lights on here, they flicker for about 10 seconds before they turn on. It’s kind of scary sometimes, but I am used to it now, so no biggy. 

Last Saturday, with Elder Dickson, was pretty good, except we had no success the whole day really. It was pouring rain and no one really wanted to talk to us at all! We didn’t have any conversations with anyone until about the last 20 minutes of the day. We met this lady and she spoke English! We taught her and she believed a lot of the same things we did. She wants to meet with the missionaries! So it was pretty sweet and made the day successful. It was really nice. No one wanted to talk to us - probably because the soccer game was on, but this lady was so kind and it made the day worth it.

So the new companion: things have been rough, not going to lie. I really like staying positive, especially in my emails, but I’m going to be honest, I have been very overwhelmed with this and it’s hard for me and my companion to communicate. But I know I will get through it.  His name is Elder Vergara from Chile, but he looks Asian and smells Asian. I am the only gringo in my district and room now, but I like my new room because I sleep on the top bunk and have a view of the temple when I sleep. It’s nice. In the morning, I can jump off like Spiderman. Just like the good old days.  Things are hard with my companion, but I will get through them, only two weeks more in the CCM!  Today I had a rough time and was praying for comfort mightily and had a cool experience.  After I was done praying, I sat with my eyes closed just trying to listen for an answer. Trying so hard and I looked down and my scriptures were open and a verse was marked.  Helamen 5:47. And the words I saw were, "Peace, peace be given unto you" and I just closed my eyes, took some deep breathes, and it really helped.  It’s crazy how things like that work, isn’t it?

Well, family, I love you. Thank you for your prayers. I’m sorry my letter is short this week. My mind is kind of spinning right now, so I forgot a lot that I was going to say. But I am good! Don’t worry about me!

-Elder Rigby