Letter # 32 - Trials

Buenas Tardes!

Brandon and Elder Kraus doing what Elders do.

Through these difficult times and many natural disasters, I hope and pray that everyone is safe and sound. I pray that those who y'all may know in the affected areas are safe and well.

Hurricane Harvey has led to many heart broken families here in Dallas. Many families are moving to Dallas to take shelter until they can get back up on their feet. These sure are the Last Days.

Here is my week!

Monday - We drove out to Princeton after PDay ended to try and contact a few potentials out there. Not a ton of luck with doors, but it happens! :)

Tuesday - We did not have district meeting due to interviews with President of Friday. So we went out on bikes. I let Elder Kraus lead. We just stopped at certain hispanic looking houses. We had some good contacts, but not a whole lot of potential. Elder Kraus has a lot of "Greenie Fire"... Meaning he really really wants to knock doors all day everyday and find a million new investigators each day that way... However, every missionary who has been in the field for a bit of time knows there is a better way. I also do not want to break his spirits or energy though, so we knock a lot of doors to make him happy and to make him feel like he is working hard! Which he is. He is a great guy. Tuesday, I also made cookies.

Floating on exchanges

Wednesday - We had our weekly correlation meeting with Hermano Carrasquillo. It went well. Hermano Carrasquillo is an incredible man and really loves his calling. Wednesday night, we had a lesson planned with Jose de Leon, and for the second time in a row, he wasn't there. We called him and he told us that his work load is crazy. He is a mechanic and personally has 20+ cars to fix. He asked us to pray for him and for his wife that their schedules would open up so that they would have time to meet with us. It was good to hear that he still wants to meet with us.

Thursday - We had our weekly planning session. Always takes so long and uses a lot of energy... however, it is always something that needs to get done. After dinner, we did more contacting and bike riding. I have been studying a lot about humility and felt like I needed some help becoming more humble. So that night I prayed that God would help me be more humble. But then some words came out of my mouth that I did not expect, "Please give me trials, that I may be humbled."

Making cookies

Friday - Well, the day started off great! We went to Frisco for interviews with President Dalton. While I was waiting for the rest of my district to arrive, I was simply sitting at the piano messing around with different notes. As I stood up from the piano, a sharp pain went throughout my entire back. I was in a lot of pain. I couldn't even walk without the pain shooting troughout my back. I took it like a man until my interview with President Dalton. The interview went well. He gave me lots of great tips on how to be a better district leader and trainer. After the interview, We called the mission nurses and they told me to go home and rest and take some pain meds. They also told me to ice my back. So that is what I did. The zone Leaders had planned to go on splits friday, so Elder Bair stayed in with me. We had a good time even though I was in bed all evening. Elder McCann and Elder Kraus went out and found 3 new investigators in Spanish! Elder McCann does not even speak Spanish! It was awesome. I was very proud of my son(trainee) Elder Kraus.

Saturday - We were still on exchanges with the zone leaders. My back felt a lot better, but still hurt a lot. It had turned into more of an ache instead of a splitting pain. So what did We decide to do? Go and help a non member move! Maybe it wasn't the best decision, but it was still fun. Then we went to a park and had some studies. A group of 4 girls who were about our age came and sat down with us and started asking questions about our church. They were at the park going around and praying with people. I thought it was a really cool thing they were doing. They didn't have a ton of interest, but we did clear up a lot of false beliefs they thought we had. They then asked to pray for us. We agreed. They felt super sad for our mothers because of how little we get to talk to them, so they prayed for my mom :) It was really nice.

Pday

Sunday - My back was still killing me. Elder Jensen threw up over night, and would be staying home from church, so we thought it would be better if I stayed with him instead of over working my back. So I did. Elder Del Angel and Elder Kraus went to church. Sunday night, we went to the church for a baptismal interview! I got to interview a man named Tim Mason. He has a ton of faith. Super friendly guy. He has been through a lot and has a ton of friends and family in Florida right now. His baptism will be next sunday.

That was my week! My back feels a lot better now. It still kind of aches, but for the most part it feels a lot better. I hope all is well.

With Love,
Elder Bullough