Title: Bienvenidos! (That's Spanish, right?)
Well, things have definitely gotten a little more colorful in my life since I've been paired up with Elder Hernandez! He's from Playa del Carmen, Mexico, which is about 20 minutes from Cancun, and we've been together a month now. Elder Hernandez has been Spanish speaking for his whole mission (He's been out 19 months) but just switched to being English when he came to my area. And he's been doing awesome! Of course, now when I walk around with him, everybody assumes that I can speak Spanish as well...I just smile and nod.
We've been having a lot of fun talking to all the different people around here. Interestingly enough, we've been learning a lot about Judaism lately, which has been pretty interesting. Perhaps I'll pick up a little Hebrew as well. I think that's always been my favorite thing about missionary work - being able to meet so many people and hear their stories. (It's certainly given me some movie ideas) I think there would be a lot fewer problems in the world if more people took the time to just listen to each other. It's always nice to be able to sit and talk to somebody about their beliefs, even when we differ on some things. I think that when we get the chance to sit down and really communicate with someone, sharing what matters most to each other, we always leave feeling a little bit better.
I've had the great opportunity on my mission to simply share what I know with everyone that I meet. It's been the hardest thing I've ever done. There are some weeks where I come home exhausted every day, and when I wake up it feels like I just slept for 10 minutes. Sometimes it's hard when people yell things at us from their cars, but we just keep smiling and riding our bikes. It's great knowing that I love what I'm doing enough to keep at it, especially when it gets hard. I don't know that I've ever put more effort into anything in my life. And I think it's only right that I try to serve God after all He's done for me.
Over the past week, we had General Conference for the church, where we heard from our leaders. This was one of the talks I really enjoyed. I hope you do too!
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch/2012/04?lang=eng&vid=1542112418001&cid=3
- Ammon