Alright...to start out this e-mail...well, I thought that eating cow tongue was something weird. BUT, that was a thing of the past compared to this week! Yesterday, we show up to our dinner appointment (late, because we were teaching like crazy on Sunday!) and Hna Consuelo, the cook for us, says that she has some Sopa de Mondongo for us. I didn’t really believe it when she told us, but they pulled out a soup jug for us to take to go...and I had a very bad feeling in my stomach. We got back to the house, looked inside...and indeed it was Sopa de Mondongo. I don’t know what Mondongo means, really, but all I know is that it is Soup of Cow Stomach. Now, now, before you go getting all grossed out and stuff, it was actually pretty good. The flavor was different, but good. The only thing that made my stomach turn (because I have heard some 3 million rumors about this stuff) was that it was basically like eating gum because it was the chewiest, rubberiest substance in the world! So...yeah....hope everyone had a great week!
I want to start by stealing a quote one of my friends sent me: "It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule." - J.R.R. Tolkien, (The Return of the King [1965], 190). I am a Lord of the Rings freak, but I also think that it applies to each and every one of us in our lives greatly. It is our job to make the world constantly a better place for the next generation.
Anyway, this week, nothing absolutely profound happened (other than eating cow stomach!) but it was a very good week nonetheless. We had our District Meeting as usual, but we were accompanied by President Veirs! I was pretty freaked out, because when he comes I feel a lot of pressure, but I also know that he is just the greatest and loves us missionaries too much. So, I was very happy to hear his counsel for us and to take it into my life. But, mainly just business as usual with us this week as far as working comes. We taught a lot, did a lot of contacts, met a lot of new people that we hope shall begin progressing towards baptism and their salvation among the kingdom of God, and we walked. A lot.
On Friday, we went with the Elders Quorum President and his Counselors to La Ceibita in their car. It is still super far away and a good 35ish minutes to get there, but they wanted to meet this family and see how they could help to get them to come to church. It was pretty great and we talked about it a lot in church on Sunday. But, after that, we did Splits with the Elders in San Jorge. I went with Elder Porter, a gringo from Utah, and my companion went with Elder Moreno, from Mexico, to their area. So, I walked around my area with another white person for the first time...and I gotta say, it was pretty weird! But, all the same, we had a great time and taught a lot of great lessons. Then, on Saturday, they had 4 baptisms here in the chapel. So, we went in the morning to go fill up the font for them, and then came the family to get married and baptized. It was a great thing to watch, and Elder Moreno was super excited and dancing the whole time. After, came the baptism. The husband actually asked my companion to baptize him, even though he had only met him once before. Super weird, but all the same, it went well! We lost a ton of time doing that, but it was worth it to see these people so happy afterward and to feel the spirit so strong.
Sunday we went and contacted a ton of Old Investigators that other missionaries had left behind. It went very well and we ended up with a lot of new investigators from it. I really loved seeing just how much you can do with a little work, and reading the maps that other missionaries have left behind!
In closing, I just want to testify of testimony. We are attacked, as members of the church. We live in a constant battle against the adversary. If we are not exercising our testimony: Reading, praying, sharing...doing our part, our "hearts shall fail [us]." I have heard stories and been on the back end of people saying things about this church that I didn’t even know people could think we believe; but every time I have heard that, the story ends with the missionary bearing his testimony. They can’t put that to a scientific or scriptural based argument, because it is what you know to be true. I exhort everyone to check where they are at the moment. Reading Alma 5, or the spring cleaning chapter, answering the questions, and taking the proper actions to get us back on the path that God wants us to be on is something we all ought to do. I know that I have had to do it several times here in the mission!
Anyway, I love this work. I love wearing this name tag. I love my Savior...I love it all!
Until next week!
All my love,
Elder Tinkham
