How are ya'll doing!
North Carolina is FREEZING! Not today, it's actually a little warm, but Friday, I woke up to a harshly freezing morning. I can say for sure that the cold in the East is about 10 times more cold than the cold out in the West. The humidity makes the cold just seep into your bones. But winters here aren't as harsh as up in the North like New York. Still haven't had any snow; it just goes back and forth from feeling like a summer night to a morning in Canada.
This week, President Baker asked me to lead out. I basically had to pretend that my companion, who has been out twice as long, was being trained by me! Holy cow, it was hard! I'm not used to having all the ideas and knowing everything. But, it has been incredibly rewarding despite the humiliation I feel not having everything in control. I feel a lot more confident and I am understanding, more and more, that good teaching and leadership skills don't come overnight.
Last Sunday, I had a really neat experience while over at a member's house. This member had experienced a stroke and had been through just a miserable experience in the hospital. This member, like a lot of people down in the South, loves to talk and talk and talk. A lot of the time, I tend to space out while people talk for long periods of time, but this time I listened and imagined personally what it would have felt like to go through that experience. Everything that he said happened to him was what would have happened to me. After imagining it, I was able to apply Mosiah 18:8 into that conversation and "bear his burdens." This was a powerful experience for me and it has led me to continue this practice in other lessons and in my everyday conversations. It takes the focus off myself and right onto the person I'm talking to.
This week has been slower. We have still had lessons and caught up with people, but our current investigators are halting on progression. R** is still reading, but is losing the fire that she had when she first started coming. We hadn't been able to have a lesson with her for a few weeks. The other investigators have been extremely difficult to catch up with as well. It can be rough losing contact with people, but you can't take away people's agency.
Good news, we found a really elect Hispanic named G**. His spouse is a less active member and he says he wants to start coming to church. He lives pretty close to us, so we are really excited. Keep him in your prayers!
We had the best New Year's Eve! The Hernandez family (one of my favorite families in the ward) invited us over and we ate dinner and did some fireworks. Afterwards, we played a ton of games. Uno, 100, and a couple Mexican word games. Oh my goodness, it was a blast! Definitely my favorite holiday on the mission so far. I took lots of pictures, but still don't have a cord to upload pictures. Sorry! The dad of the family received the Melchizedek Priesthood yesterday. They are going to receive their patriarchal blessings and soon after be endowed and sealed in the Washington DC Temple. This is BIG for our Hispanic group down here. They have been waiting for 5 years to get to this point. We are so so so happy for them!
I know this gospel is true. It blesses our families. I know the Book of Mormon is true! It has blessed my life over and over again. Missionary work is WORK. It teaches you a ton. I'm so grateful to be serving the Lord here in North Carolina. Hope ya'll are doing great!
Muchisimo amor,
Elder Remund
Wishin' ya'll a Prospero Ano
"Wherefore, let us be faithful to Him."
