It's been a really short week, which is weird because I've done and learned a crazy amount of stuff that would make the old me wonder how I'm still alive after it all. God really helps his missionaries.
I realized today that I never really explained the subject titles to my emails. Each week so far I've been naming my emails with really funny things that my Spanish maestros have said in English. They all understand and speak English okay, but most of them sound really funny when they do. They're hilarious when they make fun of the way Americans speak in English. Western accents, white girl impressions, etc. I love those guys. So the first one with the strawberry was when Hermano Micolax was describing girls, and it was so funny that we probably still quote it everyday. The next one was with Hermano Godinez the time he randomly went into the yard of our casa and dug a hole with a curtain rod. He then suck half of a bell pepper in the ground and poured a bunch of muddy water on it. We tried to tell him that that's not how it works, but he just said "this is Guatemala boys. Anything grows." So funny. He told us this story of a time he left an onion on the ground and when he came back a few days later there was an onion plant there. The more you know.
So this week we got to go street contacting for the first time. That was one of the best things we've done so far. Basically the idea is that you go into the street and just meet people and talk about God and the gospel. You'd think it would be hard to go out into a foreign country and talk to people in a foreign language about God, hoping they'll be interested in hearing your message, but it was actually really natural and fun. The people here are so incredibly nice and cool. They're all so humble, and I can actually understand most of them really well, which is exciting. Almost all of them believe that there's a God who loves them. And when we told them that they have the opportunity to live with their family forever, even after they die, their eyes would light up with excitement. I love sharing the happy message of the gospel, and hope I can learn all I can to be able to do it the way God wants me to.
I've been reading a lot here. We don't even have that much time, but I've already read multiple books, articles, and lessons. I finished the Book of Mormon over a week ago, about 20 days after I started. Now I'm pretty far in to the New Testament in the bible. That's not even impressive compared to some of the people here. Elder Hinckley, who was probably the craziest most goofy missionary I've ever met, ready the Book of Mormon in a week, and the entire Old Testament in three, just while being here. Crazy. It's not about reading fast as much as it's about learning as much as you possibly can, and I wish there was more time in the day to learn more stuff. It's so great.
Last Sunday, Elder Soares came to visit us. Elder Soares is one of the 12 apostles in the world, which is a really big deal. Our church believes that Jesus still calls apostles and prophets, just like He did back when He was on the earth. Elder Soares spoke in Spanish, and it was one of the most incredibly spiritual experiences I've ever had. The things he said were so perfect for me, and it was really amazing to know that I've been called of God in the same way that he had, even though he's one of the twelve and I'm just a simple missionary. It's also really awesome to be able to understand the Spanish devotionals without translation now. They always give us headphones so we can listen to it in English, but most of the people in my district and I don't need them anymore. It's crazy how what once was literally gibberish is now almost perfectly clear and makes perfect sense. I still have trouble understanding anyone from Honduras and Bolivia, but Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador especially are really easy to understand now. Once again, God helps his missionaries.
I love you guys!
-Elder Cloward
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