Hello everyone,
It has been a great week, although it started off a little rough. On Tuesday, the Relief Society of the English Ward had an activity and they invited the Hermanas (sisters) from the Spanish Branch. They needed somebody to translate so they asked us. I wasn't too nervous because Elder Dee is fluent in Spanish and I knew he would be able to help me if I tripped up. Well, when we got there one of the members asked Elder Dee to help with something else, so that left me translating all by myself. It was pretty nerve-racking because there was nobody to bail me out if I got stuck, but it ended up going pretty well. There were a few words I didn't know, but I think the Hermanas got the jist of what was going on, which was the important thing. It is really cool to try hard things like that because it gives me more confidence in my Spanish.
Victor is doing so great! He is the coolest Colombian man ever and we are so lucky to be teaching him. This week we set up a dinner lesson with our Branch President and it was awesome. We met at the church and Presidente Pariona brought dinner. We shared a message and then we had dinner. We had another member there with us as well and it was really good for Victor to be able to make some new friendships with people at church. He came to church on Sunday which was cool. This Sunday we had Branch Conference, when all of the people from the Stake come to teach all of the classes. The Stake President was teaching one of the classes that we were in with Victor and he answered more questions than anybody. The Stake President thought he was a member! haha
Manny was at church as well. We were actually really surprised and happy to see him. He had a pretty rough week. Now that he is getting serious about the church and learning more, he is getting a lot of opposition. His mom told him that she does not want him to go to church anymore. Well when Sunday came around, he told his mom that he really wanted to go and he did. I think it really shows his faith and desire. I feel bad for him because I know he wants to do what is right and sometimes that can be hard.
The rest of the week was pretty good. We had a dinner with a member and they sent us home with a bag full of chilies. I didn't intend on eating any of them at first, but the English Elders came over for lunch one day and dared me to eat one. So, I ate one of the green chilies and waited for the pain. After a couple of seconds it didn't affect me so the other Elders dared me to eat another one. Without any hesitation, I popped a huge red chili into my mouth and as soon as I bit down, I died. It was one of the most painful experiences ever! I think the green chili just took a couple of seconds to take effect and the red chili certainly didn't help. Within a couple of seconds, my stomach decided it didn't really like chilies and sent it right back up. It was pretty bad. I was sucking on ice cubes for the rest of lunch and I am still waiting for my taste buds to come back. I think I am going to stay away from chilies for a little while. Other than my burnt taste buds, I am doing great out here.
Well, I hope you have a great week. I miss you all, take good care.
Much Love,
Elder Chad Thompson
It has been a great week, although it started off a little rough. On Tuesday, the Relief Society of the English Ward had an activity and they invited the Hermanas (sisters) from the Spanish Branch. They needed somebody to translate so they asked us. I wasn't too nervous because Elder Dee is fluent in Spanish and I knew he would be able to help me if I tripped up. Well, when we got there one of the members asked Elder Dee to help with something else, so that left me translating all by myself. It was pretty nerve-racking because there was nobody to bail me out if I got stuck, but it ended up going pretty well. There were a few words I didn't know, but I think the Hermanas got the jist of what was going on, which was the important thing. It is really cool to try hard things like that because it gives me more confidence in my Spanish.
Victor is doing so great! He is the coolest Colombian man ever and we are so lucky to be teaching him. This week we set up a dinner lesson with our Branch President and it was awesome. We met at the church and Presidente Pariona brought dinner. We shared a message and then we had dinner. We had another member there with us as well and it was really good for Victor to be able to make some new friendships with people at church. He came to church on Sunday which was cool. This Sunday we had Branch Conference, when all of the people from the Stake come to teach all of the classes. The Stake President was teaching one of the classes that we were in with Victor and he answered more questions than anybody. The Stake President thought he was a member! haha
Manny was at church as well. We were actually really surprised and happy to see him. He had a pretty rough week. Now that he is getting serious about the church and learning more, he is getting a lot of opposition. His mom told him that she does not want him to go to church anymore. Well when Sunday came around, he told his mom that he really wanted to go and he did. I think it really shows his faith and desire. I feel bad for him because I know he wants to do what is right and sometimes that can be hard.
The rest of the week was pretty good. We had a dinner with a member and they sent us home with a bag full of chilies. I didn't intend on eating any of them at first, but the English Elders came over for lunch one day and dared me to eat one. So, I ate one of the green chilies and waited for the pain. After a couple of seconds it didn't affect me so the other Elders dared me to eat another one. Without any hesitation, I popped a huge red chili into my mouth and as soon as I bit down, I died. It was one of the most painful experiences ever! I think the green chili just took a couple of seconds to take effect and the red chili certainly didn't help. Within a couple of seconds, my stomach decided it didn't really like chilies and sent it right back up. It was pretty bad. I was sucking on ice cubes for the rest of lunch and I am still waiting for my taste buds to come back. I think I am going to stay away from chilies for a little while. Other than my burnt taste buds, I am doing great out here.
Well, I hope you have a great week. I miss you all, take good care.
Much Love,
Elder Chad Thompson