Oh! Think Twice...It's Just Another Day For You And Me In Paradise

What up what up what up family!!! So I just figured I'd kinda wing it this week and give yall an idea of whats going on up here. I also
wanted to ask a favor of yall...I was wondering if yall could send me
a Laker or Dodger (or both) calendar for 2013 like the one that Brett
and Jessicah got me last year because I seriously used them ALL the
time! I would always have them handy and ready above our desks
anytime we did planning and it helped out a lot (and I would also cut
out some of stuff from them to decorate my planner!) 

But yeah this past week one of the most epic events ever happened. So the deal is that if your area has a car, each month you are allotted a certain amount of miles that you can go. Currently, we are super low on miles because of all the work that we've been doing out in Commerce. So this past Friday, we had to plan our day around biking and all that jazz, but one of the lessons that we were going to was going to be with a
recent convert that literally lives right across the fence from our apartment. So instead of having to go all the way around the block and
waste all those miles and energy, I told Elder Downer that we're just
going to have to jump the fence. He agreed that it was a good idea, and so I was able to see that learning Spanish somehow enhanced my fence-hopping skills, and I was on the other side in a couple seconds. I turned around and saw Elder Downer start breathing a little bit more deeply, just staring at the fence. I asked him if he was alright, and he told me that he was fine...just that he has a fear of heights. Well I'm sorry that I make such light of this but it was one of the funniest things I've ever seen as he took 5 minutes to get to the other side while I tried to help him out, and he finally made it to the ground. Then as we finished our lesson, I took into consideration his fear of heights and asked him if he'd like to walk around the block and call it a night, or jump the fence and have time to spare to make it to another lesson. After three minutes and he still didn't have a decision made, I decided that we were wasting time and I told him I'm hopping the fence. So after a few seconds I was on the other side and turned around to see him, and we were in the same situation as before. This time he went to other areas of the fence to see if it would be easier in any other way, but sadly, he came back to square 1. So he decided to just try and jump over, and with so many failed attempts, I tried to give him advice and he would get more and more frustrated and said that he knew what he was doing, so I refrained
from my comments. It was apparently too tough with his shoes, so after
a few minutes he took them off and hurled them to the other side,
determined that he was going to get over that fence, and after a few
minutes, he was finally up on the top rail, just completely straddling
it and holding on for dear life. Then he said, "Alright all I have to
do is swing over one foot and then I'll be..." "CLINK!", and down he
went. The top rod unlatched from the the other fence post, and then
gravity loving enveloped his body as he...well lets put it this way...we won't have to go as high to jump the fence anymore. For the whole time he was jumping the fence, I was thinking about taking a video and looking like the biggest jerk for a couple minutes and cherish the video forever, but I decided to be the good and supportive companion and refrained from the temptation and went to help him out as he fell. This was the moment that I learned that missionaries aren't perfect and heard a few choice words leave my comp's mouth haha. Then he winced in pain putting his hand in his jacket and made it sound like he got a finger chopped off. Luckily, I got to see that he just has a pain tolerance of zero and that he came out of that fun experience with only a scratch on his finger. Oh the goodness of companions! He finally admitted that it wasn't a big deal and was able to laugh it off with me for the rest of the night. 

Well this past week has been crazy as I'm catching onto the idea that whenever I'm in a tough spot, I would normally look back to the great memories and times I cherished back home, but I've been out so long that I just automatically look back to good memories from Oak Cliff which is super weird and my pre mish life is feeling more and more like a dream. I miss yall so much and I want you guys to give me updates on how school is going (especially from Shane and Brett given it's a new experience for them!) Things are still getting super stressful out here, but due to the changes we've been making the members have been taking action and involving themselves in the work a lot more! We actually got a member referral a couple weeks ago and the Ramirez family is getting closer and closer to the baptismal font so everyone is praying that the Lord will continue to bless them and show them the truth in this Church! I was able to speak in Sacrament meeting and directed my whole talk towards them and can only see the best coming from their situation. 

Oh yes, and one last note, about fasting and miracles, we were able to find that our Mission had a calculation problem in 2012, and when all the records were compiled, we found that we had 671 baptisms total, surpassing our original goal by one baptism. So when you think all hope is lost...you may be making your judgments a little too soon ...way too many people were fasting and praying for this mission to complete it's goal, and with the faith of hundreds, we were able to reach it! So ALWAYS REMEMBER, when we do our part for a righteous purpose, the Lord will never fail on his. I love and miss yall!
From the Mission of Miracles,
Elder Justin Wilson