Here's some meeeean blessings I got this week:
- I got tons of letters from home (one packages had RICE in it! Thank you Houghtons!)
- I get all these crazy missionary emails every week from all my crazy cool friends that are having equally hard experiences
- It was warm for one day
- Someone backed into our car (lol not really a blessing but it was something different)
- Still getting tons of good Mexican food SO ONO
We had lots of good experiences with dogs this week and also lots of experiences with Dads.
We have been shaving our less-active friend, Araceli's, dogs this week - they haven't been shaved in like 7 years and Hermana Peterson took this class in High School about taking care of animals and knows how to shave dogs! So I got to just pretty much talk Spanish with Araceli and shave her dogs! It was some bomb times. It got warm for a while and then it got cold again, and we need mid-sized jackets which sucks. Lol freeeeeeaking Idaho
Here's some of the names of Araceli's dogs (these are all pronounced with a Hispanic accent): Edward, Jerry, Alice, and Friend (plus like 8 more that I don't know the names of). Friend is my favorite jajaja
Every Hispanic Family has a little tiny dog that's super mean so we had lots of fun with the little Mexican dogs. We got to visit lots of people, investigators and less actives - it's super nice being busy because it makes the days go by a lot faster! Spanish is still super hard but progressing every day - it's way hard when you're speaking Spanish in an English speaking place.
We visit a lot of broken families here in Burley. Tons of them have really bad problems with their marriage, or kids have problems with their parents, or parents with their kids - one of the biggest problems I've seen is that there are so many bad dads. Don't get me wrong, I love all these people tons and of course there are problems in everyone's family because everyone has some craziness that they need to deal with, but in a lot of these families, the dad is either not there or drunk all the time or really straight up not supportive. It makes me sad every day.
One thing that made my week so WORTH it and reminded me of my reason for being here this week was visiting Hermano Llanos. He is one of the good dads! He is a guy who lives right down the street from us - he is a single dad who has 3 sons who have had these crazy hard challenges in their lives; some of these problems have to do with divorce, drugs, suicide, and just not knowing how to be themselves and find their personality. Hermano Llanos talked to us for a full hour on his doorstep (we couldn't go into his house because we didn't have another member with us) about how hard it is to be a good dad to these kids but he tries so hard each day to help them and be there for them. He related his experience to the Savior - without the Jesucristo, we couldn't get through any of these crazy crazy hard struggles. He said he prays to God every day and night because God is his best friend. And here I am on his doorstep thinking holy crap! Hermano Llanos is the best! Just in that short hour, he taught me so so much and a lot of the times, I think the visits we have are actually for me more than they are for the people we teach. I learn SO MUCH each day, and as a missionary here in Burley I think one of my jobs is to just be someone that people can talk to and be there for.
Talking to Hermano Llanos reminded me of talking to my own Dad and my own family - I full on lucked out. We are all put in our families for a reason and have something to learn from them (This is hard for me to believe sometimes because some families are just SO HARD and so broken). But I know that the Savior can help us through anything and everything!
Hope everyone has a great week and stay sweet not salty! So much love for you guys!
Con amor,
Hermana Elkington
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