Tuesday, July 1, 2014

President Flores



My comp got tendinitis in his knee, probably because his single pair of shoes is well past its life span. His knee became swollen and has been bothering him for the past week so we called Hermana Flores and told her. She asked if we wanted to go to a doctor in our area or go to one of the mission doctors in Torreon. The local doctors are expensive and not always reliable so he chose to see a mission doctor. That meant we had to travel into Torreon. Before getting on the bus we went back to our house to get water and use the bathroom. On the way we saw the bus and took off running for it. My comp has seen one doctor before but he was confused on which one he was seeing. When we got there we found out that we were at the wrong place. We spent more than 2 hours backtracking trying to get to the right office. Nearly 4 hours later we hadn't had any water and we were dying and grumpy. Finally, we got some water and downed it like a couple of camels.


In the doctor’s office there was a member of the University Ward (my 2nd area). I recognized her but couldn't remember her name.  The doctor checked my companion’s knee and then decided to inject it with a pain-killer and some medicine to reduce the swelling. He was sweating bullets over getting a shot. The doctor teased him over how nervous he was. Because it took us so long to get to the doctor, it was too late to catch a bus back to our apartment. I was thinking about walking to the Fonseca’s home and asking for a ride but a man in the doctor’s office heard us talking and said he was going that direction. He saved us and we had a great chat. We even made it home before curfew.

This past week a man contacted us in the street and told us he wanted to hear our message. Fantastic – we went right to his house. (I have to admit I was a bit nervous). He told us that he practiced Islam and we had a great chat. I enjoyed discussing a religion that was completely new to me – new questions, new scriptures, and a new emphasis. He was very educated, knows 5+ languages, and a depth of knowledge of history. After talking for some time we needed to leave for another appointment.  Last night we went back and talked about languages, the church, and the Bible. He knew a surprising amount about the church. He had several Books of Mormon in multiple languages, Jesus the Christ, Preach my Gospel, quoted the Prophets and the Ensign, and he knew about the Temple. We were thinking: “Who is this guy?” At one point I asked him if he was already Mormon. He gave me a funny look like I knew something. Eventually my com-padre invited him to be baptized. Finally, he said “ok, I have to tell you that I was baptized when I was 17.  He told us a story about various unfortunate offenses as an early church member and occasional boredom in church classes (I have gained an appreciation for good teaching on my mission). He talked to some missionaries a year ago and became interested to return to the church only to have some additional negative experiences at church. He told us that he is now facing a decision because, after falling away from the church, he found himself looking for spiritual fulfillment. Through friends in France, he discovered Islam. He felt at home there because many of their beliefs are similar.  He contacted us to gain clarity on a few topics. We spent 4 hours with him talking about languages and religion. We will see how future conversations go.


The World Cup is on here. Too bad we can’t watch anything. We hear about it every day, all the time from the ninos on the street or shouts from inside houses as we pass by. When Mexico plays, it is absolutely the worst because nobody wants to talk to us. Mexico was playing yesterday during Stake Conference. It was great to see how many people showed up for the conference in spite of the big game. As we left the conference we passed by a restaurant that had the game on the TV and we saw the end as Mexico lost. I thought, “how unfortunate for those who skipped the conference for the game.” But, it would have been fun if they had been able to keep winning.

Stake Conference was fantastic. President Flores had us prepare a number and when he said the magic word in his talk, all the missionaries stood up to sing. It actually sounded quite good. The highlight of the conference was two talks given by the Stake President. He seems kind of quirky; like a mix between the personality of Martin Short and the Mr. Mom guy. But, he is a great speaker and has a real ability to keep people’s attention.


Our area is very dry with tons of abandoned houses. President Flores goes home today. He’s a great man and he has done a terrific job turning the mission around.






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