Happy P day!

Welcome back to your favorite, or least favorite, email of the week. If it’s your least favorite, you probably won’t read past here, so for the rest of you, thanks for reading! I’ll start by apologizing and promising in advance to not go to war against any Jared West’s in the audience, fear not. I have had exactly zero minutes this week up to this point to write, so let’s go ahead and take a look at how this here email goes and hopefully someone out there enjoys this weeks “Treatise”, as it has been affectionatley nicknamed by some.

Well, this week was pretty dang fun and went by so fast! My allergies have been pretty doggone rough, the air quality stinks, and I got a small cold but we are basically over that now. Feeling pretty dang solid! I’m telling you, my immune system is an absolute tank and nothing can take me down. I know so many of you are dying to know, so here is your official, certified, weekly water update! We officially got water back yesterday morning! Some of you have asked how we use the bathroom without water, and the answer is, we don’t. We wait till we have some time during or after lunch to swing by the church. So, very excited to announce that after 13 days water-free (a very very small part of me wishes I could say 2 weeks since it sounds more epic), we know have water! Fingers crossed and knocking on wood that it sticks around for at least a few days so I can get some clothes washed, shower in our own dang house, drink water, use our bathroomss, all those fun and jazzy things. Anyways. Speaking of showering, this week has been a pain in the metaphorical rear-end, because the greek yogurt Elders have been sleeping in, which means standing out in the street, in my pajamas, for 45 minutes calling them over, and over, and over again. After like the 4th time, our zone leaders gave us a call and told us to switch to showering over there. They live 40 minutes away by metro (40 minutes is better than 45, plus their shower actually drains and their house smells nice) so we’ve been taking metro in the PJs which has been groovy to say the least. But, the Zone Leaders are absolutely awesome, and even if they have no water heater, showering over there was about as fun as you would think it is, which is somewhere between the range of somewhat boring/pretty average to slightly fun. More stories to come on that later.

In other news, this week we had an amazing Zone Conference (took an uber there with the Zone Leaders (free!) after showering) and the messages about being diligent, being obedient, and being personable and real people was pretty awesome. The APs (Assistants to the President) are super powerful, President and Sister Burnham are so sweet, and seeing a bunch of other missionaries was so much fun. Plus, I wasn’t the newest person there!! I got to get to know some new missionaries which was way fun and made me feel less new. It helps that the Spanish is coming a lot more quickly now. Probably the highlight of Zone Conference (although some may argue that given my last argument about sacrificing your focus from things of the world to focus on things of God, forgive me) was the unlimited turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, but especially…Costco pumpkin pie!! Absolutely delicous. Really though the messages were definitely the highlight and have stuck with me over the past few days, and I am so excited that as my spanish is coming along better that I can actually talk with people, understand jokes, and connect with them.

We’ve been teaching our friend Jose from New York/Honduras a bit lately, and he has some real struggles but such a strong desire to change. Plus, his english is basically his native language and he asks that we teach him in english. So, although the spanish is improving, the break to talk in english has been more than welcome. We also got approached by a girl that wanted to invite “the two guerros (white boys) to her quinceñera so she could be famous” so that was pretty cool. We will see if we can teach her a little bit because she thinks its fun to talk to us, but I can’t say that we have plans to pass for the quince. Anyways, I am happy to report improvements as far as public transit goes, lots of delicious foods with minimal weird food experiences. I will say, I really dang miss fruit and gotta go buy some of that today. Spoonfuls of peanut butter, “Mini Mamuts”, and Ritz crackers are starting to get a little old so I think it’s time to go look for something that came out of the ground or a tree or something like that. Wish me luck!

As far as this week’s subject line goes!! No, I did not wet the bed, and have no plans to, but I did pick up an arguably more adventorous mid-sleep habit. I’ve started doing this thing where I jolt awake at like 4 in the morning and sit straight up, and blood just starts like pouring out of my nose, so after a couple seconds of confusion, I sprint to the bathroom and stuff tissues up my nose and go back to bed. A little embarassing, I will admit, and definitely very confusing. Running count is 4 nights where that’s happened, one night with two occurences, one in either nostril. I’ve been searching for a culprit with diligence. I don’t think my companion’s arms are long enough to reach over to my bed, so I don’t think he is punching me in the face in the middle of the night. Although who knows! I haven’t smacked into the wall when I roll over, so I’ve been pretty confused as to what it is. I mentioned my allergies earlier and how my nose has been wicked itchy, so I think I’ve been itching my nose so fervently during my sleep that I give myself nosebleeds. Either way, my sheets are pretty nice and stained with blood marks, so we will see what some vineager, tide pens, big old bar of pink soap, and washing machine can do now that we got water back. I did make that concotion up on my own, so if one of them doesn’t work hopefully the other two do! Cross those fingers that it doesn’t stick with me for 20.5 more months! Anyways, weird but true story. My new nightime habit is waking up like I’m 20 minutes late to work at 3ish AM with blood coming out my schnozz. Weird, embarassing stuff!

It is now Tuesday morning, and I am beyond dismayed to tell you all that after 24 blessed hours, we have officially lost water once again. I should NOT have said that theres a small small part of me that wishes I could call it 2 weeks, I take it all back!! I guess we will have to wait and see if my homemade concotion to clean my sheets actually works once the water comes around again, if it comes around again. I’m starting to cross my fingers that the housing secrataries for our mission change our house to a different one, because 14 days without water is starting to get pretty annoying, especially because we are the only apartment complex in this sector of the city that still doesn’t have water. Most only lost it for 2 days but we are running on 14. Fingers crosse that they find us a different apartment to rent! Anyways, lets continue on with the email!

One of the blessed nights where I was nosebleed-free was a SLEEPOVER! Yes, we had permission, on saturday night we headed over to the Zone Leaders at 11pm for a sleepover! We still had no water, and had a meeting early sunday morning we had to get to. Since we couldn’t rely on the greek yogurt Elders for an early morning shower, the ZLs had us come over for a sleepover! It included setting up christmas decorations, double-cheese habañero burgers (man that did a NUMBER on my bowel system) and 2 Little Caesar’s pizzas. Absolute gut bomb, but it was soooo fun! Luckily, the ZLs have 2 extra inflatable mattresses for situations like ours, so it worked out nice. Mine was so nicy and cozy, and although I forgot my pillow, I fell right asleep. 30 minutes later I woke up laying on the cold hard tile floor. Turns out my air mattress had a slow leak! Everyone else was asleep by then, so I spent the rest of the night trying to decide if I wanted to wake up with hip and shoulder pain, or back and tailbone pain. I think I slept for a grand total of 45 minutes, but the experience was worth the sacrafice. I was so tempted to snuggle up into bed with the ZLs but didn’t think that would fly so I kind of just layed on the tile floor thinking about those machine pump air mattresses, and who really even takes those backpacking anyways? The little cardboard box sitting next to me had a dad and a kid pictured sitting out in the open air on said air mattress out in the woods and so I basically spent all night thinking about if I’ve ever seen anyone bring an air pump like that to inflate an air mattress. It took me a couple hours to realize that their isn’t any outlets out in the forests so that was a pretty dumb waste of brain power. Not like I had anything else to do! When the alarm went off at 7:30 am, I was long since awake, and the first thing the ZLs did when they saw me sitting on the tile floor with the fully deflated mattress underneath me was burst into laughter. Next time I dibs hauling my own mattress over there!

Man I wish I could tell you guys about Esteban’s baptism, but I am so sad to say that he made the choice not to be baptized. We visited him every night this week, talked with him and just hung out, but on Thursday night he told us he decided he wasn’t going to be baptized. Even after divisions with the District and Zone leaders, he decided no. Through all of the conversations, he shared his testimony and thoughts and feelings, and he really does have such a strong testimony, deep gospel knowledge, and knows the Book of Mormon well and prays often. But, he decided anyways that it wasn’t his time to be baptized, and that it didn’t feel right for him right then. I was, and still am, so sad to hear that, but at the end of the day I couldn’t change his decision, no matter how much I wanted, and still want, to. We did everything we could to talk through his doubts, questions, and fear, and I felt the Spirit so strongly in each instance, but unfortunatly that could not overcome his decision. Which made me think about our agency! As much as I wish that I could just make the decision for him, its his choice, and that is a good thing. As CS Lewis said:

That is so true. Maybe at this point, we couldn’t say the words or teach him the things he needed to hear that would make him feel ready. But, maybe down the road some other missionaries will come along and help him in ways that we couldn’t, and he will use his free will to choose to be baptized. I pray that someday he can choose that joy and goodness that is worth having. But, it is each of our own choice at the end of the day, and we can’t make the decision for anyone else. And that is a good thing! I would way rather that he be baptized because he feels ready, and knows that it is the next step for him. It wouldn’t be very productive to carry him to the church and throw him in the font against his will. That personal decision is one of the most important and powerful parts of baptism, that WE are covenanting to follow Jesus Christ, not that someone else is deciding for us.

On that note of baptism, this week we got to go to the Visitor’s Center at the temple with Erlinda, and a member of a few years named Pako! Man, the lessons and things we learned were so powerful and the Spirit was so strong. On our way back, we invited Erlinda to be baptized this upcoming Sunday! She readily accepted, but like Esteban has recently had some pretty big doubts and questions. Of course, we are going to put all of our effort into helping her, because that is what each person deserves. All of our effort and nothing less! But, it will be her decision, and not ours. So, please pray for her, not just to be baptized, but to recieve answers from the Holy Spirit to know what to do, and to follow on those promptings. You will find out next week what decision she makes, but until then, please keep her in your prayers! She really is such a sweet, selfless, and amazing person, and I pray that she can decide to be baptized and enter into a life of covenants with God. Each of these experiences has brought me more patience, something that every aspect of missionary life has helped teach me so far. When are we going to get water back? Patience. Is Esteban going to be baptized? Patience. Why won’t this family answer our phone calls? Patience. When will I be able to speak Spanish? Patience. And etc. and etc.

I will start by some absolutely awesome lines that Alma says when teaching the Zoramites, and later his sons. I’m telling you, the Book of Mormon is some seriously good stuff! Absolute guidance for me from the Lord right here, I testify that He answers prayers and guides us, and one way is through His scriptures. Here it comes, from chapter 34 of Alma:

Man, this week I have been pretty ticked off about my companion at times, the greek yogurt Elders, our own landlord whatever it may be. And generally, I’ve been saddened about people with who we have put so much time and effort but have chosen not to progress much further. But, exactly like Alma says, I know that someday I will be thankful I bore this time with patience, and that I will have rest from these “afflictions” in the future. My life is soooo easy compared to the majority of people here, so really I shouldn’t even consider calling my little trials afflictions, but here we are. God has, and will continue to bless me as I do His work with patience, no matter how hard it gets at times. Alma again, this time to his son:

As they say, patience is a virtue, and one that I am working on. 20 months is a long dang time, 3 weeks feels like forever until the next transfer, and sometimes “walking” (running for any of us shorter than 6 foot 6) from our apartment to Bellas Artes seems like a task too monumental to overcome. But, patience! This life is all about being patient, especially because a lot of times, things are unfortunately just out of our control. We can’t decide if someone is going to be baptized, we can’t choose if it is going to snow in November or never snow again, and unfortunatly we can’t control if Ohio State wins the national championship. But, as my Dad reminds me, we can always CHOOSE to be happy. Even if that means eating soup and riding a bike indoors for a couple of months 🫣! Sure, there are things out of our control, but there are also things in our control. You can take time to read the Book of Mormon, and I promise it’ll bring you peace, answers, and happiness. You can choose to have a good attitude about waking up at 6am to practice the piano 👀 (I’m looking at you Logan!) and you’ll dread it less. You can choose to enjoy waking up every week day to the same piano song (everyone else in my family) being played downstairs. You can choose to pray, choose to trust in God, choose to follow His Son and His teachings, study His words, to go to church, magnify your calling, serve others, draw closer to Him, and change your attitude to find joy in even the little things. Instead of waking up every morning dreading to pack up my stuff and travel to the shower, I can choose to be grateful that I can see more of the city, take time to read scriptures or just think on the metro, and hey, that I even have a safe, clean, comfortable house to stay in. Really, so many things in life are all about attitude. That’s not to say that we should ignore rising problems and instead spend all day making arts and crafts because it makes us happy, or we should sacrifice our own well being because only serving others brings us joy, but whatever the negative things in your life are, I promise, that you will find more joy as you increase your gratitude, your patience, and your trust in God’s plan. He WILL give you rest from your trials someday. His Son has already felt every pain you have ever felt and ever will feel. He already overcame those, for you. And He will help you do the same!

So, bear your trials with patience, find joy in the small things, recognize, and be grateful for, the blessings and the hand of the Lord in your life, and choose happy! Do the things every day that will bring you eternal happiness. Strengthen your relationship with you Heavenly Father by renewing your covenants with Him. Study the words of His prophets, both living and in the Book of Mormon. Pray to Him, ask Him for guidance, ask Him for patience, and especially ask for His support as you go through life. I promise that He is ready, with His hand stretched out, to help you. So, choose to be helped, choose to be grateful, patient, find joy, choose happy! Credit goes to my Dad for that one. A couple CS Lewis quotes to wrap this one up:

^^In other words, choose eternal happiness through Jesus Christ, and the rest will come.

And finally…

I promise, that while it may not take away the pain of all situations, you can choose to find things that will make you more joyful in this life. So, please, choose them, and express your gratitude and love to your Heavenly Father. And be patient in your afflictions! The rest from all your trials, troubles, and worries, will come. Trust in God’s great plan, trust in His divine timing, and find joy through Him. Seek His help, and recognize His hand in your life! And the rest will come along. One last Alma quote:

I hope you all know how much I love you, how much I pray for you, and how much I miss you all! I hope you can all find rest from your trials and troubles through Jesus Christ, but as they may persist, that you can choose to find joy and happiness, express gratitude, and take your afflictions with patience. I love you all so much, appreciate the emails even more! And will do my best to respond throughout the day, and if I can’t quite get you a response, hopefully next week! I am grateful for you all and hope you do know that I really do love you! Well, that makes this weeks email a wrap, so hopefully you enjoyed, and yeah! I love you all and miss you!!

Well, until next week, I hope you all have an AMAZING week, and that you choose to male it a great one! Most of that depends on your attitude, so choose happy!

I love you!

-Noah