Elder Garrett Brothers' Mission Blog: Week 20: "Too many investigators!"

Following is Garrett's email from week 20 of his mission. His email address is garrett.brothers@myldsmail.net.

Week 20 Journal

October 14th, 2016:

This was a great prep day! After emailing, we took an extra hour and I was able to make my bed, put away my laundry, write the letters I needed to, etc. It was wonderful. Then we went to a park for P-day, where we walked, played volleyball (passing around a circle), and took a few group photos. We ended up going on a playground and doing a variation of tag where the tagger has their eyes closed by the others can't go on the mulch (the tagger can call "cherry bomb" and if they're on the mulch, they're out). I was sore until Saturday because of some of the maneuvers I had to do during that.

November 15th, 2016:

Elder Trincado and I were stepping on each other's toes today. We generally disagree more than the average companionship. Oh well...

November 16th, 2016:

Ups and downs! Elder Trincado and I will keep toggling the music--he wanted to listen to Nashville Tribute Band a second time, I didn't want to get sick of it--so we'll take turns changing the track, turning it on and off... it's like the scene from "The Parent Trap" where the twins keep toggling the lights.

We then got more along later in the day, but planning was bad again. As Edler Trincado called/texted people with lessons, I added all our investigators on my iPad by geographic area. However, Elder Trincado refused to use the things I had put together; he started planning on his own iPad by putting down names and when he was tired he handed it to me. I asked why he had put down a specific family of members and he told me to fill in the gaps. I kept asking him to explain and he kept asking me to just plan. He eventually took the iPad out of my hands and finished planning by himself. He said it was late and we needed to finish. It was 10:10, and we had started at 9:30.

In the lessons today, the spirit was like a faucet. Sometimes it trickled, sometimes it flowed, and sometimes it roared. I noticed it especially today in Spanish--one lesson I was speaking Spanish excellently, while another lesson I couldn't form more than a sentence.

November 17th, 2016:

Better. Weekly planning was smoother, faster, but also more productive--a surprise, given that right now we have 14 investigators (too many!) and Elder Trincado and I got along better than normal. We did argue about music (again), but even then he talked more and I forced myself to not badger so much.

November 18th, 2016:

We tried turning our daily contact with our investigators into mini-lessons. We're trying to read a verse they read or that we chose, bear testimony of it after teaching a related principle, challenge them to apply it in their lives, and leaving with a word of prayer. We wouldn't do it every day with every investigator, but it helps us not just stop by and ask if they've read or how things are going. It's also a lesson, so as long as it doesn't start replacing our other lessons. I think it's wonderful.

We're working with too many investigators. We now have 14, of whom eight are Hispanic.

One of the people I helped teach and baptize is now being in a congregation being covered by another set of elders in our zone. He was homeless and started working with the South Stake elders before finding lodging in the 5th ward. The other elders recently found him very drunk and talking to some cops. I don't know what to say.

November 19th, 2016:

We went to a funeral today. It was for a 25 year old woman. She wasn't a member, and tt was a really sad time. It impressed upon me the importance of a firm testimony.

Later that day, we went to "Santa's Workshop," a community craft fair, to see the family of one of our investigators. The mom and older sister were there making fudge, so we got some pumpkin-flavored fudge and some hot cocoa with a mug with "Nerds Rule" in 8-bit lettering.

We then visited a member who’s been having a hard time with disabling migraines. She had an MRI but the results will take time. We gave her the pumpkin-flavored fudge--she loves sweets and pumpkin-flavored things--which at least let her smile a little. We had already given her a blessing.

We have to get up early tomorrow to attend a ward council at 6:30. Those ward leaders are committed!

November 20th, 2016:

We slept in barely made ward council! We were so exhausted from yesterday. Still, though, it's upsetting.

The end of the six-week transfer is near. I feel like it should still be week three. While it's better than before, Elder Trincado and my relationship is still hurting the work. It's been really hard. I keep trying to talk to him about it, but my hard time in understanding what people are emotionally trying to communicate, combined with Elder Trincado's unfamiliarity with English, make it hard to meaningfully communicate. I don't want to have whatever bad feelings there may exist between us just to linger there. I like to talk about things and resolve them. But he doesn't want to talk about what’s bugging him. Sometimes I end up asking him repeatedly to tell me what’s bugging him and he'll just ignore me. We'll both be sick of it by the end of the day. We haven't had a companionship inventory for a while; we never finish weekly planning and nightly planning takes too long. It doesn't feel good, and I have no idea how to deal with it. I want to help Elder Trincado with his English and other areas where companions should help each other, and I don't want him to feel bad, either. But we've been unable to work together as effectively as I would like.

I try to focus on the positive. I'm learning Spanish really well now. I still have much to learn, but I'm having episodes where I don't have to think before speaking--I'm touching fluency.

I'm going to miss the Hispanic culture if I don't serve in Spanish areas after this transfer. It's just so different, so authentic, and I've learned to love it (at least the part I've interacted with so far). I'm still more of an observer at this point.

November 21st, 2016:

I've been thinking about a few things. I have made a list of ideas of potential gifts I could give to others. For me, I hope I can get some of the frosted sugar cookies we make at Christmas time (and the recipe for both the cookies and the icing!); a small messenger bag if I just wanted to carry my iPad mini; two copies of the Book of Mormon; and a basic Frisbee.

I've mulled over whether I could use a mini-projector to better show our investigators what’s on our iPad. We also could use if to better plan, so both me and my companion could see what one person is doing. But I know that they are expensive, plus we’d need a lighting-to-HDMI adapter and an HDMI cable. I think that it would cost waaaaaaay too much and could break too easily, so maybe that’s not a good idea.

For any elder on a mission, I think there need to be a device that could be put in a breast pocket that prevent things from falling out when an elder bends over. Other ideas might include an iPad stylus; touchscreen or fingerless gloves; and tie clips.