Well Hello! This transfer has flown by. The transfers are in, and I'm staying here another month and a half, so I'm super happy about that. Elder Romero is going to train, and I'll be getting Elder Ruiz, from Nicaragua. Saturday, we had a special zone conference call to sing Elder Romero Happy Birthday. It was super funny. If you would think we're bad at singing in real life, we're about ten times worse over the phone.
This week was awesome. We went to help the traveling Red Cross boat translate. They're in the DR for 10 days. It was amazing. I translated for military doctors in the dermatology section, and it was one of the coolest experiences of my mission. We saw some of the whackiest stuff. I'm talkin legs falling off people. You wouldn't believe it. I assisted in a tumor removal surgery. It was huge! The experience taught me a lot, and there were also several sad cases, where people will have to lose their feet or a leg. The entire day I felt as though I was on the real life set of Doctor House or something. On one hand, I felt almost intimidated by how much medical knowlage these people have, but on the other, they had no idea what the patient was saying, and I understood them perfectly. It was a cool feeling to be honest, and at the end of the day I was walking on air knowing with asurety that I really helped a lot of people that day. I got to know some of the coolest guys there.
The week before, we had our Zone meeting, and I used another example Mom had given me. I took an orange, and a vase of water, and passed around the orange having them examin it. They said it looked great. I plopped it in the vase, and it floated perfectly in the water. I then started to peel a piece off, saying that I woke up late today, and didn't have time to do my personal study. Then I started peeling more, and the zone gave me a bunch of ideas, things that I didn't do that I should have done, and things that I did, that I shouldn't have. After a good little time of bursting out a nice plethora of disobedience, the orange was completely peeled. Then I put it in the water again, and something interesting happened... It sunk to the bottom. We had a really good and really inclusive conversation about maintaining our peel strong. We read a bit of proverbs, and how the Lord is our sheild, and a bit in Ephesians about putting on our armor daily. We can also choose to take it off, little by little, until we find ourselves sinking. Then I put in the other orange, saying that that's what repentance is for. It floated perfectly above the other orange. It was a well developed conversation.
This week Beatriz was finally baptized! It was a long and arduous process, but so so so worth it. She was incredibly happy. The next day at church, I had the privilege of confirming her. And as she sat up, with tears in her eyes, it was apparent to us all that she had, without doubt received the gift of the Holy Ghost that day. The next runner up is her husband, and he's a harder challenge than her, but he'll understand it all it soon. Any who, thanks for all the prayers. Love you all.
Elder Brady
