My First Latino Companion!

Well this week was a huge change for me!! I got a new companion and he doesn’t speak English... Yep you know he´s my first Latino!!! Haha His name is Elder Alvarez from Mexico. It was really hard the first couple of days because I was trying to get use to the language change. Now I have to speak Spanish every time I want to talk to my companion. The first 4 days I came home with THE biggest Spanish headaches. ha But now I am use to it and it is fun! I have got to say by just this first week with him my Spanish has jumped increasingly higher!! Now I am forced to talk to him in Spanish, which is great. I am very grateful for him because my Spanish gets better every day!! :) When I found out that I was getting a Latin I just thought great I’m probably going to die or kill myself.. but no this guy is probably my best friend in the mission! I freakin love him! He´s so funny, works hard, and likes to have fun which is always good! He will probably be my best Latino friend in the mission. I have heard of a lot of horrible stories from American missionaries having Latino companions and I could just see that happening to me but nope.. I can testify that God knows who the best person is to be your new companion even if it’s in marriage (Tracy & Tyler) or even if it’s in your mission. I worry about getting new companions every time because I hate changes but I know that God knows what is best for you. Now I love the Latino companions but I hope President doesn’t start getting me mixed up as a Latino ha but I know he doesn’t choose the companionships, its God. I am very grateful for revelations from God!!

This week wasn’t that great of a week because I was trying to get use to my companion and showing him the area. Last Saturday I didn’t tell you guys last week because I didn’t know, but Manuel already went to do baptisms for the dead which is crazy cool because we have been working with members to go do that. He wants to be the people doing the ordananzas and baptizing people.. ha that just puts a huge smile on my face because he is my convert and yesterday in church was fast Sunday and he came up to me with a fast offering slip and asked me if I could teach him how to do it. I can just see this man in a couple of years a bishop or something up there. He loves the church so much and church comes first for him. He started coming in mid-December and has not missed a Sunday since. Yesterday he blessed the Sacrament.. Just like the ward back at home when I was in Young Men’s we were low on priests it’s the same here but we lack everywhere in the priesthood.. ha but he wanted to do it and he can’t read very well but he got it his second time blessing it!!! It’s just so great to see how this Gospel is changing his life! He was working when we met him then he got laid off and he was in a depression mode for a while but never put his head down because God was with him. He prayed for work and the next couple of days two members came to him and told him that they wanted him to work for them driving there taxis. He had 1 taxi before but then got laid off then went down to nothing and now look at him with 2 cars working every day now! He knows it was all God that blessed him with his work. It is so great to see people like moving forward in their faith and watching the blessings come in there lives!!

I love the mission so much and I learn something new every day!! Thank you for everything you guys do. I love you very much and pray for all always!! Have a great rest of the week! Touch someone’s life this week, try to do something for someone and just watch the love jump through the roof! Bless someone’s life out there. I love you guys very much!!

Love,

Elder Medrano