Hey Family!
So, everyone is sick of the cold weather huh? Well, come down to my area in La Nueva Concepcion, that`ll introduce you to summer REAL fast! No, actually, it`s really not too hot in my area right now. In other areas of my district, yeah, it`s hot, but in mine it wasn`t too bad this week. This week has been crazy...interesting...great, all at the same time. First of all, I miss my family. My second summer away from home is starting, and I`m going to miss out on a little bit of laid back, comfy summer fun. It`s okay though, Heavenly Father knows my heart and is making the time seem to go faster now. I have been conscious of the fact that my mission is coming closer to an end. Sometimes, with some missionaries, that makes them sad and they don`t want the time to go fast, but with me it`s okay. I just know that every passing day brings me closer and closer back to my beautiful, eternal family. You`re all awesome, and I love you with all my heart.
This week started out very weird. We had a normal district meeting, I was able to write home and everything, but once we got back to our area, I started feelings REALLY odd. At about 5PM, a riot broke out in Nueva Concepcion, the people against the police because the police let a vehicular homicide killer go after he paid off the local government. It started as we were headed to an appointment, and all the sudden we saw a wall of fully armored and weaponized police protecting the police station, so we decided it would be better to go back home and be safe. It was something I thought I would never see, people with rocks, pipes, homemade bombs, and angry faces ready to revolt against "the Man." haha And then about 5 thousand people were just riding around on their motorcycles, being spectators to the riot, it was interesting. So we went home, called the Assistants, and they told us to stay in for the night. We lost the appointment, but yesterday we made up for it in spades, and I`ll tell you about that in the next paragraph. Anyways, that night, my body got really tired, really fast. I didn`t know what was wrong with me, so I laid down. About 30 minutes later, I touched my forehead, and I was burning! I soon got really delirious and started saying stupid things to my companion. I checked my temperature and it was at 102.5 F. I took some meds, went to bed, and decided that if I still had a fever the next day, we wouldn't go to the beach with the Zone. The next morning, I woke up at 4:30AM, my bed and pillow was soaked with sweat, and I had a temp of 103 F! We stayed in all day and my fever fluctuated between 102 to 103.5 F until 7PM. We called the nurse, got some good meds, my companion gave me a blessing, and then slowly my fever disappeared. It was so weird how quickly it hit, and how quickly it left. Power of the Priesthood, all I`ve got to say! So after that, my body was exhausted, but we still tried to have a good week. The highlight was the weekend, and I`ll tell you about it now.
On Saturday, I did two baptismal interviews for Tiquisate, one of the areas of my District, for two REALLY smart, really hilarious kids named Graciela and Josè. They blew me away with how well they knew the commandments, it was awesome. The rising generation is going to be cool to see. After that we went back to our area and helped a family of recent converts, the Cortez family, set up their property for their daughters "quice años" party. In Latin culture, when a girl reaches 15 years of age, she leaves behind childhood and becomes a woman in their society. So it`s like a "sweet 16" party in North America, but bigger. They killed a cow to feed all the people BBQ, for heaven`s sake! haha It was a LOT of good food! There is a little bit of ceremony involved too, but I÷m not going to explain it. The only bad part was that the 1st Counselor of the Branch Presidency got up and gave the girl a Priesthood Blessing in front of cameras and 300÷ people. That was dumb...but whatever, that÷s Latin America. A lot of very untrained Priesthood, that÷s where us North Americans come in to teach them... hahaha Well, Sunday was another good day. My companion spoke in Sacrament and there were a couple other good talks...STRAIGHT out of the March Liahona! hahaha Funny stuff. Now that I read the Liahona cover to cover every months, it`s funny to me to see where the themes for lessons and talks come from...straight from Church magazines. They were good lessons though, and we all enjoyed. Our class GREW this week, but we still didn`t have investigators there. We had 10 students this week, a lot of new ones too, from all ages and genders. It was fun! We get them all to participate and it`s an excellent practice for my companion and I. This week we WILL have investigators in that class though, and maybe we`ll have to use the Sacrament Chapel to fit everyone! hehe =) After church, we had a couple visits, but one AWESOME lesson. The Orellana Family are all members, besides their dad. He`s an eternal investigator, but they`re my specialty! =P The rain came down HARD as soon as we started teaching, but we just decided to yell and scream the lesson over the rain! We talked about families, and how the gospel blesses them, and how we have prophets to guide us and teach us, and how God has made it possible for families to be together forever. The commitment we gave, focusing on the dad was "Will you, as the Orellana Family, do EVERYTHING possible to make sure your family can be sealed in the Temple as soon as possible?" And guess what...? They all accepted the commitment with enthusiasm! Whitney, you÷ll appreciate this phrase more than anyone that reads it, but I want my family to know that this family is the REASON that I am in this area right now. I will baptize this man and complete his family, then next year they will be sealed in the Temple for all Eternity.
That was my week. My companion and I are still getting along awesomely. We`re both excited for what is to come for us. Keep praying for us, but now pray for the Orellana (pronounced Or ay ana) family specifically! I love you all, and will write again today answering your questions, but my time for now is up. I have about a half an hour to use later today, so wait for my other email. Dad, be a good guy and post this email REAL quick! ;P
Love Always,
Elder Preston William Tucker
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