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ROUGH WEEK BECAUSE OF A WHITE WASH

 January 9, 2023

Hey, what's up ya'll? Kind of a rough week down here, but it ended up ok.

This week starts out in my old area in Monolito 1!! Tuesday, me and Elder Curtis are walking in the street when we come across this guy. We stop to talk because, of course, that's what we do. Turns out, he's a menos activo ,which means a like a distant member so we're like, "Oh, dope! We would love to come by and talk to you." He goes, "Man, I just love cocaine, though, so, I mean." *shrug* We respond with "Ahh we can help with that! We have classes to help overcome addiction," and he goes "Man, I just really love cocaine, so I don't think I'll change. People have tried, but man I love crack, and I'm stuck in my ways. Also, I'm late and my store for crack is gonna close." That was it with that guy, hahaha. Maybe one day he'll be ready.

After that crazy experience, we helped our friend get ready for his baptism on Saturday!! We kind of spent the next day saying goodbye to people and packing my stuff so I could move to my new area!! And that's where I am right now!!

Friday was kind of rough because my companions and I are both brand new to the area, so we had no clue what to or where to go. We spend Friday and Saturday knocking on doors and trying to figure out our area. At the end of Saturday. I went back to my old area for the baptism. That was really special!!

On Sunday, my new comp and I went to church. I was kind of grumpy and down in the dumps because this area is really, really difficult. After church, we came home and ate lunch. After lunch, I had a really cool experience while studying. I was trying to read Isaiah in The Book of Mormon. If any of you know, Isaiah seems kind of impossible to understand sometimes, so I kind of zoned out, and I heard the song playing in the background in our apartment. The words said, you have to find your piece (not peace), and that hit me really hard because even though this area is hard, I have work to do, and I have to do my piece in this area, so I can't be down in the dumps!! Later that night, we got on a call with another missionary and he told us all about how to find people to teach in this area, so my hopes are up, and I'm excited for this next week!! 

Well, I have to go, but I love you all!! 

Elder Mergenthaler Out!






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