My Canadian Thanksgiving was AWESOME! I will tell you all about it!
Interviews went great! President Archibald is such an inspired man. I feel so lucky to have him as my President. He gave me some great advice! I love how he does things and his style of helping us be better missionaries. I look forward to these next 19 months working with him here.
Nellie and Gilberto came to church for the first time!!! It was so cool!! It seems like they enjoyed it, and the members were superrrr friendly to them and made them feel welcome. Our bishop announced them during sacrament and told them to stand up. And of course, because Gilberto isn't quite there mentally, stood up and was like "Now do you want me to stand here or come up to the front? I don't want to take away from your program" He says that to the bishop and it is dead quiet in the chapel so everyone hears it haha. He starts walking up to the stand but we grab him and tell him he can just stand in his place. We are going by their house right after emailing today to see what they thought and invite them to be baptized.
Then that night, we went by the ward mission leader's house, Victor Lopez. He is from Mexico, married a lady from Venezuela, and have 2 boys. One of my favorite families. So we cooked them some muffins and brought them over. When we got there they were trying to carve pumpkins that we gave them the day before. BUT, they had no idea how to do it because they are Spanish! It was so funny so we taught them how to carve pumpkins haha. It was their first time doing this so the mom was taking pictures and everything. Looks like they will never forget us then :) Then yesterday, they came by to thank us for helping them. The boys drew us a picture each. Issac, the youngest drew me this picture. At the bottom, instead of saying Elder Draper, it says Elder Kraper. Spanish people really have trouble with my name :)
Yesterday, Thanksgiving was awesome. It was P-day, so I went to chapel and balled it up for 4 hours. I miss basketball everyday! It felt so good to run up and down with the ball. I can still dunk, just so everyone knows haha. AND, I could still take Blake or Nick or anyone one on one. Looks like that is a skill I won't forget :) But more importantly obviously is missionary work, what we did last night after P-day.
We had thanksgiving dinner with the Salazar family, from Mexico. They got baptized 11 months ago, and are just a solid family. She just gave birth to a baby boy, Ishmael. She cooked us the best meal I have had on the mission. Pork, spaghetti, veggies, enfrijoladas (basically beans wrapped in tortilla with cheese on top). SO GOOD!! It was so much food, I felt ten pounds heavier when we left. SO then after that we decided to visit the wife of Patriarca Jaco, the Spanish patriarch for the stake. She is having major heart problems so we went to the hospital and visited her. Her spirits were up, and she said she was willing to accept God's will for her. I cannot imagine being in that situation, has to be so hard. Patriarca was a little worried and stressed so we gave him a blessing of comfort. This experience just made me realize how short this life really is, and how Heavenly Father really is in complete control. Of course we have our agency to make choices, but He is the one who gives the consequences. Everything happens for a reason. Seeing her lying there, maybe close to death, maybe not, made me think "Am I ready to stand in the presence of God?" Definitely not ready. There is so much I have to do to better myself. And I am never going to become exactly who I need to be....by myself. That is why we have the atonement. That fills the gap that we don't have the power to fill. I have a talk about the atonement by James E Faust and highly recommend it. It has helped me understand it better and what is the purpose of it.
Yeah transfers are next week so we will see. I think I will stay here for at least one more transfer...that would take us to the first week of December!! The time is going fast! The call home on Christmas is pretty cool, I actually give you guys my phone number here and you call it, so the phone bill goes to you guys! Yeah sounds like lots of change in the ward, it's weird that I am not there to see it. The weather has been so nice! I hope it continues to hold off until December! Haha no it is suppposed to snow before Halloween so it sounds like the cold is right around the corner.
Dad I found a scripture for you! I will always remember you telling me to do stuff before I am told. Check out D &C 58:29. I read that this morning and immediately thought of you. You can use it with Blake and Nick now :) Hope you have a great week with work and your calling! I love you!
Haha what up Nick!? Hmmm so you have been lifting weights huh? Keep it up then!! Taha Lebron is BAD!! Go Kobe!!! Nice work on the soccer field!! Man you ARE Christiano Ronaldo! Haha yeah I remember those little buddy things. Show him how to be a good student like you! I played basketball yesterday too. It has been awhile but I just picked up the ball and drained them all day. I bet I could still beat you one on one ;) Well Nick thank you for writing me man. I love you, you are a stud. Keep being good. You get the priesthood in 2 months!! Get ready for that!! Have a good week Nick!
Well family that was my fun week! I love you all!!! Have a great week!!!!
Elder Draper
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