Allo from Elder Van Pelt!
Zach has hit some bumps in the road during his second week at the CCM. He is tired and is still trying to get used to his sleep schedule and "working his butt off". He is still having lessons with Jesus and wrote that he had a hard time staying awake in some of their lessons this week.
He has also learned the true meaning of patience this week, as he has had some struggles getting along with his companion. I think it was just a matter of time before two young men fresh out of high school, who have never lived outside of their parents home, started having a few tiffs. He said it has been difficult to mesh their personalities this second week as the excitement of arriving as new missionaries has worn down, it seems that his companion has lost some spark. As most of you know Zach is NOT a clean freak. He would never admit to it, but his room is actually pretty messy at home and has a weird smell to it. Anyway this fact just adds a little more seriousness to this statement Zach gave us:
"Right now I'm thinking mainly about everything with my comp. I don't know what I should do to fix it. My companion is so dirty! SO dirty! I tried serving him one morning while he was in the shower, cleaning up everything. By the time I got all ready and we left the casa, he had already made it messy. I don't know if he noticed."
He is trying hard to keep his cool and be positive toward him in all situations. When he has put Zach down, he tries to reciprocate with a compliment which is super admirable in my opinion.
He has also been struggling with the language in comparison to his first week as he speaks with different investigators. He was uplifted when he read through his patriarchal blessing where it stated he would serve a mission in a different language. This has given him some extra faith to keep working so that he can learn the language and understand it fully. Everything is possible through our savior! He is trying not to be too hard on himself about it, but I am sure some extra prayers his way would help immensely!
Zach again wants everyone to know how much he thinks of you all and has loved all of the letters he has gotten. At the end of this week, it will mark the longest he has ever been away from our home in Spanish Fork. He really misses everyone and has kept everyone in his prayers. Elder Van Pelt has spent most of his days in the class room studying. In a two day period he had been in the class room for over twenty hours. He said it is hard but worth it. That is our Zach! One day he and Elder Washburn (one of his room mates), were missing home because they were both singing country music, and the Bastille song "Pompeii" has been stuck in his mind all week. Good thing it is wholesome music and not any Jay-Z or Kanye West, otherwise we might have a problem here.
This week on food updates, Zach has discovered the "Nutella bar" at breakfast and dinner. That was a big enough thing to put in his letter, so I am guessing it is pretty amazing!
Zach wanted a story he was taught this week about specific prayers when you are in need of something to be shared to you all:
A missionary left his back pack in a taxi cab when he only had 2 months left in the field. The back pack contained his scriptures, camera, money, etc. He went out the next day with his companion and held signs saying that he had lost his back pack. He prayed that the taxi driver would pull up to them with the bag, and nothing would be missing. They made a time limit to stand with the signs for 1 hour and at minute 58, a taxi drove up and handed him his back pack, telling him that he is Christian also.
A cool story and great reminder that our Heavenly Father is always listening to us and that we can talk with him about our specific needs and situations.
Elder Van Pelt ended his letter with declaration that he would be playing soccer with some of the locals. He was pretty confident that he would kick some butt, we will have to wait till next week to see if his confidence pays off.
Keep Elder Van Pelt in your prayers and if you have any words of encouragement please leave a comment on the page at the top.
Hasta luego!
Great job, Whit! You are really sensitive to his comments. Terrific!
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