Hey all,
Things are going great here. Ton of work, and a ton of great people. It rarely dips below the 100's, but I'm slowly becoming accustomed to the heat. I haven't been bit by any dogs yet while riding my bike, but they sometimes get pretty close. Elder Stone and I have really been working hard in this area and trying to build it up. I wish I could better describe what the branch is like, but there really aren't a whole lot of words that best describe. It's amazing how the harder you work, the more fun you have, and the more you're blessed. Elder Stone and I have really seen that this past transfer.
Last monday was Elder Franco's last P-day so we went to eat at the Pizza Hut buffet. It was just me, Elder Stone, and Elder Franco because the other elders wanted to eat at the apartment to save money (typical missionary). It was really cool to talk about the experiences he had during his mission, all the things he learned, and the advice that he gave me and my companion. After about an hour, we had eaten so much food that we couldn't stand up, and decided to just relax at our table and keep discussing missionary experiences before paying for our meals and heading out. As we were just chatting, one of the ladies from the table across from us came over and tapped Elder Franco on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, we already paid for your ticket" and then started to leave the restaurant with the other ladies she was with. It kind of took us by surprise and we didn't really understand what she said, probably because we were expecting her to speak spanish, but then we realized she meant that she had paid for our meals, so we all yelled thank you as she was walking out the door. It was pretty awesome, because it was totally unexpected. She wasn't a member of the branch and wasn't one of our investigators, so we just assumed that she recognzed us as missionaries and had the desire to pay for us. This probably doesn't seem like that unusual of an experience but after having gotten to know Rio Grande City, I think it was a miracle. That just doesn't happen down here. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of amazing people, but having this lady pay for all of our meals was amazing.
Then we had another cool experience on this past Saturday. We were riding our bikes all afternoon (we are supposed to ride bikes on Saturdays from 11 to 4) and saw some great success; we finally got a hold of a less active family we've been trying to stop by and had some good lessons with a couple of our investigators. We were heading back to our apartment to have some lunch before dropping our bikes off and grabbing the car when we saw a sign for raspas (snowcones). We decided we'd check it out real quick. We got to the raspa stand but no one was in there, but we saw some little kids across the street and asked if they knew who worked at the stand, so they ran inside and got their mother, who turned out to be the owner. She came over and we each ordered a large raspa. After she made them, we went to hand her our money and she said that they were free. We tried to insist, but she insisted that it was hot outside and they were free. We were really taken back by surprise. Yeah, it only saved 2 dollars but it really made our day.
Those were just two cool experiences of how I saved money this week, and how two strangers are going to be greatly blessed because of their kindness.
Thanks y'all for everything. Keep me updated. Love you all.
Elder Brett
