Things have been going well for the most part. Gelcimar/Russellyce (the couple we married and baptized) were confirmed on Sunday. It went really well, and they are looking like good members that will stay active. We are now just doing our best to find more families to teach and baptize.
This week Elder Wolfe has been having some health problems, so we haven’t been able to work as much as either of us would like. He ended up throwing up at lunch on Saturday and has been having some stomach problems. But he’s been getting better, so we are hoping to finish out the week well....He’s a good guy though. I’ve really grown to like Elder Wolfe. He’s a good worker and missionary. I’ll miss him after transfers...
Speaking of transfers, I found out on Saturday if I go or stay. Some members are worried I’ll get transferred, and everyone is trying to give us lunch on Monday, just in case I go....so yeah. Might be a little interesting. I honestly don’t know if I’m going to be transferred. Something tells me I’m going to leave. But I also kind of want to stay, just because I've become such good friends with the ward members and my baptisms. And when you want to stay in an area, you always get transferred. But I also have been here for such a long time....I’m not really sure what I want. I guess whatever the Lord wants....whatever the outcome is, hopefully I’ll be happy. So, next week I might be sending an email from Tefé....legit...I just hope my berimbau and bow and arrow get done in time. If not, I’m making Elder Wolfe send them to me.
So, before I forget, I’ll tell one of the more interesting stories of the week. After church and meetings we were heading to talk to an investigator when one of my old investigators stopped me on the road. He was drunk out of his mind (not too surprising....) and really wanted to talk with us. He pronounces my name Heypley. So I heard him call me from down the road and came running. He greeted me with a drunk hug that lasted about 20 seconds. I love drunk people. I know you all are jealous. He then started telling me how mad he was. I started telling him he needed to calm down, but it didn’t do much. He almost resembles The Hulk. He would randomly scream and make noises saying, "I’m ANGRY" then would jump up and down. I asked him what was wrong. He told me his wife was drunk, and he was mad at her. I resisted saying, "well yeah you idiot. Look at yourself..." he then got really serious and said, "Heypley, I have a gun. I’m going to kill my wife." I flipped, and responded, "you can’t kill your wife!" he said, "I’m mad and I’m going to kill my wife, you want to see my gun?" Oh gosh....I spent about 30 minutes talking to him, telling him he couldn’t kill his wife. He wanted to walk with us, so we went for a little walk. For a while I tried to convince him to give me his gun (by the way, its illegal to own a gun in this country...) but he wouldn’t give it to me. So, I tried reasoning with him. Not like its easy reasoning with a drunk person. I said, "Look, if you kill your wife you'll end up in jail." He responded, "I don’t care." Ok....that didn’t work. then I tried, Well, what about your kids....? You want them to grow up on the streets, fatherless and motherless, left to fend for themselves?" That got to him. He stopped for a second and said, "yeah...what about my kids..?" So I jumped on the answer and started elaborating on how his children would grow up without parents. without food. maybe even using drugs and selling who knows what to get money. It seemed to work. He walked with us, with his arm around my comp (Which Elder Wolfe really enjoyed by the way...) and said that he would bury his gun, not kill his wife and thanked us for the help. I saw the newspaper the next day and didn’t see anything about a dead woman killed by her drunk husband....so, I'm assuming he didn’t kill her. One more life saved. Moral of the story, give references to the missionaries so they don’t have to teach drunk idiots on the road. I was only scared for my life a few times in that 30 minutes....
So, yeah. Lets see. what else is new....Oh yeah. So, since I’ve been here almost 6 months, I’ve been running out of lunch messages. So, I’ve started telling stories. This week I’ve been telling one of Grandpa’s Hawaiian folklore stories about the 2 brothers that found the pearls on the beach, and then tie it into the gospel and missionary work. Its been going pretty well actually. I’m digging it. It also scores points with the kids. So, yeah. thanks Grandpa! If you guys at home (dad...) remember any of the others hit me up with an email or something, cuz now everyone is wanting stories for their lunch message...
Well, that’s pretty much what has been going on this week. Just another week in the life. Today we played soccer and made tacos. Legit. Hope all you guys have a great week. Love you!
August 18, 2010
Well its been another good week on the mish. The wedding turned out great! It was well attended, and the bride did a good job making everything really nice. Only prob is that it started like an hour late, but that’s pretty much normal for here. But, I took some good pics. I’ll send some to you guys.
The baptism went down on Sunday. Everything went pretty well. Only prob is that the bride’s brother (the Elders Quorum President of our ward) was supposed to baptize her, but he got called in last second to work. So, they asked me to baptize them instead. I always like performing the baptismal ordinance, and it went really well, but I think it would have been more special if it was the bride’s brother that baptized her. The baptism was also really well attended and some good testimonies were borne about baptism. Everything turned out great.
For dealing with such problems with the papers for this wedding and working with this couple (I’ve been working with them since I pretty much got here...) everything turned out really well. Only prob is that Bishop didn’t go to the baptism, and was just sitting in his office during the baptism. But the counselors went and were really supportive. I love baptizing families and doing weddings. It makes the baptismal meeting that much more special. I was happy with the way things went down
This Monday we had zone conference and reviewed one of the trainings that Pres gave to the leaders 2 weeks ago. It went well, and its always nice to get to see a bunch of old friends...
Transfers go down in 2 weeks, and I’m pretty much ready to leave. I’m kinda banking on it actually. I found myself even making a list of members, converts, and investigators that I need to say goodbye to. I just hope that its not bad karma and I’ll end up staying. I guess I wouldn’t mind the area for another transfers, but this is the longest time I’ve been with a comp and its always nice to just get a little switch. We'll see what goes down though. Whatever the Lords will is...
I’m trying to think what else is new. Not really too much. Just trying to find more good families to teach and baptize. Our mission is doing fairly well. Over the past years the mission was baptizing a lot, but not too many men and families. These past few months our mission has been baptizing more than 25% men which is pretty legit. President is really trying to have us work with men and families. So, I’m looking for another wedding to mark...
Well, that’s pretty much all that I can think of...A lot of the week we were just getting ready for the wedding and everything. Dad, happy birthday! Mom, thanks for the package on the way. Erynn, have a last good week at home. Have a good week guys.
Love,
Elder Eric Stapley
YEAH Elder Stapley! I loved getting all caught up on how he is doing. Thank you parents for keeping this up. We think about him often and know that he was prepared to have these experiences. The man with the gun scared me a bit, but I know Eric was doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason with the right spirit in mind. These stories are absolutely priceless and thank you for sharing them with all of us.
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