We started off this week by taking our car in for repair. Apparently some missionaries about 6 months ago slid off the road in the icy conditions into some barbed wire fencing and scratched up the back of the car. One Auto body workshop offered to fix it up for free for the mission. We didn't have a car for about 3 days. It was good walking and finding rides--a little difficult to find so many rides in one day. We also went on exchanges because my companions have been out for only 6 weeks and I have only been out 2 weeks. We are all greenies, training each other. We will do exchanges frequently. I went to Gunnison (Spanish speaking) for Friday night and Saturday Morning. It went very well, I met a lot of people there and taught many great lessons.
We had a ride up to Mt. Pleasant to switch back another elder, and the Mt. Pleasant elder with us said we would be there for 3 hours, so we sent our ride home. It turns out that he was just kidding, so we had no ride back to Ephraim (14 miles away). The Mt. Pleasant elders had to go to a baptism, so they couldn't take us. So we just started walking along the highway (aka Faith Walking). We got about 1 mile before someone stopped and gave us a ride back to Ephraim. It is a no-no, but when you have no choice...
One evening we had an EQ president accompany us on a few lessons. He taught us a saying that he had to memorize in the MTC regarding missionary work: Faith is the power, obedience is the price, Love is the motive, the Spirit is the key, and Christ is the reason. That is so true of why I am serving my mission.
My companions' names are Elder Johnson & Elder Lora. E. Johnson was born in Canada and lived in Texas for a few years. E. Lora was born in the Dominican Repulic and lived in New Jersey for 2 years before the mission. E. Lora is English-speaking, but he is needed in this area for Spanish speaking.
We have one investigator family that is from Mexico City. The are very hospitable. On our second visit, they fed us Pozole, which is a kind of corn & pork meat soup. It was very good & authentic.
I am so greatful to know what I do about our existance. I am so glad that I don't have to judge anyone. When we are at Judgement day with Christ & our Father in Heaven, it will be a judgement of our entire existance--including premortal. This earth life is one small blip on our eternal existance. I can't say whether someone will be going to Heaven or Hell based on their actions in this life, because I don't know how their life has been: both here and before this earth life. We can only try our best not to put a giant question mark over our heads as we leave this eath life. I testify that Christ is our advocate with the Father, that he is our lawyer, defending us from the law of justice (which demands the price be paid for sins). He knows how to judge perfectly, as he descended below everything.
All is well here. May God bless you.
Elder Bunker
