Week 5 Blessings!!

This week my Spanish has improved so much, but I also have been struggling to retain everything they throw at me. For every single word, there are about 5 suffixes for present tense, and there are about 6 different tenses that we have been taught so far. I think they are Present, Future, Past Preterit, Past Perfect, and Present Perfect. Anyways for one word there are about 25 different endings that do follow a pattern, but it is just so hard to think of and put into a sentence. In Elder Brown and my TRC this week with Anna, I was able to speak so well! And Elder Brown spoke so much too! He shared a personal experience that brought the spirit so strongly and Anna definitely felt it. She had all of her questions answered, and we extended an invitation for her to read the introduction of the Book of Mormon and pray to know of its truth. I have never spoken so much Spanish and understood so clearly, and it was so cool to see my progress!!

This week, as a district we all were recovering from the sicknesses that was lingering, but we felt all of your support so much. Our district has become stronger, more diligent, and more obedient than I have ever seen. I appreciate all of your love and prayers so much and my district does too. I have received so many care packages this week I feel like a bear with food all stored up for hibernation! Thank you so so much for sending me packages!!

Lets see.. This week Elder Brown and I had to go to the doctors twice!! The first time, Elder Brown felt a bump in his knee and wanted to go get it checked out. After an hour of waiting, the Doc came in and told us it was a “Joint Mouse” and was just cartilage that broke off in an impact sometime. The second time, Elder Brown hurt his finger playing basketball. It swelled a tiny bit, and was purple at the base of the finger. After being inside a one square mile fenced in campus, we got to leave the walls and feel normal for a little bit!! (Fun Fact some people call the MTC Spiritual prison haha) We walked across the street to the health clinic, got it X-Rayed, and found out it is just sprained thank goodness.

I wish I could say that was the craziest doctors experience this week, but there was a crazy scare this week that far outweighs elder brown and mine. This week after exercise time, Elder Lovell laid down to take a nap. After a little while, his companion tried to wake him up to go study. Finding that he was struggling to wake up, Elder Oren figured that he had low blood sugar and fed him an entire Twix Bar. Elder Lovell already had too high blood sugar and the Twix bar basically put him into a coma. Elder Oren ran to get his blood tester to see how much insulin he needed, but Elder Oren accidently pricked his finger with the used needle in the blood tester. Elder Oren then burst into tears, and ran to the health clinic fearing that he had contracting AIDS. He also left Elder Lovell in a coma to die, and told Elder Davis and Brown to take care of him. Elder Lovell was carried across the MTC to the health clinic limp as a noodle, and was quickly helped. After his blood sugar was back to normal, he came home and everything was fine. But then Elder Oren called. He told Elder Lovell he needed to come back to the health clinic, because they had some questions for him. Elder Lovell tried to ask what kind of questions, but  Elder Oren hung up the phone. We all went with Elder Lovell to the health clinic and we were waiting for him. Elder Oren had now been in the clinic for 3 hours or more. We waited so long that we missed dinner and class had started. We were then dismissed from the health clinic and got some food before going to class late. Elder Oren and Lovell sent us a picture of them at the Hospital. Fearing that Elder Lovells used needle had given him AIDS, Elder Oren had his blood tested at the MTC Clinic, then Lovell had his tested too. Then they both got a more accurate test at the hospital. Even though all four tests had come back negative for any blood diseases, Elder Oren still was fearing that he had a disease, and so he was prescribed some sort of precautionary AIDS medication. The entire deal cost each missionary almost 400 dollars, they missed lunch, exercise time, dinner, class, and came home late, and all just because of a candy bar and a needle. 

I hope that story made sense. Other than that scare this week has been incredible and I really am enjoying myself out here! I don’t have a lot of time but I just want you all to know that Missionary work is amazing. It is just as hard as they say it is, but it is so amazing. I have been blessed my entire life with a knowledge of the Gospel and I know that other people need the happiness that I’ve enjoyed. I will endure the hard times of the mission, be thankful for the good times, and Love the people that I will teach. I have a testimony that God is real. We are his children and he loves us so much. He blesses us for keeping his commandments and through Jesus Christ and his Atonement, we can be made clean from our sins. I know that all of you that support me (whether it be through love, prayer, emails, or anything else) will be blessed. I love you all and hope you are doing well. I hit one month a few days ago and will serve for 23 more. I know that I will be blessed for my sacrifice, and that my life after my mission will be happy because I gave my time and energy to the Lord during my mission! Ill talk to you guys next week! I love you!!

-Elder Petty

P.S. please forgive any spelling errors, I was rushed to type these crazy stories!