Hi
family!
This
week has been great. I bet you are wondering why I am emailing you on Tuesday
instead of Wednesday. Well this week our preparation day (the day we email, do
laundry, shop for food, etc.) got switched to Tuesday because we have
interviews with President on Wednesday. Not a whole lot has happened here
because I have still been recovering from my sickness. I am pretty much all the
way better now, but my sore throat kind of came back -- I am hoping it goes
away soon. My goal this week was to eat as healthy, and as much as I possibly
could, considering how much weight I lost being sick. I have gained 7 pounds
back so far of the 20 pounds lost.
This
week my roommates and I are starting a training schedule. In the mornings, we
are going to go running, or go play basketball on one of the courts here in Yonkers,
and then at night we are going to do weight training and what we call the
"Feliz Challenge". We have a deck of cards. We do inclined pushups. The
way we pick how many reps we do in between sets is you pick the top four cards
off the deck, and that's how many pushups you are doing until you get to rest.
You then get a 20 second rest, and then take four more cards off the deck until
you go through the entire deck. Mr. Feliz (the guy we are teaching who taught
us this workout) was at a point where he was going through 15-20 decks of cards
in one workout. One is super hard. I can't imagine 15-20! I have been
eating as much as I possibly can. I'm excited to get my strength back!
I
had one of the most fun night's of my mission this week. In one of the wards we
neighbor with, they had a talent show night (or what they call "Noche De
Talentos") for a few of the wards here. It was absolutely amazing! It was
the Spanish wards, and wow do they know how to throw a party! They went all
out. There were five acts, and then they had intermission, and then it was
eating time. There were taquitos, chicken, salad, empañadas, tamales, and a lot
of Spanish dishes. There were Guatemalans, Puerto Ricans, Peruvians, Dominicans,
and people from Chile, etc, so there was a whole group of different kinds of
foods from all different countries. The food was so good! Then the show
resumed. It was so fun. It was the first time I have been truly hopeful here in
New York. It was a great morale booster.
It
was great to get to bond with some of the members too. I met a guy who
performed who actually is a music producer and surprisingly was pretty good! It
was fun. Him, Elder Smith (the elder I went on splits with who is a music producer) and I, all
chatted it up about music and producing. It was a cool experience.
On
Sunday -
There is a member in our ward named Veronica, and she got her mission call and
we went to the church Sunday night to watch her open it. Veronica
is pretty awesome! She is the girlfriend of the guy (Brandon) we are going to
start teaching (who is absolutely the coolest guy in the world). A note on
Brandon: He already understands the Gospel and sees the eternal happiness it
can bring him, and has a desire to listen to the Spirit and act to first learn,
and then do more to be as happy he can possibly be. He knows this happiness
comes from the gospel, because he says he truly feels it. That's one thing I have
learned here in Yonkers. Our church location is in a ghetto part of Yonkers. There
are drug deals going on outside, and people are always fighting, and I've heard
gun shots outside of our church, but the amazing thing is, every time I open
that back door and walk in, I completely feel the contrast of a dark, uneasy,
and panicked feeling to a heavenly peace that feels as if God has lifted my
troubles and lets me be at rest, dwelling in hope. Back at home, this feeling
was harder to feel, but now since outside is such a bad place, going into the
church feels so nice. You can truly feel the comforting feeling of the Spirit
in the church, and that feeling is something Brandon can recognize. You can see
it in him. There is one scene in the movie Inception where there are people who
are dreaming in the chemist's basement. They come to him to be drugged to be
put into a dream state. They then say that they don't do this to be put to
sleep, they do it to wake up. Their dream is their reality. Every time I walk
into that church, it feels like my soul is waking up...to reality - to eternal
reality, to God's reality. There oftentimes is a facade that we all face that
perverts the way we view and feel life, or rather our existence, truly is.
Almost everything in our lives and the things in the world are meant to make us
feel as if we will never die, and as if we do not need others to help us in
this journey on this earth. A lot of the times it truly feels like dying is
just a dream and will never happen. A lot of times, because we know in the back
of our heads that we die, we make up hopes and wishes of a good life to come
based upon exactly what we want in the next life, without actually knowing if
it will factually come to pass the way we wish. When I say this Gospel
"wakes me up," it wakes me up so I truly see what will come in the
next life, the true nature of God our father, and how I and we can obtain the
blessings our Father in heaven has in store for those who follow his words.
Think about it. It is extremely easy. God sent us here to be in a state of
probation...a state of testing to see what we will do with our lives, and what
kind of people we will become. He has provided council to us and promises if we
listen to his council, we will have many blessings including Eternal Life on
the other side. He has also provided a way to know if these words are from man,
or from Himself (and he promises that when we ask Him, having true faith,
doubting nothing, we can know for ourselves by the power of the Holy Spirit
[sometimes described as an eternal peace, or extreme heavenly love]), and then
all we have to do is simply follow his words and the rest is promised to us. The
greatest gift He can give us is promised to us, simply if we follow his words. That
very gift of Eternal Life. Not just immortality -- for all beings will receive
that -- but eternal life, where we get to live with God again and with our
families forever in a state of happiness. It is as if a rich man came to us and
told us that we can be the richest people in the world if we simply follow
these few steps. The plan is completely laid out for us, all we have to do is
follow that plan, and then spread the good news (the Gospel) to others and help
them do the same. That's the very point of being a missionary!
Anyways,
back to Veronica. The ward all got in a room and we watched as she opened her
mission call. You can truly feel the divine calling of the Lord every time
someone opens their mission call. It truly is a very peaceful feeling. I know
that as I opened my call, I have never felt like God has known me personally
more than I have at that moment, and every time I have watched someone else open
their mission call since, I can truly feel that God knows them just the same.
Everyone guessed she was going to California (including me...have to rep the
home state) but she is actually going to Argentina!
Today
we are in the city! We are going to China Town and Elder Nelson (The new roommate in our apartment) is going to show
us all around south Manhattan. He knows the area like the back of his hand
because he served their in his last area. We are going to go to times square,
the temple, ground zero, China Town, and just experience New York City on a
beautiful day like today. I am excited. I should have some good pictures next
week, along with some more exciting stories. Things have been kind of dry
lately just because I have been sick. Yesterday was the first day we have gone
out and done work since I was well. This week we are back on our grind.
I
love you all. Try to be a little kinder. Try to do a little better. And don't
ask God for what you are not willing to do. Think about that one =)
Love,
-- Elder Austin Celaya
P.S.
I hit my three month mark tomorrow! Good bday present! Have a great week!
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