Hi =}
I assume many of you
are wondering about the title of this email. And I hope none of you take
it offensive because that was not the intention at all. I will explain it later in the email.
So last week, I
wasn't able to really send out an email because of transfers and I apologize for
that. I will give you an update on everything
now. So last week, like I said, I was very sick. They put me on an antibiotic but it wasn't working. I was on
the floor almost in tears because
of how bad my throat hurt and I was there for around three hours in the apartment. The elders that we live
with walked in and found me on the
floor, called the mission presidents wife, and she said to go into urgent care the next morning. I went
in and they put me on a heavier
antibiotic called augmentin. I started to take it, and it killed my system. It really felt like I was on some
form of Chemo and everyone was
telling me that it was normal because it was also killing the good in my body, but little did I know I
was allergic to the medication. I
felt like I was dying taking it. I woke up (day 4 of taking the antibiotics) and my entire body was covered
from head to toe in the biggest
rash, and everything was swollen. I took a picture, but I am saving it until I go home to show anyone
because I really don't want you
all to worry more than you need too. It looks funny now. So we went upstairs to the Senior Couple who used
to be a nurse and she told me to
immediately call Sister Morgan. I did, and she said to go to urgent care again right now. So, I went to
urgent care again, and they said
it was an allergic reaction to the penicillin in the antibiotic. Which kind of makes me frustrated because
I told the mission doctor that I
was allergic to penicillin and he claimed that I wasn't allergic but I just was sensitive to it. Every
3 to 4 hours I would get these
terrible itch attacks where my entire body would swell up and started to itch and there was nothing I could do
to stop it. I would take Benadryl
and it would not work. My body was so done with taking pills. Haha. I have been on two antibiotics, I
was taking advil like I've never
taken it, Tums, and Benadryl. My body was dead.
So It's day 6 since I
had the allergic reaction and the rash is just barely now going away. I'm so
happy though because I am finally feeling
better, physically, mentally and emotionally. I lost now 25 pounds being sick. I lost so much weight. I had my
first meal yesterday where I could
actually eat. It was complete heaven. I am so thankful now just to be able to swallow and to breathe
and to enjoy the little things in
life we ignore sometimes. Anyways, I am finally feeling better, and I plan to get all the weight back.
My roommates and I put together a
workout plan and an eating plan. Monday we start!
So transfers were
last Wednesday. We got a new elder in our apartment. It was much needed. He is lively and likes
to talk a lot and is so much more
fun. The vibe in our apartment has totally changed for the better. On transfer day, I also was really
drugged, and one of the side
effects was that I would be really drowsy and forget things. Well, I ended up losing my iPad and I couldn't even
remember losing it. I was totally
out of it and I felt so bad. I was able to get a new one last night thankfully because it is literally
impossible to do missionary work
here without one. We do everything from our iPads. This week I haven't
been able to go out much at all. I've been in bed for over two weeks now and I am so done with it.
I'm hoping the rash will be all
gone by Monday so
we can start to go to work Monday.
On
Friday, we were all able to see the movie "Meet The
Mormons" which is in theaters as I write this. It was such an amazing
movie. It really put clear to the
public what and who we are as the world calls us "Mormons" and as members of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I have never been more proud to be in this church. I loved the movie because it really put clear and
destroyed a lot of the rumors you
hear about us that many people believe. We watched it as a mission and there is a part in there where you
see a story about a missionary
leaving his family. Now all 280 of us missionaries have gone through
that exact experience, and as he was saying
goodbye to his family in the
airport for two years, everyone was tearing up. I know as I watched that, it automatically switched me back to walking
into security as I said goodbye to
my family, as I kept looking back trying to take one last mental shot of the people I love most. Overall, it
was great. Mormon, or not, go see
it! It is a great movie. I challenge you to take some of your friends to go see it. You will see
why we are the way we truly are
and why we love what we call "The Gospel."
I want to talk of a
miracle that happened this week. My dad always tells me, you have to find the
one diamond buried in the dirt. Well, this week as we were at church, a man walked in, and we had no idea
who he was. Nobody did. Turns out he wanted to
talk to the bishop because he
wanted to figure out how to turn his life around. We ended up talking to him and he said that his aunt is a member
of the church in Honduras, and she
told him that if he wants to change his life, that he needs to go to our church, so she looked up
the churches in his area in
yonkers and it happened to be our chapel, so he showed up this past Sunday. He
is in the military and works as a construction worker. He gets sent on two year missions around the world. He hasn't
seen his kids in seven years because his wife
won't let him and he really is
just finished with the way he was living. He needed something more. He really told us he wanted to change
his life and was willing to do
whatever to be truly happy. It was so awesome to see someone who was so humbled and prepared by God, and I
was able to stand there and
testify to him that I can promise him if he truly wants to change his life, there is no other way, and I
told him from my experience, that
out of anything in the world, this is what would make him the most happy. He wanted to know more, so we
exchanged numbers and we will be
teaching him next week hopefully. God truly does prepare people. It's in their own time too. At one
day, we will all be in a humble
state where we realize we need Christ, and his atonement, because He did something for us, that we or
anyone else could never do. Be patient
with those who want nothing to do with the Gospel right now. With time, everyone will know. I
love this gospel. There literally
is no better way to find one's self. I know many of you have been praying for me to be able to find the Lords
elect and I have been praying for
the same, and this truly was a direct answer to that prayer - someone walking in, begging to help him
change his life. God truly is
mindful of all of his children.
One thing I've also
realized is how much I have not truly appreciated my parents and what my Mom and Dad have done for me to
raise me. Nobody here has mothers
or fathers that stick around, and being sick this week, I have felt so alone. My companion is such
a great guy, but he is extremely
quiet and won't do anything unless you ask him to, so I had to take care of myself alone this
week and I had a lot of time to
think about what everyone has ever done to help me in my life, especially the character of my mom and many
of you and your mothers.
My whole life my mom
has always put others in front of her own wants and desires. In a way that is extremely
Christlike. Christ always put others
in front of himself. He put all of us first, while he asked God to take away the pain he was going through as He
suffered for all of our mistakes.
I want to share this video. This video is of a mother who sacrificed what she wanted to do, to help others
throughout her day. Notice while
her little son is praying at the end of the day, what he thanks God for, and especially focus on what
he says about what God wanted.
This truly made me appreciate my family and all of you, and truly also inspired me to put off my desires
and to become lost in helping
others with what they need. Just imagine if we all focused on what others
needed. We would never be worried about what we needed, because everyone else would be. We would be a
united family, always caring for
one another. Unfortunately we don't live in a world like that, but in this church, that's truly how it is.
Enjoy this video.
I love you all, and I
truly appreciate all your prayers. I have felt them more than I ever have this
week. God puts us in situations we don't
want to be put in so he can shape us into what he wants us to become - and that is perfect. Nothing less. He doesn't
want less. It's a beautiful thing.
I don't think this is a normal mission. Many have told me how this is one of the most difficult missions,
but I think it's good for me. No
matter where I go from this point in life after the mission, I will be grateful for anything.
I feel like we are CIA agents and we plan where
we are going to teach, we figure
out how to safely get in the house, teach the lesson, and get out as fast as possible. When I look at it kind of
like a game, it helps to relieve
the stress.
So now about the
subject of this message. Last night, we were driving home from getting a new ipad and we turned down a "wrong street." It was filled with black people and we were driving our
very white roommate elders home and they had their windows down. Elder
Paiz was driving and he drives
sometimes really hesitantly, and he slowly rolled up to a stop sign. Now picture it. A car rolling up
really slowly, with its windows
down, filled with white people in shirts and ties, rolling up in an all-black drug dealing area. One of
the Elders nodded his head at one of the guys and that was a mistake. The street
apparently was a one way, and we
turned down the wrong way. Right as we turned down the wrong way, a couple of the guys on the street
started yelling, "These
N*****S AIN'T FROM HERE!!! These N******S GOING THE ONE WAY!!!!!" Right as he said that, literally around
30-50 black guys popped up off the
curb and started yelling at us saying it was a one way and they acted like it was the end of the world!
My companion wanted to turn around,
but that would have been a terrible idea. There were NO street lights and the street was filled with
black people really upset because
we were going the one way! Haha. I just thought it was hilarious because they knew we weren't from
there because we were going the
one way. It was the highlight of my night. Scary, but hilarious because they were so upset about us going
the one way. haha. There is never
a dull day here. Every day is an extreme, but it's very interesting. Literally, the mission can only get better from here
and I'm looking at it with a positive
attitude.
One last thing. We
were able to go into a hospital this week and were able to give a blessing to a
homeless lady who had a stroke and the spirit was so strong as we gave the blessing. She
was not in the church, but her
friend mentioned about blessings, and she wanted one, so we gave one to her and she was crying the whole
time and kept saying how thankful
she was. At that moment I felt very humbled to be able to have the opportunity to be a representative of
Jesus Christ. The good moments
here are few, but they are golden when they happen. I live for those moments.
I love you all so
much. Do
something nice for someone today. Be happy. Why be sad? If you are,
change something in your life to make you happy.
One thing I have learned is that
if I want to be happy, I need to forget myself and help others. Have a great week! =}
- Elder Celaya
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