This week has been filled with
miracles as has the last one.
- The Bronx. - So far, this place is
SO much better than my last area. I love it here compared to there. Now this
place would still never be my choice of living, but it is a lot better from
what I have experienced thus far. The place is a lot bigger, the members are
amazing as well, we have a full church now, and the ward is the biggest Spanish
ward I have ever seen.
- Gym. My companion Elder
Hausenfluck has a gym membership here along with the other elder we live with,
so we wake up at 5:30 every day and catch the bus and head to
the gym. It has been absolutely amazing. I forgot how much I missed it. The
other day we all went to a Vitamin Shop and all got our protein, pre-workout
and also mom you would be proud of me for this one...I convinced everyone to
buy some liquid chlorophyll too. We work out with our zone leaders too and one
of them has a full ride scholarship to BYU to play football as a center. He is
a pretty big guy. It is crazy how much better you feel when you really do work
out. The journey to becoming huge has begun ;)
- My companion - He is awesome! He
is so loving and caring towards people here. He is always willing to help
anyone. I hope to care and be as interested in others when I finish my mission.
He is from Arizona, and he finishes his mission in May, so he is a bit
"older" in the mission.
Other Elders in our apartment - So
we live with Elder Lyons who was my MTC companion (it's great to live with him
again. We get along great and are always having a great time), and also Elder
Enriques who is from Brazil. Now he is literally the same person as our fellow
friend BJ Thomas. He is from Brazil, speaks Portuguese, but is fluent in
English (has no accent), he LOVES going to the gym, he loves supplements and
protein, he is super energetic all the time, can get along with anybody, and
acts and looks exactly the same as BJ. It is unreal. He loves wrestling and
rugby too - those were his two sports. We all have a great time together.
Bitten by a squirrel - So this week
Elder Enriques decided to feed some squirrels. Now there are two types of
squirrels here. Regular brown/blonde squirrels and black squirrels. Everyone
calls the black squirrels "sqwiggers". The brown squirrels hate the
black ones and are always fighting. The squirrels here are just as corrupt as
the people. Haha. Anyways so he tried feeding the squirrels and there were
squiggers and squirrels. They started fighting and as he was feeding them, one
came up and chomped onto his finger and Elder E flew him across the road. So
then he had to go all the way down to south Manhattan to go get checked for
rabies. Turns out they don't have rabies. In order to go get checked out, he
had to call Sister Morgan (President Morgan’s wife). She thought it was hilarious
and so did president Morgan. Everyone has heard about it and he has been
telling jokes all the time about it. Just imagine BJ Thomas explaining him
getting bit by a squirrel and this is exactly how it's been here - extremely
hilarious.
I DON'T WANT YOUR BOOK- Music. I
have had three opportunities this week to use music as a way of opening other’s
hearts and it has been amazing. We went and visited a less active man who is
around 24. We taught him and his mom (who is a member) a lesson and she loved
it, but he was pretty cold the entire time. We asked him if he had scriptures
and he said he didn't. So I then asked him if he would like us to get him
a Bible and Book of Mormon and he was like " uhh nahh nahh I'm good."
I stood in shock for a minute and didn't know what to do. So I started asking
questions about his testimony in the gospel and it was clear that he didn't
really care about much. He said he didn't think the scriptures were applicable
to his life so he didn't want them. The lesson was completely a fail, and we
kind of ended it open ended with him because he was pretty cold and negative
throughout the whole lesson. We then decided to try and get to know him better.
We talked about music and turns out he likes playing guitar and has a guitar so
he brought it out, and I got to play some songs for him that I wrote on the
guitar. Immediately he completely changed into a different person. He all of a
sudden became interested and excited. We ended up talking for about 30 minutes
more and he actively invited us to come back. We are going back this week to teach
him again. Before we ever got to play music with each other, we asked him if we
could come back to see him again, and he said he did not want us to. It was
cool to see how that one little experience opened his heart. We go back tomorrow. I
had two other experiences like that this week as well :)
Brandon - So it has been about a
month that we have had any contact with Brandon back in Yonkers. So out of nowhere
we got a call from Elder Segura in Yonkers telling us that Brandon came to
church for Veronica’s farewell talk. Brandon lives in Kingsbridge and so Elder
Segura said he was going to hand him off to us here in The Bronx. This was a
very odd thing because we thought Brandon was completely done with the church.
THE MIRICLE - So last Monday after
district meeting, my companion and I were going to go out to eat. He wanted to
go to a Chinese place, but for some reason I felt prompted to go into this
little bodega next to the church. I didn't even want to go get food there, but
I just felt in my heart that for some reason I needed to go there. We ended up
going on a little split with another companionship so I could go to the bodega.
As we are waiting in line ordering sandwiches, guess who walks in? BRANDON!! We
ended up talking and catching up and he was extremely surprised to see us
there. We talked about meeting again and we talked about his life. I felt the
spirit so strong in that little bodega as we talked. It was not a coincidence
that I was led by the spirit to go into the bodega that day at that very time.
Brandon even said it himself. He was like "The fact that we could come
into this tiny bodega at the same time in the same place is no coincidence.
This was God’s doing." Miracles happen when you follow the promptings of
the spirit.
We are now meeting with him twice a
week. We have had two lessons since then with him and each time the spirit has
been so strong. He is literally a different person now compared to when we
first started meeting with him. His countenance has completely changed. You can
see the spirit working within him and seeing that change, and that is one of
the best, if not the greatest thing about being a missionary - seeing that
change in others, that only God can do. When Veronica left for her mission that
is when it all hit him. That is when he said he really has to figure out his
life, and he told us he wants this for himself. He wants to be happy without
any other outside influence. It is amazing to see how different and enhanced
people become when they choose to align their lives with God and his teachings.
We challenged him to be baptized and he accepted with a full heart, so he is
now going to be baptized on February 21st! My heart is full of joy as I have
been able to see him literally flip his life around 360 degrees. Perhaps this
is one of the reasons I was supposed to be transferred to this area. I really
do love him as a brother and love his willingness to change. He is a great
example to me. Please pray that he follows through strong with this. I am so
excited for him, words can't describe it.
Greatest experience
on my mission thus far - So last Saturday we had an APF. So I got to go on an exchange
with an amazing missionary named Elder Sorenson. He is an african american guy
from Utah who is such an amazing person who loves sports, so we get along. It's
amazing how much more people will listen to you here if you aren't white. It's
sad but people here are so ignorant. Anyways, Elder Sorenson is a boss. We get
along so well. He is extremely positive and can really hone in on the spirit.
We went down to the lower part of the Bronx (Concourse....the more sketchy part)
and we were assigned to tract. So we went into this big building and went to
the top floor. I had the genius idea of going to the top of the roof. Well, as
I was walking up to the top of the stairs, the loudest alarm I have ever heard
starting going off. It sounded like a bomb siren. As I turned around to run,
Elder Sorenson was already down the stairs running. We got out of the building
as fast as we could. The cops came and were looking for us but we booked it to
another neighborhood. Well as we did this, we went up to the top floor of
another building, tracted the first top floor and then went down a floor. We
knocked on this guy’s door and he actually let us into his tiny project
apartment. I have never seen this before when tracting, so it was a bit odd. He
was from Nigeria and had a heavy accent. We started showing him a video about Lot
and his wife, and about how we should not look back but forward in faith. Half
way through the video, he asked us to pause it, and he got pretty angry. He
started asking why we were showing him this? What was its point? Then he said
to us "I want to learn something new! Teach me something I have never
heard before!". Me and Elder Sorenson looked at each other and knew we
should teach the restoration. We started teaching about how Christ's original
church was restored to the earth again, and the way we taught in unity invited
the spirit so strong. Elder Sorenson is an amazing teacher. The man asked some extremely
difficult questions, not out of arrogance and anger, but out of true curiosity.
I knew we were teaching by the spirit because we had the exact same
impressions. As I was explaining something, I went to quote a random scripture
I read in the Old Testament that morning, and as I said the scripture (I could
not remember the exact chapter), Elder Sorenson already had it up ready to
share and I didn't say a word to him. He was impressed by the spirit, as I was
to share the same passage. This happened many times in the lesson, and we
taught with complete unity with the spirit. We explained the complete history
of the Book of Mormon and he asked if we could frequently come back. Elder
Sorenson quoted the exact words from Joseph Smith when he talks about his
experience with seeing God and Jesus Christ and I've never felt the Spirit so
strong when talking about that. It again pierced my heart and I knew with even
a stronger firmness that that experience really did happen. I felt it from
heaven and so did he. We gave him the book, and he said he was going to read
the whole thing after we left. No words can describe the progress of the lesson
or the spirit that was felt there. It was so strong and I have never taught
with better unity than I have with Elder Sorenson. He is a fantastic missionary
who teaches and testifies with humility but with piercing power. Hopefully one
day we can serve together. I will always remember the spirit that was felt
there the rest of my life. It was nothing of this earth.
I'm not going to lie, the mission is
a very, very difficult thing to do. 98% of the time, it's extremely difficult
mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. 98% of the time I am constantly
trying to survive. The area here is very difficult too. The whole culture and place
makes it very difficult to stay sane. It is the most demanding back breaking
work I have ever done because it requires all of you. Everything you have
spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally. Every day you are drained of
these things. I have had to rely on my relationship with God and his Son every
day. It is the only way I survive. 2 % of the moments of being a missionary are
filled with pure joy. Joy that isn't from this world. Moments like these (like
the man we taught from Nigeria, or seeing the change in Brandon), somehow make
it all worth it. The mission teaches you how to rely 100% on the Lord and it is
really a refiner’s fire. I have learned so much already on my mission and I
continue to do so every day. I don't really understand how 2% of this pure
bliss can be worth the other 98% of struggling, but somehow it is. It is so
worth it. I love those moments and thank God for them every day. I cherish
these moments and hold them close to my heart, and they are what give me the
focus and love to keep going.
I love you all. Let the spirit of
God do all the teaching in life. It is the only way people will truly change.
Have a FANTASTIC week full of joy.
- Elder Austin Celaya
