Phone Call Home: Monday, February 7, 2022

I haven't slept well since we got back from Kauai on Friday night. I think between Saturday and Sunday night I have had a total of maybe 5 hours?! And at this point of this morning (like 8am) I had burning eyes and was nauseated sick I was so tired. :/

Elder Garcia and I started our chat SUPER early today! I wasn't able to sleep so I was up at 2:30am Utah time which was 9:30am in  Africa. It was quiet and we were able to catch up some. He told me in a message that he had 'news'. So, continue on and learn that what was once a companionship is now going into a trio...

Highlights from our call today:

- Elder Garcia got a call from President Proudfoot and he is getting another new missionary to add to his training. They will be in trio beginning Wednesday. Yep, 2 days from now! This new Elder has an original call to be in Kenya but will be in Togo for a reassignment for an unknown time. Elder Garcia is a little overwhelmed and apprehensive and says it will be a lot but I tried to reassure him that he is already training so he just needs to keep doing what he is doing. I told him to utilize Elder Meline as an additional trainer as well and to be sure to not let any scare/frustration/worry/etc come across at all. This is when he needs to be the best example of doing hard things in all parts of a mission regardless if he is constantly saying prayer after prayer to get through each day. 

- Zone Conference was this week and President and Sister Proudfoot posed the question to all in attendance "who here when they open up the Book of Mormon just reads it rather than studies it?". Elder Garcia said he raised his hand but nobody else did. So...he is among LIARS! :) They asked one of the I believe Zone or District Leaders to share how he studies the Book of Mormon. He shared that he chooses  theme to study with every transfer of his mission and applies that to his BOM studies. Elder Garcia really loved that and is looking forward to implementing this in his studies as he continues on his mission. This will be fun to check in on him and see how he is doing and what he is learning. I love all the new ways to incorporate scripture into life. 

- This week they had a goal to find five (5) new "INTERESTED and WILLING" friends. That proved to be more tricky than anticipated. Elder Garcia says people are more than happy to engage in conversation with the missionaries but when it comes time to discuss anything Gospel related it is an immediate no thank you and shut down of the chat. Someone who is interested in the goodness and then willing to put in the work is something I will be sure to include in  my prayers moving forward. 

- Elder Garcia and Elder Meline had seven (7) ami's come to church! That was a huge number so I asked him why he thought that was the case. He told me that all of them are member referrals which makes all the sense in the world after he said that. You have a friend that is a non member but you want the best for them so you ensure that they are there on Sunday and you do whatever you can to teach them all the things, get missionaries involved where they can, and then hopefully fellowship all the way through. This put a good smile on Elder Garcia's face as he shared this and I loved seeing it. 

- Elder Garcia is running into 'American desires' that are tricky to find something that is close in Africa form. He is specifically looking for American deodorant and a certain brand of writing pens. He is fully aware of the cost to ship from the US but I told him I would see what I could try and do. The company I used to ship Christmas to him is not going to his actual mission anytime soon (I am to assume Covid plays into this) so I reached out to the Facebook Missionary Mom page to see if someone is sending a missionary to Benin anytime soon and had a small space in their luggage that I could sneak these in for him. So far...no luck but I will keep trying. He may just have to use a #2 pencil and African deodorant. Fingers crossed I guess that something else will open up as far as option. 

As we ended our call today I tried to reiterate that Elder Garcia is more than capable of training two Elders at a time and that the Lord and his Mission President have faith in him. I reminded him to go to work. Don't leave anything out on the table that needs to be taken care of today, hit his knees often, carry a prayer in his heart, and love these two the same way the Savior would and that in the end, it would be up to him to have the Savior jump in and help in the weak ways of teaching. I am totally confident in what can play out in the lives of these three Elders if they will work together and put their Mission Statement and REASON they are even on missions first and foremost in all things. I am so excited to watch from home to see how Elder Garcia takes this challenge. I will forever be cheering him on from home and keeping him in my prayers and thoughts in ALL things. 

Keep working hard and don't forget to pray! Love you for forever and for always,
Mom