Circunvalacion 1 - Week #3

¡Hola Familia!

I'm still hanging in there just so everybody knows! This week has been pretty lax in the sector with a lot of work here in the office, as usual. On Monday in our weekly coordination meeting with President I had a breakthrough with my attitude towards the office, and now I'm actually kind of enjoying it here again. In everything there is a way to entertain yourself, and I'm finding it... finally. I've got to admit that I still get pretty frustrated with trying to train someone 8 weeks later than I should have in the first place, but what can you do?

These last couple of days have been fairly relaxed as to the work load that I personally have to take care of, so I've been able to run around Santiago quite a bit with Elder Gibson. I've got two of the best companions in the mission. We seem to get along pretty well, especially compared to several of the other relationships with office workers, so that is pretty good.

To help you understand a little bit about what I was going through last week, I'll explain a little bit about the office atmosphere as of late. Recently the whole face of the office has changed, Elder Driscoll is still the mission secretary having been trained my last change here & Elder Young is still the financiero, apart from them I'm the newest of the 3 new guys. Elder Andelin & Elder Romero (de Colombia) are the assistants right now, but I don't really feel the leadership from them that I'd like to... oh well... I've got to admit that quite a few of the aspects that are associated with the mission office run way more smoothly than when I was here the first time, but there are a lot of things that could do for some improvement. I'm basically here as a spectator, so nobody really takes my opinion on things very much... but I'm kinda alright with that.

I've been thinking a lot this week about my Patriarchal blessing since Ryah was planning to get hers last Sunday... and even with 2 inches of snow managed to! Good thing ya'll didn't let her drive up to Henderson alone, since that detail wasn't so expected. But anyways, I've been studying my blessing a little bit this week and it came to me exactly how important what it contains is & should be for me. Geesh! It is personal scripture after all! So what I previously considered a short Patriarchal blessing, has become MY Patriarchal blessing that is chock-full of promises and guides for ME!!! I've found quite a bit of help in this last week from what I've read and studied in my own personal scripture, it doesn't apply to anybody else, NOBODY, just me!

January 26th is getting really close for the Whitworth family. I'm sure Ryan is getting anxious/excited, lucky for him he only is going to be in the MTC for 3 weeks. Lots of missionaries enjoy the MTC experience, but I've got to honestly admit that I was not a big fan. Sure the devotionals with General Authorities are pretty cool, but the rest not my piece of cake. I've gotten to know lots of missionaries that enjoyed the MTC more than they enjoy the mission, it just doesn't seem right to me. Personally when I know how to do something and I'm not in training for it any more I find it way more enjoyable. The MTC is like training, you've always got someone looking over your shoulder and you are expected to do everything in the way they dictate instead of the way that you would like... just like training for a job! If there is one counsel I can give, however, it would be to enjoy your time there and to take in as much of the practice as you can get, it actually does pay off in the long run. (Just in case Ryan sees this.)

Our sector is suffering right now because of the work in the office and the dysfunctional relationships that surround us most of the time we are here. I guess I'll learn to survive. Elder Gibson and I were talking last night and we promised that next week would be better. I feel like these last 4 weeks I've only been a mediocre missionary, not necessarily giving it my all, and that has got to change... so the buck stops now! I love this work, but sometimes I feel like I'm getting stuck in the routine and it doesn't have the same feel that I need it to have.

Hope that everyone is having a better year than how 2011 started out. If it started out well it can always get better! I miss ya'll and love ya bunches!

¡Todo mi amor!

-- Élder Todd