Elder Flaco Blanco: Got Stood Up on Valentines Day

Welp! This week was a little bit discouraging at times. Firstly, because of the Ramirez family. :( I don't remember exactly what I wrote about them last week, but they are some former investigators from forever ago, and we just started teaching them again! I saw all this potential in them. They let us in, wanted us to eat with them, we set a return appointment, we had some laughs and even planned a big family trip to the Temple! I actually really like the family a ton! They do have a son, Manuel, who has a big history with various drugs, and has been known to kind of "Disappear" for years at a time, and never telling anyone when he's going, where he is, or when he's coming back. But he's home for good now because he's got a kid, and we were going to help him straighten up his life.

So our "Big Family Temple Trip" was on Valentines day, and Elder Muniz and I started driving at about 3:00. We got a call from Manuel at about 3:30 and he said that the family had some issues to work out, and so Manuel would be the only one coming. Of course, we were sad... That's terrible. But we kept on driving. At about 4:00, we got a call from Manuel's wife, and she told us that when we see Manuel, we should tell him to either come straight home or not to come back at all... She was pretty upset. and she told us that as Manuel was leaving the house, he had told her that he was going to meet his dealer. So he may or may not be coming to the temple (like he told us).

Long story short.... We got to the temple at about 4:30 and waited for Manuel. And waited. And waited. And Waited.... He never showed up. Now no one can get a hold of him, and he's probably gone for good. :(

It basically made me not want to talk for the rest of the night. Neither of us did. mind you, this family was GOLDEN! and Manuel was the most interested out of any of them. It basically broke my heart. :( I fell in love with this family, and had all these goals and plans to help them, but now they've completely fallen.

This whole fiasco made me think of a scripture (of course...). It's in Acts 14:22. One of my favorites actually. I can't remember exactly what it says in English, so I hope my translation is close enough: "....it is through much tribulation that we enter into the Kingdom of God." This tells me that life is going to be full of problems and set backs and even heartbreaks. But the kingdom of God is there for those that can pass through them all. And I can't wait to get that big hug for my father when I get there.

Gotta love that mission life! :) It's hard and stressful, and full of set-backs. But I love it.

Thanks for all the support and love! Happy Valentines Day! :)

Love You!

Elder Webster