Dear Family,
One transfer area, Dondo, is going down to two missionaries! So three of us here are leaving and only Elder Leite will stay and get a new comp. I can't believe it! I don't have pictures with anyone and won't have much time to say goodbye, if any. Dondo has been a great learning experience for me and there are so many things I regret and wish I would have done different, but all I can do now is learn and move on to my next area and try to be better. I am going to Manga, which means mango, it's like 15 minutes out of Berra the other direction, I think. They have a chapel! A real chapel and a lot more members. My house will have 6 people which I am super excited for. My companion will be Elder Ostler who is American. This transfer was hard but I learned so much from my comp. No matter what he was always happy and smiling! Even when I would be super frustrated and discouraged. I feel like I was pretty rude to him sometimes and I feel super bad but he was always a great example and I have told him that a lot. I am so grateful for him. This transfer I honestly learned that just as important as what we do is who we are.
This transfer was hard for me and I feel like at times I would just get discouraged and frustrated and wasn't the most charitable missionary. That is one thing I have been working super hard on these last two weeks but still have a long ways to go. We can't control other people. The only real control we have is self control. The mission is more than a lifetime full of ups and downs packed into only two years.
We got to listen to conference as a branch!! Super exciting! But I haven't seen all of them in English yet. I watched the priesthood session in English and am truly so grateful for a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I loved the talks and know some of them were just for me!
This transfer I learned so much from Elder Gergitz and all the advice he has given me. The mission is super tough but when you just step back from all the frustrating little details you remember what a blessing and a privilege it is. It's so crazy how fast time flies and life keeps just marching on. In two days I will be living in a new house and probably never see Dondo or these people again. A chapter in my life already written. Sometimes for me this kind of stuff is super hard to accept but then I just think of the chapter of my life I get to go write in Manga now. I have learned my lesson now to take pictures as soon as you get into an area. I really don't have any with the people in Dondo and leaving this transfer is the last thing I expected. I thought I had more time here. I'm going to miss this place and I wish I wouldn't have let the small things get to me as much as they did here. This is a lesson I will try to live the rest of my life. Don't let small insignificant things bother you because in the big picture they don't matter - but how you react to them does. How you treat others matters no matter the situation it does matter.
I have to leave the best house in the mission so my next house will probably seem super crappy. But learning a new area and getting to know new people is always fun. And I will soon forget about all the small things in Dondo. I'll only remember the good and have a whole new set of things to worry about.
Well I love you guys and pray for you every day!
Elder Bigelow
No comments:
Post a Comment